You wouldn't know this unless you were either in the coin-op industry or a very, very strange person, but Smart Industries is kind of like the Jimi Hendrix of companies that make crane games. You know, crane games. Those big bulky things at the entrance of every Carrow's restaurant, with the big claw and the sea of toys? The thing you pump $0.50 into to try to grab a Powerpuff Girls dolly (don't worry, we won't tell)? Yeah, those.

Manufacturing firm Smart Industries has been making its own crane games since 1985, which makes it the longest lasting crane game manufacturers like, ever. They've redefined the product for a new generation. They were the first to add a joystick, which practically every crane game now has. And now, twenty-one years after the introduction of their first machine, the "Clean Sweep / Bear Claw," Smart Industries has changed the way you may think about crane games. Again.

Ladies and gentlemen, the age of The Laser Crane has begun.

"Smart Industries, a leader in the crane business for over 20 years, presents their latest innovation: The Laser Crane," says the press release. "The Laser Crane is based on the popular Prize Time line of cranes, but has a laser beam attached which follows the path of the claw and shines down into the playfield, so customers can precisely line up the claw with the prize they are targeting. The eye-catching decal package lets potential customers know this is no ordinary crane! Smart Industries believes the Laser Crane (patent pending) will increase grosses for operators and could be the greatest update to a crane game since the addition of the joystick. "

And just when you thought creativity in the arcade industry was dead. Bravo, Smart Industries, you've done it again. Here's to another twenty years of crane game innovation.