This has been a rough year for many, including businesses. Chuck E. Cheese joins the list of companies hit by hard times as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, evidenced by its Chuck E. Cheese filing for bankruptcy earlier in 2020.
There have been a few strange stories involving Chuck E. Cheese over the years. This is certainly the case when it comes to one particular arcade machine that a Chuck E. Cheese frequenter noticed is playing a familiar tune for video game fans.
The arcade machine in question is called Dino Pop, and JRPGBook on Twitter caught it playing a tune from the Final Fantasy series. Specifically, it was playing the Chocobo theme. It didn't play the whole song, and it sounded just a hair different from any of the main games, but it was easily recognizable. There is no explanation offered, but arcade games, especially mechanical ones, often borrow sound effects. This one seems to have gone overboard with the "borrowing," however.
Making things more bizarre, this is not the only instance of a Dino Pop machine taking music from a video game. One comment on the post shared a second Dino Pop machine that plays what sounds like the Golden Saucer theme from Final Fantasy 7. Chuck E. Cheese marketing through video games is nothing new, but it seems one game creator has a particular fondness for Final Fantasy.
A promotional video from Dino Pop's retailer UNISGames, which was tracked down by TheGamer's Bella Blondeau, shows the exact same footage but has a (presumably) original tune playing over it. This raises the question of why any of these cabinets have different music in the first place. It could all be part of some prank, but likely not one of Chuck E. Cheese's own design.
While Dino Pop may be sold by UNIS, it's manufactured by Amusement Warehouse based in South Africa. In all likelihood, each cabinet needs to have a catchy, fun tune programmed into it. In some cases, that probably meant whatever catchy tune was on hand. According to another comment, at least one other Dino Pop cabinet in Italy plays the Chocobo theme as well.
Considering the cabinet in the above video does not have instructions in English, and the one in the original Twitter video does, it's safe to say these cabinets are somewhat widespread. Even if Chuck E. Cheese isn't responsible for the music choice, the restaurant chain is known for being tricky with its pizza and other entertainment draws. Whether the Final Fantasy story will go anywhere from here is uncertain.