[Arcade] Do Arcades still exist?

Originally Posted by parKbench

I think this is becoming the norm in our society.

Anyway, I remember back in the 90's going to this arcade in a mall by my house. They had this game called "Gal Panic" which was basically a Breakout-type game that no one, and I mean no one,ever played. One day, the arcade was so busy and I was jonesing to play anything, so I plopped a quarter in "Gal Panic"

Well, as you knocked out the blocks on the screen, a digital picture of a girl was slowly revealed underneath. When I finished the level, a nude pic of a "high-school" Japanese girl was revealed. Each level hid a different pic of a Japanese girl. It was the single best arcade day in my life. Now I know how Indiana Jones felt when he found the Ark of the Covenant. Needless to say, half the arcade stopped whatever they were doing and started watching me play this game. That game suddenly became the most popular game in history!

The next day, when I went to that arcade, the game was gone.

I absolutely know the game your talking about but it was so long ago I totally forgot what it was and puzzle games weren't my speciality. Our arcade had it for quite the longest time, and it actually did relatively well, especially what teenager wouldn't want to play a gme in which if you beat a level you got to see a hot japanese girl naked.

I always enjoyed the arcade experience and I still continue to enjoy it despite being 27 years old. I do agree to a point that the arcade scene is dead because these days the console machines are just as powerful as the actual arcade versions.

Back in 80's arcades were always the best social time to experience even if you were a kid or a teenager. Back home in newfoundland, arcades were very common even in small communities; at one point my small community that only had 500 people living in it had its own arcade much like a lot of the other smaller communities. These places were always full and managed to bring in a lot of money. By the time the early to mid 90's had hit the arcades had started to die out and they moved to the larger areas. Thankfully the larger town in my area was only a ten minute drive away to get the the arcade fix. In late 1990's the arcade in the larger area had closed down because it wasn't getting enough interest and now these days the only way you can find an arcade is only in he capital city of the entire province even though there are probably a fewer smaller arcades that nobody knows about.

I think the one of the reasons arcades have died out, is a result of the evolution of the times. People sometimes think arcades are a waste of money and time, in which thanks to massively multiplayer online games and other factors they can have just as great of an experience without having to spend a lot of money or having to leave their own home.

I just think there are just some games, that a home experience can never replicate in any way, shape or form. I think one of those types of games are pinball. Sure there are console versions of pinball. My favourite pinball game has not changed in over 13 years despite it being quite old it was called The Machine by Williams where you had to bring a robot woman to life and I recently found it a pool hall, working perfectly. I also loved playing Demolition Man Pinball its kind of unfortunate the pinball scene died out.

I also think the other types of arcade games that consles will never be able to replace are the four player or six player beat-em up game such as TMNT, TMNT II: Turtles In Time, G.I. Joe, The Simpsons, The Avengers, Spider-man and X-men. These were always my favourite kind of games to play when I went to the arcade as a child and a teenager. I also loved playing the top-down sky shooters, there were always an abudance of those even though I never remember the name of them.

I still go to the arcades now if I ever get the chance. I more these days go to the arcade to play DDR/ITG these days, but if I ever see an older game especially from the 80's to mid 90's I'll definetely play that. I typically play the scatter fighting game as well but other than that I don't really play much else. Kids these days i find are never interested in playing games that were before their time and I think thats the reason why arcades have suffered. It would be nice, if there was a retro arcade chain that focused its games on the older fans. Just recently I was at the bus station and they had a little arcade and a few classic games, and I really enjoyed myself. It seems like the older arcade games still exist but they are in the most obscure places.

In closing, I hope the arcade scene never dies because there are just too many games out there these days that can enjoyable now as what they were back then.

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