[Arcade] Do Arcades still exist?

I grew up in the 80's when all we had to play video games at home on was the Atari 2600(pre-Nintendo). Back then we used to all meet at the local arcade. It was a big social gathering and alot of fun, but I feel that the kids of today, who sit in the solitude of their own homes,　playing the latest games, are missing out.

Arcades used to be the early teen equivilent of bars and clubs. Sure, you could play video games at home, just as you can drink a beer, or dance to music at home; but just as it seems more fun to drink in a bar with others, it was was the same playing video games in a dark, crowded arcade. Lately, I haven't seen many arcades. When I was growning up, you could go to an arcade on any given corner, even super markets had arcades.

Are there any other 30 somethings out there, that can remember playing video games, solely in arcades? I try to explain the difference to my son, but he doesn't have a clue to what I am talking about.

Video games used to be a social event, now everyone plays them in solidtude.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Well, CHz has some pictures of an awesome arcade in San Jose.

But on topic, I don't think that arcades really exist anymore. I remember going to some in the early 90s as a kid, but they had definitely faded out by the time I was in high school in the early 00s.

However, I think your assertion that people play video games in isolation is patently false. Firstly, the existence of MMOs: people are now able to play videogames with a massive number of people online. Secondly, starting with the N64, game consoles increasingly have come with better multiplayer capabilities. Take games like Mario Party, which is essentially a game you can really only play with other people.

As gaming (re-)enters the mainstream, it's been becoming more and more social by necessity -- humans are social creatures, and for an activity to hold our increasingly small attention spans (we're busy creatures nowadays), it needs to be engaging and interactive. Look at the rise of other sorts of social software elsewhere in the computer industry.

So while I agree, the arcade is probably dead (although Dave & Busters is doing an OK job of reviving it, kind of), I reject your assertion that people play games in solitude. Hell, just look at this website. Gamingforce. If gaming was a solitary and isolating activity, this website wouldn't exist.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Ramoth hit some good points.

Ten years ago, Ultima Online was just coming out and was leading the way to a new era of gaming-MMO style. However, the Internet was still small and just not that popular (as it is now), and not as cheap or fast either (I still remember when it was like 100 Hour limit). So, back then, that, along with the knowledge that social interaction online was severly limited, meant little distraction from playing in the arcades.

However, that has all changed thanks to the Internet. Are arcades gone? No, they are still around. However, they are largely forgotten by older gamers who neither have the time, nor the friends, nor the will (because of what they can do at home) to go to them. Younger players (for the most part) just don't care about them.

Finally, as a case-in-point, one need not even have MMO with computers or even the Internet. A nice LAN party works wonders and has a host of friends all together in the same room. Just like the arcades...

Oh yes, as part of nostagalia, I DO remember playing in the arcades. A friend of mine had a birthday party there. Got fifty extra coins too. It was fun, we played Simpsons. Of course, it also reminds me of one of my biggest let downs, namely when I wanted to have one, since it was so close to the holidays, everyone was gone (leading to it being cancelled ). However, playing Simpsons rocked and I try to remember those more upbeat memories.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Arcades were pretty popular over here, like 10+ years ago, and a number of them were popping up all over the city. I knew the location of about a dozen back then, most of which have shut down over the years, due to stricter laws & regulations of having them maintained. There was also a national uproar about arcades, and how they were "a thing of the devil!" because they made kids skip school and rip them off their money. I could count the number of places on one hand now, and they're only limited to malls and other tourist attractions.

I know I used to spend a lot of time at arcades. There was a certain clique of "elite" players I used to hang out with, where we'd hold competitions and bragging rights for the top players and highscorers. Oh, and the challengers. I remember using the 2nd player slot mostly (especially true with Capcom & NeoGeo fighters) to entice people into joining in. Also because I could pull out dragon-punch motions more efficiently from that side, and the joystick would usually be in a better condition. There was this one time, I had this huge queue of people, all lining up to take turns at beating me. I kept winning until the arcade operator pulled the plug. I'll stop bragging now. =p

There's a really nice arcade here called Malibu Grand Prix. They have a little bit of everything there. It is the only place I can go to play DDR.

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I have one within walking distance of my place. Usually go there to play DDR or ITG, but occasionally when i'm bored, I'll play a round of Soul Calibur II or Capcom vs. SNK 2.

But thinking about it, there aren't a whole lot of them in my area. Usually, the arcades in my area are attached to some amusement area.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I think I could name 2 places near my home where there is a "respectable" sized arcade. But then again, one doesn't even have fighting games. They do have DDR and Guitar Hero though.

FELIPE NO

Videogames used to be a social event? Besides crazes at the time like streetfighter, I guess the US and japan treat arcades pretty different to the rest of the world. Unless a tournament has been set up arcade meet ups in England have never really happened that much ever, let alone since internet gaming has replaced it, the only exception I can think of is the Trocadero in London.

Sure we still have amusment arcades at the beach, but they tend to have pretty random poorly looked after machines to draw in the youngest kids ("no Beach! I wanna play that mum!" etc etc...) personally I might try the light gun games or possibly DDR or racing sims but I'd never touch cabinets using joysticks because I've grown to hate the things >.>

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Originally Posted by ramoth

So while I agree, the arcade is probably dead (although Dave & Busters is doing an OK job of reviving it, kind of), I reject your assertion that people play games in solitude. Hell, just look at this website. Gamingforce. If gaming was a solitary and isolating activity, this website wouldn't exist.

I play online games, too. But I guess the concept of social activity has changed. I can drink a beer and chat online, but going to a bar with people all around you is a greatly different experience. Playing games in an arcade was only part of the fun, I think it was more social than that. Some of the best memories were of playing a game and doing so well, that a crowd of strangers gathered around you in awe. Afterwards, patting you ont he back and maybe buying you a Coke. Things like that can't happen with online play.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by parKbench

I grew up in the 80's when all we had to play video games at home on was the Atari 2600(pre-Nintendo). Back then we used to all meet at the local arcade. It was a big social gathering and alot of fun, but I feel that the kids of today, who sit in the solitude of their own homes,?playing the latest games, are missing out.

Arcades used to be the early teen equivilent of bars and clubs. Sure, you could play video games at home, just as you can drink a beer, or dance to music at home; but just as it seems more fun to drink in a bar with others, it was was the same playing video games in a dark, crowded arcade. Lately, I haven't seen many arcades. When I was growning up, you could go to an arcade on any given corner, even super markets had arcades.

Are there any other 30 somethings out there, that can remember playing video games, solely in arcades? I try to explain the difference to my son, but he doesn't have a clue to what I am talking about.

Video games used to be a social event, now everyone plays them in solidtude.

You don't invite friends over for some Guitar Hero II duels or Halo slaughter or anything like that? You don't have any friends who ask you to come over? Your son doesn't play games with friends or go to a friend's house?

Video games are still a social event and probably even moreso now than ever. Going to people's houses for some gaming fun with beer and pizza. There, that's fun. Kind of like the arcades except you don't have to keep spending money to play, or worrying about going anywhere.

To the best of my knowledge there are not any local arcades in Phoenix, Gameworks is the only arcade that I know of off the top of my head. The rest have shut down. I loved going to the arcades years ago, and it was fun, though only when I had friends along with me. Playing by yourself isn't much fun, especially when you get people who spend an ungodly amount of time playing the games and just slaughtering you. Tha'ts not fun. At least I don't find it fun.

Arcades are dead and are not going to be resurected. Ever.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

There's still arcades. There's some around where I live, but they aren't big or anything. Still dedicated arcade centers, though.

In the (auckland) city there's a few popular ones. You'd be surprised what kind of obscure turns up at some of these. My local one received a Pop'n Music 10 machine a few years ago. No idea what happened to that though. There was also this DDR-like korean machine where you had to move your hands and legs across these sensor things, too. I kept hitting the fucking things.

But I've seen arcade centers come and go. They always seem to be temporary, except for a couple. I don't think they'll die out though.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by guyinrubbersuit

You don't invite friends over for some Guitar Hero II duels or Halo slaughter or anything like that? You don't have any friends who ask you to come over? Your son doesn't play games with friends or go to a friend's house?

Unfortunatly, my son doesn't have friends come over to play games, or go to their houses. They usually play their games, alone at home and compare notes at school the next day. I think that he is missing out on half the fun. I bought him DDR and Donkey Konga for the GameCube when they came out a few years ago, and MarioParty, in hopes that he could be more social in his gaming, but he never plays them except with me or my wife.

If there were some arcades nearby, I would gladly give him a roll of quarters and send him on his way. I think it would do him good to play some games with kids his own age.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

A slight bit of hijacking, but I think the DDR is horrible for arcades. A number of people have mentioned it.

The machine is large and ugly, has bright flashing lights all over the place, and makes a ton of noise. Plus it attracts weeaboos who have no interest in playing any games except that. I know it's a turn off for me to see a machine in an arcade, and I'll bet a lot of other people who aren't interested in playing DDR feel that way (perhaps they're not even aware of it). Since less non-DDR people come, and you can't sustain an arcade on JUST DDR players, the arcade will eventually close its doors.

Sure, there are a ton of other reasons why arcades are closing, but DDR sure isn't helping, IMO.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Poor, poor arcades. There's something about eight people crushed into Daytona USA's mock car cabinets with no leg room at all, the smell of smoke and other obscure odors you can't quite place hanging around in the air. The same looping noises of other machines in the background. Everyone smashing eachother into walls rather than focusing on the actual race, glancing down the row, trying to figure out who did it. LAN gaming kinda captures that, but without the leg spasms and.. well.. Daytona. Let's play generic shooter!

I mainly miss them for the pinball machines though. The only arcade left in this town closed about two years ago. They had a whole section up the back dedicated to pinnies. It was so awesome. The arcades that are left, in Sydney city itself, are mostly just music games and Initial D. Even then Initial D is too much of a headache, $5 for a bloody memory card or something, $3 for a single race. You took away Metal Slug for thiiiiis!

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by ramoth

A slight bit of hijacking, but I think the DDR is horrible for arcades. A number of people have mentioned it.

The machine is large and ugly, has bright flashing lights all over the place, and makes a ton of noise. Plus it attracts weeaboos who have no interest in playing any games except that. I know it's a turn off for me to see a machine in an arcade, and I'll bet a lot of other people who aren't interested in playing DDR feel that way (perhaps they're not even aware of it). Since less non-DDR people come, and you can't sustain an arcade on JUST DDR players, the arcade will eventually close its doors.

Sure, there are a ton of other reasons why arcades are closing, but DDR sure isn't helping, IMO.

DDR doesn't help arcades? From a business standpoint, how can a group of people hanging around a machine for several hours a time, at $0.75-$1 a pop not help? If there's a large group of them waiting their turns, most likely they're playing other games as well, and most of the DDR players around here seem well-behaved, from what I've seen. If the hardcore players aren't around, curious n00bs are more than willing to plunk down their money to give dancing a try, even if they suck, because it looks like fun. Your standard arcade cabinet doesn't have that kind of draw. Besides, I'm a little sad everytime I see an arcade without DDR. There's a tiny arcade in downtown DC in a building across from my office, but without DDR, I'll probably never go over there.

Arcades are having to adapt to compete with the home market. The arcade of yesteryear is gone, but newer more expensive machines with features that can't be replicated at home (at least not cheaply) are taking its place. Games like DDR, Sniper Scope, House of the Dead, etc aren't cheap, so small scale arcades that used to fill every mall can't keep up. Places like Dave and Busters will survive, as long as newer innovative arcade machines are built.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by parKbench

Video games used to be a social event, now everyone plays them in solidtude.

Not to go all socio-economic, but I think this is partly a function of money. When I was a youngster growing up, no one had enough money to buy video games except for the few richest kids. Yet everyone had a few quarters they could plunk into a machine now & then. In my town they had a soda shop in the front/arcade in the back. That was when games like Centipede, Ghosts & Goblins, Sky Shark, Gauntlet, and their kind were in rotation. The two-player games were great fun. We even hit the arcade in the college a bit because it had fighting games & light gun games. (I would always fan the light gun with my entire hand, resulting in an uzi-like spray of bullets across the screen, quick-reloading about 20 times per minute. )

Now, when people are out in the "real world" (not in some fake WoW instance), if they are a gamer they are more likely to have a Nintendo DS or a Sony PSP to play "on the go" and have no need for an arcade. This is similar to those people on their cell phones who never actually participate in "real life," whether while driving , shopping for groceries, or picking out a movie at the rental place. I've come to think these people actually have strong social phobia and couldn't go out in public without pretending to not notice those around them or actually take part in life.

The other thing that I noticed about early arcades (Pole Position, Pac-Man, etc.) was that people who were older at the time video games came about, say in their late 20's, seemed to play those games whereas when the industry crashed and the NES revived it, they didn't come along for the ride. For example, my folks played a lot of Pac-Man, Pole Position, Break-out... but they never touched any NES, SNES, or computer games.

Finally, another reason I think arcades are no longer needed is because home systems are so powerful. Back in the 80's and perhaps early 90's, arcade machines were always more powerful than any home system you could buy. Therefore, even if you were lucky enough to have a NES/SNES and a bunch of games, arcade games were still a draw because they were more advanced than what you could find at home.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I remember having fun at the arcade when I was a kid, but now there aren't many around here in reasonable driving distance. There is one that I go to near here with friends and it's mainly to play DDR or House of the Dead. nuttyturnip and speculative both made pretty good points about why arcades are in small supply now. Stuff like DDR and shooters like House of the Dead just can not be replicated the same at home. No matter what kind of mat you get for DDR it will slide around unless you buy a real arcade machine. Ontop of that, you can't always be jumping around whenever you feel like it at home if you don't live out on your own.

Honestly even if I wanted to play other stuff at the arcade, they don't get new stuff in that I'd care about. Arcade fighting games are basicly dead. All you've really got left are DDR, shooters, and racers. Aside from that all you got are a bunch of old games that are all available on console by now, many of which are in cheap $20 collections.

I can understand the dissapointment in the lack of arcades, I used to love going to the arcade with my friends. The arcade we used to visit eventually shut down, but when it happened I didn't care much cause it had been a couple years since they did a very good job at getting in new games. But with the current situation not only is it just the lack of popularity, but I think that gaming companies aren't exactly supporting them as much anymore. Releasing console games is probably alot more cost effective then building arcade machines. Because honestly I wonder if it's even possible to come up with a list of a year's worth of arcade releases that is as big as a single month of console releases.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by nuttyturnip

small scale arcades that used to fill every mall can't keep up. Places like Dave and Busters will survive, as long as newer innovative arcade machines are built.

That's what I was talking about. Should have made it more clear. I'm talking about the hole in the wall arcades that I remember. I've seen them add DDR machines and then all shortly go out of business (or in the case of arcades inside other establishments, the arcade machines were removed and replaced with something else)

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The only busy arcade I know of in my area is the one at my university campus. I often have lunch around the area and lots of students tend to be there to play games for the 360 or PS3. There are older machines as well, but they don't tend to get as much attention when compared to the console games.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Sadly, most of the arcades around me have closed down in recent years. The one closest to my hometown went under after the owner got rid of the DDR machine, and the one at the mall near my college has been replaced by a perfume store I think. It was always a bit too small anyway, but it's still sad to see them disappearing. The arcade atmosphere just makes some games more fun to play. Playing House of the Dead at home is still great, but it's still lacking the same feel.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

The arcade from my university campus used to be more popular when it first opened up a few years ago, but mainly it was just the dancing machine as it went through various iterations... DDRs now ITG. Not much there though.

I used to go to the arcade more in high school, not really as a hangout though, but just because it seemed like a must-go place to visit if I was ever at a mall with some friends. But today, I don't go as often. But always I look forward to playing at the [expensive] arcades of places like ESPN Zone, NBA City, Jillian's, Dave and Buster's, etc. (as well as the casinos in Las Vegas). =p For meet-ups/birthdays/get-togethers, I always throw up those places for ideas to go to.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by speculative

This is similar to those people on their cell phones who never actually participate in "real life," whether while driving , shopping for groceries, or picking out a movie at the rental place. I've come to think these people actually have strong social phobia and couldn't go out in public without pretending to not notice those around them or actually take part in life.

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.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I miss the presence of the Arcade. I miss the social aspect of it, the loud clinkety clink of coins going into slots, and I miss the flashing neon signs...when I close my eyes, its almost like being in Vegas, but without the sexually transmitted diseases.

FELIPE NO

Every arcade here has slowly died out. You'll only find the odd ancient machine here and there in the weirdest places like a Neogeo cabinet at a game store on the outskirts of town, or a Pacman machine in an obscure little pizza place. Even our arcade at school has become totally meaningless. When I first entered uni, it had Capcom vs. Snk Chaos (fairly newish), DDR, Guitarfreaks, and Drummania. Those are all gome, and two weeks ago DDR vanished for some reason (yes, even DDR). Now we have shit machines: Varth, Virtua Tennis, KoF 2001, Tekken Tag Tournament, some other game as old as Varth. All of them are broken in one way or another!

I think maybe the maintenance costs were a large part of the problem. One, for an arcade to be constantly fresh you'd have to make sure you have the newest or at least relatively new games. Two, people are silly and abuse the machines which ends somehow ends up with broken parts (eg. broken hihat in drummania, missing buttons on guitarfreaks). Three, the upkeep costs must be massive, or the selling price was too tempting for the arcade owners not to sell. I know I would have wasted 8 months worth of loonies on Drummania if they had kept it there, but they just took it out for some reason.

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The history of the arcades at my local mall as I grew up is somewhat interesting. There used to be two of them in the same mall, with the creative name of Time-Out I and Time-Out II. They had that classic look and feel of arcades of that era being super dark inside to the point where you might feel like you'd get jumped. They were lined wall to wall with the popular games of that period like TMNT, The Simpsons, Altered Beast, Golden Axe, and soooo many more.

Well Time-Out I eventually changed locations on the first floor to a much smaller interior. I still remember the last time I walked in there before it was gone the next time I was at the mall: The entire place was empty. Not even an employee in sight. I don't believe it was close to mall or store closing hours, so it was pretty much a catalyst for that location closing down which it did. So now all that's left is Time-Out II on the upper level. They had already taken a brighter and cheerier look many years ago, so it really was a bummer to see Time-Out I go since that location always had the newer fighting games and such at the time long before the upper level location got them. I haven't been in Time Out II in years. The only time I went in was to watch the pros play some DDR.

The only other place that could be somewhat considered an "arcade" in the same mall is a place called Planet Play, but it's more of a children's place similar to Chuckie Cheese's.

However at some point a Cyberzone Centers has also opened in the same mall. I've never actually had time to go in it, but it for all intents and purposes looks like a 'net cafe without the drinks. I think they also have a few consoles set up on semi decent looking TVs. That place is almost always busy everytime I pass by it. It's almost like the Neo Arcade of the mall's lifetime in some ways. Has anyone else noticed anything similar in their local malls or anything?

Jam it back in, in the dark.