Attack of the Arcade!

[Garrtoone]

Pow pow pow! The hammer of the gun pulls back with each shot as you take down three agents. Suddenly the window to the right bursts open and more gunmen spill into the room. You lead forward and pull the trigger, pow, pow, pow, POW! Then your gun clicks, empty as a voice rings in your head "RELOAD." So you step back behind cover and quickly slid a new clip into the gun. As you jump back out to the fray, a bullet, almost in slow-motion rips though your shoulder. You grimace and shoot down the last of the gunmen, then run out to the window, knowing you're running against time to save the world...

The game Time Crisis was always a favorite of mine, so when I got Time Crisis 2 on the Playstation 2, I thought I'd be playing the game almost all the time. But as I played the game, I noticed I didn't like it as much. I had to press a button on the gun to jump up from cover. The gun didn't pull back when I pulled the trigger; it just kinda shook like a PS2 controller. The fear of getting killed was almost gone as I realized I had, effectively, unlimited continues.

This led me to think about what is happening to the life of arcades. I don't know how it is in other countries or even in other parts of here in the United States, but here in the middle of the USA, there aren't a lot, if any, arcades around anymore. Now, I can think of a few reasons why that are happening. For one thing, they are expensive to keep running, and in a time where money is hard to keep, it's natural for the arcades to fall to disarray or to be abandoned all together. Secondly, with all the home gaming platforms and computer gaming out there, it's become impractical to drive somewhere just to play games. Looking at that logic, I'm not surprised that Street Fighter IV doesn't have an arcade release yet, and I'm not surprised that it will not have one at all.

So I've started this thread because I just want to discuss either why arcades should go the way of payphones and leg-warmers, or why they don't need to be around anymore, or if there should be a resurgence of arcades, and if so, how would one "bring them back?" Also feel free to talk about your "arcade memories" on this thread.

 

[Ultrajoe]

With the rise of online games, arcades have shifted and moved to Xbox live and other social standpoints. The Wii adds that gunslinger feel and together old style arcades are going the way of libraries. It's sad, but that's progress. Better to embrace the change than to try and revive the old like some amish gamer for traditions sake.

On another note, absolutely excellent first post. You'll be the first person i've said welcome to in months. So... Welcome.

 

[xitel]

I know exactly what you mean. The only arcade I know of is a combo arcade and restaurant, and the "arcade" is pretty much just skeball. I remember hearing about someone that actually took their arcade and just started calling it a museum, and started charging admission to make up for what the games couldn't cover. Yes, it was still an operational arcade, just with an admission fee. And welcome!

 

[Garrtoone]

On another note, absolutely excellent first post. You'll be the first person i've said welcome to in months. So... Welcome.

Thanks for the welcome (and thanks to any other welcomes that come later!). I wanted to post something that got some sort of response as my first thread, so I wrote about something I always wondered about.

 

[Preslor]

Most malls I've come across still have an arcade, and decent ones at that. Though the one I go to the most has seen considerable changes over time, but it is still there, so I cannot complain too much. However, they do seem like a dying breed... and that is a shame, since, like you said, the rail-shooter games like Time Crisis and House of the Dead just don't have the same feel elsewhere... not to mention you don't have small groups of people huddle behind you watching, if you're insanely good at DDR or something like that.

Personally, I wouldn't mind a revival of arcades, but they would need to find a really good way to draw customers back in.

I was on vacation one time, I forget where exactly, but I saw what was once a traditional arcade... but most of the old arcade style games were replaced with various consoles and games for them, it was kind of neat actually... especially since they were all for free if you stood there at the place. So perhaps something like that would be the next step for arcades... a small cost to get in and be able to play various console games, by yourself or with others, as well as have a few good rail-shooters and really old school games like Pac-Man or Galaga for those who are feeling a bit nostalgic. Maybe something like that, I don't know.

 

[Sion_Barzahd]

Arcade games will never die, simply cause nothing can ever beat the feel of them, like Indigo said, you have the spectators around you. But there is so many other things.
Those giant screens, to me at least, make the games so incredibly immersive. I often get so focused on the game itself when i'm finished i have to stop for a minute and think about where i am.
Feeling genuinely unsure.
Also there is always the hilarious scramble for the next coin to continue your game.
I'm sure there are more, but its been a long while since i visited an arcade myself.

 

[Ultrajoe]

I feel that online gaming is unlikely to ever eclipse the arcade. I've seen groups huddled around 6 Tekken 6 booths, just watching each match unfold. The difference is that whole spectator aspect - the crowd behind you watching in feverent admiration - Live never will get that - at best, you have a group of 30 hecklers.

Pro matches of starcraft and counterstrike beg to differ. Live will get there in time, it's a young system.

 

[Akas]

Heh, I'm lucky to have lived in the three states with probably the biggest arcade scenes (California, Texas, and New York). I've worked for an arcade, spent the night there, made great friends and memories. Up until now I could understand why consoles/PCs were taking over the arcades, but now that the states are in a recession, I feel like perhaps arcades might make a resurgence (considering how relatively cheap they are for the entertainment they bring). Anyways, a list of the "major arcades" in those states:

California: Family fun arcade. It's the West Coast favorite, the arcade that Japanese gamers LOVE (and they know a little something about arcades ). I think there might be 2 locations, I'm not sure

Texas: Planet Zero in Houston (an eclectic, Chuck E. Cheese type except for manga-fied teenagers, hardcore gamers, and stuff

Arcade UFO in Austin (my friend owns this arcade, it's GREAT, and the crowd is wonderful). I spent my college years at Einstein's (it's predecessor), and the ENTIRE crowd has moved here.

New York: Chinatown Fair in NYC. Need I say more?

 

[MSORPG pl4y3r]

Its a shame the old ways have to die, I liked arcades, last time I was in france I probly spent more money in the local arcade than I did on anything else that whole trip. Actualy loking back the only real arcades I'v ever been to were in Lanzarote and France, I'v only seen one place in scotland that could be called an arcade but most of it is gambling machines and only a hand full of actual games. I still like arcades even tho I'v only realyu been to two.

 

[Garrtoone]

Heh, I'm lucky to have lived in the three states with probably the biggest arcade scenes (California, Texas, and New York). I've worked for an arcade, spent the night there, made great friends and memories. Up until now I could understand why consoles/PCs were taking over the arcades, but now that the states are in a recession, I feel like perhaps arcades might make a resurgence (considering how relatively cheap they are for the entertainment they bring). Anyways, a list of the "major arcades" in those states:

California: Family fun arcade. It's the West Coast favorite, the arcade that Japanese gamers LOVE (and they know a little something about arcades ). I think there might be 2 locations, I'm not sure

Texas: Planet Zero in Houston (an eclectic, Chuck E. Cheese type except for manga-fied teenagers, hardcore gamers, and stuff

Arcade UFO in Austin (my friend owns this arcade, it's GREAT, and the crowd is wonderful). I spent my college years at Einstein's (it's predecessor), and the ENTIRE crowd has moved here.

New York: Chinatown Fair in NYC. Need I say more?

Well I can see where there is a bigger population of people, the bigger the arcades, but in smaller cities like Indianapolis the biggest "arcade" we got is basically the arcade games outside of the movie theater.

To me, it just seems like the mass populous has moved from wasting change at the arcade to playing with the box at home, removing the social aspect of gaming. The way we game now without arcades seems pretty... I dunno isolated and anti-social, don't you think?

 

[Riicek]

To me, it just seems like the mass populous has moved from wasting change at the arcade to playing with the box at home, removing the social aspect of gaming. The way we game now without arcades seems pretty... I dunno isolated and anti-social, don't you think?

That's one thing I really like about the playing coop games online, is it brings back some of the social aspect that is so prevalent in an arcade.

But it is definitely not the same. There's nothing like standing next to a friend in the arcade with a couple of 10 year old kids behind you kicking the crap out of each other in a game of Tekken. Unfortunately, I live in a pretty rural area (Burlington-area Vermont) so arcades around here basically consist of a dozen or so machines in a movie theater or such. There was an almost decent one in one of the shopping malls here a while back, unfortunately they had a fire there and afterward it never reopened. Before it closed they had set up a section in it with about 20 PCs preloaded with a lot of popular multiplayer games. They'd charge by the half hour and you could play locally or join an online game. I never really saw anyone in there though with the exception of a few kids at a time playing WoW.

I remember when I lived in New Hampshire I went to a place called Funland (I think, memory might fail me on that one) that had a huge arcade (at least, biggest I've ever seen.) It had a few floors, one of which was entirely comprised of pinball tables. Pinball tables are one of the greatest losses, IMO, of the classic arcade business model, since they really can't be recreated in any close-to-original way at home.

My fondest memories from an arcade are my father and I going in when we needed to get out of the house (away from the women) and playing some House of the Dead or that Jurassic Park shooter. Nothing beats stacking up 20 bucks worth of quarters in front of you and not leaving until it's gone.

 

[searanox]

The original attraction of arcades was in the better graphics they provided, as well as the social aspect of gaming. Now, both those advantages are pretty much gone. For a while they relied on gimmicks like motion controls, extra-large peripherals, etc., but... well, gimmicks only last so long before they get boring. It certainly doesn't help that most games these days are more complicated and allow for more play-time than the average arcade racer or shooting gallery; those arcade games just never really grew up, and while they still have an appeal, that appeal is a simplicity that's enjoyable precisely because it feels novel and nostalgic.

I really can't say I miss them, though.

 

[Eternal_Rapture]

I know exactly what you mean. The only arcade I know of is a combo arcade and restaurant, and the "arcade" is pretty much just skeball. I remember hearing about someone that actually took their arcade and just started calling it a museum, and started charging admission to make up for what the games couldn't cover. Yes, it was still an operational arcade, just with an admission fee. And welcome!

Thats harsh. But I still love arcade games, right now me and my dad and saving up to buy an original Donkey Kong game to stick in the living room, and bug the crap out of everyone with.

 

[DirkGently]

You guys need to look up a little restaurant type chain called Dave and Busters. I don't know how many there are, but there's a few here on the East Cost. It's essentially Big Restaurant + Big Sports Bar + Big Fucking Arcade + some other cool stuff depending on your location. I love going there and playing Time Crisis or the various other shooters. It's pretty much a birthday tradition in my family. Good times.

 

[Eternal_Rapture]

You guys need to look up a little restaurant type chain called Dave and Busters. I don't know how many there are, but there's a few here on the East Cost. It's essentially Big Restaurant + Big Sports Bar + Big Fucking Arcade + some other cool stuff depending on your location. I love going there and playing Time Crisis or the various other shooters. It's pretty much a birthday tradition in my family. Good times.

O I think there is one around where I live, partly because of all the commercials on TV. But Ive have yet to go cause in my mind, a place that has arcade fun and goodness, doesn't have good food.

 

[AntiAntagonist]

Arcades are economically viable under certain conditions.

If driving cars become less economic or personal earning goes down while a cultural shift towards collective/shared activities occurs then we can expect arcades in cities.

I don't really see arcades 'coming back' in the States.

Dave and Busters has an interesting business model- place themselves in areas with relatively little competition and add drinking (a culturally collective, spend-frenzying activity).

I fully intend to visit Funspot, since a few have touted it as the (single) largest arcade in the world and it's relatively close by.

 

[PlasticPorter]

Theres an arcade near my house called Ultrazone its got Capcom vs Marvel
and that deep sea railshooter a house of the dead and a time crisis and a couple motercycle games
I have some awesome memories just hanging there till 1 in the morning with my buddies so damn fun

 

[DirkGently]

You guys need to look up a little restaurant type chain called Dave and Busters. I don't know how many there are, but there's a few here on the East Cost. It's essentially Big Restaurant + Big Sports Bar + Big Fucking Arcade + some other cool stuff depending on your location. I love going there and playing Time Crisis or the various other shooters. It's pretty much a birthday tradition in my family. Good times.

O I think there is one around where I live, partly because of all the commercials on TV. But Ive have yet to go cause in my mind, a place that has arcade fun and goodness, doesn't have good food.

Wrong! D&B has great food. The place isn't just an arcade. Arcades don't have wetbars. Atleast not the ones that I remember.