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223 Comments
- UGM2099, on 06/05/2008, -7/+57The death of the video arcade came when us suburban kids feared death by the ghetto kids who took over the arcade.
- MarkBarrera, on 06/05/2008, -1/+51I just had a bar open up down the street from me called 'Barcadia' and it is awesome because it has all of the old school arcade games along the walls of the place. They have Ms. Pacman, Galaga, Spy Hunter, Donkey Kong and tons of other originals as well as Skee-Ball. It has been a big hit and tons of people pack in there to play these quarter games, so the games do still have some following :)
- HSlipwiffle, on 06/05/2008, -1/+45It's a goddamn shame, the social aspect of going into an arcade and putting a quarter down on Soul Caliber, Street Fighter 2 or any of the awesome SNK fighting games is something I dearly miss. The internet just isn't the same thing.
- inactive, on 06/05/2008, -0/+41Good memories of Area 51, Marvel vs. Capcom and the six-player X-Men game.
- ObeseSnake, on 06/05/2008, -0/+25Funny, I just watched "The King of Kong" movie early this week. Brought back some fond memories of the arcade.
- greytfriend, on 06/05/2008, -0/+23I miss pinball machines. Going to the bowling alley with my dad and playing pinball and video games after bowling was one of the best parts of my childhood. I guess now kids sit in their basements with their dads playing xbox.
- samfishercell, on 06/05/2008, -0/+18The draw of arcades is definitely getting the experience one could not get at home. I always enjoyed playing the games that put you in a car, cockpit, let you physically box or duck behind cars, etc.
But (as the article mentioned), as home console experiences get more sophisticated, the arcade games need to grow to match. The problem is when these machines cost multiple thousands of dollars: the arcade goes in the hole, and bumps the play price up to like $2.00 a play or some other inane price. The other downside is that a large majority of arcade games are "rigged" to provide a short play time, be it simply a difficult game, a one-race limit, etc.
Part of me almost wonders if some arcade company will latch on to the new polarized light stereoscopic 3D we're currently seeing in theaters. I think for at least a couple years you could get some pretty immersive experiences before they show up in the home. - pitchblack16, on 06/05/2008, -5/+22sad but true, when you have xbox's and ps providing graphics that look better than an arcade theres not much more to compete with.
- UGM2099, on 06/05/2008, -0/+16Nice, if it's anything like Barcade in Brooklyn you are lucky. http://www.barcadebrooklyn.com/
- Stupidumb, on 06/05/2008, -0/+15Also, another arcade in Toronto was closed because of all the smelly high schoolers who just went there to "hang". They didn't play any video games; a few only played foosball. I heard it was shut down because it was attracting unwanted visitors that gave the mall (where the arcade was) a not-so-classy look.
- Kenzan, on 06/05/2008, -1/+15And so dies another piece of my misspent youth.
Sigh... - antivibe, on 06/05/2008, -0/+14surprisingly in-depth article.
- bundwallah, on 06/05/2008, -0/+13Memoriessssss of the way we used to be.....pixelated, smoky Arcade memories.....of the way we wuuuzzzzzz......
Oh man, I remember being in University during the mid 90's and hitting the arcades across the street to play Virtua racing with about 8 friends and especially Mortal Kombat. We plunked in quarters like crazy. My friends and I took our beatings seriously. Sometimes fists would slam on the console in disgust for being the victim of five consecutive losses/fatalities. Even after our graduation, we went suits, robes and all for a few final shots before we disbanded to join the real world. Great times, good fun. - UGM2099, on 06/05/2008, -1/+13They should just hire Rob Lowe and sponsor a cable access TV program [old reference]
- cptshamrock, on 06/05/2008, -0/+10Six player was the greatest when you had everyone going at once and played all the way through.
- Stupidumb, on 06/05/2008, -0/+10That happened in downtown Toronto.
- Augie1969, on 06/05/2008, -1/+10I live in AZ now, but Grew up in Chicago.
We used to vacation in Lake Geneva every summer. Some of my fondest memories revolve around hanging out at Gameland.
It smelled like pizza, cotton candy and popcorn.
They have many old-school games there as well, target practice and baseball where there is a metal ball that rolls toward ya.
I remember sitting there for hours when the first Star Wars x-wing game was released waiting to get a turn.
Tron, Star Trek, Dig Dug, Ms Pac Man, Moon Cresta (remember that one?)
God damn, is this what it's like to be getting old? I sound like my Dad waxing nostalgic about Roy Rogers and Trigger.
/Nostalgia - cptshamrock, on 06/05/2008, -0/+8Nickel City is great.
- Lith25, on 06/05/2008, -0/+8I couldn't agree more. I still play the quarter games such as galaga and pac-man whenever I see them. The problem with today's arcades isn't the quality of the games necessarily, it's the fact that they are too damn expensive to get maybe 3 minutes of playtime.
- Stupidumb, on 06/05/2008, -0/+8I'm a coward because the mall shut the arcade down?
- inactive, on 06/05/2008, -0/+8I really miss arcades.
- pr1me4, on 06/05/2008, -0/+7theres a difference between a quarter game you can play with your friend and a 2 dollar-per-continue, coded-to-penalize-new-players, ps1-level-graphics game.
- inactive, on 06/05/2008, -1/+8So far only people that don't understand arcades have replied to you. There's no feeling like having complete strangers (or even a rival) compete against you. It was the SOCIAL aspect as much as the games. That's something that the XBOX-days can't provide.
- inactive, on 06/05/2008, -1/+8I wish it weren't incredibly illegal to produce MAME cabinets; an arcade filled with MAME cabinets would be awesome – guess I'll have to keep it to myself.
- dalittle, on 06/05/2008, -0/+7I think there is still a market for this. People still go out to the movies, because people still like to go out. There is also a pinball bar in Seattle called Shortie's that is fun. I hope more places like these open.
- yohnstoppable, on 06/05/2008, -0/+7Why does everyone assume people play any type of video game in their basement? I've never even lived in a house with a basement. Does no one else but me have a living room?
- oldsurly, on 06/05/2008, -0/+7Now I'll never beat SMASH TV.
- EmperorAwesome, on 06/05/2008, -0/+6I remember being in the local Aladdin's Castle a few years ago playing Gauntlet with my friend, when all of a sudden I noticed a for sale sign on the side of the cabinet. I was all excited and started talking about going halvsies on it when I looked around at all the other games, which all had prices on them, and just let my slacked jaw mumble, "Oh *****".
- notoneofus, on 06/05/2008, -0/+6Ground Kontrol in Portland is awesome. Beer and classic video games.
http://www.groundkontrol.com/ - sundancekid503, on 06/05/2008, -0/+6Gelatinous cube eats village--
I think it's terrific. - carbonetc, on 06/05/2008, -1/+7I stopped playing arcade games when they hit fifty cents to a dollar per play.
The fun of the arcade used to be that I could just put a five dollar bill in the change machine and get enough plays to be there for an hour or two. It was a great way to spend a day, especially if you're a kid and your allowance is your budget.
Now, to play twenty times for a dollar a play... I'm halfway to being able to buy my own damn copy of the game. I understand why it's so expensive, but it's just not worth it anymore. - Koushiro, on 06/05/2008, -0/+6You know, if the arcade business would stop giving up and bring over some of the ridiculously awesome arcade games they have in Japan, maybe they wouldn't be in such dire straights. I'm sure that management has something to do with this too.
Arcades can still be a viable business if you have the will to do it. It's something that many of us don't want to see die. - strangewill, on 06/05/2008, -1/+7Long comment is long.
- Coffeedemon, on 06/05/2008, -0/+5I miss real pinball. Nowadays I can only find the games in airports when I have to travel (Halifax, NS still has the Original Star Trek one and until recently had the Star Wars one where you shot balls into a big plastic death star). Great games... those or Super Mario Pinball (miss that one) could be played all day for a couple of dollars if you were any good.
- 1807, on 06/05/2008, -1/+6yes but X-box live can provide whiny 8-year-olds who should be in school and throw out racial slurs and cuss words like drunken sailors to prove their dominance. BEAT THAT ARCADE!
- FriskDown, on 06/05/2008, -0/+5And the game pad too... Controllers are so different.
- MidnightRealism, on 06/05/2008, -1/+6Oh shut up. The whole reason the industry tanked is because post-SF2 there weren't a huge number of games with a discrepancy between the arcade and home ports. The reason you went and played the arcade version of a game was because it was bigger and brighter and bolder; you could play it at home on your Genesis, but even though it played the same it wasn't quite as good.
The gameplay-graphics argument falls apart when discussing 80s and 90s arcades. - t4ll3y, on 06/05/2008, -0/+5This means that soon, the market will be flooded with street fighter arcade cabinets. Rad.
- AF-Geek, on 06/05/2008, -0/+5Don't get me wrong, MAME is great (building a cabinet myself), but there's nothing like the originals. The cabinet is just right, the buttons are in the right places, the cabinet decoration is authentic. You just can't do that for a multi-game cabinet.
Still, if you can't have the original, MAME FTW! - Greengoo, on 06/05/2008, -1/+6Come to the place where games are played. It's cool, it's hip, it's Noah's Arcade!
- jeffsiler, on 06/05/2008, -0/+5Ground Kontrol in Portland Oregon is amazing http://www.groundkontrol.com/arcade/index.php . I wish there were more like it across the US.
- BabyWookie, on 06/05/2008, -3/+8Is that why you "suburban kids" are so racist on XBox Live now? I mean, you can't play a round without being called a "*****" by some little yuppie-spawned fag.
- LusikkaMage, on 06/05/2008, -0/+5What I've been dreaming of for years is an Indie Arcade-- arcade machines shouldn't cost $14,000. Indie devs could produce games and make a profit off their machines, and the games would be so much more fun than the crap you find at arcades.
I frequent the arcade nearby, but only play DDR. - Arlieth, on 06/05/2008, -0/+5One of the problems is that arcades couldn't raise their prices enough to keep up with the cost of inflation- somehow, games would creep back to a quarter. Unfortunately, the quarter it cost to play Mrs. Pac-Man back in the 80's isn't nearly the worth of a quarter now. Outside of college campuses, there's only a handful of arcades in the US that remain 'competitive' so to speak (not that there's much competition anymore): Family Fun Arcade, Camelot/Sunnyvale/etc Golflands and the occasional Nickel City in California, Super Just Games in Chicago (Northbrook to be exact, I think- i'm surprised it wasn't covered in this article), and Tokyo Game Action in Rhode Island (who weren't allowed to open in Baltimore because the mayor said, and I paraphrase, "you're gonna sell crack to the kids by hiding it in cupcakes.") It's impossible to open an arcade in Los Angeles county now (City Hall has had a ban on issuing new game licenses since 1992, I believe), and because this attitude and restrictive legislation is mirrored everywhere, even if a hit new game like Street Fighter IV managed to spark a revival, it wouldn't get very far. It is therefore easier to open up a titty bar than an arcade. You'd think the Amusement Machines Association of America (AMAA) would try to sue cities to stop this sort of thing, but arcades have been slowly strangled by these policies, and they've been suffering ever since.
- Stupidumb, on 06/05/2008, -1/+5Also, I know that game developers made games for consoles AND arcade, I don't have to "try to remember", smart-ass. I sense a bit of hostility in your comment and I can't imagine why. The reasons I gave for the Toronto arcades' failings is true. Calling me a coward does not change the facts (simple, ain't it).
If the arcades were maintained, didn't smell like *****, and had good games and patrons, I would still go. I think a lot of people feel the same way. - iamgreg007, on 06/05/2008, -1/+5I remember spending countless hours at the arcade playing Street Fighter 2. So many fights ensued because people would claim you were "cheaping them." This basically meant that you used a throw move or got them in a corner with Chun Li's super kick or Blanka's electricity or E-Honda's hand slap. What these words being uttered really meant, at least for me growing up, is that a punch in the face was coming soon if you didn't play the way they felt was fair. Forget the fact that throws and these special moves are just as much of a part of the game as the hadookin.
I remember SF2 Champion Edition was playable for free in Bloomingdales in NYC in the kid's section as a ploy to get parents to take us there...it worked.
I remember when Mortal Kombat came out and you would have to wait in line to even WATCH other people play.
Oh video arcades, I can't even count how many quarters I plugged away in your slots and how many happy memories I have of lazy days with the beeps and the buzzing and that awesome 1980s music! You will be missed. - Cerebral, on 06/05/2008, -0/+4Walking up to the SFII (or insert other fighting game title here) machine, mashing 2 quarters down on the table is the most amazing way to call "I got downs" ever. It's just so intimidating. Hell I remember when some fighting games actually had the little numbered quarter holding slots so you could have a line of "I got downs".
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