The Death of the Arcade

Victragic · Post by **Victragic** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 12:50 am

Novelty games involving hydraulics, customised equipment etc will have that future. You might be able to play DDR at home, but there are other games you can't replicate.

While there may be fewer arcades, that may also be because the machinery itself is expensive, and takes up wayy more floor space than the old square-box cabinets. I saw a racing game with three large-screen monitors and a full-size Ferrari to sit in while you raced.. the whole setup would have been in a 5x4metre area.. for one game..

Also, I don't know about anywhere else, but here - it's much more profitable to put in poker machines and bleed the older generation out of their money than to take a few dollars from teenagers/young adults. That, is what gets referred to as 'gaming' these days.

Having had to endure the same generation scoffing at our generation for wasting our time and money on video games, it is ironic and sad that now they are the ones dazzled by bright lights and at times spending their entire life savings on what amounts to little more than a simple video game. On the other hand, we grew up with all that, so aren't as impressed by flashing lights and sounds.. at least I hope so.

Centallica · Post by **Centallica** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:15 am

Jeff-20 wrote:What is picture #34 (gamepics005f)? It looks interesting!

I would imagine a ball rolls down and if it goes somewhere you get so many redmption tickets (I don't see a control to control the ball).

If you liked that game...here's one with flippers

http://www.marvin3m.com/arcade/pincir.htm

Don't forget to click to watch the video of it in action (there's a link from the above link there)

It's a prototype game that never went into production but there are 2-3 around...on my dream list to play that's for sure...

ral-clan · Post by **ral-clan** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:34 am

While I would love to own an original arcade cabinet (well, several, really)...they take up too much room and require a van to move.

I know people use MAME now to have more than one game, but back in the late 1990s when MAME wasn't an option (due to the expense of buying an extra computer), and classic video games were still super cheap and common on thrift store shelves, I made this:

http://www3.sympatico.ca/clarke-santin/ ... /main.html

It contains Atari 7800 and ColecoVision boards.

If I ever get a larger house I might make a MAME cabinet to go beside it.

I still have it!

It's interesting: when I made this a spare Pentium computer with monitor was about $75-$100, and used ColecoVisions and Ataris were plentiful at about $5 each. Now the trend has almost reversed itself. I find Pentium 1s on the street in the garbage, while ColecoVisions and Ataris have disappeared on the Thrift store shelves and are selling on ebay for higher and higher prices.

dragos · Post by **dragos** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:56 am

Very nice work!!!!

on the death of the arcade... Unfortunately, most games are fighting or racing games these days, and kids still play them, but a lot of kids have discovered how fun the older games can be. My son loves the atari flashback and jimpman/giana sisters.....

there are some cool places that still have some old games, the biggest one I can think of is Dave and Busters. They are a semi-nationwide chain and have a nice mix of the old and new!

lets hope fun comes back into the arcades....

gklinger · Post by **gklinger** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 10:23 am

I would dearly love to see a new 2D arcade platformer with out of this world graphics and effects. Other than the dancing and guitar playing games, there hasn't been a lot of creativity exhibited by the companies that make arcade games. They know their markets so perhaps there isn't a market for such a game.

Centallica · Post by **Centallica** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 10:53 am

Ral-Can- Very nice original set-up using the actual carts...gives it the "real feel" just like why I haven't gotten around to using VICE myself (like the real thing) (in many things

)

That must of been a lot of hacking and testing to get that baby going

I remember my 1st mame cocktail cabinet hacking a computer keyboard and wiring it to the joystick to use it that way...pain with them thin wires and that's why I wen the X-Arcade route the 2nd time around (even over the J-Pac kits too).

http://www.guystuff.fanspace.com/photo.html

Golan- That was a "nice" comment

(inside joke)

2-D is so much more fun to play over the 3-D games any day ie: side scrollers, platformers and top-view games

Post by **Jeff-20** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 11:18 am

I think the NES spoiled 2D side scrollers/platformers for an entire generation. The companies must assume everyone is sick of them; however, a new generation (dragos' son) who completely missed that genre may take interest in those type of games.

gklinger · Post by **gklinger** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 12:52 pm

Centallica wrote:It's a prototype game that never went into production but there are 2-3 around...on my dream list to play that's for sure...

Speaking of games on one's dream list to play, behold Marble Madness 2: Marble Man. I would gladly pay $100 to play it just once and I would pay $10,000 for a dump of the ROM if it is even half as good as I think it is. (Yeah, I'm a huge Marble Madness fan.)

telengard · Post by **telengard** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 11:18 pm

gklinger wrote:
Centallica wrote:It's a prototype game that never went into production but there are 2-3 around...on my dream list to play that's for sure...
Speaking of games on one's dream list to play, behold Marble Madness 2: Marble Man. I would gladly pay $100 to play it just once and I would pay $10,000 for a dumb of the ROM if it is even half as good as I think it is. (Yeah, I'm a huge Marble Madness fan.)

Me too. Was one of my favorites when it first came out. The sounds/music (as well as the gameplay) are just great. So sad we may never be able to play this. Another game that looks *very* interesting and is in the same boat is Akka Arrh. I really would like to play this one.

http://www.atarigames.com/safestuff/aa.htm

He went through a lot of trouble it seems to acquire this stuff. Too bad he can't share it. This guy has a LOT of goodies.

~telengard

ral-clan · Post by **ral-clan** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 8:41 am

I found this article today:

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_19730.aspx

I've been to both of the arcades mentioned (the one on Young St. and the one in Union Station).

I remember taking the bus down to the local mall around 1983, with my $2.50 allowance in pocket to play Scramble, Yie-Ar-Kungfu, Sinistar, Tron, Plieades, etc. at the arcade. Fun times. I usually only lasted about 30 seconds on any of the games, but we were so enthralled.

I agree that they were kind of seedy places though. I don't blame my parents for not being overjoyed I was going to the arcade to blow all my money.

gklinger · Post by **gklinger** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:02 am

ral-clan wrote:I found this article today:

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_19730.aspx

How depressing.

As it happens, I was in the Union Station arcade just last week. I went in to see if they had any decent (meaning pre 1985). Part of the reason those arcades are failing is a lack of marketing acumen. They're dingy, the decor is dated and having lots of 'out of order' game doesn't help. Either does having games nobody wants to play which is another way of saying that they don't seem to know who their target market is. They either need to go after the youth market which means always having the latest games (which is costly) or turning them into 'retrocades' with lots of games that were successful in the late 70/80's along with music and movie posters etc. from the same era. There are a few such places that are quite successful catering to the 30+ crowd.

Arcades are a dying breed and the operators don't seem interested in or capable of doing anything to prevent the extinction.

ral-clan · Post by **ral-clan** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:37 am

I agree with Golan. Arcades are no longer the place you go to play the game (i.e. the latest games). You go there for the "experience" i.e. the colourful cabinets, the lights, the music, the food, the experience with friends. It doesn't matter if the game is cutting edge. In fact, retro is probably better. Arcades can no longer compete with home video game systems in terms of technology, so they shouldn't try.

It's like movie houses after VHS and DVD came around. They became more about the experience of going to the movies, than just what was on the screen.

Actually, I think the mini-arcades in those giant mega-cinemas are doing alright. They always seem to be packed before and after the movie, anyway.

pitcalco · Post by **pitcalco** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 2:56 pm

My mother totally forbade my brother and me going to arcades. I was not so interested in going to such places, but my brother really liked them and sneaked off to go there with his friends. My mother was convinced that arcades were dens of youth criminality and where drugs flourished. (Ironic that she did not mind sending us to school where my brother eventually did get into drugs and crime

)

When I was really young we had an Atari 2600 at home which was fine with me. After I was a bit older, I was only really into games like SimCity and Civilisation, i.e. games that were long and not well suited to an arcade box. I don't think the arcades would have made much money off me if I were to pop in a single coin and play SimCity for a few hours.