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Why would you go to an Arcade?
TheSeaking
Registered User new member
Registered User new member
In this modern age of gaming, home consoles and the internet have converted gamers into hordes of unwashed masses hiding behind LCD screens and Gamertags.
Looking for a more social interaction with the people who kick my ass in games i have been looking into arcades and "gaming lounge" type facilities to see if there is any real reason to go one and pay to play the games i may or may not have at home.
What could get you to go to an arcade, or why did you go to an arcade before in your life?
Looking for a more social interaction with the people who kick my ass in games i have been looking into arcades and "gaming lounge" type facilities to see if there is any real reason to go one and pay to play the games i may or may not have at home.
What could get you to go to an arcade, or why did you go to an arcade before in your life?
TheSeaking on
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Being in a room full of people who were just as into a competitive game as you were was always really fun.
As are the 4-player lightgun games with big plastic rifles. I almost broke a passer-by's nose once while I was reloading.
Shogun Streams Vidya
And this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVXNnWVIIGE&feature=related
Meet new people or maybe just to show off, the social aspect is undeniable.
Time Crisis that is.
We had an arcade/movie rental place/pizza parlor when I was a kid called Movie Mall
Everyone I know within my age range, currently a gamer or not, looks back and fondly remembers that place. Some coworkers and I have been talking of making a day and going to a Dave and Busters.
Especially fighting games. People would have to coin toss for who was going to play on the shitty side.
They have a Tekken 2 machine in there. No other arcade games.
I always think to myself, "That's so fucking random to have a game that old in your new pizza parlor."
Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
"Some of the panels on the DDR cab are busted."
"Can't you still play that game without one arrow?"
"Uh..."
Having said that, by far the most fun I've had in arcades has been whilst travelling - nothing beats relaxing from a hard day beating the streets better than plonking down £5 and getting enough credits to last you a few hours on the cutting-edge stuff from Japan.
Good arcades were hard to find. The one at the mall, back where I lived in California, did a pretty good job upkeeping the machines. Also, the one at the local mini-golf course.
Well, not unless you're willing to shell out absurd wads of cash for Steel Battalion-esque monstrosities.
Sadly, most of the really rad arcade games are pretty much limited to Japan nowadays, where arcades still make some money.
Like so,
http://gizmodo.com/312751/panoramic-mecha-simulator-arcade-game-is-networked-awesome
2-4 player co-op face to face was always the best, fond memories of 4 player gauntlet legends causing friendships to be lost temporarily.
So i guess the consensus so far is, too expensive for broken or out of date games?
Pay for entry for a set time and the machines set to free play within.
No kids under 18.
Food and drink available.
Enough of a crowd for a good social scene but not so over full you never get to go on anything.
A pleasant non smokey, non pitch black, non ear splittingly noisy atmosphere.
And then if someone did build my fairytale entirely un-economically viable arcade I still probably wouldn't ever visit the thing as I'm old and lazy and my wife wouldn't let me go anyway.
I didn't really help did I?
8 Player Daytona is the Citizen Kane of video games. What arcades are 'doing wrong' is that the only people who actually want to go to arcades any more are the people who splurg over MINT CONDITION VIRTUAL ON/ONLY SLIGHTLY BUBLEGUM DAMAGED METAL SLUG 3 (me) and fighting game fans.
The demand simply isn't there.
https://medium.com/@alascii
My kids and I hit Dave and Busters on a semi-regular basis for that. They like the ticket-generating ones, too.
Guild Wars 2: Kendrik.5984
I may never drive a performance car down a twisty japanese mountain in real life, so the arcade will have to do.
I kinda feel bad when I'm winning in SF3:Third Strike one day and then the next day I go back to that arcade place and dump a coin into the other side and find out that the guy that I beat in a close, down the wire match didn't have Medium Kick, and/or down-left at his disposal. Makes my victory taste less sweet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSJG5e0s43c
I've seen one of these years ago, but never had the chance to try it out.
Oh, and this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQuVMLQBhm8
and this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxeuQjpyrnY
and this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5_Gmp0Zcew
3DS FC: 5343-7720-0490
My grandmother, who died of cancer about eight years ago, used to take me and my brother to the latter all the time, supplying us with tokens as we ping-ponged around looking for new games to play and making beelines to our favorites. She was one of the nicest, sweetest people you could have ever met, one of the most beloved people in my life, and while losing the arcades was a minor bummer to me, losing her was far, far worse; it was like my childhood had officially died with her. Screwy as it sounds those days with her were the ones that stand out the most.
Anyway, I loved arcades for many reasons: the atmosphere and being sensorily bombarded by noise and visual stimulation was pleasantly surreal; the anticipation of finding new, potential blockbuster games (like Super Mario Bros. and Street Fighter/SF II, among others) and getting to play them first; the ability to just lose yourself in it all for as long as you want, like being in a bubble of comfort and leisure. It's been a while since I've actually been to an honest-to-goodness arcade, since they're something of a dying breed, but the memories will stick with me.
I'm sure most of you can remember going in to play SF2 and there was always the one kid who kicked everyones ass that you had to try to knock off to get your turn. Dudes setting quartes on the the lip waiting their turn. Good times.
EDIT: About 20 years ago, the waiting area for the pediatric nephrology unit at Syracuse Hospital in NY was setup as a rather impressive play area for kids. Among the attractions was a Pole Position arcade machine. If I remember right it was setup to be played for free.
2) T-Mek
I'd be there as a kid, playing stuff like Golden Axe or Rolling Thunder. She'd be playing one of the pinball machines.
Those were good days.
*pats his X-Arcade*
I actually have an aracde close to me....sort of
It's really a store that sales things for game rooms and offers ping pong lessons. Everything is playable and for sale. They even got a second store by them so they could hold more stuff. It's pretty awesome. They have a lot of pinball and some classics. I was sad that the old Six Million Dollar Man pinball table they had was out of service the last time I went there.
It also has something to do with population density I bet.
I am all about fighting games and pinball at the arcade. I do enjoy the occasional Metal Slug too.
I am lucky enough to have a video game center in my city now (www.ebash.com) and I go there and pay to play because it's a great way to try new games for me without having to breakdown and buy a console with a Gamefly account and all of that. New PS3 game? I can give it a try. New 360 game? I'll give it a whirl. New PC game or Wii game? Have at it. I can try new stuff without having to own it all. It's a lot cheaper. Plus, it's a cool way to meet new people and occasionally have decent LAN games where latency is not an issue.
It's not always just about playing other people but it's about knowing those other people too, you know? If I win or lose to an internet stranger doesn't matter because we're never going to see each other or know who each other is. In person though? It's different.