What happened to Arcade games?

slowbiz

slowbiz

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The other day, while Christmas shopping, a friend and I decided to give ourselves a break and play some Street Fighter III. So, we headed over to the arcade and had a blast. While I was walking around the arcade, I started wondering where all the new games are. Other than DDR, there weren't really any new games. This arcade is the largest arcade in the city, and they do very well, so one would think they'd have all the new games. Is it just me, or are arcades on the way out? It seems like theres so much hype around consoles and PC games, but what about the good old fashioned arcade?
 
well obviosly they are a bit past their prime besides the $1+ per play games. i know in japan they are still very popular.
 
I think its pretty much past its prime. If they could come out with some fun racing or shooters games that you could be competitive in, they could make a comeback. Initial D is a fun racing game with the PvP battles. I still love to play F355 Challenge in one of the arcades here, that game is well over a few years old but its still a blast to play.

Idk, doesnt seem like theres much more to do, all the shooter games are pretty much the same. Time Crysis 3 is fun but its old, coming out with another Time Crysis without changing up the gameplay wouldnt be worth it.

They just need to come out with something that has a new style of gameplay that hasnt been done yet, whatever that would be.

I bet if they just put a few Wiis in the arcade, it would bring in some customers :)
 
I hear ya. It seems like they could come out with some good ones, but then again people can play fun, great looking games at home on their consoles or PC's. One thing I do miss is pinball machines. I have a tough time finding them in arcades and they are my favorite. The only way to get my fix is at a movie theater or pizza place, and the pizza place charges 25 cents a ball. :rolleyes:
 
CompuDrew said:
I hear ya. It seems like they could come out with some good ones, but then again people can play fun, great looking games at home on their consoles or PC's. One thing I do miss is pinball machines. I have a tough time finding them in arcades and they are my favorite. The only way to get my fix is at a movie theater or pizza place, and the pizza place charges 25 cents a ball. :rolleyes:
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There is a thriving enthusiast community involved with buying and restoring old pinball machines. I used to know a guy that had two of them at his house.
 
Arcades in America are pretty much dead, with some still existing, but not in the numbers we saw in the 90s. The best arcade here was in Downtown Boston, had the massive screens where everyone could see you trounce someone in Street Fighter 3, MvC2, Soul Calibur, etc., but it closed down years ago. The closest one to me, Replay Arcade, had older games, but you could play almost everything there (Metal Slug, MvC, some shooters, some other crappier games) for a quarter. They converted to a pure ticket arcade (prize tickets, bleh). Dream Machine arcades? All of them are gone. All the games that were in arcades were being released on consoles, and a lot of games weren't getting released here, or were very limited in release (Guilty Gear, Cave games, etc.) which probably helped kill off almost everything.

For arcade cultures, Japan and Hong Kong have healthy ones. When I was in HK, there would be arcades with hundreds of games, taking up 1 entire floor of a shopping center, set up so that you could even play two-player games without having to play on the same cabinet (it would be two cabs set up back to back, so you could play without knowing who your opponent was). Sure they had the DDRs (like 5 of them), but also stuff like Guitar Freak, Guilty Gear XX, shooters, other fighters, etc. It was fun for downtime during my project work.
 
well of course, the internet and modern consoles killed arcades.. online gaming is so much easier and more fun, instead of having to leave the house (lazy) to trek to the mall or whatever just to throw all their cash away into a game they can't keep, kids would rather just hang at home and if they want some mp, they have a few thousand of opponents instead of 6 guys in an arcade standing around the machine :p
 
I don't know, it makes sense that they're dying, but there's something special about arcades that you can't get anywhere else. I remember strangers huddling around Mortal Kombat 2 and becoming friends. Also, nothing is more satisfying than beating an arcade game.
 
Aladdins catle was ALL that when I was coming up and I miss true arcades...super dark with accent lighting, that flourescent type carpet with stars and planets on it, the sounds of bleeps and explosions all around, and the occasional profanity because someone got owned.

Here in Miami there is a huge arcade like place called Gameworks and another one called Dave & Busters. They have alot of arcade games and pinball (my fav) with newer ones almost every time I go, but also have an eat in diner and grill, not to mention skeeball and other non-arcade type games, even liquor.

Arcade isn't dead per se, but it has evolved to fit a very specific niche of family type stuff. No longer the 'hangout' spot where you can skip school and smoke, bum quarters and maybe get a slice of pizza, and pick up wimmin. *sighS* good times, gooooooood times.. :D



 
thought of arcades disappearing is sad.

i remember huddling around mortal kombat 3 and Ultimate MK3 and makin friends and sharing info, and also Killer Instinct.and Cruisin USA when it was the Shiz!

/me wants a Ultimate MK3 arcade machine!!!
 
*sigh* I remember playing asteriods after school and on weekends at "Steve's Arcade" in texas....

And I also was one of the first to play the original "Space War" at San Fransisco airport in the late 70's.......
 
Mark_Warner said:
Too expensive to build and maintain.
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I disagree. Back in the day they were very expensive to build and maintain, but now a days alls you need "brainswise" is a cheapo pc with halfway descent videocard.

Toss an ole athlon in there with a 9800 Pro and youd be all set to run just about any game out there......

I agree with everyone else that arcade games were awesome. I was seriously addicted to Tekken Tag in college as they had a nice arcade room there. The Asian kids would always kick my ass in that game......damn them =0)

I think its because no one really makes NEW arcade games anymore. People went to arcades to play games that were much more kick ass than the ones you could play on consoles at home. If you can find an arcade now-a-days, they usually only have crappy old games or (even crappier IMO) $5 sim games that have some gimmick to make you play it ie snowboard you stand on. Even though the graphics stink and all us gamers have been playing that type of game for years.

I miss arcades. One day, when I have kids I am going to explain to them that I used to play games at the mall, standing up and without a controller.

:eek: This is a great topic btw
 
ShLoNkY said:
I disagree. Back in the day they were very expensive to build and maintain, but now a days alls you need "brainswise" is a cheapo pc with halfway descent videocard.

Toss an ole athlon in there with a 9800 Pro and youd be all set to run just about any game out there......

I agree with everyone else that arcade games were awesome. I was seriously addicted to Tekken Tag in college as they had a nice arcade room there. The Asian kids would always kick my ass in that game......damn them =0)

I think its because no one really makes NEW arcade games anymore. People went to arcades to play games that were much more kick ass than the ones you could play on consoles at home. If you can find an arcade now-a-days, they usually only have crappy old games or (even crappier IMO) $5 sim games that have some gimmick to make you play it ie snowboard you stand on. Even though the graphics stink and all us gamers have been playing that type of game for years.

I miss arcades. One day, when I have kids I am going to explain to them that I used to play games at the mall, standing up and without a controller.

:eek: This is a great topic btw
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It's not THAT expensive, but it is more expensive than video game companies are willing to put up with. Including the computer, display adapter, cabinet, and the controller, they cost upwards of around $2500 to build one. Say you want to send 3 to every state (give or take 1 or 2 per state), and you're talking about $ 375,000 just to make the boxes. THen you have to ship them. They are so big and fragile that shipping fedex or UPS is basically impossible. You have to pay a courier to drive or fly it out yourself, unless you have a big distribution system set up already. Then you have to have people that go around and actually fix these things. I had a friend that did that in Oklahoma, and he said the repair bills (hard drives, displayes, controllers, etc) are generally around $2000 per machine per year. That's about $300,000 per year maintenence on a single arcade title. Four titles and you're already into a million dollars per year.

It's expensive, but not terribly expensive compared to the cost of development, and the return on investment just isn't there. Console titles cost nothing compared to that, and they sell better. Like has been said before, most people would rather stay home with their consoles. If I had a console, I would.

Add that the rising development cost and shrinking profit margins from video games, and you have a lose-lose situation for arcades.

It is unfortunate, to be sure. Video games used to be a social affair. Now the closest anybody gets is xbox live or WoW (and the like).
 
^^

I agree. Wouldnt be that bad if you built one yourself, but to mass produce them is a different story. Especially the logistics as mentioned above.

You'd also have to take into consideration what platform youd want to run it on. If you, for instance, had a windows box inside the arcade machine, you could run plenty of games easily but then again who would want to pay for something thats already out for PC and all the consoles?? It would cost too much to design your own platform and write games for it......

Arcades were only really profitable when no one had consoles. Let alone consoles with a million different titles to choose from. The new gen arcade "sim" type games that cost $4 to play must be super expensive to make.

I should buy every early 90s arcade game I can find, wait 10 years and start up my own arcade and charge $5 for a round of MKII. ;)

Pinball is a totally different story btw. You cannot recreate a kickass pinball machine on a console or PC. Just doesnt have the same "feel" Now if you could bolt a 42" widescreen to a tabletop........ I think I may be on to something here. Would be MUCH MORE cost effective than desiging an actual pinball machine.

And then theres mega-touch and photohunt with the naked ladies I play at the bars.......
 
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