No one cares about Arcade Games these days...

[The Dames 0]

I was having a conversation with EQ the other day and also on another board about this subject and figured that I'd throw it out there for you guys to discuss:

 

 

What saddens me is that the state of the Arcade is probably at its lowest point right now. I'd say that 95% of the games out there have to have some sort of gimmick or gimmicked controls to even be popular. DDR, shooting games, horse racing, driving, etc.

 

It seems as if the consoles have pretty much killed the Arcade market due to their powerful capability. It's seldom that you see people waiting for an arcade game to be ported for the home system now that things like PS2's and XBox's are just as powerful. Mortal Kombat 5, Crazy Taxi 2 & 3 and many other games have skipped the arcade scene altogether and it's just sad to me.

 

Soul Caliber II, Tekken 4 and MvC3 (when it comes out) are the only arcade games I can see having the old school following that games like SF2 & MK used to have.

 

Dames

[Guest EQ]

I completely agree. Go into any arcade nowadays and it's all gimmick games (those are the only ones people are playing anyway).

 

I used to go into arcades all the time... but now the only game I go to the arcade to play is Soul Calibur II, and the only reason for that is because I can't play it at home yet.

[Guest areacode212]

I would go into arcades more often....except that there are pretty much none around here anymore. I just don't feel like heading down all the way to Chinatown to play something, nor do I want to pay $1.00 for one fucking game of Tekken 4.

 

I guess it's a combination of high rents + the console effect. It's too bad, since it was a fun place to meet people, plus there's nothing quite as satisfying as watching someone get frustrated and making them spend all their cash because you keep beating their ass in a fighting game.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

I was thinking of posting something like this myself.

 

I love arcades, but the games are too expensive now and you can get beter stuff on the current gaming systems.

[The Dames 0]

I think the prices have gone up, not just because of the economy, but because they need to get back the money they are obviously losing with the dwindling arcade scene. Factor in all of the extra costs needed in order to "gimmick" the game with special controls to give it that "exclusive to the arcade" feel and they need to make up their revenue.

 

AC, I think there are less arcades out there because of the dwindling arcade scene as well. The only ones I know that are left are in Times Square and Chinatown.

 

Dames

[Guest EQ]

See, I never play those gimmick games where it costs like a dollar for one game. Fuck that.

 

I stick to fighting games where it's 50 cents per game... winner stays, loser pays (aaah... the good old MK days)

[The Dames 0]

This has also been reflected in the video game magazines. The front cover was almost ALWAYS the first screenshots of a new, hyped up Arcade game and/or the way to do moves like in MK2. Now, it's all about the consoles.

 

Dames

[Guest areacode212]

AC, I think there are less arcades out there because of the dwindling arcade scene as well.  The only ones I know that are left are in Times Square and Chinatown. 

Supposedly the police shut down Broadway City because of that shooting incident last month. If I have time and it's not raining too hard, I may go see if it's still closed, after I pick up my comic books. So Chinatown Fair is the last "real" arcade in Manhattan.

 

And yeah, as I said, I think it's because of consoles and rents. Arcades have never really struck me as a huge moneymaking business in the first place...maybe something to give a little boost to an existing business, like to attract more kids to your pizza shop or whatever. But for a place like NYC, when you're done paying the insane rent, the cost of renting the machines, paying employees, etc..., there can't be much profit in a dedicated arcade.

 

How is the arcade scene in other parts of the country?

[Guest HollywoodSpikeJenkins]

AC, I think there are less arcades out there because of the dwindling arcade scene as well.  The only ones I know that are left are in Times Square and Chinatown. 

Supposedly the police shut down Broadway City because of that shooting incident last month. If I have time and it's not raining too hard, I may go see if it's still closed, after I pick up my comic books. So Chinatown Fair is the last "real" arcade in Manhattan.

Piece of shit....

 

 

 

 

 

I was gonna go this weekend too.

[The Dames 0]

It was open when I went to the movies on Friday.

 

Dames

[Guest razazteca]

When I went to the arcade at the Ingrim Mall in San Antonio it was full of gimmick games such as 3 DDR games, motion sensor games like boxing, police shooter, skate board games and 3 Capcom fighting games. Also this arcade is using some weird key device to play games so they can control the price on some games. Metal Slug was 30 cents and Capcom vs SNK 2 was 75 cents while the motion games range from $1 - $2 a play.

[Guest Mad Dog]

I lost interest when the prices went up above a quarter and when you could no longer play superior games at the arcade.

 

I will still pay to play the old Simpsons or X-Men games on the rare occasions I still see them.

 

 

In Ohio the arcade scene is actually pretty healthy. We have 2 arcade/bars called Gameworks and Dave & Busters. We also have 3 or 4 laser tag places with decent sized arcades attached. COSI, educational place, added an extensive classic arcade.

[Guest razazteca]

Gameworks is expensive

[Guest Mad Dog]

If you get that preferred players card thing for like a buck it isn't quite so bad. I think it knocks most things down to 65-75 cents for the top of the line stuff and lower for the older stuff.

 

But then I don't buy drinks or try to eat there. I usually get a timed card and play air hockey for the hour.

[Guest CED Ordonez]

Pure arcades around my place in northern California are non-existent. They're kept alive by surrounding them with miniature golf, pizza parlors and even a waterpark.

 

I guess I make for the small percentage that still go to the arcades on a regular basis. I play alot of the gimmick games (DDR, Time Crisis 3) and the fighting games at the Golfland I frequent most. But I'm abandoning that location for another because they seemingly have a 50% out of order rate at all times and refuse to resolve the problem. I've stuck by them for the convenience of their location, but they've no sold their games for their other concessions, so screw them.

[Guest HollywoodSpikeJenkins]

It was open when I went to the movies on Friday.

 

Dames

Thank God.

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

Our arcade sucks and makes you use tokens, and most of the games cost 3 Tokens which means you have to either buy $3 increments worth of tokens to not end up with left over tokens, or save them for a later date, but I can never keep track of em and lose em half the time.

 

Im not even going to debate the fact that the arcade has very few new games. They still have WWF Royal Rumble (3 Tokens!) for crying out loud (which is no fun if no one else is playing, which is the case right now). Only 2 fighting games (SC 2 and Tekken 4). Ton of racing games with 4 setups (Some Japanese Sega racing game that takes cards for rankings, Cruisn Excotica, the ORIGINAL Crazy Taxi, a waverunner game, and a couple more that are more or less generic games.) a couple of shooter games, a couple of the classics (Pac Man, etc..but to hell with 2 tokens ($.50) a play for that.) and the required skee ball, crane lift and air hockey tables..

 

I went there the other day, the first time I've been there in about 3 or 4 months. I used to go every saturday.

[Guest jimmy no nose]

I don't even know where any arcades are any more. The one I used to go to closed down like 6 years ago. I bought 2 of their machines before they left and I still play them. If I could find somewhere nearby with more current games I'd be there at least twice a week.

[Rendclaw 0]

::sighs deeply::

 

This one hits home because I remember the true good old days, back when Space Invaders had started the whole damned thing...

 

I was a true mall-rat, in that I woul skip school, go hang out at the mall, shopilft candy bars and spend what little money I had in the arcade, never mind when I got my allowance, and I would just go nuts.

 

But when the Playstation, Saturn and N64 hit the market, that was the sign of things to come. Arcades were losing money by then anyway, despite healthy and thriving franchises like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter, among other things, and when arcade ports started hitting the shelves, it accelerated the process.

 

I lived for almost ten years in Orlando Florida, and my roommate and I would go out of our way to find arcades and go beat on the machines... hell when life was beating us down, we used to call them "vent sessions". There were (and still are) arcades on disney property, but there were no less than seven to ten arcades in the Orlando area as late at 1997. When I moved up here to Michigan, aside from the disney property, there were no more than five. The Fun Machine was a personal favorite because it was HUGE and had all genres of games, from SF and MK to freaking Sprint, which was made in freaking *1976*.

 

Add to that games getting more expensive to rent as was mentioned, and there being very little difference between console games and their arcade counterparts, its no wonder that crap games dominate the arcades, what few of them remain.... add emulation to that equation, and its just a desolate wasteland, especailly for an old schooler like myself, who still marks out when he sees an arcade game that he used to play way back when.

 

Its a pity, because my life's ambition is to own a chain of successful arcades... not going to happen now, that's for sure....

[Guest HollywoodSpikeJenkins]

::sighs deeply::

 

This one hits home because I remember the true good old days, back when Space Invaders had started the whole damned thing...

 

I was a true mall-rat, in that I woul skip school, go hang out at the mall, shopilft candy bars and spend what little money I had in the arcade, never mind when I got my allowance, and I would just go nuts.

 

But when the Playstation, Saturn and N64 hit the market, that was the sign of things to come. Arcades were losing money by then anyway, despite healthy and thriving franchises like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter, among other things, and when arcade ports started hitting the shelves, it accelerated the process.

 

I lived for almost ten years in Orlando Florida, and my roommate and I would go out of our way to find arcades and go beat on the machines... hell when life was beating us down, we used to call them "vent sessions". There were (and still are) arcades on disney property, but there were no less than seven to ten arcades in the Orlando area as late at 1997. When I moved up here to Michigan, aside from the disney property, there were no more than five. The Fun Machine was a personal favorite because it was HUGE and had all genres of games, from SF and MK to freaking Sprint, which was made in freaking *1976*.

 

Add to that games getting more expensive to rent as was mentioned, and there being very little difference between console games and their arcade counterparts, its no wonder that crap games dominate the arcades, what few of them remain.... add emulation to that equation, and its just a desolate wasteland, especailly for an old schooler like myself, who still marks out when he sees an arcade game that he used to play way back when.

 

Its a pity, because my life's ambition is to own a chain of successful arcades... not going to happen now, that's for sure....

This sounds like a Kevin Smith-written drama

[Guest KoR Fungus]

Wow, I guess I'm just really lucky. We have a true arcade in town, and it has TK4, SC2, CvS2, SF3ts and GGX, along with a ton of other older games (requisite classics like Galaga and Ms PacMan, along with wierdly cool Japanese import stuff like Gamshara), and everything is a quarter. I have no idea how they stay in business, but it's great. The management isn't very friendly, but they keep the games in good shape and let us run tournaments, so I'm happy. The only flaw was that we didn't have any Bemani in town, but the university finally got a Pump machine, which, while not DDR, is certainly better than nothing, and it's only 50 cents a play. I had no idea that arcade games are usually 50 or 75 cents now, that would get really expensive. Yuck.

[Guest Sakura]

There is still a fairly big fighting game scene at the right places. If anything the tournament and high level scene is more organized than ever before.

 

I play Tekken 4 seriously with several regulars.

 

But other than that the arcade has nothing else cool. I have more arcade fighting games in my home than the arcade does.

[Guest EQ]

At the arcade where I live, the only game that has any kind of devoted following is Soul Calibur II... and I'm convinced that it's only because of Conquest Mode

[Guest jimmy no nose]

After reading this yesterday I decided to have some guys come over and play a tournament type thing on the Mortal Kombat II machine I bought years back and it just made me miss even more the days when I used to whip 5 different asses a day in that game. I really need to find an arcade to get to and master a new game. Even if I can there probably won't be as many people to play.

[Guest EQ]

How much was the MKII machine, out of curiosity

[Guest jimmy no nose]

How much was the MKII machine, out of curiosity

$450 from a guy who was closing his arcade and getting out of the business I guess. I don't know if that's a good price or a bad one. I don't know where you could even find them to buy. I also have NBA Jam for the same price. They were very tough and expensive to get home, but it was worth it to me.

[Guest Mad Dog]

That's a pretty good price considering some machines can cost $2000-$4000

[Guest CED Ordonez]

At the arcade where I live, the only game that has any kind of devoted following is Soul Calibur II... and I'm convinced that it's only because of Conquest Mode

I think that's the only big draw for Soul Calibur II. The first two months at my local arcade there was always constant stream of people playing SC II for the sole purpose of either wiping out another army or prevent their army from dying. Either that or leveling up towards Platinum Edge Master of the Phoenix. Once I achieved that status, my interest in the game dwindled as did pretty much everyone else's after they got there.

[Guest Lethargic]

All we have here is a Jillians. Every time I go there I just walk around for an hour looking for something that costs and end up just shooting basketball in the little goal or playing skeeball.

[Guest EQ]

At the arcade where I live, the only game that has any kind of devoted following is Soul Calibur II... and I'm convinced that it's only because of Conquest Mode

I think that's the only big draw for Soul Calibur II. The first two months at my local arcade there was always constant stream of people playing SC II for the sole purpose of either wiping out another army or prevent their army from dying. Either that or leveling up towards Platinum Edge Master of the Phoenix. Once I achieved that status, my interest in the game dwindled as did pretty much everyone else's after they got there.

My character isn't built up very far at all... I don't get a chance to play that often... I just love the game so much though... I play whenever I get the chance. I still play the original SC on my Dreamcast, so SCII will be no different. Once it comes out on the home consoles, I don't plan on making any trips to the arcade until MvC3 or SCIII come out.