Hi there Escapist community, recently I've been going through an Arcade phase and I've been spending a lot of time in Arcades reliving my childhood playing Light Gun Games and getting ripped off at Stacker and I got say, It was fun. But with consoles and PCs dominating the gaming market and Arcades going out of business left and right it's becoming harder to indulge in my new hobby as frequently as I would like. So here is my question to you. Do you still go to Arcades, if so what are your favorite cabinets and do you think Arcades have a modern place in Gaming, and if so how can Arcades still stay modern?
Do you still go to Arcades
- Thread starter SuperScrub
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No, mostly because the kind of games arcades offer either don't interest me or I can get them somewhere else with the added benefit of not having to put in more money each time I want to play.
And even if I wanted to play at an arcade, I pretty much can't anymore. They're non-existent around here.
And even if I wanted to play at an arcade, I pretty much can't anymore. They're non-existent around here.
Only if I have money to play the games I want to. Usually I only have about 50 cents, and the games I would like to play are usually a dollar or more. That, and the closest arcade I have is in a movie theater about 30 miles from my house that I only ever rarely go to.
This. Where there any non-Dave and Busters arcades near me I'd be there in a heartbeat. Sadly I'm not driving from Maryland to New Jersey just to scratch that particular itch. The last arcade near me got replaced by a nail salon ~15 years ago. It was a dark day.piinyouri said:
Ouch, the only arcade near you in your state is replaced by a nail salon that's just cold and unfortunate.ThingWhatSqueaks said:
Nope. Nothing I really wanna play and none nearby. Hell, playing on consoles for me is akin to going to the arcade.
They were never that popular over here and I don't really have the urge to visit one. There is probably one around 20 km away... probably combined with a gambling/sports bar but most of those places are pretty shady..
Everytime I see one, which is unfortunately quite rare. We still have a small one in our mall, which used to be an Aladdin's Castle, but got replaced by the...Family..Fun Zone. Stupid ass name, but it uses all the exact same machines that came with the place. I guess it was to appeal to families more? I don't know. It's rarely used. I see people all the time say "I can get a better experience at home", but that's stupid. You may get a more relaxed experience at home, but it's nowhere near the same thing. A good arcade is filled with people who have the same passion as you do, video games. There's the opportunity of high scores, and there's no amount of home motion sensors that can match the accuracy of a good light gun game.
Unless you spend hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars, you won't get the same experience of driving games that have the bass and rumble, force feedback, and sometimes multiple screens.
As cheap as the stuff is, earning those tickets and trading in for that cheap prize is a memory of hopefully having a good time, knowing you earned it.
Unfortunately, no one cares anymore. They're all lazy or just don't make time (sometimes they just can't). It upsets me greatly to see even good arcades just go. Consoles were at one point the greatest competition, and their goal to surpass arcades has succeeded. Everyone says they're too expensive, that it takes dollars just to get anywhere. Well sure, if you're bad at it. The point is to see how far you can make your dollar go. If you get better, you won't need to pay for extra lives or plays. I've gotten through over half of Time Crisis 3 on two plays.
Unless you spend hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars, you won't get the same experience of driving games that have the bass and rumble, force feedback, and sometimes multiple screens.
As cheap as the stuff is, earning those tickets and trading in for that cheap prize is a memory of hopefully having a good time, knowing you earned it.
Unfortunately, no one cares anymore. They're all lazy or just don't make time (sometimes they just can't). It upsets me greatly to see even good arcades just go. Consoles were at one point the greatest competition, and their goal to surpass arcades has succeeded. Everyone says they're too expensive, that it takes dollars just to get anywhere. Well sure, if you're bad at it. The point is to see how far you can make your dollar go. If you get better, you won't need to pay for extra lives or plays. I've gotten through over half of Time Crisis 3 on two plays.
There's a Funspot in Laconia NH USA that I'll likely visit soon. 100 coins for $20, and each game, like pong, is one coin a piece. But it is only for the nostalgia rush. Playing Alice, Madness Returns on PC is from 2011 and more gorgeous than we could have thought when Space Invaders came out.
The only arcade that we had around here was at the mall, right by the entrance. It's closed now. It was a FOX racing brand store and the last time I checked that was turned into a Anime/Video Game Toy Store with plushies, posters, etc. I haven't been there for a while to see what it is now. You might manage to find a cabinet or two in the bowling alley, but we don't have anymore arcades.
Not anymore, think i stopped going to arcades right around the release of the first Playstation. It just became unnecessary when I can play games that look just about as good at home while allowing me to actually own the game.
Thankfully, consoles made arcades rather pointless.
Thankfully, consoles made arcades rather pointless.
No and I lived in coastal town where they have a four of them (maybe five if I include the cinema aswell)!
The only time I do go them is when my cousins are in town as they do like playing the games with the tickets as reward.
Even then the majority of those arcade are those gambling sort of game and the actually games they have are lame (Guitar Heroes, few racing games and Rambo and Terminator Salvation FPS).
The only time I do go them is when my cousins are in town as they do like playing the games with the tickets as reward.
Even then the majority of those arcade are those gambling sort of game and the actually games they have are lame (Guitar Heroes, few racing games and Rambo and Terminator Salvation FPS).
A Dave & Buster's finally opened near me last month, and you can bet that I was there not long after. I was kind of disappointed, though; the selection of games wasn't as good as I'd hoped (I love playing light-gun games in arcades, but lately they're just crap, especially the "Aliens" and "Terminator: Salvation" ones). Still, it was great to indulge my inner arcade rat once more.
I got through one and a half levels of House of the Dead 4 going guns akimbo. Now that was fun.AnthrSolidSnake said:
I'm an 80s kid. Technically a 70s kid, but we'll stick to the part that is relevant to the topic.
Anyway, I grew up as video arcades were first popping up. They were a huge part of my childhood. Playing PAC-MAN and Donkey Kong at Chuck E. Cheese was... is... among my favorite childhood memories.
That said though, there simply are no more arcades here where I live. There's a few of those big mega places like Dave And Busters in Dallas, but that's a long drive from here. Way too far to go visit regularly and way too expensive to make a habit of. And last time I was there it was mostly just Crane machines and DDR at this point anyway.
I miss the arcade fighting game days. Early 90s were the most fun arcades ever were for me. I was pretty good at Street Fighter 2 and loved challenging new players, learning new strategies, etc. Pre-internet it was a different kind of world and finding like minded people who shared your passion for gaming wasn't as easy as opening a browser window, so it also doubled as a social function.
Ahh... memories.
Anyway, I grew up as video arcades were first popping up. They were a huge part of my childhood. Playing PAC-MAN and Donkey Kong at Chuck E. Cheese was... is... among my favorite childhood memories.
That said though, there simply are no more arcades here where I live. There's a few of those big mega places like Dave And Busters in Dallas, but that's a long drive from here. Way too far to go visit regularly and way too expensive to make a habit of. And last time I was there it was mostly just Crane machines and DDR at this point anyway.
I miss the arcade fighting game days. Early 90s were the most fun arcades ever were for me. I was pretty good at Street Fighter 2 and loved challenging new players, learning new strategies, etc. Pre-internet it was a different kind of world and finding like minded people who shared your passion for gaming wasn't as easy as opening a browser window, so it also doubled as a social function.
Ahh... memories.
I'm sorry, but your post drove me to tears and made me happy to be a gamer. And you reminded me why I like going to Arcades.AnthrSolidSnake said:
I would be lying if I said I didn't... (Huh... Déjà vu...)
Well, actually it's more of a love/confused relationship... If it has DDR, Time Crisis, Arctic Thunder, Ninja Turtles, Star Wars, and/or anything Namco-related... I'm in full content... Although, the arcade version of Guitar Hero still puzzles me somehow...
I think the thing that confuses me more is that even though I still love going to arcades, I would not have the feeling of missing them when they're all gone... Then again, if parents are still taking their kids to these arcades... then, they're not going away anytime soon...
(I still miss this one arcade that was near my favorite movie theater... It was replaced with another clothing store... *sniffs*)
Well, actually it's more of a love/confused relationship... If it has DDR, Time Crisis, Arctic Thunder, Ninja Turtles, Star Wars, and/or anything Namco-related... I'm in full content... Although, the arcade version of Guitar Hero still puzzles me somehow...
I think the thing that confuses me more is that even though I still love going to arcades, I would not have the feeling of missing them when they're all gone... Then again, if parents are still taking their kids to these arcades... then, they're not going away anytime soon...
(I still miss this one arcade that was near my favorite movie theater... It was replaced with another clothing store... *sniffs*)