The More Things Change

[ace_of_something]

Say what you will about Arcades but I met my wife at one in high school playing Mortal Kombat 3. Arcades forced you to have some modicum of human interaction.
People didn't trash talk like they do now because you could, if so inclined, reach over and punch their goddamn face for being a jackass.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Something somewhere went horribly wrong.

 

[Grape_Nuts]

I nominate this for the best Critical Miss of 2013.

 

[mysecondlife]

Despite all its hunger for quarters, I love its atmosphere sometimes. Playing tetris in the arcade definitely beats playing on smartphone.

 

[Aardvaarkman]

You owned the arcade cabinet? Didn't it have a DIP switch to enable free play mode? Or were the quarters just to add to the experience?

P.S. Thanks

Not really. It was just like the strip implies. Whenever you went into an arcade, you had to buy one of the consoles before you could play it (by shoveling in quarters).

And just like today's home consoles, you didn't really own the arcade system either. They remained the property of the manufacturer because of the EULA you agreed too by walking through the front door of the arcade.

That still doesn't make sense. You wrote that you paid "thousands" for the arcade cabinet, and then had to keep putting quarters in it.

If you paid thousands of dollars for the cabinet - then you owned it, and wouldn't have to put any quarters in to play it, or if you did, you would get them back because you owned the key to the cash box. You may have even been making money from it by taking other people's quarters if you owned an arcade.

If you did not own the machine, then you did not have to pay thousands of dollars up-front - you just paid the quarters for each game.

 

[PunkRex]

Well the difference between today's paywalls and the arcade is that the arcades did not charge a $30 entrance fee.

No, they charged you a quid and then cheated you out of it with undodgable attacks and rubble banding.

My brother and me lost alot of time/money playing the Simpsons arcade game...

Shit was hard as balls.

And you both loved every second of it. There's something to be said when your highscore goes unbeaten for 4 years.

Nowadays, you pay 60 and then they bilk you out another 30...

This is true I suppose.

The simple fact is not only do I not want a Xbone or PS4 but even if I did I couldn't afford it.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Thank God my parents never allowed me to play these games. I was a stupid kid, but I never saw arcade games outside of amusement parks anyway. I used my pocket money for something far more valuable and sensible:

POKÉMON CARDS FUCK YEAH!

 

[Bindal]

You owned the arcade cabinet? Didn't it have a DIP switch to enable free play mode? Or were the quarters just to add to the experience?

P.S. Thanks

Not really. It was just like the strip implies. Whenever you went into an arcade, you had to buy one of the consoles before you could play it (by shoveling in quarters).

And just like today's home consoles, you didn't really own the arcade system either. They remained the property of the manufacturer because of the EULA you agreed too by walking through the front door of the arcade.

That still doesn't make sense. You wrote that you paid "thousands" for the arcade cabinet, and then had to keep putting quarters in it.

If you paid thousands of dollars for the cabinet - then you owned it, and wouldn't have to put any quarters in to play it, or if you did, you would get them back because you owned the key to the cash box. You may have even been making money from it by taking other people's quarters if you owned an arcade.

If you did not own the machine, then you did not have to pay thousands of dollars up-front - you just paid the quarters for each game.

Si, if you paid thousands for the cabinet well then you didn't need quarters, you could had just adjusted the DIP. Arcade owners can do that you know... they can set up how many coins it takes how many lives, the difficulty, all of that. And even if you did... you had key to cash box, heck you could just keep the door open.


also while arcade games were coin suckers you have to appreciate that while they charged you quarter after quarter. how much you got of of that quarter varied on your skill and even if you didn't finish the game putting your initials in the top 3 was a hell of a good feeling, coming back a couple weeks later and still seeing it there...even better.

How about you two stop taking his words literal. It should be quite obvious that he didn't mean that he actually bought an arcade machine but that it was LIKE BUYING A CONSOLE (by spending tons of quarters)

 

[Spearmaster]

I don't remember paying $400 to get into an arcade and then paying $60 just to stand in from of a machine though.

I liked being able to put a quarter in and if it wasn't that good I wasn't out $60, just a quarter, ahh the selection.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

My brother and me lost alot of time/money playing the Simpsons arcade game...

Shit was hard as balls.

Oh god, I remember... So many quarters lost... Yeah, they knew how to make you pull out another quarter alright.

OT: >_<

Don't tell me this trend will continue unabated.

 

[OctoberFox]

Except if you got better it was like standing up to those cabinets. Games like Street Fighter, Pit Fighter, Black Tiger, Bubble Bobble were skill based and rarely so cheap as to demand your cash. Beat em Ups were infamous for their quarter stealing cheapness, with few exceptions. Back in the day though, for a quarter, you got A LOT of quality gaming, and it was more than just a game and extra (tip please!) it was about being at the arcade, getting together with your buds, socializing IN PERSON, hanging out and having fun.

Those were the days, my friends, those were definitely the days.

 

[piinyouri]

I'm old enough that I've lived through the arcade era, but I was never a fan.
Would rather(when I was younger) ask my parents for a new game or wait for them to buy one on their own that wouldn't need to be paid for again.

I remember playing a little bit of Gauntlet 64 on a machine with my brother once, and then our local boys and girls club had a gallaga machine with the front plate off that allowed you could reach into it's guts and flip a little lever and just give yourself credits.

 

[Urgh76]

Wallet quest you say?

 

[RJ Dalton]

You know, as outdated as they are, I really miss arcades. I had some good times going to those.

 

[schmulki]

Yea, you had to pump in quarters....until you got really good at the right games. I used to LOVE going into the arcade, pumping in $2 into the NBA Jam machine, and then proceeding to beat everyone who tried facing me (and whoever I got to play with me that day), to the point where people stopped bothering trying. I'd usually get at least 2-3 full games out of it before I didn't get another free game. Good times.

Also, MK2. Seriously, I could hang with the best of em with Katana