Arcade Games - Dead Technology?

[D-Man]

I'm really on a video games kick, as of late...

There was a time when arcade games were the mecca of the gaming industry. It wasn't a possibility for your average Joe to afford a video game with the technological enhancements, gameplay, and graphics that arcade games were able to provide users. For these reasons, it was a lucrative business and at the top of the gaming food chain. In other words, people played and paid their hard-earned money for arcade games because they couldn't get that kind of entertainment, challenge, and fun at home.

With the advances in technology as it pertains to modern gaming inside the home, (PS3, XBox 360, Wii, etc.) gamers no longer need to leave their living rooms to play videos games that are on the same level that arcade games used to be. And now, with the creation of online gaming, not only can gamers get better gameplay than the arcades used to provide but now they could challenge whoever they want, whenever they want, all around the world through the internet. It's really quite amazing.

Over time, we all saw this coming. But did any of us expect it to happen this quickly? More and more, we see arcades shutting their doors because they are unable to make money. The only types of games that currently cannot be fully duplicated at home would be pinball machines and they lost their luster at the end of the 70's and into the early 80's.

Oh, how I miss arcade games. Am I alone in thinking this way?

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Believe me D-Man you are far from the only person who misses arcades.

I used to go to arcades every weekend and spent my allowance playing all my favorite games such as Star Wars Arcade, WWF Wrestlefest, Tekken, Mortal Kombat II and even the classic games such as Frogger and Ms. Pacman (I was on a huge Ms. Pacman kick for the longest time).

They had a massive Arcade in West Edmonton Mall which had pretty much every game you could think of. I remember playing interactive games such as shooting the basketball while the hoop was moving, or the quarterback game where you would try to complete passes and try to score a touchdown, even a hockey game where they put you in a simulated hockey rink and you tried to score from various different spots on the rink with a makeshift goalie in the way.

Lately the only arcades I can find in Calgary are the shitty ones that you find in various movie theatres and I truly miss the old school arcades.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I miss arcades too. They were an iconic part of a gamer's life back in the day. Unfortunately they have forever been replaced by online gameplay, where gamers can interact without ever having to leave their computer or X-Box. Arcades had a large variety of titles. Older legends like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Space Invaders were always to be found. A plethora of fighting games were available such as Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, or Tekken, to name a few. I usually enjoyed the side-scrolling beat em up's the most though. King of Dragons and Turtles in Time were by far my favorites.

There were a couple of gems I found along the way that I never saw more than once and they really stuck out to me. There was a Dungeons & Dragons side-scroller similar to King of Dragons that I really liked, and a GI Joe game where you were scrolling forwards rather than to the side and up to four people could play it. There was Roadblock, Duke, Snake Eyes, and a fourth person who I forget. I never saw that game anywhere else but three friends and I once had a great time playing it at an arcade back in 94.

These places are missed by older gamers everywhere. They were a great place to make friends within the gaming community, spend some cash, and just have a good time when you were bored. Unfortunately they are now but memories of another time because they have permanently been replaced. Arcades will forever live on in our nostalgic memories though.