Are Brick and Mortar Arcades Facing Extinction?

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
Joined
May 9, 2000
Messages
75,399
There was a time when you could find a ‘game room’ on just about any corner or shopping center across the US. Times have changed and the industry has fallen on lean times mainly due to the number of households that have gaming consoles.

"The next wave is interactivity," he said. "Right now you sit in the cinema but what if - for part of the movie - people started to interact with the action?
Click to expand...
 
There's still such a thing?

Last time I saw a "game room" was at my nephews birthday party at Chuck E Cheese.
 
There is one in the mall near where I live. The game selection is atrocious and every time I see it I wonder how it is still in business.
 
Still 3 places in Canada to play arcade games :D Chuck E Cheese's, Rucker's, and Easy Street(best one).
 
Not in Portland, lol. Ground Kontrol is the place!! It gets quite the revenue i hear. Because its an old school nickel arcade, and it serves beer too :cool:
 
The good/decent only ones I know of are Dave and Busters. There was a Sega owned one up near Chicago but I can't remember the name of it...
 
Ashbringer said:
Yea seriously. Ever since the 8-bit Nintendo I've never step foot into one.
Click to expand...

But there were games that was still better in the arcade:

Mortal Kombat
Killer Instinct
Daytona USA
Virtual Fighter
Run and Gun Basketball
Street Fighter
The House of the Dead
Police 911
Revolution X

The Playstation and N64 ended the arcade era.
 
Arcades are alive and well over here in Asia. Years before "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band", I've already been playing Guitar Freaks, Drum Mania and Beatmania. Shame Konami didn't really expand them much in terms of country availability. The games were restricted to this side of the Pacific actually, Australia and New Zealand being the only "Western" countries with access to it (through Konami's music gaming division, Bemani).


Our primary "arcade gaming" company right now is Timezone, which is from Australia. We also have local counterparts for them.

Understandably though, almost all of the machines are from Japan. Most are the "Asia-Pacific" versions meaning they're in English (sometimes there's a separate Korean/Chinese version though). Some game machines got here directly, meaning they're the original Japanese versions.

Examples of popular arcade games would be Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Freaks, Drum Mania, Beatmania, DJMax Technica, Pump Fiesta, Tekken 6, Initial D, Maximum Tune, Time Crisis, etc.
 
Forgot to add Street Fighter, of course it had to have an arcade version. LOL
Marvel v. Capcom, Silent Scope, House of the Dead, Soul Calibur, Virtua Fighter, etc.
Daytona USA is still "kicking", then there's a more recent NASCAR Arcade from EA.

There's the "hit this circular pad with a hammer with all your strength" thingy, then basketball, air hockey...

The Playstation and N64 ended the arcade era.
Click to expand...

No it didn't. Not over here anyway LOL
 
there is still a huge arcade up where we go camping, and if its raining we go there and kill some time $20 for $45 worth of tokens goes along way with the 2 kids I have, and I do enjoy myself some old school pac man
 
I still go to an arcade sometimes. I never spend much though. The last time I went to an Arcade was at Santa Cruz. I haven't been to an arcade in my hometown in a couple years.
 
entropy13 said:
No it didn't. Not over here anyway LOL
Click to expand...

Arcades were the pure experience back then. When Playstation and N64 was released, 3D gaming took over.
Also they had enough hp to outperform arcade machines for the first time, along with more exclusive titles.

After the PS and N64 hit the market, game rooms were closing left and right here in Miami.
My favorite game room in the 90's is now were I pump my gas. Gone. :(
 
Worked for Pocket Change/ Fun'N'Games in the Brandon, Fl mall from 96-00. At the time consoles were becoming better and the last thing they were thinking of was linking some games between arcades, but I only seen a slight decline. I think standalone arcades won't last long if they don't rethink their business. We still have a Tilt, Chucky Cheese, Gameworks/Station, and a Grand Prix in the Tampa/Brandon area.

The games in Tilt are old and in disrepair, don't know about the other locations.
 
Arcades are still unmatched when it comes to games like Dance Dance revolution or virtual golf/bowling, and mechanical games like air hockey or paddle ball. As long arcades focus on games that can not be exactly duplicated by a home console, they will have business. Esspecially if they locate in places that will already draw people, like bowling alleys or laser tag.
 
I hope namco station doesn't go under. I still want that damned pacman ghost :D (though I could probably just buy one cheaper than the 103485683 tickets it costs to get one...
 
I don't think it was home consoles that killed the arcade. I think the arcade industry got greedy trying to milk quarters from the casual gamer and ignoring the hardcore gamer. Arcades can potentially offer a lot of things that a gamer can't get at home.
 
Well... when shit costs $1-2 per fucking play, it's pretty much bullshit expensive.

I've been to D&B a couple of times, food is okay, games are expensive.
 
The only arcade in my area closed in '92. It caused the closing of the pizza joint next door. Mmmm, Pizza.
 
All the arcades around Springfield MA are dead. The only place that has any arcade machines around is the local bowling alley.
 
I'm old enough to remember arcades as smokey, dark places where you could hardly hear yourself think and your mother didn't want you to go. Those places have been mostly gone for more than 20 years, and totally gone for 15 years aside from a few special ones here and there that are thriving due to their throwback/hold-out status (i.e. could not survive in a truly competitive market).

I wonder how old the OP is to ask this question?
 
The prime real estate is still within malls for places like this... the rent is so damned high you literally have to have someone playing 1/4 of your machines, for the full working day you are open, just to pay for rent electricity and break even on the loans you paid for the machines... and thats if the one who owns it is the only one working there...lol...
 
I miss the F out of arcades. At the peak my hometown had six respectable arcades and the town only had 140,000 in population at the time. One was truly a capital A arcade as I remember it... all games except for one billiards table, totally full of smoke at all times, you're elbow to elbow with drug dealers. The last time I remember going there was 1992 when Mortal Kombat was brand new. I think it closed down in early 1993.
 
I worked for cyberstation (under namco) about 15 years ago. It was great. Have not seen an arcade in a long time. There are a few coin-op games at the theater, but that's about it.
 
Interactive cinematic media is a dumb idea...we have good video games that offer this kind of experience. I remember seeing a news report like 20 years ago about movies where the audience would VOTE on what the main char was gonna do next...at the movies, people don't want to engage in activity, they want to be entertained
 
I don't think it's how common home consoles are. Consoles were pretty common decades ago.

What was awesome about arcades back in the day was they had games that offered both graphics and gameplay that simply weren't available on home consoles... Felt like they were 2+ generations ahead.

You don't see that same advanced technology with current arcade machines. The "playing field" is all too level. Why go to an arcade if you can play the same thing at home for a fixed price?

That being said, you do have arcades like Funspot in New Hampshire that have many, many of the older arcade classics available to play. It's actually the largest arcade in the world, according to the Guiness Book of World Records.
 
MajorDomo said:
Times have changed and the industry has fallen on lean times mainly due to the number of households that have gaming consoles.
Click to expand...

I disagree with that. Arcade games were always more to play. The lights, the people, everything about it made it more fun.

What makes me pass up playing most games I see these days: the $1.00+ price tag to play them.
 
entropy13 said:
Arcades are alive and well over here in Asia. Years before "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band", I've already been playing Guitar Freaks, Drum Mania and Beatmania. Shame Konami didn't really expand them much in terms of country availability. The games were restricted to this side of the Pacific actually, Australia and New Zealand being the only "Western" countries with access to it (through Konami's music gaming division, Bemani).
Click to expand...

Back in the late 90s when my friend and I used to frequent our neighborhood arcade in IL, they imported a bunch of the Bemani games. We had a few different Beatmania games, Guitar Freaks, and then DDR. Spent a bunch of time on those, and got fairly good at the older Beatmania 5-key games.

I'm pretty sure we spent the most money on Gauntlet Legends though, back when it first came out and you had the always decreasing health ticking away. When we finally beat the game with our high level characters, it tallied up how many credits we had spent. We probably could have almost bought the machine.

I miss the hell out of arcades.
 
It's a shame,but it's nearly impossible to find a real arcade anymore. They use to be everywhere on the boardwalks down on the Jersey shore,now most of the real game machines have been replaced with gambling type machines.Seems most so-called arcades are only interested in milking money from suckers who end up paying fours times what the prizes are worth by the time they collect enough tickets. This is progress?
 
dumb article. They have been dead for 15 years.

but I sure as hell loved arcades. our closest one was an hour walk away from our house, @ putt-putt. Used to love getting $5 in tokens and playing the hell out of it. Awesomeness was when someone put a robatron in a 7-11 closer to our house. Not only that, it must have been set to easy because I could play for an hour on a quarter.
 
Yeah arcades were dead over a decade ago. But I was surprised when a large entertainment center opened up at my local mall. It's not an arcade only per se, it lumped bowling, karaoke, ping pong, and cafeteria together. You can see the list of arcade games here. It's almost always crowded there.
 
There is one left here and it does very well... 80+ games.
$2.50 admission per person and 5cents a game with some free games.
 
sigh... when I got my 1st paycheck the 1st thing I did, was go to an arcarde, and get a $20.00 roll of quarters... I felt like I had arrived!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top