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What did you like about the arcade environment back-in-the-day?


Keatah

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What did you like about the arcade environment back-in-the-day? Or not? Think late 1970's and ending with the close of the 1980's.

 

A straightforward question. What was it about the arcade environment that was enticing, or counterpoint, a complete turn off?

 

I personally liked the cool, dark, musty atmosphere with the smell of particle board cabinets from which emanated this electric ozone from the high voltage CRTs. Combined with the high contrast of the displays and shutting out the rest of the world. The arcade was a tiny isolated bubble away from the rest of the world. A place to explore alternate universes and socialize with like-minded intelligent people - away from the druggies hanging out the parking lot smoking pot.

 

There's more I liked and disliked, but that will suffice for the moment.

 

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I grew up in early 90s arcades, so more T2 than Karate Kid, but there were some dimly-lit ones I found. Probably like most, I loved that they had what I could only dream of having at home. Yeah, home consoles were amazing for what they were, but there was a marked difference, a difference that didn't get erased until the late 90s. I remember thinking that the PS1-era finally caught up to the arcades. I was impressed by Tekken.

 

I also liked the social atmosphere, and the feeling that you had to be choosy with your quarters. I'd walk around looking for just the right thing to play. In fact, at Barcade down the street, I still do that! I'm less stingy, but it's amazing how quick quarters go these days. They felt like they really lasted back then.

 

It was also kind of a magical place. Yeah, having all your friends around a TV was cool, but we were in a different world in arcades. It was like reading a really good book, or watching Neverending Story or something. Really transported you away.

 

Even at a place like Barcade, the magic isn't there anymore.

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I loved playing games back then, but the vast majority of it was consoles at home, with the same old games over and over. While that was cool in its own right, it meant that arcades were a real treat. Like most kids, I'd usually walk into an arcade with very little money, so I'd savor every last second of the experience. That short-lived "rush" of playing those cabinets for what amounted to spurts of a few minutes at a time is a cherished gaming memory for me.

 

I think spending so much time in the throes of the "last quarter blues" back then has helped shape me into the MAME junkie I am today. I'm like a fat guy at an all you can eat buffet.

 

I also used to love walking into the local ice cream parlor or corner store, brimming with anticipation to see if there was a new game back in the corner. I had 3-4 local spots well within biking distance that would get arcade games, and the cabinets would get cycled around every few weeks or so--especially in the stores and such, where they only had room for 1-2 games at a time. Of course, this could also burn as well, as I'd walk in with a $5 bill earned from mowing the lawn, ready to blow the whole thing on Rampage, only to find that it had been replaced by Athena.

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I didn't get to go to arcades that much, but when I did, if I didn't go with somebody I knew, I didn't socialize. I was just there to look at the games and play a game or two if I had the money. There was something magical about arcade games in the 1980s, even when nobody was playing them (auto-play or attract mode).

 

Starting in the summer of 1983, any time I went to the arcades, it was for fun and study since that's when I got my first computer (VIC-20) and I wanted to learn everything I could about making fun games.

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The arcade was simply a great place for kids to hang out and get "away". A place where even the maladjusted could compete, be it against the machine, themselves or even others as they vied for high score.

 

Adults had bars with those unimaginative and "boring" billiard tables... us kids had our arcades with much more interesting games to play and things to do. :lol:

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The atmosphere... the sights and sounds and smells. It was this cool, private little world with all of the choices available... no distractions, no social pressure, no "real world" to worry about. It didn't matter if you were young or old, short or tall, skinny or fat. It was about having fun with the games. Walking the isle, deciding which game to play, perhaps watching someone else for a while. Going to the arcade and seeing a brand new game was so exciting.

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..,but it's amazing how quick quarters go these days. They felt like they really lasted back then.

 

They probably did! Now you are older & slower, thus game time ends sooner, requiring more quarters on an ever increasing basis. :grin:

 

The one thing I hated them most about arcades was waiting for my favorite machine when Mr. 'Pinball Wizard' was playing it... that bastard could make a quarter last for an hour. Many times I gave up in disgust realizing that no, I'll not get to play a game today on my lunch break.

 

Oh, and the other thing about arcades, the instant 'light blindness' one experiences after leaving the arcade on a bright sunny day.

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Two things:

  • The wider variety of the games
  • Better technology than home

I liked the different types of games from back the day - go on a dungeon quest in Venture, battle some aliens in Galaga, fight on the backs of ostriches in Joust, roll around a marble in Marble Madness, etc. I stopped going to arcades when they became predominately filled with fighting and racing games.

 

Arcade games used to look better than console games. They stopped pushing the technology. In the 90s the games should have been at higher resolutions than 640x480 (and a lot of games where still at 320x200) - it was totally possible as I'd bought a 19" Sony monitor that I later discovered could be run at 2048x1536! In the noughties the games should have been at even higher resolutions.

Edited by SpiceWare
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It was one of the few places I could hang with the older kids and still be part of the group (in the early 80's I was about 3-4 years younger than everyone else in the neighborhood) If we played basketball or rode bikes/etc I was younger so I couldn't keep up...but at the arcade it was a level playing field and I never felt out of place.

 

I would often go to the arcade with no money, just to hang. Looking back at it arcade owners probably hated this but I would like to think I added to the ambiance ;)

 

Many other reasons too but a lot of them have been mentioned already.

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I grew up in Carol Stream, IL which had the very large Galaxy World to play in. It was the place were I first experienced games like Zaxxon, Tron, Tempest. They also had older games like Warlords, which was a lot of fun. Only bad memory I have from that place is running out of money. ;)

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Definitely the noise, all those machines blasting out music and sound at the same time. Used to love waiting for another kid to finish a game, then go and try to beat his/her score and rub it in their face. The speed of the games always amazed me back then. Consoles were so slow back then, the arcade machines were lightning fast, difficult, was quite a rush.

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Walking around in the darkness, electronic sounds, like entering another world.....usually filled with smells of reafer and beer. lol

 

Those were the smaller joints but the bigger arcades were a bit more civilized. :P

 

I remember stacking up quarters on marquee's and waiting to play just to beat someone's score. Some games had lines of people waiting for them. It was kind of cool having people watch you too if you were good.

 

It was a great time and I admit I miss it, never thought it would go away or home consoles would beat out arcades but it happened.

 

EARLIEST MEMORY: Space Invaders and an Atari racing game I can't remember the name of it down the block where I lived, I was just a 10 year old walking in the place. Some of the Atari games were cool but I thought Space Invaders was the greatest thing I ever saw. After that I got an Atari a year or two later WITH Space Invaders. It was my favorite game until all the other arcade games started coming out.

 

I grew up in Carol Stream, IL which had the very large Galaxy World to play in. It was the place were I first experienced games like Zaxxon, Tron, Tempest. They also had older games like Warlords, which was a lot of fun. Only bad memory I have from that place is running out of money. ;)

 

I went there a few times...I grew up in the south side though so for me it was a place called Friar Tucks and the various malls and bowling alleys near the southeast

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Two things:

  • The wider variety of the games
  • Better technology than home

I liked the different types of games from back the day - go on a dungeon quest in Venture, battle some aliens in Galaga, fight on the backs of ostriches in Joust, roll around a marble in Marble Madness, etc. I stopped going to arcades when they became predominately filled with fighting and racing games.

 

Same here. Back in the day there was variety. Once the mid-90's rolled around, arcades were just all boring fighting and racing games with the occasional light gun game. Plus most racing/light gun games included timers you could never beat no matter how skilled you were in an effort to pressure you into pumping in quarters to 'continue?'. No thanks. Once in a blue moon something cool and unique would show up in a arcade, like Prop Cycle.

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I came of age in the early-1980s. I spent a fair bit of time in various video arcades.

 

There were only a few arcades in the city where I lived (one in the mall near my house, one in a bowling alley a short distance away, perhaps three more in neighbouring cities; one of which was quite large), but I have very fond memories of visiting arcades when I travelled in the North-Eastern United States. The Galleria(?) Mall in Worcester, Mass. had the Dream Machine arcade -- this place had something like three levels/tiers full of games. There were so many titles there that I never saw back home; I was practically overwhelmed by the choices. I went there several years running until it closed about 1984 or '85.

 

I also dimly remember visiting an Aladin's Castle arcade in a mall somewhere, but I do not recall where it was located.

 

A few years later, I was at an arcade in a mall in South Portland, Maine where the security guard at the entrance asked me for proof of age (I was about 17 or 18 years old at that point), and he got very confused because my driver's license was not from the State of Maine.

 

Generally, I was a bit put-off by the cavernous darkness of most of these places, and my Parents were very afraid of the people that I would meet (when I was a young teenager).

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Like others, the arcades had that aire of ACTION!

 

The conglomeration of the hi-fi sound effects of laser fire, bullet fire, smart bombs, intermission music, etc combined with groups of (mostly kids) standing around a cabinet with a guy kicking ass on a game, watching the different patterns that gamers used on a given game, the intensity of the gaming.

 

A place where dirtbags, jocks, nerds, and a$$holes from school all got together in one place and time to watch and play all sorts of fascinating video games.

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A place where dirtbags, jocks, nerds, and a$$holes from school all got together in one place and time to watch and play all sorts of fascinating video games.

I rode a bus to school in the various places I lived during the arcade years, so chances were low that I'd see anybody from school in an arcade. I don't think I saw even one kid from any of the schools I went to. Nothing but faceless strangers that I could ignore. It was nice.

 

In 1983 and 1984, I could also walk 5 miles to the mall and not see anyone I recognized. I'd go to Kay Bee (or whatever spelling they used) and search for marked down games without a familiar face around. It was extra nice.

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Like others, the arcades had that aire of ACTION!

A place where dirtbags, jocks, nerds, and a$$holes from school all got together in one place and time to watch and play all sorts of fascinating video games.

 

Most def. The sportos, the motorheads, the geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies, dickheads - they all dug the arcade. It was a very righteous place.

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What I liked the best back then were the crowd who cheered on and all and the sheer number of cabs (easily over 100). Last time I was in arcade shop, most people looked at you evily if you lasted too long or if you fed more quarters rather than taking turns.

 

Also home consoles and portable games probably made arcade less popular. Now day most people just stays home playing games or computers alone or via internet for multi player.

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I remember in the early 80s the mall arcade was PACKED on a Friday night. The heads sitting on the floor outside the arcade smoking cigarettes. Over a hundred games were available: billiards, air hockey, pinball, projector games and video games. The place rocked. It was an opportunity to meet new people and talk to strangers over one of your favorite games.

 

It's too bad things ended the way they did.

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I just appreciated the fact that arcade were there, especially in shopping malls. For the kid that I was at the time, I considered arcades to be tailored for me. Adults had their boutiques full of clothes, kitchen stuff, jewelry, hardware, books (all the stuff I found quite boring) but arcade were the place that made visits at the shopping mall worth looking forward to.

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