Took a walk through a modern arcade last weekend...

[Silverfleet]

Over the weekend, I found myself wandering around a modern arcade, specifically the Round 1 in Taunton Ma. It opened about a year ago, and is a gaming/bowling/entertainment complex along the lines of Dave & Buster's. Most arcades around here have gone extinct, so it was interesting to see a state-of-the-art facility open and become successful. Some observations:

 

-Games run on "game cards" that you load up with money at kiosks. No tokens here, but the money gets converted to "credits". All the games run on different amounts of credits, and they will tell you when you slide your card how many you have left. That's a nice touch.

 

-Nearly all of the actual video games were conversions of popular cell phone games. Angry Birds, Jetpack Joyride, and Crossy Road were all there in arcade form. While I couldn't help but think "why pay money when your phone plays these for free?", they are all risk/reward types of games, so it makes sense that they are sitting in an arcade. I guess...

 

-Most of the games there were physical ticket/skill games. There were plenty of them, and I played quite a few. They had enhanced versions of skee-ball, basketball, and more of the ones you would find in a classic 80's arcade. I think I played more basketball than anything else.

 

-"Tickets" for most games were stored on your card, which was pretty slick. The ticket redemption counter wasn't a counter at all; it was a room that resembled a small convenience store. You grab what you want, bring it to the counter, and "pay" for it with your tickets that are stored on your card. Again, pretty slick.

 

-They had a lot of rhythm games. There were even people dressed up specifically to play them, including two Japanese-appearing twin girls that looked like they took a dimensional vortex from some arcade in an anime movie. Weird, never thought I'd see that.

 

-They had plenty of cockpit style driving games, and nearly all of them were being played. They even had an arcade version of Mario Kart, which I think Namco licensed and released. I figured that these would become extinct with Forza and Gran Turismo being offered at home, but people were playing the crap out of these!

 

-This particular place had a surprise at the back of the arcade: Fighting games!!! They had a lot of them, and nearly all of them were Japanese in Japanese sit-down cabinets. There were some obscure ones that I've never even heard of. They had a Street Fighter: Anniversary Edition cab, which was basically the version of SFII on the Street Fighter Anniversary Collection on the PS2. I played that for a while and felt right at home. Cool! But that was the oldest game there. Speaking of which...

 

-I didn't see any classic games at all. Not even a Class of 1981 cab. Last modern arcade I went to was the now-closed Good Time Emporium in Somerville, MA. They at least had a MAME-style cab there with classic games. Furthermore, I don't recall seeing any pinball machines either. The closest thing to "classic: that they had were ticket machines that were Galaga and Pac Man themed, and they had a Pac Man air hockey table. Do typical kids these days even know what Galaga or Pac Man are?

 

After leaving, I felt old. Really, really old. I'm 34, and I remember when there were arcades everywhere and playing actual video games in them that were specifically developed for the arcade. Seeing converted cell phone games in arcade cabs was very strange. I didn't belong in that place at all. It just made me want to make another pilgrimage to Funspot more than ever.

Edited August 9, 2016 by Silverfleet

[chas10e]

http://www.pinballwizardarcade.com/( Pelham NH) may be a little closer than http://www.funspotnh.com/ for you

 

even closer is http://lanesgames.com/gameroom.html_{(not sure when website was updated last)} bowling ally on Rte. 2 in Cambridge. The arcade has mebbe 8 of the newest Stern pinball tables , I don't recall what arcade cabs they had

 

last time I went the Ghost Busters table was there , Game of Thrones (pro) Kiss , AC/DC , Iron Man, Tron, Star Trek , think a bubble hockey as well.

[Keatah]

Do typical kids these days even know what Galaga or Pac Man are?

No. And that's ok. Much of the 70's and 80's stuff ( with exceptions ) is pretty much defunct to the younger populace. Redemption + video is a hot thing, and just how cool is it to play a 2-meter sized version of your favorite smartphone game. Sure as hell gonna beat the pants off Liberator and Assault!

 

In any case these are arcades (all arcades) are like training grounds for addictive behaviors. Get'em going when they're young.

[Silverfleet]

No. And that's ok. Much of the 70's and 80's stuff ( with exceptions ) is pretty much defunct to the younger populace. Redemption + video is a hot thing, and just how cool is it to play a 2-meter sized version of your favorite smartphone game. Sure as hell gonna beat the pants off Liberator and Assault!

 

In any case these are arcades (all arcades) are like training grounds for addictive behaviors. Get'em going when they're young.

That's a really good point about the addictive behaviors. The place had the look and vibe of a casino, but for kids.

 

And I live in southeastern MA. If I am going to drive to NH, I might as well go all the way to Laconia for Funspot! There is a new barcade in Salem MA (BitBar) that a friend of a friend opened, and they seem to be kicking butt. They are all about the retro stuff. I will be checking it out soon!

[chas10e]

FunSpot is great , but the other place is an hour closer ...you'll have to stop by them both in one trip

 

I'm not a fighter game guy, but there is a whole row of them

 

Oh I just heard about a place In Salem Ma. http://www.willowsarcade.com/, I need to check that place out, I was told they have some of the old EM pinball tables

Edited August 10, 2016 by chas10e

[Syzygy1]

I'd like those rhythm games. I've started playing Rez on my PS2 emulator, so...

[racerx]

After leaving, I felt old. Really, really old. I'm 34, and I remember when there were arcades everywhere and playing actual video games in them that were specifically developed for the arcade.

 

Try being 45...I considered arcades pretty much dead by '85. You missed the really good times.

[Keatah]

They didn't fully die. They were on life support till the PC took over with 3D accelerators. Or slightly before, with Doom. I considered them clinically dead in 1992-1993.

 

No that wasn't the cause of their downfall, just something I associate together.

[Silverfleet]

 

Try being 45...I considered arcades pretty much dead by '85. You missed the really good times.

We had plenty of great arcades still around when I was a kid, at least around here. In the Boston MA area, we had the Dream Machine locations in Walpole, Hull, and Hanover, Penny Arcade in Hull, Replay II in Weymouth, Great Times in Abington (had a birthday there!), Star Land in Hanover, and a bunch more. By that time (late 80's/early 90's), older 70's and early 80's games could still be found, but there were tons of awesome games like Final Fight, Raiden, Golden Axe, UN Squadron, Ghouls and Ghosts, etc. popping up in that era. Then, came the fighting game craze, and all the SFII and MK clones that ensued, and some of them were pretty fun. They didn't really start to die around here until the late 90's. There are still a few around, but they are shells of their former selves with a bunch of half-functioning driving games and redemption machines.

[racerx]

I think I've posted this graph before, but it speaks volumes. Although the beat 'em ups and fighting games led a couple of short resurgences, nothing compares to the heyday of the beginning of the 80s. You really had to be there to appreciate what a big deal arcade games were.

[totallyterrificpants]

Arcades I've been in are either old fashioned skill games for tokens, smartphone games on the big screen, two light gun games and always a Daytona machine. Kids don't know old arcade games. I'm only 25 and I know people my age who have never heard of Dig Dug or Q*Bert. I also know people who have never heard of The Goonies...It's scary.

[Aldo]

I was in Vegas visiting my girlfriend last week and we went to New York, New York, which supposedly had a great arcade.

 

 

It too was one of those places where you have to load up cards, which I think is a great idea btw. While they mostly had ticket redemption games, they had a pretty good selection of fairly new Pinball machines (Ghostbusters, Metallica, etc.).

 

At another Casino I did play Mario Kart GP with my girlfriend, but playing it with pedals instead of a controller was difficult (it was really hard to drift). I also played the Pac-Man game which gives you tickets based on how many points you score, I saw the Galaga version too, but didn't play it.

 

 

I think my biggest discovery though was 'Pac-Man Battle Royale.' We played the table top version, though I did come across the cabinet version too at another Casino. It was interesting, and I could see why it would be fun with four people, but as a two player game it wasn't too fun. At least we didn't think so.

 

Also speaking of Pac-Man, I came across the World's Largest Pac-Man as well, but didn't get a chance to play it.

[Bixler]

Some of those rhythm games are heaps of fun. Especially Pop'N Music and Beatmania IIDX.

[VectorGamer]

I think my biggest discovery though was 'Pac-Man Battle Royale.' We played the table top version, though I did come across the cabinet version too at another Casino. It was interesting, and I could see why it would be fun with four people, but as a two player game it wasn't too fun. At least we didn't think so.

 

 

I bought Pac-Man Museum for the 360 just so I could have Pac-Man Battle Royale. My son had a birthday party last year and the boys played in 4 player mode and had a blast. It's pretty lame as a 1 player game though.

[Aldo]

I just looked up "Pac-Man Museum." I might pick it up, looking at the included games, it looks like it's missing Pac-Man Jr. and Pac-Man Plus? I understand why those are absent, but it's still a shame.

[Flojomojo]

Redemption cards where they change the exchange rate according to the time of day is a good idea, at least for the arcade. We have a new Dave & Busters coming to my town this fall and I'm hoping they'll do something like cheap Wednesday night games.

 

I remember when I first saw D&B over 20 years ago and was like "arcades are BACK." It was pretty glorious. Now that location is dead and literally bulldozed away -- no more new malls either. Luxury million dollar condos are going up in its place. http://robertdyer.blogspot.com/2014/08/dave-and-busters-closes-at-white-flint.html?m=1

[VectorGamer]

I just looked up "Pac-Man Museum." I might pick it up, looking at the included games, it looks like it's missing Pac-Man Jr. and Pac-Man Plus? I understand why those are absent, but it's still a shame.

 

Another plus for Pac-Man Museum is that it has Pac & Pal which is a really fun game

[Aldo]

Maybe a plus for some, but I've already have it on a few collections already. I might get it just to have Pac-Man Battle Royale, but as I currently don't live with my girlfriend (and she didn't really enjoy it anyways) I can't see how I'll get much use out of it by itself.

[SumerNivek]

I think I've posted this graph before, but it speaks volumes. Although the beat 'em ups and fighting games led a couple of short resurgences, nothing compares to the heyday of the beginning of the 80s. You really had to be there to appreciate what a big deal arcade games were.

 

I can attest to this. I must be like the original poster, as I was a very small boy during the heyday of arcades (pre'84) and I have the very vaguest of memories from the early 80s of game rooms and such. My main memories come from the late 80's and the slow decline during then. However, as you show in your graph, my local arcade had a renaissance when Street Fighter 2 was released. I vividly recall the week it came out and how many curious gamers tried out this new (to us) genre and game. After a week of poking and prodding, the crowds started to gather around the machine and some of the better players who emerged after that first week. By the third week, the arcade had to put a TV up on top of the machine (connected to the game) so the now huge crowds could see the matches taking place.

 

I am sorry I missed most of the heyday of the arcades in the early 80s, but being a teen when Street Fighter II came out on the scene and revitalized our two local arcades for another 3 years (with the deluge of new fighting games right after SFII) was also a sight to behold!

[Crimefighter]

Errr...I toured Round One in Bloomingdale, while there is a lot of redemption games and conversions of "cell phone games", there are arcade games like Time Crisis 5, Silent Hill Arcade, Transformers Arcade, Deadstorm Pirates, DDR like games, racing games, and fighting games. I shot video of it...sometime I will be posting it all.

[Polybius]

They didn't fully die. They were on life support till the PC took over with 3D accelerators. Or slightly before, with Doom. I considered them clinically dead in 1992-1993.

 

No that wasn't the cause of their downfall, just something I associate together.

I remember seeing very few arcades when I was a kid, and that was in the late 90s and early 2000s. The last full-Fleged Arcade i know of still around is the Axis Arcade inside of Six Flags St Louis, well that, and the Chuck E Cheeses in Ballwin.

 

well, there is a Dave and Busters close to me as well, so there is that. Kinda Surprised to see post 2002 Arcade machines, especially ones that aren't those touch-top "Barcades" with all the games packed into them.

Edited September 14, 2016 by Polybius

[spacecadet]

 

I am sorry I missed most of the heyday of the arcades in the early 80s, but being a teen when Street Fighter II came out on the scene and revitalized our two local arcades for another 3 years (with the deluge of new fighting games right after SFII) was also a sight to behold!

 

This is kind of funny, because I already felt like arcades were kind of alien to me at that point. I grew up in the heyday, and seeing all these fighting games with their high-res graphics and ultra-complicated moves just wasn't what I was used to. And I tried most of these games and just wasn't good at them like a lot of other people were. I *was* good at the older games that I grew up with. I felt like a new generation had already taken over.

 

I didn't stop liking arcade-style games, I just stopped actually going to the arcades around that time because I just didn't feel comfortable there anymore. I switched to playing modern arcade games at home, where I could spend more time getting good at them and have fun at my own pace.

 

Nowadays I don't have any arcades to speak of around me that I know of, but I visit Japan once or twice a year and I do always go to the arcades there. They're about 20 years ahead of us in technology but they're about 20 years behind us in social trends, and they're *just now* going through a decline in their arcades. When I first started visiting about 15 years ago, they were still in their heyday and arcades were absolutely everywhere. It was pretty awesome. But there are still some *massive* arcades there that I love visiting even now, and I feel less out of place there somehow. I feel like they're less judgmental of people who aren't that good (especially if you're a westerner).

 

Also you can sit down at basically all of their machines. I always wondered why we like standing up for hours on end?!

Edited September 14, 2016 by spacecadet

[Keatah]

When I stopped going in the 90's it wad because of the fighting games. And that I wanted a more complex and customized experienced on demand.

While car rides to the arcade and Toys'R'Us might have been fun as a kid, I was getting too old for that. Manchild or not, it had to stop!

 

I recall one of the last times I went riding in the family car as a passenger, coming back from PinPan Alley in Schaumburg. Soon I would be driving myself! I was growing up! I was having hormonal a fit. A real temper tantrum because they wouldn't buy me a IIgs. And I exploded in a fit of rage. I was pissed off at the arcade, the gas station, the bean counters making the IIgs so expensive. So I spit and smeared the car windows and kicked in the quarterpanel and all that crap. I was gonna get my IIgs any goddammned way possible!

 

I ended up buying one from somebody on usenet and a 2nd one on ebay some number of years later.

Edited September 14, 2016 by Keatah

[spacecadet]

When I stopped going in the 90's it wad because of the fighting games. And that I wanted a more complex and customized experienced on demand.

 

I realized after writing my last comment how to crystallize my feeling about the fighting game thing, and that's that it was the first time I felt like arcade games were becoming more of a competitive sport. They used to just be a fun diversion, but fighting games people took really seriously, as if winning actually meant something. That turned me off.

 

I actually do like a lot of fighting games at home but I guess fitting in with that, they're mostly what a lot of the more hardcore players would term more casual fighting games. The Dead or Alive and Soul Calibur series are the main ones I play religiously. I still wouldn't say I'm that good even at them - I know a lot of the moves but I still regularly lose to my wife, who's a total button masher.

[Keatah]

I associate fighting games with the arcades having gone mainstream and declined. That and that the bigger, stronger, faster, and smarter "more real" beer-drinking kids would be playing them. Being slow and retarded and special-ed I got stuck playing dumb-ass "socially inept" computer games and fine tuning my BBS software.

 

Fuck'em all I say!