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Games Entertainment

The U.S. Arcade is Dead? 107

Posted by Zonk from the only-its-soul dept.
Via GameSetWatch, an article by one of the editors of GamePro positing that the U.S. arcade is now a dead thing. By positing, I really mean ranting. From the article: "Americans play videogames for one reason and for one reason only, to kick ass. It doesn't matter if you're crushing skulls in the fighting arena or on the football field. Being a virtual DJ, riding a horse (not into battle), and playing other violence-free games is not enough to draw people into arcades. Gaming isn't about having family-friendly fun it's about indulging in man's carnal desires. And then Konami drove the nail through the heart of coin operated gaming... The abomination of videogaming known as DDR served as an outlet for wannabe Travoltas to flail around wildly and quickly made the house of tank simulators and street fighting a haven for lamos. "
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The U.S. Arcade is Dead? More

The U.S. Arcade is Dead?

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  • Wait... what?! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by LordPhantom ( 763327 ) on Friday January 06, 2006 @07:44PM (#14413352)
    So, umm, all arcades are havens for Horse Riding(tm) and DDR?
    Someone never played Mortal Combat or any number of the racing games in most arcades. "Lame-o" games didn't kill arcades, the cost of playing at an arcade did (when you can play it at home with people around the world).

    • Re:Wait... what?! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by heavy snowfall ( 847023 ) on Friday January 06, 2006 @07:54PM (#14413430) Journal
      It's like going to an internet cafe when you have broadband..

    • Exactly... (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Danse ( 1026 )

      "Lame-o" games didn't kill arcades, the cost of playing at an arcade did (when you can play it at home with people around the world).

      Aside from the fact that arcade game variety had dwindled, it was the fact that it had begun to cost a dollar a game or more that really put me off arcades. I used to spend a lot of time and money in them too. But the fact was that we could play more interesting games as much as we wanted at home for less money overall. So really, consoles and the Internet killed the arca

      • Sorry to reply to myself, but I forgot one other thing. Time-limited games. I fucking HATE time-limited games. Oops, your time is up, please deposit another $1.50 to continue. Screw that.

        • The price per game and time-limited games were two reasons I stopped playing video games in arcades. Another big reason is those damn fighting games where you pay 50 cents for two fights and you're done. It breeds jerks who will interrupt your story-mode play and bump you off the machine just because they can.

          There was also the realization that some games would ramp up the difficulty so fast it wasn't possible to win anymore. I had a chance to play a racing game called Ironman Ivan Stewart's Super Off-Ro
      • I own a Sega Astro City cabinet that came from one of Sega's several arcade locations. I'm pretty sure it had a NeoGeo board in it or some other sort of older board.

        cost to play?

        100yen.

        It's been like that in Japan for YEARS. It's not the unwillingness to pay. It's the fact that there aren't ANY GOOD GAMES out in the states anymore. The Japanese market's dying too, but that's because the economy there is STILL crap.
        • I disagree - most of the games out now cost... $50 USD or less whcih I could EASILY spend on the same game time in an arcade. In the US, at least, it has nothing to do with game -quality- so much as you can get games of at least the same quality on your home system. I'm not saying that in comparison to the stuff on the street over there it's -better- (I couldn't say "for sure") but for gameplay and comparitave cost, most consumers are not connoisseurs and the bottom line is that Soul Caliber 3 looks pr
          • Yah, but being able to play competatively with other people with no lag is quite worth it with arcade quality sticks is worth it to me.

            People still play marvel vs capcom2, capcom vs snk2, KOFXI, etc. in the arcade. When I play games like those mentioned, Initial D or DDR, I don't think about the cost over the long term, I think about differences in home and arcade game play.

  • Personal Computing Became Affordable (Score:5, Insightful)

    by thegrassyknowl ( 762218 ) on Friday January 06, 2006 @07:45PM (#14413358)
    The arcade died the day powerful personal computers became affordable for the masses. Why go down to the arcade to stand in front of a machine and shovel money when you can just pass disks/carts/CDs around your friends and play all the latest games?

    The trend continued and now "LANNING" is the new norm. Why go out when the Interdoodle has all the game servers you could ever need and your connection is plenty fast enough to use them?
    • That's not entirely true. For instance, AFIAK arcade gaming is still very popular in Japan, despite access to equally powered machines at home. I think it's because arcade games offer gameplay that isn't available on home machines, at least not without purchasing expensive and space consuming accessories. Also I believe arcades can be a social outlet. Why play with a stranger you can't see or hear over the internet when you can play with a stranger standing right next to you :)

      I think TFA's assumption is

      • You are correct in a sense. Arcades that require you to pay quarters for gameplay are done. Yet, there are planty of Dave and Buster type places that still make a mint.

        They offer peripheral perks that enhance the male driven game market of America like alcohol and the posibility of hooking up with a girl.

        I offer that the real reason arcades in America died is due to the gaming mechanics we enjoyed and the real world manifestations of those games. Fighting games ruled at the arcade I used to frequent. There
    • Not only did PCs and consoles become more affordable, they also got better. It used to be that the games you could play at home on your Apple II or NES didn't look as good as the ones in the arcade. Now it's the other way around.
    • PCs and lanning killed the arcade??? I think you misspelled "playstation" my friend.
      • Nope didn't misspell playstation. Playstation is yet another form of "Personal Computer". Just becasue it's a games box and not a general purpose machine doesn't mean that it's not a PC. The term PC has been usurped by BillyG to mean "intel-compatible grey box running Windows".
  • It was the massive inflation in arcade game prices that is at the cause of the problem. Nobody's going to play a quarter muncher when they're throwing in a loonie every 4 minutes.

  • DDR was a good game (Score:4, Funny)

    by AsiNisiMasa ( 910721 ) on Friday January 06, 2006 @08:05PM (#14413521) Homepage
    This guy probably only hates DDR because he's no good at it.

    That being said, the arcade is dead because nobody wants to spend a dollar for one fight against their friends in a game they already have at home.
    • Well were it me, I'd have to admit that I wouldn't be any good at it, but I'd hate it more because I don't care for the kind of music DDR uses (or that you would dance to for that matter). I'm in the minority in this, as DDR was wildly popular.
      People don't tend to play games that force them to experience activities or sensations that they despise.

      I was more disappointed that the entire rant was short enough to fit in the summary. While I don't disagree with everything he said, he did a poor job of supporti
    • You know the problem with playing DDR or any other music/rhythm based game at an arcade is? It's so frigging loud at the arcade that you can't hear the game, making it very difficult to get a feel for the rhythm.

      That's my excuse anyway :)

      • I disagree, having my body up to the speakers while selecting the song (not sexually, I mean), and having the bass from Burning Heat (3 Option Mix) really noticible before selecting the song... I just stand and let the bass flow through, the feeling, the sound... it is amazing. Then I select the song, almost finish it on heavy, fail, and almost pass out on the pad. j/k
    • Yeah, DDR rules! This guy probably has no rhythm and failed on beginner mode or something. However, I play at home; I once tried an arcade and the machine was in poor shape. If you can afford to buy and maintain (not very tough) a decent pad at home then there is no reason to go out to an arcade and either put up with a crappy machine or wait in line for a decent one.

      As far as cost comparisons, even after you get past the quarters, there is maintenance and operating costs. That has to have exploded as the c

  • DDR? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Xaroth ( 67516 ) on Friday January 06, 2006 @08:06PM (#14413528) Homepage
    It's interesting that he should pick DDR as signaling the death of arcades, when, in fact, DDR was the beginning of a (albeit temporary) revival of arcades. The death of arcades started many years before DDR's release in the States, beginning with the rise of home gaming.

    Specifically, the main draw of arcades for most goers wasn't the "competition" factor. It was that the technology available in arcade games was leagues above what was available at home. Anyone else remember the Genesis and SNES ports of Mortal Kombat 2? People were willing to pay for play at arcades because the games there were simply BETTER than what was available at home.

    As commodity computing became a reality, and the technology required to run arcade-quality games became widespread, the draw of going to an arcade to play dampened significantly. It got to a point (around '99 or '00, plus or minus a bit depending on locale) where arcade machines were no longer able to outperform home computers and consoles. As a result, people were no longer willing to drop $50 a month at an arcade because they can spend that same $50 at home and get a BETTER gaming experience.

    The reason why DDR did so well in the arcades was because of the speciality of the controllers. The game itself was well-designed, has an easy learning curve, and is attractive to players of both genders. This, coupled with the fact that good dance pads simply weren't feasible to purchse for one's home, meant that a central location (read: an arcade) was an ideal arrangement.

    This, too, however, has been superceded by the level of tech available for home use. Now that reasonable dance pads are available for purchase affordably, the interest in DDR at the arcades has waned. So much so that Konami is no longer producing new machines, and has turned their focus primarily (and in the US, exclusively) to home releases.

    If another thing comes along that substantially improves the gaming experience in a way that simply isn't economical to do in one's home, then the arcade will make a resurgence. No amount of "competitive" gaming draw will cause the same effect. (As an example, I'll point to the rise and fall of LAN-gaming shops.)

    • As commodity computing became a reality, and the technology required to run arcade-quality games became widespread, the draw of going to an arcade to play dampened significantly. It got to a point (around '99 or '00, plus or minus a bit depending on locale) where arcade machines were no longer able to outperform home computers and consoles. As a result, people were no longer willing to drop $50 a month at an arcade because they can spend that same $50 at home and get a BETTER gaming experience.

      This was m

      • Re:DDR? (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Kelson ( 129150 ) * on Friday January 06, 2006 @08:51PM (#14413873) Homepage Journal
        I have friends who have successfully used DDR as a workout regimen. If you get the home edition and the dance pads, you can play as long as you want, and it's exercise. If you have friends or roommates who like to play, it's competitive. And if you actually like the game, it's a heck of a lot more fun than riding a stationary bike, or running on a treadmill, or whatever else you might do at the gym.

        Seriously, I've never heard someone say, "Hey, let's go to the gym and work out!" But "Hey, let's go play DDR" works mentally like "Hey, let's go shoot some hoops" and gets you more physical activity than, say, World of Warcraft.

    • It's interesting that he should pick DDR as signaling the death of arcades, when, in fact, DDR was the beginning of a (albeit temporary) revival of arcades. The death of arcades started many years before DDR's release in the States, beginning with the rise of home gaming.

      The rise of home gaming was only one factor - the second was the gradual loss of diversity in arcade games. By the mid 90's, all that could frequently be found in arcades were Mortal Kombat clones and Time Pilot (top scrolling shoot-em-u

  • Oh, really? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Tina Russell ( 589416 )
    When I read that article, I was sort of expecting it to continue past the complaining about DDR, you know, and provide a little depth or backup. You know, explain why he hates DDR so much. Why would you consider DDR to be the death of arcades rather than its financial savior? How could you hate it when it keeps the money coming for venues that will also house Your Favorite Hardcore Fighting Game Doubleplus XP20? And why, you arrogant bastard, do you seem to have the impression that you and you alone can det
  • Here in Canada, we had an arcade called Playdium.. it was a pretty cool place and lots of fun.. however after going there a couple of times, you come to realize it is a lot cheaper to play games at home... on your console and not be bugged by those stupid continue messages. Another issue was that they didn't change their games that often.. a lot of those games were ancient... and in the end.. the whole experience became boring... I stopped going there.. and I think a lot of other ppl stopped goign there for
    • I still had $20 in credits on my gamer card damn it!
    • However after going there a couple of times, you come to realize it is a lot cheaper to play games at home... on your console and not be bugged by those stupid continue messages.


      The console versions usually give 0/2/4 "continues", before you have to start over from scratch.

      The continue messages may be annoying, but you at least get to finish the game.

  • Soul Calibur (Score:2, Informative)

    by BigDork1001 ( 683341 )
    I loved Soul Calibur when it was in the arcade. I spent A LOTE of money playing Soul Calibur. Then one day I realized I'd save money by buying a Dreamcast and Soul Calibur. I saved a lot of money and got to play SC whenever I wanted.

    Arcades are expensive. And I can't remember the last time I saw a game at an arcade I had to play. Maybe the Star Wars arcade game. That was pretty fun. But still, one game. Big deal. I get better gaming experiences hanging out with friends at someone's home playing HALO or Sma

    • Not to mention that Soul Calibur for the DC was(and dare I say 'still is') one of the most amazing looking fighters of all time! When I first loaded up my copy of SC, it hit me, the arcade was dead to me. I no longer felt the need to wait in line for the inferior arcade version. And I didn't have to play with any of those cheap-one-button-pressing-Nightmare-or-Lizardman-
      players-who-always-seemed-to-win guys, well except for Philip.

  • The term arcade was abused by the time machines entered the fray.

    That said, why pay money to play a game that's nowhere near as fun as a lan party or coffeehouse?

    Like many thing, you spend money, you want to *own* something. Not rent it, not borrow it. Having stuff is perhaps another argument, but paying a few quarters to wiggle a joystick is a death long overdue.

    DDR is fun though in my book. The songs, eh.

    • The term arcade was abused by the time machines entered the fray.

      Poor grammar aside, where was this term arcade and why did the time machines abuse them?

  • They have to offer different elements now... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MagicDude ( 727944 ) on Friday January 06, 2006 @08:15PM (#14413594)
    I think arcades can be saved once they realize that they need to have content that can't be reproduced at home. Why would I want to spend money at the arcade to play Teken or Mortal Kombat when it's available on my home console. The advantage arcades used to have was they could offer games that needed more powerful hardware than what was available on computer or on home consoles. I remember having Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II for Nintendo, but I would still play TMNT at the arcade because the quality was so much better. Now with MAME, we see that PCs have more than enough processing and graphics capability to play arcade games. Couple that with unlimited quarters on the emulator and the draw for traditional arcade games goes way down. Arcades can still draw people though. These days, when I go to an arcade, it isn't to play regular games. I play skiball, because I don't have a skiball machine at home. I play pinball because I don't have a pinnball machine at home. I play gun games like Police 911 [arcadegames.com] because that game uses hardware that I wouldn't have at home. That's where an arcade's strength lies, offering access to hardware and games that aren't practical for people to personally own. Just because the era of the arcade's dominance in computing ability is over, doesn't mean it doesn't have other elements to it.
    • I completely agree. Arcades still beat out the home in unusual hardware. Most people cant put a skiball machine, or an airhockey table, or a Light gun game in their home. It's just not feasable. These odd games still draw crowds. I still go to the arcade to play DDR becuase the arcade pads are infinitely better than anything I can get at home for under $100, and even the higher end pad's dont have the same feel to them... Arcades need to capitalize on their floor space advantage over houses. There ar

    • Re:They have to offer different elements now... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by servognome ( 738846 ) on Saturday January 07, 2006 @01:49AM (#14415315)
      I think arcades can be saved once they realize that they need to have content that can't be reproduced at home.

      They have for a long time. Yu Suzuki [wikipedia.org] described in an interview how when he designs games for the arcade, he specifically looks at integrating unique hardware to add to the experience. Originally this philosophy created games that could charge a premium (eg 75cents to play "Afterburner" in the moving cockpit). Now with consoles and computers being so powerful, that's pretty much all you see in arcades.
      The problem is that games in themselves are not enough to attract an audience. You can drive 20 minutes to go to the arcade to play a game that costs $1 or just play something that may not be quite as entertaining at home free. Where you do see arcades still thrive is at Dave & Busters or Gameworks type places where you get food, get beer, and play some motorcycle racers. The games aren't necessarily the money makers, but they provide entertainment to keep people in the bar buying liquor which is.
    • Have you been to an arcade lately? It appears by your post that you have, so what is your complaint? Arcades did make the transition from normal standup boxes to more interactive setups years ago. DDR is only one example. How many racing games are there that are in standup boxes anymore? None. They are all in big car shaped contraptions that shake and move, etc. There's motorcycle games where you get on "a motorcycle" in order to play, ski'ing games where you have to pretend to ski, jetski games, and it

  • Until there are real VR arcades, why bother? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by garylian ( 870843 ) on Friday January 06, 2006 @08:30PM (#14413679)
    When VR equipment is at a stage where it is too expensive for the average person to have at home, but is cutting edge enough for arcades to buy it and "rent" it by the hour or so, then we will see arcades make a comeback.

    Just about everyone here in the U.S. has access to a PC. You can play games that are somewhat compatable with the arcade games of the 80's for free on Yahoo Games and similar sites.

    Even plucking some game from the 9.99 bargain rack at BestBuy will get you a game that is better done than pretty much any arcade game worth anything. And that 9.99 will get you a lot farther in that game than it will in an arcade.

    It's a simple Cost vs Reward scenario. High cost, low satisfaction reward.

    The only money I would spend in an arcade is on an old fashion pinball game. Those can still be a lot of fun, when the mood strikes me.

    Even American kinds aren't so dumb as to not figure this out.
  • I havent seen a true "arcade" since the late 90s. I used to love them as a child of the late 70s and 80s. Spent many hours, and many more quarters there! Fun times. But now, the reasons are clear, most PCs equipped with a halfway decent graphics card, or the consoles have better graphics, and longer game/replay value. Just at the local theater alone, all the games are fighting games, or driving and that's fine... yet at $1 or more a pop to play 30 seconds isnt worth the effort. I dont see these games even b

    • Just at the local theater alone,

      The theatre is next on the list to die. What, with my insane sound system, my 200" HD projected screen and my collection of DVDs I can be at the theatre with my girl in seconds, and it's so much more comfy... Not to mention the unthinkables that we don't get in trouble for at home ;)

      Cool thing is all of these bits that I love so much are affordable except the GF. They require regular (shiny) maintainence.

  • Going Retro (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Toloran ( 858954 )
    There is a great arcade in Portland, OR called "Ground Zero." Its an arcade made up of entirely classics. Pong, Pac Man, Space Invaders, etc. All the great old arcade games in near mint condition. They also have pinball machines (I think).

    Arcades aren't dead, just in a recession which the game industry has know many.

    Arcades initially were for people who wanted to play video games but couldn't afford to buy an arcade machine. They still went strong, although slightly weaker, when home game consoles started t
    • Not to be picky, but it's "Ground Kontrol [groundkontrol.com]." The do have pinball too. I used to live near there. Now I live in Brooklyn, I've heard talk of a place called "Barcade [barcadebrooklyn.com]," I look forward to going there soon.
      • Excellent selection (beer and classic games), although they don't have double dragon or spyhunter. They really need some pinball too. Union bet. Powers and Ainslie. Try the 6-Points beers, they're great.

    • VR (Score:3)

      by fwitness ( 195565 )
      A lot of comments of VR, so I'll add mine. To me, this is one of the biggest mis-steps of the arcade industry. I remember when VR had it's first outing. It was a minumum of $5 to play, the graphics were primitive at best, at playing was charged by the minute. Yet still, it was something I could not get at home and I spent a good chunk of cash there. It's *still* something I can't get at home. However, you can't use the same arcade game for 5 years, and you can't use the same VR setup that long either.
    • From reading the RGVAC newsgroup, I was under the understanding that the word "Ground" was in the title because it is also a coffee shop. I was also under the understanding that if that arcade relied only on its arcade revenue, it would fail. Arcades ARE dead. Make no mistake. As much as it brings a tear to my eye to say it, arcades are value adding gimmicks at best in today's world.
    • Somebody already mentioned it, but I believe you are talking about Ground Kontrol [groundkontrol.com]. As I live in Portland, it is a favorite hangout for myself and a few of my friends. They do indeed have pinball, to the tune of 19 (yes, nineteen) pinball machines. Ground Kontrol is also a regular hangout for the Portland Pinball League [portlandpinball.com], which I am a part of. If you live in Portland and like pinball, or arcade games in general, I'd suggest checking it out.
  • And then Konami drove the nail through the heart of coin operated gaming... The abomination of videogaming known as DDR served as an outlet for wannabe Travoltas to flail around wildly and quickly made the house of tank simulators and street fighting a haven for lamos. .

    Oh what's wrong, somebody bitching because they couldn't AAA Sakura on Heavy reversed with stelth mod at 8x original speed?

  • Here in San Diego we have this great arcade called Nickel City. It's owned by Capcom, thus all the games are great, older Capcom games. And instead of paying a dollar to play a game, it costs you a few nickels. We also have a Tilt in one of our malls, which is cool. The only game I play there is Guilty Gear XX, even though I own it. What really draws me to arcades is the chance to own some 25 year old guy who thinks he can play GGXX better than a 19 year old girl. I always get the last laugh...
    • Uh-uh ... Call me wise or anything, but I wouldn't underestimate any girl playing GGXX, whatever her age.
      If she plays a GG game, she most probably knows what she's doing :P

      What's your most proficient character in GGXX ?
      • Good move. ^--^ My best character depends on the mode I'm playing. If I am playing in EX mode on a PS2, I am best with Ky. If I am playing without anything unlocked (like at the arcade), I am best with Sol. If I am playing on a Dreamcast, I am best with Baiken. What is your best character?
        • Ky and Sol ? You are cheap, milady he he ^^
          Baiken on the DC ? mmmh .. that surely would be very interesting to watch.

          As for myself, well, looks always prevails on power concerning my choices so I usually play with Jam.
          I like her fast moves and the way she feels. Even if her attacks get preempted a lot by the big guns of the game (yeah Sol, I'm looking at you ..)
          I like to take Dizzy for a walk also. She is a slow char and makes a good change from Jam.

          Have you tried GG Isuka ? Simultaneous 3 and 4 char fights
          • Haha. Yes I am cheap. But come on, Dizzy? In GGX, she was the most rediculously overpowered character. She was the boss for God's sake. But only overpowered if you can use her correctly. I too go for looks, that's why I started with Sol and Ky. I love their character designs. For Anime Expo 2002, I cosplayed as Sol (kind of funny, a short, skinny girl as Sol Badguy...), my ex-boyfriend was Ky, our buddy Zak was Chipp, Greg was Axl, and JoJo was Faust. It was awsome. I haven't played Isuka yet because none
            • Dizzy overpowered ? Well .. The CPU has no problem with doing the complex moves needed to lash out the specials, even on the move. I am not that proficient he he.
              Moreover, if you observe Dizzy's power up bar when fighting her (as the CPU), you eyes will pop out looking at how blazing fast it fills up ! That explains how she can blast you so often, but of course it doesn't fill as quickly when you are playing her.

              Wow .. you cosplayed GG with friends ? Aww .. Pics Puhleaaaaaase !! ^_^

              I recommend Isuka to any
              • Well, the only person I know who plays as Dizzy is my ex-boyfriend and he is rediculously good. He's the only person I've met who can beat me.

                As for the cosplay, my ex lost the photos -_- But yeah, it was sweet. I still have my costume somewhere.

  • It's the evolution of the medium (Score:3, Insightful)

    by SalaciousPucker ( 911419 ) on Friday January 06, 2006 @09:18PM (#14414105)

    When I was a kid, back around the days of Pac Man (like '82), there still existed the singluar arcade - aimed at kids/teens. It was a place that I wasn't allowed and always reaked of weak 70's weed. Adults didn't play games then, cause they didn't grow up playing games.

    Kids today don't need that. It's cheaper to own a XBOX or PS2 and it takes alot less effort than actually commuting to wherever.

    Gaming at home is better for adults too - we all have computers much more powerful than TI-994a's at home, at work and built into our cell phones (we have cell phones). We have entertainment centers more impressive than those old theaters too, and that's why the kids are the only ones that go to theaters now - to get away from us.

    The only really viable market is for the family or for games that just cannot be repeated at home. The arcade is in the Dave & Buster era. Shallow, materialistic, lots of machine guns and gaudy plastic appendages....it's the material excess that comes from reaching maturity, making money, and going corporate. That's where arcade gaming is.

    Eventually gaming will reach the zen state, and the level of Shuffleboarding. I can see it now. I'll be retired, on a park bench in Florida, pwning some 80 yr old noob over a global-supe-dupe-fi connection in Doom XI (sponsored by Efferdent Denture Cream).

    • Its problems like that which drove a local arcade out of business. Rowdy kids ruined the whole thing. My brother's friend had a birthday party there and it ended with a brawl when a gang of 12 kids started with one of the partygoers. And I mean 14 and 15 year olds not 17-20 something's. The 17-20 something's hung outside drinking and smoking weed harassing everyone who entered the building. The best part about the place was the indoor laser tag arena. Worst part was when I herd that a fight broke out and so
  • Umm, carnal desires are more sexual than physically violent. Unless you're explicitly referring to all the T&A in videogames or how violently you spank the monkey, animal or basic or just plain violent desires might be a better choice.

  • Tsunami at Chuck E. Cheese (Score:4, Informative)

    by assassinator42 ( 844848 ) on Friday January 06, 2006 @09:28PM (#14414179)
    One of the actually good things they have at Chuck E Cheese is this bubble thing that moves around. They have some Microsoft games on it, Mech Warrior and Crimson Skies. Those games are actually fun. And they'd be even more fun if there was more than one machine linked together.

  • Quality GamePro reporting (Score:4, Informative)

    by cgenman ( 325138 ) on Friday January 06, 2006 @09:50PM (#14414315) Homepage
    The abomination of videogaming known as DDR served as an outlet for wannabe Travoltas to flail around wildly and quickly made the house of tank simulators and street fighting a haven for lamos.

    On the weekends, do the people at GamePro pretend that they work for a good magazine, like Edge?

    Hmm... non-violent fun... like Mario Kart DS? Animal Crossing? Guitar Hero, Katamari Damacy, SSX, Amplitude, Marble Madness, Puzzle Pirates, Devil Dice, Super Puzzle Fighter, The Sims, Uplink... Yup. No fun games out there that don't involve 'shootin and boobies.

    BTW, I don't care if they do look like Danny Bonaduce, don't make fun of the expert DDR players. Trust me on this: they can kick your ass several dozen times per second. They may look like someone from Riverdance while doing it, but you will just have gotten your ass kicked by someone from Riverdance, which is even worse.

  • Nickel City (Score:2, Informative)

    by CurtDogg ( 865286 )
    Funny that this story was posted today. I just got back from an extremely well put-together arcade called Nickel City. You pay $2 to get it, and every machine is nickel operated. they cost anywhere from 5-50(DDR's the only one that costs 50) cents. And there's even lots of machines that are on Free Play, including Tetris, Ninja Turtles, Frogger, (Ms.) Pac-Man, Asteroids, and a lot more. You can spend hours there by only spending $5. The one I went to is in San Jose, and the website says there's one in Illi
  • Without RTFA (flame me if you will)

    Welcome to five years ago!

    Seriously, this has been said several times in the last few years.
  • The arcade IS dead. It's sad really. You should see some of the incredibly awesome arcacde games they get in Japan. It's just not fair. But the way he puts down DDR shows just how much of a nut this guy is. DDR was the last chance to SAVE the US arcade, not the final nail in the coffin.

    What I wouldn't give to bring the arcade back to life...
  • US Arcades are dying because of outrages prices per session that over an hour (for a novice player) could add up easily to the cost of the game. If I'm a DDR fanatic, I can buy any edition of the game plus a third-party pad for $100 more or less, why would I endlessly shell out money for it?

    And as I glance through arcades, I see... FPS, FPS, FPS, and old NLF Blitz game, rarely do I see a pinball machine, and when I do, it's either Playboy or Terminator 2, and a bunch of Chuck E. Cheese toys that do nothi
    • I keep hearing 'lack of originality' over and over again. It's the reason PC gaming has died, even though it hasn't. It's the reason that nobody is buying the X360, even though they are. Now it's the reason for the death of arcades?

      It's actually the opposite in the arcade's case. All those "original" games come with huge contraptions that take up too much space that then require people to plunk down dollars to play for seconds in order to recover their investment.

      And perhaps that's the real problem here
  • After reading the first intro page, I went looking for the "next page" button to get into the meat of the article...

    ...only to find out that the "intro" was the article in its entirety.

    Seriously, why does Slashdot link to "articles" like this?

  • So the writer of the article is pissed because arcades these days do not cater to his tastes. Tough! Had the writer cared about the type of games in the arcade, then he should have supported it by not buying a gaming rig and play video games on the cheap. Then the arcade would not have lost money, and not have to look elsewhere for revenue like (gasp!) casual gamers.

    But of course that would be silly. The writer did what he had to do to get his gaming fix, and the arcade did what it had to do to stay al
  • The reason I went to the arcade was to play pinball. With the death of Williams a few years ago there have been very few new pinball games I have liked from Sterns. I think the slow death of pinball had an effect on the american arcades as well. Also if anyone ever played it, Big Bang Bar is the best pinball game of all time! It never made it into production but there were about 12 prototypes made and a few of them were in Chicago area arcades a long time ago.
  • This guy's an idiot. DDR and In The Groove [wikipedia.org] represent a genre that is one of the purest gaming experiences possible. There isn't any randomness at all, vital for making a game based on pure skill. You have to destroy all the arrows as they reach the zone at the top, but you more points for hitting them with accurate timing. Lots of rhythm games like Frequency (and Amplitude) are fun too, but dance games have the added challenge of making you move around and hit all the step patterns that appear on the screen
  • Don't play it.

    Seriously, what's this guy's problem?

    "Wannabe Travoltas?" I play DDR for two reasons: (1) it's fun, and (2) it's excersize. I actually hate real dancing.

    So because I have fun doing something that this guy doesn't find fun, I'm lame?
  • I never go to arcades, but I might if I there was a fixed entrance fee, with all the games inside being free to play. Having to pay for each short game is no fun.
  • Greatest comment from that article-

    Well, if the arcades are dying, then the editor of Gamepro would certainly be able to tell us. That magazine should know all the signs of going from relevency to being totally worthless very well.
    Posted on: Jan 06 2006 - 10:11 by Zeb.
  • Here in Austin, there is this place called Dave and Busters. Their selection of games concentrate on prop games, like shooting and driving, that are fun to play in groups. The best part is you can have a beer while playing the games. The overall experience is much more fun than sitting at home in front of your TV. People seem to become more and more introverted these days.
  • I have to wonder whether a better pricing model might not be the one employed by Disney in Florida, where you pay a set entrance fee and then have several floors of arcade machines of all which are set to free play. I admit that I went at a quiet time of the year(shortly after Labor Day) but it seemed like a decent deal.
  • This isn't an article, it's some blog, similar to the readers' letters section in your newspaper and not to be taken seriously.

    The guy just doesn't like the new types of games that most other people prefer and he's being a bitch about it; that's because it's his blog, the place where he can be a bitch and the rest of us can ignore him being a bitch.

    I wish Slashdot would stop refering to idiots' blogs as if they were newsworthy articles by knowledgable people.

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