Calgary airport. Even traveling businessmen can find the time for some pinball.

In December, I had to travel back home for Christmas for the first time. It was also the first airline flights I've taken in several years. Traveling by myself, and with several hours being spent in airports waiting for flights and connexions, I was often left with some free time. I'd always found airports to be interesting places to explore: each one has its unique architecture, a selection of mediocre-to-bizarre shops and restaurants, and those neat moving walkways (when you run down them, your relative speed feels like it's been doubled).

The most interesting thing I realized going through airports on my flight to and from home was how common it is for airports to have small arcades. At two of the airports I went through (Saskatoon and Calgary), they had their own arcade locations; in fact, Calgary had three separate installations scattered within the terminal. Each location had a decent combination of arcade standards: "classics" (like Pac-Man), racing, fighting, shmups, and the always reliable pinball. Looking back to earlier flights in my life, I recall several other airports having arcades or arcade cabinets. One of my distinct memories of my first trip to Disneyworld when I was 6 was playing the Simpsons fighting game at the airport. I also remember traveling home during the Northeast power blackout of 2003, and was disappointed to see that the arcade cabinets at the Toronto airport were shut down.

The continued existence of arcades at airports seems at first to be unusual, since it is despite the overall decline in arcades, at least compared to over 20 years ago. Arcade cabinets used to be plentiful in malls, convenience stores, bars and stand-alone arcade businesses. Today, the classic arcade is an endangered species, either replaced by the obvious dominance of consoles or switching to the more profitable ticket-and-prize games. So, then, why are arcades still prevalent at airports? Here are a couple possible reasons:


Calgary airport. A good variety of games here, and a strong pinball lineup.

1. Customers with little else to do

Airports create a unique sort of customer: they are stuck at an airport for a variable amount of time (sometimes hours), have little else to do other than waiting, and are probably tired of sitting down (as they have been/will be doing that for a while on their flights). That's the reason why there are so many shops, restaurants, and those ridiculous massage chairs. Arcades fit into that as well, even more so than a mall since airport customers are not there specifically for shopping, and are therefore more likely to spend a bit of money on an arcade game than buy some trinket or souvenir. And since a customer may be waiting for hours, they are more likely to spend some more quarters if the alternative is boredom. This is especially true for younger children and their parents.


Calgary airport. The Standards: a pinball machine and a fighting game.

2. Space

Airports are big. Or, to be more precise, they are expansive. Since the gates have to be a certain distance apart to allow planes to safely dock, the design of an airport usually results in a surplus of empty space. Shops and restaurants can fill in some of that space, but since the types of businesses are limited (no one is going to buy lingerie at an airport), there is more than enough room to fit an arcade or two in. Compare this to a mall: where space is at a premium, and high rent has forced arcades out. Once arcade machines are set up in an airport, they aren't likely to be forced out by other businesses.


Saskatoon airport. My little brother is standing in front of the arcade.

There are some other factors potentially at play, such as requiring no staff (outside maintenance) and the high amount of tourists/business people coming through, who are hopefully in more of a "spending mood". Altogether, it does make sense for arcades to be put in airports. It's too bad that most people only need to go there once in a while (if at all). At least I feel confident that among all the excitement, busyness and fatigue of a plane trip, there will always be the reliable arcade to provide several minutes of gaming goodness.

So, does anyone else know some good arcades at airports? Found any rare/favourite games there?