What ever happened to the arcade scene here in America? I wasn't really aware of arcades until I was 12 or 13, and actually got into playing Time Crisis and Metal Slug. Yet for me, these games have existed only in the movie theatre or in small arcades in the mall. If you ever look at footage of Japanese arcades, they are lively, loud, and a hell of a lot more fun than American arcades. So, why is it that there is a scarcity of good arcades here in America? Or is it just me, and there are a myriad of arcades outside of New Jersey that are filled with games and interactivity between patrons?
At the Carousel Center in Syracuse, there's an actual arcade there that I stop by from time to time. There are occasionally a group of friends hanging out around the DDR machine and playing. If I head further into the arcade, I'll notice a dad playing air hockey with his child or maybe doing a racing game with them. I might run into an old man on the Soul Caliber II machine, or a pair of friends playing a Street Fighter game. The thing is, no one really talks to each other there. When I walk into the arcade, the employees there seem bitter and disinterested in everything, and so I end up going straight to a light gun game, as I am a total whore for those. I'll play a round or two, wander around for a minute, and then leave. I'm not alone, either. JorgeFurrioso recounts: “I remember when I was a kid I used to go a lot, because I enjoyed getting everyones attention as I kicked their butt in Street Fighter or Soul Caliber. But just as they had popped up, they vanished before my eyes around here. And I don't know why. recently I went to an arcade, and it was a different experience. I went alone, and its just kinda lonely, because no one interacts. It almost like that parallel play stuff. I walked in, played some DDR, and then some others, (a mix between fighters and light gun games. Which is ALL you can find anymore!), and really the whole feeling left me unsatisfied. I felt like I could have just walked into my room, brought up an emulator and gotten the same result, but without spending money on it.”
Why is it that this is all that happens when I go to an arcade? For one thing, I think the price is a big factor. In order to play games that are $0.25, I have to head to the back of the arcade, and find games that are either piss-poor, or otherwise only available on the original Playstation. Otherwise, fighters will cost me $0.50 or $0.75, and light gun games are never cheaper than $1.00. Platformers like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4 or X-Men? Forget it, those are relics of old now, relegated to eBay and classic game events. The prices are too high for me to keep pumping quarters into the machines, because if I have to spend half of a $5 bill on two rounds of a game, I'm going to be stopping very quickly. I don't quite know the costs of running an arcade, but costs are prohibitively high for patrons, and that seems to be one of the biggest turnoffs.
Another problem with the arcades is that there's a horrific selection of games nowadays. Some iteration of Street Fighter is there, along with two Time Crisis games, followed by DDR, and then a slew of bad light gun games, several driving games, and whatever else the arcade needs to fill space. Seriously, where are the Guilty Gear arcade machines? Where are my platformers? Where is my Metal Slug? It seems that they are all gone. I look at Japanese arcades, and I am green with envy. I would love to walk into an arcade and see a copy of Taiko Drum Master standing there for me to play. Arcades are lacking two things: variety and good games. If arcades can put out more machines that people want to play, then they'll attract more customers. If there were several fighting games placed prominently in the arcade, then you can have it where people would gather around the machine to watch people play. That, combined with more games that require co-operative play, would help out immensely.
That leads me to another point, actually. I've never been to a friendly arcade in the past 5 years. The employees are either disgruntled teens or nearly catatonic octogenarians. Many times, the other people there are drunk college students or prepubescent children, none of which want to play against me in Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Arcades need to make more of an effort to bring in gamers, such as by holding more tournaments or holding all-night game-ins. I'd love to hang out at the arcade for hours on end, but at this point, it's just not worth it. Perhaps in the future, there will be an arcade revolution that will sweep the nation, and create a place where I can burn through all the money in my pocket. Or I can just go back to dreaming while waiting for CES.
Destructoid readers: please comment or email me the locations of noteworthy arcades that rock as much as possible.
Not to be outdone, reader El Moco sent in his personal account of what it's like in arcades in Mexico. It seems that for him, arcades are few and far between, and the machines are old cabinets loaded up with a bunch of old games, and only costing him 2 pesos. Check out the shots in the gallery, or check out his page for a little bit more.
Contest:
9:13 AM on 01.07.2007
| 
The last good arcade I visited was in South India when I was 14. That was the first time I got to play Virtual-On in it's full mechanized glory, followed by Marvel vs Streetfighter and one of those old arcade flight sims. Good times.
And it's so true; arcades (the few that are left) employee the most lethargic of people. They just sit around handing out tickets and looking bored. It's reached a point where most of them don't even know what games are available, so asking for a recommendation is pointless.
But about that last point you made about the arcade revolution. I think gaming is reaching a stage where we will all have our own personalized arcades before long. Take the PS3, for instance. The thing is a freaking powerhouse. Most people would actually find it more convenient to set up a sort of arcade at home using a console than spend money on a pay-per-play basis.
Social gaming is pretty much out the window...with the advent of Xbox Live, I'm guessing online play is just going to get more and more popular until the point where it is almost mandatory that every game a few years from now has an online mode.
http://members.aol.com/Lampbane/geekspeak/directory-nyc.html
Chinatown Fair
9 Mott Street
New York, NY 10013
J/M/Z to Chambers Street, 4/5/6 to Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall
New York City lacks one thing: a proper 25-cents-per-game arcade. There's a couple in Flushing, another one in Bay Terrace - but where the f*ck IS Bay Terrace? Enter Chinatown Arcade - which technically has a name, but is never referred to by it. Looks like it's been there for a while, too. An L-shaped space goes off into the middle of the block, games along all the walls. Most types of game seem to be pretty well-represented - fighters, 2-D shooters, puzzles and light-gun games, with a "classics" section near the front. The gamers are overwhelmingly Asian, probably about 10% black and Hispanic from the nearby projects, an occasional whiteboy. All in a general atmosphere of friendly competition and general happiness - just another one of those places that makes NYC easy to get through when you're feeling like taking hostages and shooting them one by one. Why bother, when you can do same with space aliens, all for a quarter a pop! - MK
I can't confirm it's existance. but within the next month or two i'm bound to find myself visiting the city. If I get around to it, I'd like to check this place out
They import alot of machines, but I tend to stay away from there. All filled with Chinese gangsta wannabes and crackwhores. In fact I haven't gone to that mall for a very long time now. Perhaps I'll make a visit just to play games.
Funland Arcade is at Yonge and Dundas (just north on Yonge, west side). It's got a bunch of modern games, tons of fighting games, Neo Geo with Metal Slug, and a ton of old stuff - even the Nintendo Versus arcade machines. Prices are decent, and the 50-year old scruffy guy says hello with a smile. Hell, they've even got about 20 pinball machines, still in halfway decent condition!
If you're willing to go a little bit out of your way, there's a huge arcade in Pacific Mall at Kennedy and Steeles. I forget what it's called by name, but it's right in the heart of Chinatown North. As such, there are a TON of rhythm-action games (the only place I've been able to play something like Keyboard Mania without importing the PS disc), fighting games, platformers and weird, wacky ones.
Both places are decent for value and the selection between them is great. I can try to get up to both and take photos for D'toid if someone wants.
If only someone made it more sociable and exciting to go to an arcade, rather than buying a game and going home to play it, knowing you wont have to queue or get pestered by the fat obnoxious guy who wants to put you off your game.
http://www.bitsbytespixelssprites.com/blog/2006/06/20/lamentation-of-my-youth-the-sad-death-of-the-arcade/
I miss that arcade, a friend of mine used to work there and would let me play for free whenever he closed.
Up until I was 12 or so, I used to hang out at my mom's place of business everyday. It was a local pool and spa store, so it wasn't that big of a deal if I decided to run around and play. Anyway, I was told a few years back that they used to sell arcade and pinball machines, but stopped a few years after I was born. Thinking about it, I vaguely remember a broken-down Dracula-themed pinball machine down in the warehouse. Even more vague is the memory of a table-top Pac-Man machine. D:
How come I'm always too young to see the cool stuff?
It also needs to be mentioned that arcades (at least in their heyday) were dark, dank, and not exactly kid or parent friendly, at least in appearance. So it had that working against it as well.
If someone invested, bought/franchised some arcades and put together a good company with an identity/policy to run them, they could have something a lot more successful.
Where about in the Syracuse area are you? I actually work in Carousel Center, and if you ever do feel like hitting up an arcade for some action get at me.
I think the last game I've seen in a arcade was Tekken. Never seen a DDR machine in there. Its a shame, it is the only option to challenge random people while still be in the same room. Online play made up some what for that but it never will be the same.
I'm not sure restored 80's arcade games are a draw. You can actually buy your own cabinets these days for cheap, or buy arcade controls for use with MAME.
I went looking for arcades in the southern Mass area, specificly for pinball machines, and I can only find places that have DDR and stupid ticket machines. One place had a huge neon sign that said "PINBALL!", but of course they didn't actually have any machines there. Retail stores seem to love SegaGT and Cruisin' USA.
I have to get my Pinball fix with this: http://www.futurepinball.com
The thing with Arcades is that they always provided a gaming experience that you couldn't get at home. Nowadays, home consoles emulate those same games I wasted tons of quarters on, and blow anything away as far as gameplay, graphics and connectivity. In addition to I doubt you could play Gears of War with a Joystick and 6 buttons.
I hate when 'Japan' and 'Arcades' are mentioned in the same sentence for two reasons. One, Japan's arcade gaming scene is based on the culture and it's habits, and two it's not the all to end all. We can't, and I don't want to say never, have Japan's experience. What replaces Japan's numerous innovations in arcade gaming is the bar and the go-karts that we have over here that make arcade games a side attraction. That plus the cost of importing each game and it's proprietary cabinets make importing them an investment that is highly risky. Or in the case of DDR / Bemani games we get them after the fad is over in Japan and the real game-o-philes have already played them.
There are some places that still try to keep the 'arcade' feel. Most of them are either holes in the wall with no games, or corporate places like Gameworks and Dave and Busters who would rather sell you a drink and a pool table than House of the Dead 4. It is a shame really. But in the end, gaming is a social event and Americans would rather be lazy and get their gamerscores up on Xbox Live than to come to an arcade where I can hear them as I own them. If it changes anytime soon, let me know, I'll be the first in line with my quarters (or cards to swipe).
Dave and Busters still rules
I hear in the UK Arcades still live as well.
I'm scouting a location now and hope if the movie theater there reopens I can open a semi decent/Large/roomy arcade there.
China Town Fair has been going downhill. It feels like not many people are showing up like they used too. Plus I've noticed that the newest owners haven't been maintaining the machines well.
In New Jersey there are two great places, 8 on the Break and Flashbacks on the pier in Seaside Hights. 8 is a great place for Capcom fighters and they have THE BEST pinball in the tri-state area. Their Break Steak sandwiches are awesome too!
Flashbacks is in the back on an arcade in Seaside Heights. They have a TON of classic games in pretty good condition. It's always fun to go and check it out whenever I'm down there.
There's another great place in New York City, Barcade in Brooklyn. They got a ton of classic games and the beer is great too. It's one hell of a combo and the place gets packed at night with folks hanging out.
Soon I plan on taking a trip up to New Hampshire to visit FunSpot. http://www.funspotnh.com/
I saw a picture of it in a UK Gaming Mag called Retro Gamer and I knew I had to go. They have a ton of games and the cutoff date for the retro area was 87 with Double Dragon being the "newest" game.
So SOME arcades are still around, you just need to know were to go for them!
3darcade.mameworld.net
It's the next best thing to being back there, unless you have a brain tumor that's infiltrating the part of your brain devoted to arcade memories, firing off flashback after flashback.
I am a big fan of arcade games if you cant tell and i can give you some insight into good locations to play arcade games, NOTE: DO NOT look at your local dave and busters or other major chain to play video games. Since you live in syracuse you should be able to use this information since I live in Niagara Falls NY and visit arcades around the area.
First off i would like to mention the Phoenix Arcade, it is located in the McKinley mall which is in Hamburg, NY. This is an 80s style mall arcade, and its quite awesome (There are a few newer machines, but the older machines far outnumber the new and its the one room style with rows of machines from the 80s). However the usual problems plague it with lots of broken machines. They are VERY nice about refunding money though, and will refund anything you have lost in their machines no questions asked, the employees are not rude or inconsiderate at all and are very friendly. The most expensive machine you will find in this arcade costs 50 cents to play with i would say about 90-95% of machines costing 25 cents per play. Since there are a considerable amount of older machines in this arcade the broken machines are understandable, it would be nearly impossible to keep an arcade of this size in working order continuously without creating a hefty repair bill for parts and labor which would then be passed onto the consumer by being forced to charge more per play (and that would be bad). However if you let them know that there is a problem with a certain machine, on your next visit it will most likely be repaired, they cannot fix what they do not know about. Note with the way this arcade is set up you have to walk across the mall (its not far) to their console games store if you lose money in a game and need a refund, there is always an employee behind the counter.
The second thing i would like to mention is DO NOT head to canada to play arcade games (unless you know of a specific location that is good that i might be missing). Here you will find a lot of broken machines and employees are scarce unfriendly and unwilling to give refunds (by the time you track one down to give you a refund its really not worth your time). I am specifically referring to the arcades on clifton hill like the Great Canadian Midway and the arcade in the Marvel building. These are some of the most broken machines i have seen on location, with no effort being made to fix them since tourists will put money into anything. I have been visiting clifton hill for years now and the situation there just keeps getting worse for the machines. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.
Ok with all that said you may want to head to the basement of the Skylon Tower in canada if you are going to visit an arcade in canada. I will give you this tip, if you need a refund in order to find an employee you must go into the office that is under the escalator (there that should save you a lot of hassle!). I have told others to go to the skylon but they have come back very dissapointed so i am not sure what to say, all i can say is that they have some VERY rare gems in terms of classic sega simulator games from the late 80s, however they are usually found in very broken condition, as with the rest of the machines in that arcade. Sometimes you can get lucky though, and the majority of stuff will be working, the good news is that one of the most rare machines, the Galaxy Force Super Deluxe cockpit from 1988 is usually in working condition. Its worth a visit just for play on that one machine!
My final recommendation would be to visit the Rochester Gameroom Show, it happens the last weekend in march 2007 and features A TON of WORKING pinball machines and arcade games, admission is like 10-12$ and all machines are on free play (very cheap!!!). These are working pinball machines and arcade games that come from people who actually collect and restore these machines so you know you are getting top quality machines for play here. This may be the only place i will be able to play a working pinball machine, i am very sick of putting money into pinballs only to find they are broken to the point where they are unplayable.
WTF?!
"Internet celebrities?"
I go to GK couple times a month and I have never seen "Internet celebrities." Of course, I could be tripping over them as they sprawl face-down in the toxic run-off curbside and never know the inebriate whose neck I am stepping on is a Genuine Internet Celebrity.
And I have no falking idea whence the "gorgeous women." There are no fucking gorgeous women in Portland. Or the entire Northwest for that matter. Portland is dank and dark and everyone gains this unsightly 40-pound mass that twines their trunk like an albino boa constrictor. Fucking gorgeous women in Stumpton... as if.
Do not be taken in by the hype.
Portland is the Last Stop. It's like Boise with a slightly lower Klan ratio. This falking hicktown shuts down at 9:00 p.m. After that? TV or beer. Period. Why is it a gamer's paradise? Because all of the humans reside in their cubicles, apartments, and moss-covered shanties watching TV, playing videogames, posting the Internet.
I am not here of my own free will.
Please send help.