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Is the golden age of arcade gaming over? I can't remember going into an arcade psyched about playing any game. It's all dance pads, racing games and FPS. Fro

Is the golden age of arcade gaming over? I can't remember going into an arcade psyched about playing any game. It's all dance pads, racing games and FPS. Frogger, Pac-man, Gauntlet, Tetris, Mortal Kombat, Warlock, those were exciting games. Maybe it's just the gramps in me yelling about the kids on my lawn.

erickhill 10y ago
It's been over for a very long time. You can still find the 'classics' but you really have to hunt for them. To find them all in one place is truly unusual these days, as they are referred to as 'retro arcades' and most cities don't even have one. My son thinks of them as old-fashioned. Hard to wrap my head around that sometimes, but it is what it is.
- Beltiras 10y ago
  We have one in Reykjavík. https://www.facebook.com/freddireykjavik/ https://www.facebook.com/freddireykjavik/ It's a small collection but some golden oldies.
- rb808 10y ago
  If you're in NY region/Philly look for Barcarde - its a chain - they have all the classics. eg http://barcadebrooklyn.com/games/ http://barcadebrooklyn.com/games/
- Neliquat 10y ago
  1up bar in Denver has a decent rotation last time I was out there.
ghostDancer 10y ago
I feel something similar, where i live most arcades have disappeared, sign of the times. If you feel too nostalgic , take a look at this documentary "History of Arcade Video Games" [1] and visit this fantastic blog [2] (not mine). [1]https://youtu.be/NO0yJ54f-RU https://youtu.be/NO0yJ54f-RU [2]https://arcadeblogger.com/ https://arcadeblogger.com/
- rollthehard6 10y ago
  Also worth a look is this book by Martin Amis (Yes that guy) - I still own the copy I bought as a kid - http://www.themillions.com/2012/02/the-arcades-project-martin-amis-guide-to-classic-video-games.html http://www.themillions.com/2012/02/the-arcades-project-marti...
jaoo 10y ago
It's been over since home consoles became more popular
kaoD 10y ago
All those games, and better alternatives, can be played in PC/consoles for far cheaper. Arcade died with the popularization of PCs.
- xanderstrike 10y ago
  The only things you can't play at home without spending a lot of money are the games that require dance pads, racing wheels, or light guns. That's why those fill modern arcades. Anyone can get a fight stick and MAME if they're interested in arcade games, but building a force feedback racing rig costs hundreds.
jetti 10y ago
I think the golden age of arcade gaming has been over for quite some time. Consoles and PC gaming have taken the need of the arcade away from a lot of people. Consoles and PCs are now the target for games rather than arcade cabinets. That said, if you are ever in the Chicago area I suggest you check out Galloping Ghost. It is the largest arcade in the US and they have over 500 arcade games and it is all free play. $15 gets you in the door and then you are free to come and go as you please throughout the day as long as you keep your receipt. My buddy and I would go and play Mortal Kombat II and NFL Blitz for 5 or 6 hours at a time.
- cableshaft 10y ago
  They have games you probably never saw in arcades, too, because they didn't see wide distribution. For example, a previous boss of mine used to work for Midway back in the day, and he donated some of the arcade games he worked on to Galloping Ghost. Galloping Ghost helped him restore one of his rarest ones, too, and it's playable there. More on topic, if you're in the area to check out Galloping Ghost, you can head a little ways Northwest to Schaumburg and go to the 257 restaurant, which is basically a Namco museum and has food, bowling, and a bunch of Namco arcade games and memorabilia.
  - lanaius 10y ago
    I would not recommend going to 257 with the intention of having a good time playing arcade games. Their selection is fairly limited. As the name implies, it's good if you just want Pac-Man games, and mediocre for much else.
    - cableshaft 10y ago
      It's definitely not on the level of Galloping Ghost, for sure. It's more of a place you go to if you want to do a mixture of bowling, food, and (Namco) games.
- germinalphrase 10y ago
  That's the first time I've heard of such a place, but it sounds wonderful. I imagine you'd need to be pretty handy with your own repairs. Have they been around for a long time (i.e. are they profitable enough to stay open longterm)?
tinus_hn 10y ago
There isn't much of a reason to go to an arcade to play normal games anymore, you can just play those at home. The arcade niche now is games you don't have at home because they use special hardware which is too expensive or unwieldy.
- Beltiras 10y ago
  Yes, I think I have become grampa yelling about the kids on my lawn ;)
  - DonHopkins 10y ago
    You will enjoy this game, then: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_6rkRdiyVQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_6rkRdiyVQ
rollthehard6 10y ago
What was good about the arcades back at that time was the real world social aspect of it, somewhere to hang out that didn't involve substance abuse ; )
- DonHopkins 10y ago
  Weed isn't a substance??!
- GFK_of_xmaspast 10y ago
  > didn't involve substance abuse Didn't you ever see a cabinet that had a bunch of melted plastic around the controls due to people leaving their cigarettes there?
DonHopkins 10y ago
Apparently there is now an arcade cabinet version of FlappyBird! I spotted this at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk this weekend: http://imgur.com/gallery/V70YE http://imgur.com/gallery/V70YE
emodendroket 10y ago
If you liked Mortal Kombat why wouldn't you like Guilty Gear Xrd or Street Fighter V or Tekken 7?
- Noos 10y ago
  too complex, and social play is too dominated by "the fighting game community." Mortal Kombat in the old days is really incredibly simple, and the fun of fighting games then was playing against people in a local community.
  - emodendroket 10y ago
    SFV is a conscious effort to welcome newcomers and it's very simple. In some ways it's less complex than SFII was (certainly at high-level play I think that's a reasonable thing to say). Finding matches locally is, I concede, more of a challenge, but that's not really the fault of the game developers. Also, maybe MKI could be described as really simple, but I think by the time MKII and III came out that wasn't really true of those anymore.
dragontamer 10y ago
> It's all dance pads, racing games and FPS. Except those music dancing games are really, really good now. Jubeat, Sound Voltex, Pop'n Music, Taiko no Tatsujin, DDR. > Mortal Kombat There's a ton of good arcade fighters. Injustice and Mortal Kombat X if you like that style. But I personally have a preference for Guilty Gear, Blazblue, Marvel vs Capcom, Killer Instinct. Other players prefer Tekken, Street Fighter 5, etc. etc.
Noos 10y ago
The golden age was dead about the time of Super Street Fighter 2 turbo. Arcades declined mostly because home consoles could offer longer, more persistent experiences, and started delivering arcade quality ports as early as the SNES.

erickhill 10y ago

It's been over for a very long time. You can still find the 'classics' but you really have to hunt for them. To find them all in one place is truly unusual these days, as they are referred to as 'retro arcades' and most cities don't even have one. My son thinks of them as old-fashioned. Hard to wrap my head around that sometimes, but it is what it is.

Beltiras 10y ago
We have one in Reykjavík. https://www.facebook.com/freddireykjavik/ https://www.facebook.com/freddireykjavik/ It's a small collection but some golden oldies.
rb808 10y ago
If you're in NY region/Philly look for Barcarde - its a chain - they have all the classics. eg http://barcadebrooklyn.com/games/ http://barcadebrooklyn.com/games/
Neliquat 10y ago
1up bar in Denver has a decent rotation last time I was out there.

ghostDancer 10y ago

I feel something similar, where i live most arcades have disappeared, sign of the times. If you feel too nostalgic , take a look at this documentary "History of Arcade Video Games" [1] and visit this fantastic blog [2] (not mine). [1]https://youtu.be/NO0yJ54f-RU https://youtu.be/NO0yJ54f-RU [2]https://arcadeblogger.com/ https://arcadeblogger.com/

rollthehard6 10y ago
Also worth a look is this book by Martin Amis (Yes that guy) - I still own the copy I bought as a kid - http://www.themillions.com/2012/02/the-arcades-project-martin-amis-guide-to-classic-video-games.html http://www.themillions.com/2012/02/the-arcades-project-marti...

jaoo 10y ago

It's been over since home consoles became more popular

kaoD 10y ago

All those games, and better alternatives, can be played in PC/consoles for far cheaper. Arcade died with the popularization of PCs.

xanderstrike 10y ago
The only things you can't play at home without spending a lot of money are the games that require dance pads, racing wheels, or light guns. That's why those fill modern arcades. Anyone can get a fight stick and MAME if they're interested in arcade games, but building a force feedback racing rig costs hundreds.

jetti 10y ago

I think the golden age of arcade gaming has been over for quite some time. Consoles and PC gaming have taken the need of the arcade away from a lot of people. Consoles and PCs are now the target for games rather than arcade cabinets. That said, if you are ever in the Chicago area I suggest you check out Galloping Ghost. It is the largest arcade in the US and they have over 500 arcade games and it is all free play. $15 gets you in the door and then you are free to come and go as you please throughout the day as long as you keep your receipt. My buddy and I would go and play Mortal Kombat II and NFL Blitz for 5 or 6 hours at a time.

cableshaft 10y ago
They have games you probably never saw in arcades, too, because they didn't see wide distribution. For example, a previous boss of mine used to work for Midway back in the day, and he donated some of the arcade games he worked on to Galloping Ghost. Galloping Ghost helped him restore one of his rarest ones, too, and it's playable there. More on topic, if you're in the area to check out Galloping Ghost, you can head a little ways Northwest to Schaumburg and go to the 257 restaurant, which is basically a Namco museum and has food, bowling, and a bunch of Namco arcade games and memorabilia.
- lanaius 10y ago
  I would not recommend going to 257 with the intention of having a good time playing arcade games. Their selection is fairly limited. As the name implies, it's good if you just want Pac-Man games, and mediocre for much else.
  - cableshaft 10y ago
    It's definitely not on the level of Galloping Ghost, for sure. It's more of a place you go to if you want to do a mixture of bowling, food, and (Namco) games.
germinalphrase 10y ago
That's the first time I've heard of such a place, but it sounds wonderful. I imagine you'd need to be pretty handy with your own repairs. Have they been around for a long time (i.e. are they profitable enough to stay open longterm)?

tinus_hn 10y ago

There isn't much of a reason to go to an arcade to play normal games anymore, you can just play those at home. The arcade niche now is games you don't have at home because they use special hardware which is too expensive or unwieldy.

Beltiras 10y ago
Yes, I think I have become grampa yelling about the kids on my lawn ;)
- DonHopkins 10y ago
  You will enjoy this game, then: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_6rkRdiyVQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_6rkRdiyVQ

rollthehard6 10y ago

What was good about the arcades back at that time was the real world social aspect of it, somewhere to hang out that didn't involve substance abuse ; )

DonHopkins 10y ago
Weed isn't a substance??!
GFK_of_xmaspast 10y ago
> didn't involve substance abuse Didn't you ever see a cabinet that had a bunch of melted plastic around the controls due to people leaving their cigarettes there?

DonHopkins 10y ago

Apparently there is now an arcade cabinet version of FlappyBird! I spotted this at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk this weekend: http://imgur.com/gallery/V70YE http://imgur.com/gallery/V70YE

emodendroket 10y ago

If you liked Mortal Kombat why wouldn't you like Guilty Gear Xrd or Street Fighter V or Tekken 7?

Noos 10y ago
too complex, and social play is too dominated by "the fighting game community." Mortal Kombat in the old days is really incredibly simple, and the fun of fighting games then was playing against people in a local community.
- emodendroket 10y ago
  SFV is a conscious effort to welcome newcomers and it's very simple. In some ways it's less complex than SFII was (certainly at high-level play I think that's a reasonable thing to say). Finding matches locally is, I concede, more of a challenge, but that's not really the fault of the game developers. Also, maybe MKI could be described as really simple, but I think by the time MKII and III came out that wasn't really true of those anymore.

dragontamer 10y ago

> It's all dance pads, racing games and FPS. Except those music dancing games are really, really good now. Jubeat, Sound Voltex, Pop'n Music, Taiko no Tatsujin, DDR. > Mortal Kombat There's a ton of good arcade fighters. Injustice and Mortal Kombat X if you like that style. But I personally have a preference for Guilty Gear, Blazblue, Marvel vs Capcom, Killer Instinct. Other players prefer Tekken, Street Fighter 5, etc. etc.

Noos 10y ago

The golden age was dead about the time of Super Street Fighter 2 turbo. Arcades declined mostly because home consoles could offer longer, more persistent experiences, and started delivering arcade quality ports as early as the SNES.