Part of it is the nostalgia aspect but I think more so, they have finally figured out a sustainable business model: become a bar. I’m not sure whether it took

Part of it is the nostalgia aspect but I think more so, they have finally figured out a sustainable business model: become a bar. I’m not sure whether it took them so long to figure out the model, or whether society just had to wait for the first gamer generations to grow old enough to a) drink and b) become a little jaded with modern video games, so that nostalgia for the arcade classics would kick in. I think part of it is also the hobbyist factor talked about in sibling comments. The first arcade owners were business owners, not hobbyists. They were not kids when the first arcade machines were coming out, they were just in it for the money. Hobbyists and other nostalgia-driven folks feel very differently about these games. They take care of them and they enjoy talking to the customers about the games. The customers are older too, so they’re not like the little kids who used to beat the crap out of the machines. Everything about it is much better off.