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I'm sorry, but I have trouble feeling nostalgic for arcades. My memories involve dark and cavernous rooms where it was hard to see other people and easy to offe

I'm sorry, but I have trouble feeling nostalgic for arcades. My memories involve dark and cavernous rooms where it was hard to see other people and easy to offend them, large machines with worn-out TVs and controls, and unfair gameplay that was almost always a waste of time. What's the point of doing something if you can't do it long enough to enjoy it? The constant "coin grab" was irritating to me as a young boy, and annoying to have to constantly leave the arcade and find my parent where I could beg a few more quarters. And I always noticed that stuffed animals cost thousands of tokens, but barely tens of dollars at other stores. For about the same price, I could rent a videogame for the home console, and I wouldn't have a parent nagging me that they were afraid of someone kidnapping me from the arcade.

mrob 11y ago
This essay clearly explains the appeal of arcades: http://insomnia.ac/commentary/arcade_culture/ http://insomnia.ac/commentary/arcade_culture/ "Unfair" arcade games are very rare. I'm nowhere near as skilled as the Chinese gamers in the article, but I have a few 1CCs and I've enjoyed competing for local high scores. Arcade games strongly reward skill, and the arcade setting has a competitive atmosphere you can't replicate at home. I'll certainly miss arcades if they die out completely.
- stephengillie 11y ago
  Having played the same games for console and arcade, they were definitely less fair in arcades. Some games had 2-3 times as many pitfalls and other failure conditions to avoid as their console version. Unfairness was a business model. This kind of rose-colored article underscores this concept - it was said about people who were trying to remake Starsiege:Tribes in the late 2000s: "They don't want Tribes back; they want 1999 back." For some inexplicable reason, everyone wants to return to their childhood.

mrob 11y ago

This essay clearly explains the appeal of arcades: http://insomnia.ac/commentary/arcade_culture/ http://insomnia.ac/commentary/arcade_culture/ "Unfair" arcade games are very rare. I'm nowhere near as skilled as the Chinese gamers in the article, but I have a few 1CCs and I've enjoyed competing for local high scores. Arcade games strongly reward skill, and the arcade setting has a competitive atmosphere you can't replicate at home. I'll certainly miss arcades if they die out completely.

stephengillie 11y ago
Having played the same games for console and arcade, they were definitely less fair in arcades. Some games had 2-3 times as many pitfalls and other failure conditions to avoid as their console version. Unfairness was a business model. This kind of rose-colored article underscores this concept - it was said about people who were trying to remake Starsiege:Tribes in the late 2000s: "They don't want Tribes back; they want 1999 back." For some inexplicable reason, everyone wants to return to their childhood.