Do you think arcades are dead?

[spOOky]

Do you think that the age of the video game arcade is dead? I know I haven't been in one for years. But I miss them. Do they even exist in America anymore? I know they do in Japan.

So what do you think?

[{OF}Malicious Assault]

They still have them in some malls, but I think it is moving towards the setup that Dynamic is doing where you and a bunch of friends can go hook up on a lan and play for a couple of hours. The age of the big arcade video game is over. Why pay that much when I can play it at home on my computer

[Soul]

I miss em too. The only arcades left around here are Gameworks and Dave & Busters - not what I look for in an arcade :/

[slinki]

There is a street that has 250+ machines in various arcades/art galleries in the small town of Manitou Springs, Colorado (above Colorado Springs).

All the favorites....asteroids, space invaders, wizard of wor, defender, centipede...etc. I haven't been yet but my sister-in-law was telling me about it.

[LoPo]

I miss them. Now it seems like Dave and Busters/Gameworks are the 'new' arcades... where you pay a premimum to play.

[{OF}G_Man]

I couldn't tell you even where one is in the West Michigan Area. I used to go to several years ago.

I'm old enough I used to spend time in Pin Ball Parlors, and the Video arcades with DigDug, Tempest, and the others Slinki mentioned. I really miss them, but probably wouldn't go there regularly now because of the PC games I play at home.

Wizard of wor, my all time favorite. I don't know if they were all set up as two player, but my little brother and I would play endless hours as 2 player coop at a machine that was in a local bowling alley. Racked up some big scores that way, and could play a long time on two quarters with two peeps.

[Doom]

Maybe not dead, but seriously dying. When I go to what sad arcades remain (movie theatres), I don't see much in the way of new games, just the same stuff I was playing a decade ago.

Other than fighting games which haven't really changed much, is there anything really new? Is there any game out that makes a splash like, say the "Warrior Needs Food, Badly" game (sorry, BAD at names here), or the Star Wars blow up the death star game, or even as interesting as Punch-Out? (Yay, I remembered one!)


Ah, Wizard of Wor was fun..don't forget Joust, there are a few good emulators of it online still.

[spOOky]

Dude, I was playing Joust today!

I've been messing around with classic 80's games here.
http://www.tripletsandus.com/80s/80s_games/arcade.htm

I forgot, there IS one arcade left here in Los Angeles that I know of. It's at the Pier in Redondo Beach. I have been there like 6 times in the last four years. I don't know how that slipped my mind.

They have lot's of old games, I mean really old ones, and some new ones too. I always drop a few buck in the machines when I go there. It's been awhle though.

There's nothing like the rush I got as a kid when walking into an arcade and the sounds just hit you and you start looking for a machine to drop quarters in.

I do have one link to my gaming past that sits next to my desk at work everyday at least.

The Getaway
http://cgi.ebay.com/WILLIAMS-GETAWAY...cmdZVi ewItem

I seriously love this pinball machine. It's in mint condition. We repaired the firing mechanism last week when a wire got loose.

I'd love to open a retro arcade if I thought people would visit. Or even better a mix of both new PC and XBOX stuff and old arcade games games.

I wonder if it would make money?

Oh btw, in Japan arcades are still hot. Why? Cuz' people in the big cities have no room or privacy at home and will do anything to get out of the house.

They are still cranking out friggin' SWEET arcade games over there.

Maybe I can find some and post them...

[{OF}G_Man]

I've gotten several of the emulators, DigDug, Tempest, Battletank, etc. and do play them on occasion on my PC, but what I miss is the original control interfaces. The keyboard/Joystick/gamepad just doesn't cut it compared to the arcade machine controls.

If there was a "retro" arcade near me, I would and I'm sure other people like myself would go there occasionally, but I'm not sure there would be enough business to keep it profitable. If it were done in combination with something like Dynamic is doing it could work.

Anybody know of anyone who makes the original controls for these games that have a PC interface??

[Soul]

Hell yeah, add some beer and it would be the ****!