What Arcade Era Do You Identify With The Most?

[Ginsu Victim]

I always felt like Zaxxon didn't age well. I loved it when it came out, but now I can't get into it.

[Vanguard]

When you think about the history of arcades (coin op electronic type), it's amazing how short lived it really was.

I'm not talking about the existence of the games but rather the arcade itself as a business model.   It probably really only lasted less than 10 years before declining into an unsustainable model.   Sure there were always arcade games in 7-eleven, etc... but I'm talking about the full on arcades with the neon lights and nothing but a huge room full of machines.

For me, it was as much the arcade as the games in it that made it fun.   I was at the age where I was too young to drive myself to the arcade but old enough that my mom would drop me there.   It was a place to hang out with friends all day and have a sense of independence.  It really was as much of a social experience as it was a place to play games.

By the time arcades were starting to close up and disappear, I'd discovered girls and had new interests to waste my money on.   I feel fortunate that I was at the right place and the right time in history to have seen and enjoyed the rise of the arcade.  

[DashRendar]

Sad how I never see Zaxxon getting much love in this community.  We all played it...

Yeah, I LOVED Zaxxon when I was about 9 or 10.  I play it now on MAME, and it *is* tricky with the point of view.

But to a 9 year old kid, it wasn't a big deal. 

[DashRendar]

When you think about the history of arcades (coin op electronic type), it's amazing how short lived it really was.

It was interesting looking year-by-year at arcade game releases at arcade-history.com.  You could definitely see when the peaks were and when the declines happened.

[jtslade]

"Mortal Kombat, on Sega Genesis, is the best video game ever.
" I disagree, while it's a very good game, I think Donkey Kong is the best game ever."
"Donkey Kong sucks."
"You know something? YOU SUCK!"

[Frigo]

Late 80's/Early 90's for me.

I was born in 80, so I missed out on quite a few trends in the arcade scene. There was this place, Peter Piper's Pizza, a Chuck E. Cheese rip-off that had a HUGE arcade section in the back. There were games like Rolling Thunder, Altered Beast, Outrun, Space Harrier, Centipede, etc. all over the place, and while I had a blast playing them, I was too young to fully appreciate some of the classics I wouldn't see again until they were converted to the home systems (poorly converted, at that). It wasn't until I first laid eyes on Street Fighter II that I was completely hooked to the arcades. I can still remember placing quarters on the bezel to secure my place in line, and, although I got beat a lot my first few tries, I learned the basics quick and soon I was the one taking quarters from some young upstart, LOL. Ever since then, I've been a dedicated fighting fan. You just can't beat the experience.

[TheGameFan]

I really identify with two eras for different reasons.

I remember being a kid in the 80's playing mostly Pac-Man, Moon Patrol,  and Rally-X.

During my college years in the nineties, I remember going to the arcade with friends to play Tekken, Virtua Fighter 2, and Daytona.

[manman]

When you think about the history of arcades (coin op electronic type), it's amazing how short lived it really was.

I'm not talking about the existence of the games but rather the arcade itself as a business model.  

It's an interesting topic to think about... when I first read this I thought the exact opposite.  As fast as technology moves and it becomes easier to pack more powerful machines into a smaller footprint, it was inevitable for consoles to catch up to arcade quality machines so you get the same or better technology by only paying once and you get to own it.  I guess if arcades had always stayed a step ahead it might not have happened that way, but I think consoles caught up too fast and the money just wasn't there for many people to want to continue to invest much in that business model.

But then I thought about Japan, where arcade culture still thrives today.  It HAS finally started to decline, but not nearly to the point they have here... I don't know if it's just a cultural thing or what.  I read that part of the way they design large cities in Japan is mean to encourage people to come/stay out more- and that probably works since living spaces are smaller and more cramped together in general vs American housing.

I don't know, but I agree with you that most of the great part about the experience was not the technical quality of the games, but actually being there, meeting people, competing against people, and just sharing that arcade culture with other like-minded people.  It's really too bad that had to die out...

[Vanguard]

I remember going to the arcade with friends to play Tekken, Virtua Fighter 2, and Daytona.

I worked on the development of SEGA graphics hardware (model 3) for Virtua Fighter 2 and Daytona 500.   Sega gave us both and we stuck them in our break room.   It's amazing how good you can get at a game when its free and at work. 

[Havok]

Ahhh the Golden Age. I stopped going to the arcade regularly when the fighter drivel came out. That was the beginning of the end...

[Thenasty]

so true. When Arcade became quarter sucking machine with those continues.

You get killed right away, so you put another .25c/.50c to continue (AKA Simpsons, TMNT, Fighting Games).

I like the chalenge on how far you get only on one quarter. If game is over, starts over again (AKA Pacman, Asteroids, Berzerk etc..)

80's why did you have to end 

[TPA5]

Pacman, Ms.Pac, Asteroids, Berzerk, Scramble, Donkey Kong, Vanguard, Missile Command, Centipede, Space Invaders, Astro Blaster, Gorf, Scramble, Galaxian, Galaga, KISS PINBALL, BLACKHOLE PINBALL etc... get the picture ? Can you now quess how old I am ? 

Sad how I never see Zaxxon getting much love in this community.  We all played it...

My dad has major love for Zaxxon. I promised him I would put a joystick in my cab so he could play it again. I really like it too, it just makes me slightly dizzy if I play it too much

[manman]

Ahhh the Golden Age. I stopped going to the arcade regularly when the fighter drivel came out. That was the beginning of the end...

lol, I can't hate on the golden age, but I think you are crazy before the fighting game boom, arcades had already been seeing the end for a while, they were totally dying.  Fighting games weren't the beginning of the end, they were the new beginning that brought arcade culture back!  I know that what people like is mostly just naustalgia but for my money it doesn't get better than fighting games for real 2 player competition.  Fast paced strategy where you have to be able to read the other person and react on a dime... plus the games had depth where you had to learn specific matchups, and character play could be innovated for years...  3rd strike came out in like 1999 or something and 10 years later people were still discovering things...

[Ginsu Victim]

so true. When Arcade became quarter sucking machine with those continues.

You get killed right away, so you put another .25c/.50c to continue (AKA Simpsons, TMNT, Fighting Games).

I like the chalenge on how far you get only on one quarter. If game is over, starts over again (AKA Pacman, Asteroids, Berzerk etc..)

80's why did you have to end 

Sounds like you want to insert coin to continue the 80s.

[manman]

so true. When Arcade became quarter sucking machine with those continues.

You get killed right away, so you put another .25c/.50c to continue (AKA Simpsons, TMNT, Fighting Games).

I like the chalenge on how far you get only on one quarter. If game is over, starts over again (AKA Pacman, Asteroids, Berzerk etc..)

80's why did you have to end  

Sounds like you want to insert coin to continue the 80s.

hahaha

Arcade games have always been quarter sucking machines...how many quarters get sucked just depends on how much skill you have!  That has never changed... I don't see how TMNT is any less of a "see how far you can get on one quarter" experience.  It's just that when you finally lose you don't have to start from the beginning, you still get to experience some new parts of the game.  I can understand the debate on whether that's good or bad- I've often thought that while games were more basic in the past, they were more difficult/challenging for that reason... but whether people agree or disagree I think the fact is they still both present the challenge of how far you can get on a quarter.  Getting killed right away can happen on any game if you suck at it, haha.

[opt2not]

I picked Golden Age, because that's where I started this gaming addiction. "you never forget your first" -- Asteriods and Galaga were my entry drugs, I progressed onto other game addictions throughout most of the arcade era's -- shoot, practically all the arcade era's except the current one (DDR games blow - thank god for SF4). But galaga and asteroids were the catalysts.
Though, home consoles soaked up a lot of my time in the mid-to-late 80's. During that time, the arcade games out there weren't doing it for me, there were a few that got me hooked, but and you could get a lot of ports on your Atari or NES. late-80's arcade and console games were getting closer in gaming quality at that time...though I've been eating my words lately with mame. Been finding a lot of games from that time I actually enjoy! Perhaps I'm in a different state of mind now.

Ahhh the Golden Age. I stopped going to the arcade regularly when the fighter drivel came out. That was the beginning of the end...

lol, I can't hate on the golden age, but I think you are crazy before the fighting game boom, arcades had already been seeing the end for a while, they were totally dying.  Fighting games weren't the beginning of the end, they were the new beginning that brought arcade culture back!  I know that what people like is mostly just naustalgia but for my money it doesn't get better than fighting games for real 2 player competition.  Fast paced strategy where you have to be able to read the other person and react on a dime... plus the games had depth where you had to learn specific matchups, and character play could be innovated for years...  3rd strike came out in like 1999 or something and 10 years later people were still discovering things...

I wouldn't say it brought it back... well at least, not the same culture.
I was really happy when SFII came out, and pseudo revived the arcade fever. I put in a lot of time playing/fighting in a "king in the court" style play at our local arcade, it was a lot of fun! The learning new combos, the strats, the match-ups...but it wasn't the same as the golden age era of games. Fighting games only bought a different type of gamer to the arcade, it didn't bring the masses back. It didn't bring back the people that played Golden era games, the gamers that were used to cpu-pattern-based difficulty, rather than 1v1 "mind-game" difficulty. It didn't bring back the people that were looking for amusement entertainment rather than competitive fighting. It didn't bring back the family and the girlfriends, fighting games turned out to be a boy's-club thing - men only...

Don't get me wrong, I love fighting games and I'm a pretty formidable competitor at most of them, but I don't equate it the same as the golden era of arcade culture. There was something less aggressive, less "me vs. you" and more "me vs. it (the game)" in those days.

[manman]

I don't know what terminology you want to use, but arcades were definitely dying out, and fighting games brought in a resurgence that led to another 'boom' in arcade going.  Not just for fighting games, but side scrollers, shooters, etc.

I can't argue with you about the culture though- I wasn't really there in the "golden age".  There might have well been a change in culture, I didn't mean to say it brought everybody that used to play back.  I don't know that you'd even expect that... Just like with the 90's resurgence, eventually the players from that era get older and life takes over....  Like I said though, what people like is going to be mostly based on their own nostalgia.  For me, 'cpu pattern based difficulty' is not nearly as stimulating or fun as challenging another human mind, and I really liked that 'me vs. you' as opposed to me vs. the cpu mentality.  But you're right, it was a pretty narrow demographic, and mainly only brought in that audience.  I didn't know the 'golden age' had such a varied audience, I figured it was mainly the same...teenage dudes, haha.

[Ginsu Victim]

I didn't know the 'golden age' had such a varied audience, I figured it was mainly the same...teenage dudes, haha.

My mom was big into Centipede, Ms Pac-man, and pinball, so at least if we went to the arcade, she had games she could play. I mean, looking back, she was only in her late-twenties then anyway.

[Havok]

I don't know what terminology you want to use, but arcades were definitely dying out, and fighting games brought in a resurgence that led to another 'boom' in arcade going.  Not just for fighting games, but side scrollers, shooters, etc.

You can always tell the guys that weren't around for the golden age. Back then, you walked into any public establishment and there were some arcade games. Always at least one, usually more. You just didn't see that in the fighter days. Yes, there were a lot of people playing the fighter games, but there were less people playing arcade games by that time, and the ones that did were clumped into actual arcades, not spread out everywhere.  Opt2not nailed it; you had an entirely different culture at that point - it wasn't everyone playing, just the same type of teenage boys. Not a resurgence, just a bunch of dudes.

[VespaGuy]

Golden Age for me. Born in '71.

I have fond memories of being dropped off at the mall with freinds. My faves were Ms. Pacman, Frogger, Congo Bongo, and Star Wars.  My local skating rink had Donkey Kong Jr, Bagman, and a few pinball machines.

What I loved about the golden age was that the whole idea of video games was so new (and the technology was so limited) that there were tons of original games. There were no genres - developers just had to make the games fun and addictive or people wouldn't play them.

[manman]

I don't know what terminology you want to use, but arcades were definitely dying out, and fighting games brought in a resurgence that led to another 'boom' in arcade going.  Not just for fighting games, but side scrollers, shooters, etc.

You can always tell the guys that weren't around for the golden age. Back then, you walked into any public establishment and there were some arcade games. Always at least one, usually more. You just didn't see that in the fighter days. Yes, there were a lot of people playing the fighter games, but there were less people playing arcade games by that time, and the ones that did were clumped into actual arcades, not spread out everywhere.  Opt2not nailed it; you had an entirely different culture at that point - it wasn't everyone playing, just the same type of teenage boys. Not a resurgence, just a bunch of dudes.

haha, you can also tell them by the fact that they flat out said "I wasn't there for the golden age".

Again it's terminology... I'm not looking to disparage the golden age or it's games by making broad dismissive statements like that.  The fact is, it was a resurgence by pretty much any definition of the word.  Were there fewer people playing arcade games at it's peak?  Sure, you are probably absolutely right...but there were a HELL of a lot less playing /before/ that time, between the end of the golden age, and that period.  Arcades were all but dead before that, so... I don't know how you avoid calling it a resurgence, regardless of how much much you personally value it.  To be honest, the only people I ever hear pining about the golden age are men who would have been in the same age bracket at the time...the same "bunch of dudes" similar to the ones in the 90's.  But whatever, if it takes being dismissive about another era to enjoy your own, more power to you  Same, close, or completely different I had a blast with the arcade culture of that time and I think it was great.

[saint]

so true. When Arcade became quarter sucking machine with those continues.

You get killed right away, so you put another .25c/.50c to continue (AKA Simpsons, TMNT, Fighting Games).

I like the chalenge on how far you get only on one quarter. If game is over, starts over again (AKA Pacman, Asteroids, Berzerk etc..)

80's why did you have to end 

+1, my sentiments exactly.

[crip102468]

MsPacman Pacman Digdug MoonPatrol the 70s, and 80,s here I use to do the quarter hole string trick i also use to do a penny trick were u break the square plastic on the bottom of digdug coinbox return or any game that had that type of coindoor and fingerpop a penny upwards. and Bam you got a credit. Man i missed the golden days   

[DashRendar]

As of right now, 85 votes have been cast, and not a single one for the games from the past decade (2000s).

You would think that the most technologically-advanced games would be the best, but I guess the simple games of the Golden Age proved that wrong.

[dgame]

I actually play from early 80s to late 90s games the most. From Pac Man to the Street Fighter II series. The closest option in the poll is mid to late 80s. By then I had wheels [bicycle] and lunch money [quarters/tokens].


1985:
Commando, Exciting Hour/Mat Mania, Gauntlet, Gradius, Green Beret/Rush'n Attack, Nintendo

Vs. System, Ring King, Yie Ar KungFu

1986:
720 Degrees, Arkanoid, Bobble Bobble, Break Thru, Darius, Gauntlet II, Ikari Warriors, Out

Run, Rampage, Rolling Thunder, Rygar - Legendary Warrior, Side

Arms - Hyper Dyne, Slap Fight, Super Sprint

1987:
1943, After Burner/After Burner II, Arkanoid - Revenge Of Doh, Bionic Commando, Black

Tiger, Contra, Double Dragon, Guerrilla War, Operation Wolf, Rastan/Rastan Saga,

RType, Street Fighter

1988:
Altered Beast, Assault, Bad Dudes Vs. Dragon Ninja, Cyberball, Galaxy Force, Gradius II,

NARC, Ninja Gaiden, Operation Thunderbolt, P.O.W. Prisoners Of War, RoboCop, Silk Worm,

Superman, Tetris, Toobin', Vigilante, Vindicators/Vindicators II

1989:
Arch Rivals, Darius II, Final Fight, Golden Axe, Ironman Ivan Stewart's Super Off Road,

S.T.U.N. Runner, Shadow Dancer, Strider, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Willow, Wrestle War,

WWF Superstars

[manman]

As of right now, 85 votes have been cast, and not a single one for the games from the past decade (2000s).

You would think that the most technologically-advanced games would be the best, but I guess the simple games of the Golden Age proved that wrong.

I'm not sure the poll would really reflect that... More like it reflects the demographic of the audience of this site, as well as (interestingly) seeming to give a pretty accurate reflection of the amount of people playing arcade games during these times.  Seems to support havok's point (as well as mine) about the largest number of people playing in the golden age, things dying down and then coming back (but not as big) in the 90's then dying out again.  You have to factor in things like consoles, online gaming, peoples ages etc.  Anyone who went into an arcade post 2000 was probably there in the 90's era and had there best memories at that time, otherwise they were younger and their best memories would come around their own teenage years which would be well into xbox live time... nobody is gonna have their best memories of an arcade post 2000, there was just nothing in arcades and too much in the home.

[DrFrag]

Australia must have been running a few years behind with arcade games.  Around 1980 it was hard to even find places with arcade games.  Pinball seemed to be the main game.

It wasn't until the mid to late 80s that I observed places doubling up on popular cabs to handle the queues.  Dedicated arcades were set up and ran packed weekly lock-ins.  I'd call that more of a Golden Age than late 70s to early 80s.

[HanoiBoi]

so true. When Arcade became quarter sucking machine with those continues.

You get killed right away, so you put another .25c/.50c to continue (AKA Simpsons, TMNT, Fighting Games).

I like the chalenge on how far you get only on one quarter. If game is over, starts over again (AKA Pacman, Asteroids, Berzerk etc..)

80's why did you have to end 

+1, my sentiments exactly.

+2  The fighting games were just like playing a cartoon.  They really required no skill and you basically paid for time.  Plus, it encouraged the wangs that always reached into their pocket for another quarter after you 'put yours up'.  Learn arcade etiquette!

The good news about that era was that there were some decent pins out.  After that, arcades were pretty much dead to me.

Oh, and I never liked the fact that Chexx/Super Chexx and air hockey started chewing up valuable arcade space.

[manman]

fighting games require no skill?!  lol that's a joke if I've ever heard one...

[opt2not]

They really required no skill and you basically paid for time. 

Gasp!   

You fail with this comment.
There is a tremendous amount of skill involved in fighting games...perhaps you didn't understand it then. Like I said, it attracted a different set of gamers...you might not be in that demographic.

Fighting game skill (aka against another human) is different than skill against the cpu. To say there is no skill in fighting games, is just plain wrong.

Oh, and I never liked the fact that Chexx/Super Chexx and air hockey started chewing up valuable arcade space.

Double Gasp! There was nothing wrong with Chexx machines!
...nor did they ever were a threat of encroaching on video game profit. From what I remember, they were "just there".

[Edwards80]

They really required no skill and you basically paid for time.  Plus, it encouraged the wangs that always reached into their pocket for another quarter after you 'put yours up'.  Learn arcade etiquette!

I don't think its fair to say they require no skill, but I can agree with your comment on the type of people it attracted sometimes.

I was waiting to play SF2 at a 10 pin bowling complex for about 10mins and put my money down to claim the next go after waiting politely. The chap then put it into the machine and carried on playing. He said he thought I wanted to watch him play  He did bugger off after that and left a credit to make up for it at least

[HanoiBoi]

Sure, head to head games are different.  Maybe I don't know what 'fighting' games are.

The games that I say require no skill are the ones where everyone's fighting for the same goal.  Maybe I shouldn't say they require no skill.  But, the thinking behind my comments are something like this....I've seen 5-8 year old's finish games like TMNT and the Simpsons by simply adding credits, jumping and attacking.  Dodging and keeping the hits down is not really a necessity in the game.  The only risk in sucking is adding more credits.

One quarter games require more skill.

[manman]

yeah, you're thinking about a different type of game.  The "fighting game" genre refers to games like those in the street fighter series, MK, etc where 2 people go against eachother.  Of course you can play the cpu, but that I would agree doesn't take much skill, haha.

I messed around with my share of those TMNT style games, and while fun I would mostly agree that it doesn't take that much skill to get through them or anything.  That said, the one thing I think is kind of funny about that argument that those games just suck quarters while older games let you "see how far you can get on one quarter" is...  nobody is forcing you to continue.  I mean, you can just wait the 10 seconds and presto- there's your start from the beginning after you lose game.  You have the option to do what you like. 
I gotta believe the earlier 'one game is all you get' games sucked quarters just as hard as these kinds of games though... I mean if you're playing to see how far you can get and/or beat your/someone else's high score didn't you end up pumping those quarters in to keep trying and keep getting better? Trying to improve and beat/set a record seems like the more fun/fulfilling pursuit, that's for sure- but I can't imagine that a tmnt style game ate quarters any faster.

[Edwards80]

Stick someone who hasn't played many arcade games on Defender, then on TMNT and see which sucks credits quicker

I grew up playing the early nineties stuff and it did annoy me then that you could just complete games by paying to play all the way through. I find trying to play through on limited credits makes the games more fun. Setting a limit of 10 continues in Metal slug etc.

[kagaden]

My father was big on the early retro stuff and introduced me to arcades when I was a toddler... I still have a love/fascination with Dragon's Lair.

For me though, Street Fighter II is the greatest arcade game ever made. Those years of going to random places or malls and finding a street fighter machine with a crowd of people around it all waiting to throw down made for an incredibly unique way of meeting people with common interests... then pitting skill against skill, sharing moves/secrets, urban legends, etc.

Too awesome, SFII wins it for me.

[kagaden]

I don't know what terminology you want to use, but arcades were definitely dying out, and fighting games brought in a resurgence that led to another 'boom' in arcade going.  Not just for fighting games, but side scrollers, shooters, etc.

You can always tell the guys that weren't around for the golden age. Back then, you walked into any public establishment and there were some arcade games. Always at least one, usually more. You just didn't see that in the fighter days. Yes, there were a lot of people playing the fighter games, but there were less people playing arcade games by that time, and the ones that did were clumped into actual arcades, not spread out everywhere.  Opt2not nailed it; you had an entirely different culture at that point - it wasn't everyone playing, just the same type of teenage boys. Not a resurgence, just a bunch of dudes.

haha, you can also tell them by the fact that they flat out said "I wasn't there for the golden age".

Again it's terminology... I'm not looking to disparage the golden age or it's games by making broad dismissive statements like that.  The fact is, it was a resurgence by pretty much any definition of the word.  Were there fewer people playing arcade games at it's peak?  Sure, you are probably absolutely right...but there were a HELL of a lot less playing /before/ that time, between the end of the golden age, and that period.  Arcades were all but dead before that, so... I don't know how you avoid calling it a resurgence, regardless of how much much you personally value it.  To be honest, the only people I ever hear pining about the golden age are men who would have been in the same age bracket at the time...the same "bunch of dudes" similar to the ones in the 90's.  But whatever, if it takes being dismissive about another era to enjoy your own, more power to you  Same, close, or completely different I had a blast with the arcade culture of that time and I think it was great.

+1

Havok, besides the fact that you're a scrub who's clearly trolling... (then again I expect that from someone with DBZ in their avatar...)

The arcade scene was completely... COMPLETELY dead before SFII hit. SFII's existence easily kept the development of arcades going another 12 years, and now they're dying again... but would have been dead a lot earlier if it wasn't for that. Chess against another person is a hellova lot more fun than chess against a CPU. It may not be for you, but give it the respect it deserves.

-K

[Patent Doc]

so true. When Arcade became quarter sucking machine with those continues.

You get killed right away, so you put another .25c/.50c to continue (AKA Simpsons, TMNT, Fighting Games).

I like the chalenge on how far you get only on one quarter. If game is over, starts over again (AKA Pacman, Asteroids, Berzerk etc..)

80's why did you have to end  

+3 for that sentiment

I think what killed the arcade experience for me was the fighting games...no not because it was putting money in to continue ...it was that the learning curve to play the game even competently was so high.  So you kept feeding quarters into the machine just to learn to play.  Golden age games had a minimal learning curve Take pac man, you move up, down, left, right ..eat the pellets...avoid teh ghosts.  The person doing this is just as equipped to finish the game as the person who had done it before.  By contrast with the MK SF games ...there were all these pecial moves that required you to simultaneously press up and left press three buttons, stick out your tongue and put your left big toe in your right ear...you need these moves to survive even a short time and there is no instruction on unlocking those moves.  Yes, to be really good at a golden age game, you needed to learn a pattern or gain experience, but there was no requireement to learn anything to play the game.  Heck you can get really far on pac man or DK without knowing any patterns..you're just not going to break the record.

[DashRendar]

My friends and I always called the Street Fighter/Mortal Kombat/etc games button mashers.

I did have friends who knew the combos, but the rest of my buddies just mashed all the buttons and went crazy moving the joystick.

Must've been hell on the controls.  But it worked for getting your guy to do his super-secret-combo-move-that-involved-launching-flaming-cows at your opponent! 

[CheffoJeffo]

I don't know what terminology you want to use, but arcades were definitely dying out, and fighting games brought in a resurgence that led to another 'boom' in arcade going.  Not just for fighting games, but side scrollers, shooters, etc.

You can always tell the guys that weren't around for the golden age. Back then, you walked into any public establishment and there were some arcade games. Always at least one, usually more. You just didn't see that in the fighter days. Yes, there were a lot of people playing the fighter games, but there were less people playing arcade games by that time, and the ones that did were clumped into actual arcades, not spread out everywhere.  Opt2not nailed it; you had an entirely different culture at that point - it wasn't everyone playing, just the same type of teenage boys. Not a resurgence, just a bunch of dudes.

haha, you can also tell them by the fact that they flat out said "I wasn't there for the golden age".

Again it's terminology... I'm not looking to disparage the golden age or it's games by making broad dismissive statements like that.  The fact is, it was a resurgence by pretty much any definition of the word.  Were there fewer people playing arcade games at it's peak?  Sure, you are probably absolutely right...but there were a HELL of a lot less playing /before/ that time, between the end of the golden age, and that period.  Arcades were all but dead before that, so... I don't know how you avoid calling it a resurgence, regardless of how much much you personally value it.  To be honest, the only people I ever hear pining about the golden age are men who would have been in the same age bracket at the time...the same "bunch of dudes" similar to the ones in the 90's.  But whatever, if it takes being dismissive about another era to enjoy your own, more power to you  Same, close, or completely different I had a blast with the arcade culture of that time and I think it was great.

+1

Havok, besides the fact that you're a scrub who's clearly trolling... (then again I expect that from someone with DBZ in their avatar...)

The arcade scene was completely... COMPLETELY dead before SFII hit. SFII's existence easily kept the development of arcades going another 12 years, and now they're dying again... but would have been dead a lot earlier if it wasn't for that. Chess against another person is a hellova lot more fun than chess against a CPU. It may not be for you, but give it the respect it deserves.

You seem to be missing the point that what happened after SF2 was not a resurgence of the the past glory, but something new (i.e. the "culture" shifted ... dramatically ... with players, developers, ops), and to the minds of many, actually brought about the death of the video arcade. I seem to remember reading an article in GameRoom recently about how SF2 killed the arcade, as told by someone who actually operated. I can't remember off the top of my head which issue it is, but maybe I'll have a look later. Other people have said similar things even before that article ... and they liked SF2.

SF2 resulted in exactly the opposite situation as what made the Golden Era golden -- the success of SF2 created a tunnel-vision amongst developers so that the vast majority of new titles were slightly sharpened versions of their predecessors. And every op felt like they had to buy every iteration, even though most of them wouldn't make enough to pay off the machine, because they could miss the first few profitable weeks of the latest fad fighter. Same thing has happened with drivers and gun games.

You can argue that the arcade died before SF2 and I wouldn't particularly argue, but let's not pretend that SF2 was the second coming, or even something good ... maybe the video arcade should have been allowed to die with dignity. (and I say this when there are a number of post-90 games that I would classify amongst my favourites).

[Havok]

I love the comparison of a fighting game with chess. Not even close - you're elevating a tired, worn out game genre to a level it will never be at. My main problem with the fighters is the fact they're all basically the same. Plus the deluge of titles with a small amount of difference; maybe add a few moves, a few different characters. After a while just give it up. Try having a little originality. That was lost with the golden age unfortunately. They just kept pumping out the same crap over and over and over with very little variation. Here's just a sample:

Hyper Street Fighter 2
Street Fighter
Street Fighter Alpha
Street fighter Alpha 2
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams
Street Fighter EX
Street Fighter EX 2
Street Fighter EX 2 Plus
Street Fighter II - The World Warrior
Street Fighter II - Champion Edition
Street Fighter II' Turbo - Hyper Fighting
Street Fighter III 2nd Impact: Giant Attack
Street Fighter III 3rd Strike: Fight for the Future
Street Fighter III: New Generation
Street Fighter Zero
Street Fighter Zero 2
Street Fighter Zero 2 Alpha
Street Fighter Zero 3
Street Fighter Zero 3 Upper
Street Fighter: The Movie
Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Super Street Fighter II X: Grand Master Challenge
Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers
Super Street Fighter II: The Tournament Battle

OK, we get it - how about a new kind of game? Not to mention King of Fighters, which they apparently thought they were a car company who needed to release a new version every freaking year.

This is the crap that finally killed arcades and paved the way for redemption. Yes, it brought the rowdy little punks in to play against each other, but it was the beginning of the end...