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What killed the Arcade for you?

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Xiaou2:
I grew up in the height of the Arcades.  Arcades here were huge and numerous, and had all the classics.  Some of the best times of my life back then.

 At that time however, I was so young and not very good at those games.. so playtimes were short, and money went fast. (luckily it was mostly parents money)

 Unlike some of the stubborn guys here, I change with the times, and actually got into the fighters as well.  But only so far...  SF's, MK until it went 3d, Tekken 3, and probably my top fav, ..Killer Instinct 1.   The other cartoon superhero games held no real interest to me.  To me, they were just way too "over the top".

 A lot of things killed it for me.  Firstly, it was the 3d games before 3d was really a valid option.  Virtual fighter for example, to me was horrendous looking... and there were a lot worse out there. And then every game started coming out in 3d, and the look and playability started to suffer.

 Sure, I loved Ridge Racer, and Daytona USA... but they at had great gameplay.  It seems like shortly after those, all the big racers and large games dropped all challenge, and thus fun.  Most race games, in addition to being dead easy, wouldnt even allow you to crash.  Games like Alpine Racer, had Zero gameplay or challenge, and was merely an expensive gimmick that got played maybe twice by the same person at most. (it also looked like crap)  These cost the Arcade ops tons of money, and they took a huge hit for it.
 
 And finally, there was the Quarter munchers.  You could continue till the end of the game... and then, people would almost never play it again.  Again, no real challenge when you can always continue.  (as stated the exception being GnG, as its supreme difficulty level, and restart of the level )

 With an arcade full of quarter munchers, muncher gun games, fighters that got too complex & or outlandish (or take your money too quickly cause the games cheap or the opps are too skilled), racing games that were not fun, expensive gimmick games with no gameplay, and skill-less jackpot ticket machines... the arcades were pretty much doomed.

 With home systems giving a much better bang, often with better designed games (especially when the "Gimmick Phase" was in swing), and even sometimes more originality... what was left?

 
 The original classic model, where games were actually challenging, was a much better model.  The games were easy sometimes easy to pick up, gave you a little bit of a chance... but then very difficult to master and play on for a period of time.  The level of difficulty progression, was much more finely tuned.  They really drew you in, got your blood pumpin, then hooked you good.  You could play casually, or get down to serious business.. and rock the thing... and either way still feel good about it, and come back for more.

 Many classic games were so good, and satisfying.. that the Arcade Ops didnt need to take them offline / replace them.  (Of course, there was a boon of low quality games that made it through too)  Soon the arcade companies were 'crashing', because the lack of new orders.  The crash wasnt the arcades.  It was the companies that made the games.

Donkbaca:
Mikezilla - we just don't get it.  We were born too late and missed the love moon patrol gene.

Like I said, just pay the attention to the posts around here.  If fighters suck so bad, then why do 90% of the cabs built have a SF layout?

If robotron sucks so bad, why are there endless discussions of the need for 2 sticks so that people can play it, and countless WTB Wico sticks for Robotron?

Why do people want a spinner?  To play Tempest and Tron.  You take away those two games, very, few people would get a spinner I suspect.  Very, very few people put a spinner on their cab to play so they can play arkanoid.  Not saying people don't play arkanoid, or that its not a fun game, its just not a destination game.  People don't see my cab and say, "oh man, does that thing play arkanoid!"

Same for moon patrol.  Never saw a thread that said "what is the best stick for moon patrol"

Donkey Kong (I find it a bit boring too, but mostly because its so hard and I suck at it)  IS a destination game.  Pac Man is, Galaga is, Defender is, Asteroids is, Tempest is.  Centipede, is NOT.  People mostly get trackballs to play Marble Madness, Golden tee, Crystal Castle.

There are some 90s arcade games I LOVE, like Final Fight.  Love that game, that is one of my top three favorite games of all time, but am I going to say that it is a uber-great game that everyone should love and resepect?  No, its a pretty linear beat-em up, nothing really all that special, I just like it.  A lot of the "Good Games" from the 80's are universally loved, regardless of when you grew up.  The others, come on, just admit it, in retrospect, they aren't that good.  

Mikezilla:

--- Quote from: Donkbaca on April 29, 2011, 11:40:37 am ---Mikezilla - we just don't get it.  We were born too late and missed the love moon patrol gene.

Like I said, just pay the attention to the posts around here.  If fighters suck so bad, then why do 90% of the cabs built have a SF layout?

If robotron sucks so bad, why are there endless discussions of the need for 2 sticks so that people can play it, and countless WTB Wico sticks for Robotron?

Why do people want a spinner?  To play Tempest and Tron.  You take away those two games, very, few people would get a spinner I suspect.  Very, very few people put a spinner on their cab to play so they can play arkanoid.  Not saying people don't play arkanoid, or that its not a fun game, its just not a destination game.  People don't see my cab and say, "oh man, does that thing play arkanoid!"

Same for moon patrol.  Never saw a thread that said "what is the best stick for moon patrol"

Donkey Kong (I find it a bit boring too, but mostly because its so hard and I suck at it)  IS a destination game.  Pac Man is, Galaga is, Defender is, Asteroids is, Tempest is.  Centipede, is NOT.  People mostly get trackballs to play Marble Madness, Golden tee, Crystal Castle.

There are some 90s arcade games I LOVE, like Final Fight.  Love that game, that is one of my top three favorite games of all time, but am I going to say that it is a uber-great game that everyone should love and resepect?  No, its a pretty linear beat-em up, nothing really all that special, I just like it.  A lot of the "Good Games" from the 80's are universally loved, regardless of when you grew up.  The others, come on, just admit it, in retrospect, they aren't that good.  

--- End quote ---

Yup, youre right, we just dont have that gene.

Haha I love final fight too! And alien vs predator, and even the punisher game is pretty cool.

Couldnt agree more with everything you said. I have never even played Arkanoid.

Bootay:
Mikezilla and Donk: I don't think that you two "don't get it". And I don't think that because you are younger you don't know what you are talking about. Younger people ARE less fond of the oldies though and that's to be expected. Just like when I show my 12 year old son my Atari 2600 games. He is like "uhhh that's nice...can I play the 360 now?"..

I personally like Moon Patrol but I also played it a lot back when it was a new game. You tend to like games based on what you played. If you didn't play a lot of Moon Patrol growing up, chances are you aren't going to give a ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- about it.

Like I said before, I like all games from all eras of gaming. I can put SF2 as a classic just as much as I can put Ms. Pac-Man personally.

Oh...and I also am a big fan of Final Fight. But I also love all the repetitive brawlers of the 80s-90s.

Xiaou2:
I never cared much for Centipede or Moon Patrol back in the day.  Still, I do fire them up occasionally.  Arkaniod?  I used to play it often at the arcades.  I sucked at it, but always had fun playing it.   Its def not pong, its more in line with breakout.. but the experience is far superior.  No other breakout clone that Ive ever played, has been as satisfying as Arkanoid. (and Ive played so many of them throughout the yrs)

 As for the 90s being better.. thats really a stretch.  Theres so many great challenging and fun 80s games that just knock the pants off most of the 90s games.

 And this coming from a guy that Likes fighters.

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