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What killed the Arcade for you?

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Donkbaca:
I would say R-Type, 1987 should be on your list too

My larger point was that when people say "fighters ended the arcade"  they act like there were all these great games and that SF2 somehow changed the types of games that were made.  My point is that most of games people consider to be classics were made WAY before SF2 hit the arcade scene people stopped making donkey kongs and pac-whatevers well before 1992.  

Lets look closer at your list and see how these types of games faired in the SF2 era.  

Arkanoid was just a rehash of the 1970's breakout games.  It is not a classic.  Nobody cares about it.  Know anybody that has an arkanoid cab?

Contra, I would argue is much more popular as a console game then an arcade game, same for Tetris.  I personally, don't consider them arcade classics

Double Dragon, I will say IS an arcade classic, but beat em ups were all over the arcades in the 90's, as were the hack and slash type games like Golden Axe and SHMUPS like Raiden.   So you can't say, "because of SF2, there were no more beat em ups, or hack and slashes or SHMUPS"  that's just not true.  What IS different, during the fighter era is the lack of 1p, play for high score type games, which is what I was talking about when I made my comment, and those died WAY before Sf2 ruled the arcade scene.  

I still disagree with the notion that it was fighters that bankrupted arcades.  When Super hyperfighting chamionship edition version 2, the rainbow hack comes out, OPS, at least the one at the arcades I went to, just swapped boards and the marquee out of an old machine.  

My story as to why they died is this:

The thought was that people went to arcades to play games they couldn't play elsewhere, most people assumed that people liked arcade games because the graphics and sound were better.  Popular arcade games were getting better and better ports to home consoles. The industry, losing its advantage on graphics and sound feels threatened, thinks the only way it can compete is to give the customer something they can't get at home.  

Around this time, Daytona becomes the highest grossing arcade game ever.

The industry puts two and two together:  The highest grossing game is a dedicated racing cab, which is something you can't really replicate at home.  The industry goes bananas with all these strange dedicated cabs; driving cabs, rhthym cabs, etc.  When a new game comes out, its not just a simple board and marquee swap, now its the cabinet itself that is important to the experience, so Ops have to invest in all new cabs to have the latest thing.  This led to gimmicky games that were expensive to play.

The industry miscalculated.  In retrospect, we didn't just go to arcades to play games, we went to play games against our fellow geeks and socialize.  Whether that competition took place in the form of the high score on galaga, or most wins in a row on MKII, its the same spirit.  

It was the gimmicky dedicated cabs that killed the arcades





Vigo:

--- Quote from: Donkbaca on April 28, 2011, 02:12:17 pm ---It was the gimmicky dedicated cabs that killed the arcades

--- End quote ---

If I had to sum up why I abandoned the arcades in one sentence, this would be it. But I don't think that players disliked the gimmicky cabs, I think it was that to support the cost of these cabs, arcades needed to raise the prices. Nobody wanted to pay a price that went from a standard credit being $0.25 to $0.50 to $0.75 and then $1.00 per game at the demise of the arcade. I have seen these gimmicky cabs cost anywhere up to $3.00 per credit.

The added cost outweighed the heightened experience.

CheffoJeffo:

--- Quote from: Donkbaca on April 28, 2011, 02:12:17 pm ---Arkanoid was just a rehash of the 1970's breakout games.  It is not a classic.  Nobody cares about it.  Know anybody that has an arkanoid cab?

--- End quote ---

Yep ... bunches of them. Myself included.

Add to that the degree to which Arkanoid was bootlegged -- I can't think of a single game with more board/pinout variants.

yotsuya:

--- Quote from: Donkbaca on April 28, 2011, 02:12:17 pm ---
It was the gimmicky dedicated cabs that killed the arcades


--- End quote ---

I thought it was the airplanes that got him?

Howard_Casto:

--- Quote from: saint on April 27, 2011, 12:54:55 pm ---
--- Quote from: Mikezilla on April 27, 2011, 11:51:22 am ---
--- Quote from: DNA Dan on April 27, 2011, 11:33:59 am ---
--- Quote from: Mikezilla on April 27, 2011, 11:25:37 am ---[Yeah, why is there so much hate towards the fighter games?
--- End quote ---

I'll take a stab at this:

1) Because many people credit the genre with ending the arcade experience.
2) Becuase a lot of kids from that generation think this was "the golden era of the arcade" when really it was a resurgence of something prior.
3) Because those games suck compared to the old school arcade games, they weren't much different than similar games that were being played on computers or consoles at the time.

However if you look at something like Ms. Pacman, it's so unique and original. Nothing during it's time could emulate that game other than the cab itself. So it stands on it's own merits very highly. Fighter games were being played on PS1 in the 90's for a lot less money. They were unoriginal and not that special. Two guys fighting each other? or a crazy pie shaped creature eating dots trying to avoid crazy dudes with sheets over their heads?
No contest on all fronts.

--- End quote ---

All good points, but I think the reason why people hate the fighter games the most, is because they were the last real games that didnt have a gimmick, that died with the arcades themselves. There were many other factors that people already mentioned as to the reason why arcades died out. I remember asking an arcade operator here in San Diego when he said he was going to close down, I asked why, and he said that the electric bill for the place was too damn high. There are a bunch of factors why arcades died, but I doubt the fighter genre was the reason.

Going to the last point, I know Ill probably get reemed for this because most of the people on here are old(no offense guys) but some of the classics suck, and the only reason you like them is the same reason I like the fighter games:they were popular when you were young. Like someone else mentioned, the classics only had you try to beat the others score. Some unamed initials, sitting there, mocking you while you try to get the higher score in there so you can be at the top of list of other suckers OR you can actaully watch as your skills break down some other punk kid and they walk away going to get more quarters because they think they can beat you. And of course, you know, that they cant, and its so enjoyable. I imagine the feeling you get is akin to drinking unicorn blood. Or something close at least.

--- End quote ---

Pong was the first fighter :)

--- End quote ---

Yes, yes it was..... and this is why a MKified version of pong was included in Mortal Kombat 3!  

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