What is your view on redemption games and how they affected the arcade industry?

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voltz:
I know these ticket and prize games have been with us for quite a few decades and it seems at this point they've pretty much taken over what we used to consider a legit hobby. Right now I just don't know how to feel about them as it seems they appeal to kids and operators, but certainly not with the rest of us.

Your thoughts?

Howard_Casto:
Well first off arcades existed waaaaaaaaay before video games. Like early 1900's before. Back then, much like today, the majority of attractions were redemption based, largely a novelty and offered something you couldn't get in the home. A scale was a popular attraction until the portable scales for home use were invented, then scales were no longer a novelty or something only available in the arcade so they were phased out due to lack of interest.

What we are seeing now with the "death" of the video game based arcade is pretty much the same. In the 70's, 80's and early to mid 90's home consoles were playing catch up to video games in terms of being able to offer games at a certain quality. In the late 90's, however, there was a sharp decline in arcade popularity because home consoles could finally offer an identical if not superior experience to arcade games.

Fast forward to today and what you have left are racers, lightgun games, and novelty redemption machines. This isn't a big deal.... arcades are just returning to their roots. They are no less "legit" now that they were in the 80's. In the 80's gimmicks (video games) were used to con the public out of as much spare change as possible and now different gimmicks are used. Understand that while we have a fondness to arcade games they were purposefully designed to where a person needed considerable skill to beat a machine on less than 10-20 dollars. So yeah, they are a rip-off as well.

Mame and similar emulators take the cost out of the equation and thus we remember them more fondly now instead of the frustrating money sinks they actually were.

jennifer:
Your targeting a different audience, kids at a pizza party, how can that be wrong if they are having fun? As for the OPs what can they do, cigarette venders are all but criminalized, Trolls got a lockdown on juke profits, and the games got "sucky graphics" as compared to a modern day game console, not really much left other than recovering some pool tables once a year.... As for Mame saving the day, Ya, not so much Howard. Its nothing more than a 30 year project that borderlines in failure.

ark_ader:
What arcade industry?

Seriously.

voltz:
First reply was very good.

I do remember a bit of history when arcades were like a carnival setting going by what you said and they were all mechanical (shoot the bear comes to mind), but now that actual gaming as we know it is being taken more or less out of the equation, I've had to take a view of disdain over the factors and business minds are setting the course rather then making full blown attempts to revive it, or actually compete with the home gaming front.

One of the latest things I've come upon were some examples of classic games being converted to the redemption front. Frogger, Pac-Man and recently Galaga have been revived as quick challenges for tickets, but with the last one it is given an option to play Galaga in it's classic setting long as the operator has it enabled. While I don't know if this will stand for future games, I would just hate to look 5 years from now and realize everything has been turned for the kids, thus marking an end to our era and while this is going on, Japan may still have something new for "their audience". *rolls eyes.

While this isn't popular opinion, I'm glad I don't have to go out hunting for specific titles anymore. This still bares the problem that developers may not make games with an arcade style as the industry has hit such a state that we're literally stuck with AAA titles that sink or swim a brand.

Going back on the redemption part, it shames me that they take up more floor space that otherwise could be reserved for real games. I could only dream of going someplace that's packed with newer titles and the ones we'd care about.

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