What changes should Happs make

[subzero23]

(or changes it would at least request of its manufacturers of its products)

it's funny that the arcade industry has been around for years but just the past few years it's been the home-arcade consumers helping their arcade side of business and dictating direction (or hopefully).

What are some changes they should make?
First of all they need to put color pics on their website for most arcade stuff
Second they need to show all arcade related parts on their website, there are some things they just have part #s for.. they even have an 8 way balltop but I have no clue what it looks like.

Third I wish they'd order some colored Super joysticks

[Gunstar Hero]

Lower prices and faster shipping.

[RacerX]

The first thing they should do is get rid of the frames on their web site.  At the very least, they need to do this for the shopping cart/checkout pages.  Because there are *many* people who worry that their site is not running on a secure server because it's hidden by the frames page.   

[spongebue]

I wish they'd give you the shipping costs before you give your credit card number, maybe even before you sign up.

[mozzer]

I wish they'd give you the shipping costs before you give your credit card number, maybe even before you sign up.

Agreed, it's always alot higher then I budget......

[paigeoliver]

Guys, the members of this little website constitute almost the entire population of people who care what color joysticks and buttons they get.

Collectors of dedicated games don't care. The subject never even comes up.
Operators don't care.
Game manufacturers don't care. This won't matter soon, I imagine the last NEW joystick game EVER will ship next year.

The worldwide population of people who really want colored supers is probably about 100 people. All of them members of this board.

I don't see Happ's expanding there selection, instead I predict it will decline. I am serious in my predictions that 2005 will mark the last year that ANY new US titles use 8-way joysticks. The 49-way titles are also flopping as fast as they can come out. 2005 (or 2006) will likely be the last year for them as well.

And if you can blame any one particular thing for putting the nail in the coffin of joystick games, then it is going to be the new Madden game. It is a $5000 joystick game. It is a copy of last years console game. I imagine it will put a lot of operators out of business, and the few that don't go under from it will be soured from joystick games completely.

There is no way an operator is going to get his investment back from a Madden game. No way an op is even going to be able to make the $2000 he will need to upgrade to the new version next year, not after expenses. I have seen these suckers on location, all they are doing is looking huge and gathering dust.

If ops buy too many of these then the fallout will be huge. Huge. The only reason Golden Tee makes money is because you can't play it at home without a machine, AND it is a game that is very condusive to playing while drinking beer.

1983 was the crash. 1991 marked a brief rebirth. This is the year the whole thing dies.

[DYNAGOD]

isnt progress grand 

[subzero23]

"Guys, the members of this little website constitute almost the entire population of people who care what color joysticks and buttons they get.

Collectors of dedicated games don't care. The subject never even comes up.
Operators don't care.
Game manufacturers don't care. This won't matter soon, I imagine the last NEW joystick game EVER will ship next year.

The worldwide population of people who really want colored supers is probably about 100 people. All of them members of this board.

I don't see Happ's expanding there selection, instead I predict it will decline. I am serious in my predictions that 2005 will mark the last year that ANY new US titles use 8-way joysticks. The 49-way titles are also flopping as fast as they can come out. 2005 (or 2006) will likely be the last year for them as well. "

I completely realize that is probably, 99% the true reality, BUT recently I had a glimpse of hope that this is just a dead period in arcade history like that of the 80's and someday in the future there will be arcades once more, but not stupid 3D console games like madden but true arcade-STYLE games. Although Tekken 5 is just coming out this year and Tekken 6 will probably come out in arcades imo.

"And if you can blame any one particular thing for putting the nail in the coffin of joystick games, then it is going to be the new Madden game. It is a $5000 joystick game. It is a copy of last years console game. I imagine it will put a lot of operators out of business, and the few that don't go under from it will be soured from joystick games completely."

Heh that's sad, my local student union has one of those, no one plays it.

"There is no way an operator is going to get his investment back from a Madden game. No way an op is even going to be able to make the $2000 he will need to upgrade to the new version next year, not after expenses. I have seen these suckers on location, all they are doing is looking huge and gathering dust. "

That's sad, $2000 for a $20 console game

":If ops buy too many of these then the fallout will be huge. Huge. The only reason Golden Tee makes money is because you can't play it at home without a machine, AND it is a game that is very condusive to playing while drinking beer. "

I've never seen it at a real arcade.. I think it's mostly for bars and meant to transcend the "Arcade" environment.
"1983 was the crash. 1991 marked a brief rebirth. This is the year the whole thing dies."

Well I wouldn't say that, I'm still hopefully there will be another rebirth someday in the future... it's just that our generation (not age specific but people who have played in arcades the past 30 years) probably just got sick of them, some day a new generation will hit and hopefully have retro fever. But what's this about the 83 crash, I've heard of it before... were arcades really popular/populated before 83 and then what happened?

[NoOne=NBA=]

But what's this about the 83 crash, I've heard of it before... were arcades really popular/populated before 83 and then what happened?

Arcades were HUGE business from about '79ish-'84ish, and then they just disappeared.
Most of them in my area had 100+ games in a singlewide stripmall store.
Frontage wasn't that important, so they tended to be pretty small storefronts that were deep.

On any given night of the week almost EVERY game had someone on it.
The more popular games would have people stacked up 10+ deep waiting their turn, and watching the guy that was playing.

The two big contributors to their death were the improvements in the home consoles, and lack of vision on the part of designers.
Prior to the Atari 7800 coming out, you could "play" the arcade games at home, but they weren't REALLY the arcade games.
The 7800 had the first games on it that actually COMPETED with the arcade versions.
When Nintendo released the NES a few years later, the games at home were actually BETTER than the ones in the arcade, so people saved their money, and stopped going to arcades.

[RayB]

I'll agree with Paige here. Subzero, I understand your sentiment, but it is a nostalgic one at best. There was a time when you could find an entire arcade with almost nothing but pinball machines. That won't happen again. Why would it? And neither will vids. The reason very simply is that the arcade used to always provide interactive entertainment you couldn't get anywhere else.

When consoles caught up with "single screen" arcade games, the arcade companies moved on and came up with scrolling games and better graphics. When consoles caught up with that, the arcades gave us real-time 3D, and full motion experiences. When consoles caught up with that, the arcades gave us simulations, and elaborate machines with innovative controls.

Well, now the home consoles have evolved to the point of delivering highly advanced cinematic experiences, with games budgets in the millions. What's left to do that would bring people into arcades? The arcade designers are cornered. There's nothing left really. Maybe the advent of holodecks will revive things, but that's far off.

~Ray B.

[subzero23]

ya holodecks, virtual reality (the unfulfilled future grrr)

[RacerX]

You still can't have Turrett Tower in your living room!   

[Gunstar Hero]

Arcades were a combination social center and arena. You went to hang out and compete. I don't know where teens hang out these days, but it seems when we outgrew arcades, they just died.

I don't blame consoles so much, because I never felt that arcade going was so much about playing the games as it was having people see you play and maybe challenge you, or having a high score to beat and put your initials on top of.

Still, I'm sure at least in part consoles, the net, the decline of society, and a jillion other reasons led to the death of the arcade.

[DarkSoul1]

Arcades were a combination social center and arena. You went to hang out and compete. I don't know where teens hang out these days, but it seems when we outgrew arcades, they just died.

I live in Australia. 

I'd say that like the USA/Canada, 25 years ago, people of my vintage went to the arcades to compete and shoot the aliens.

These days as a cop I go to the kids who have shot each other.

 


On a lighter note, with the possible death of arcade machines as we know them, will we see the classics such as Galaga etc rise in price as collectors items?

[RacerX]

On a lighter note, with the possible death of arcade machines as we know them, will we see the classics such as Galaga etc rise in price as collectors items?

Possibly at some point.  But with the recent release of all of the "Class Reunion" type cabs, I see prices either remaining stable or falling in the near term.  That's my official "stock market" advice for today.   

[SirPeale]

On a lighter note, with the possible death of arcade machines as we know them, will we see the classics such as Galaga etc rise in price as collectors items?

Prices have already falled dramatically as machines such as these flooded the market.  When they became popular again, and were commanding high $$$, people who had the machines sitting around wanted to get onto the money bandwagon as well, and were selling their machines. 

Although one of the more common games, it wasn't common for the EveryMan to be able to find one, so it commanded those prices.  But with the market flooded, and games like Galaga are easy to get, the prices have come down considerably.

That said, a title like Galaga will always be a little higher than others, because it *is* still in demand.

[u_rebelscum]

What are some changes they should make?

First of all they need to put color pics on their website for most arcade stuff

Mostly relevent to the PC Arcade and Home Entertainment areas.  Not needed for the industrial, vending, and gaming areas.  Amusement, maybe.

And those exploded views with many of the stuff are very nice.  In fact, I'd prefer exploded views to the color pictures included with the 360 and 49 way joysticks, for example.  Having both would be better, of course.

Second they need to show all arcade related parts on their website, there are some things they just have part #s for...

Agree.

Third I wish they'd order some colored Super joysticks

[shrug] whatever.  Not important to me.

[FractalWalk]

I don't blame consoles so much, because I never felt that arcade going was so much about playing the games as it was having people see you play and maybe challenge you, or having a high score to beat and put your initials on top of.

I agree. It was a social thing, not a technology thing.

[unclet]

Ok, ok .... back to the original question.....


I think Happs search engines is incredible BAD.   You can not search for items using multiple keywords to try to reduce your search.  I also agree about having photos documenting all items to be purchased.

[Dartful Dodger]

I don't know where teens hang out these days....

They're right in front of you.

[Gunstar Hero]

I'm willing to bet the average BYOAC user is closer to 30.

Seriously where do teens go to get out of the house these days?

I'm sure that the usual places apply... Bowling alleys, Mini Golf (both places with arcades usually) the mall... but did anything replace the social/competitive atmosphere of the mall arcade?

[subzero23]

crackhouses

[Gunstar Hero]

Wow. So much about you makes sense now. 

[subzero23]

Hey I'm an upstanding human being
never done drugs, drank or smoked

I'm just telling the truth, most teenagers are off doing drugs

[Tailgunner]

I'm just telling the truth, most teenagers are off doing drugs

Like they didn't  back during the golden age of arcades.

[Gunstar Hero]

Most is a strong term... 

[DYNAGOD]

I'm just telling the truth, most teenagers are off doing drugs

as my friend jules here would retort, thats a mighty bold statement..


what vacuum is it that you live in again?

[Bones]

Hey I'm an upstanding human being
never done drugs, drank or smoked

I have finally established subzero's true age.
She's almost 12 years old.............

[subzero23]

I'm a guy and I'm 22

what kind of board is this with all the immature preschool insults?

[Bones]

I'm a guy and I'm 22

what kind of board is this with all the immature preschool insults?

It was not an immature comment. It was a comical posting based on the fact that I don't know anybody younger than 14 who has never tried a cigarette, had a beer or worse.

[subzero23]

Oh my bad, I apologize.. I assumed you were referring to something else.

Nah I'm 22 just got a personal ban on that stuff

[RacerX]

Oh my bad, I apologize.. I assumed you were referring to something else.

Nah I'm 22 just got a personal ban on that stuff

Nothing wrong with that.  I've never smoked or done drugs either, and I'm 36 years old.  Now, I do have a few beers on occassion...   

[paigeoliver]

I know people in their late 20s who have never had a cigarette or a beer.

[Goz]

Hey I'm an upstanding human being
never done drugs, drank or smoked

I'm just telling the truth, most teenagers are off doing drugs

So your a teenager? I thought you were 22.

[Bones]

I know people in their late 20s who have never had a cigarette or a beer.

Man, not that there is anythingthing wrong either way..... But late 20's and never had a drink on new years eve or puffed a cigga out of curiosity when they were 15?

The numbers would have to be low.

[subzero23]

Hey I'm an upstanding human being
never done drugs, drank or smoked

I'm just telling the truth, most teenagers are off doing drugs

So your a teenager? I thought you were 22.

I am 22, where do you get me=teenager?

[Goz]

Hey I'm an upstanding human being
never done drugs, drank or smoked

I'm just telling the truth, most teenagers are off doing drugs

So your a teenager? I thought you were 22.

I am 22, where do you get me=teenager?

Probably from here:

I'm just telling the truth, most teenagers are off doing drugs

I didn't see any other reference to a point you were trying to make about teenagers, you simply referrence crackhouses.

I wont think any less of you if you were to say you were 15. (Honest)

-Goz

[subzero23]

No I'm 22, but recently was a teenager...just saying my observations

[paigeoliver]

I find the general teenage mentality extends to about age 23 these days. Perhaps it always did. I am 27 and I have friends ranging from 20-28 and I used to be a youth worker at my church (so I have a lot of recent teenager experience), and that general teenager mentality, attitude and world view leaves different people at different ages. It usually takes at least 2 years out of college, not living at moms house for it to vanish.

[DYNAGOD]

I dont beleive that the superiority of console tech has anything to do with the death of US arcades..
i mean look at the japanese..they are one step ahead of us on everything tech yet theyre not jaded like us,and despite theyre advancement their arcade industry is still going strong despite some recent closings...
what is it that the japanese have been able to hold onto,or have, that we lost ,or simply never had??