Eugene Jarvis Quote

[Dink]

"For me, the retrogaming movement is more than just nostalgia of misty eyed Gen X-ers. It's a reaction to the current graphical overkill, the simulation-obsessed gaming environment of the late '90s. In our quest for absolute graphical realism, we have forgotten the basics of gaming. Look at Virtua Fighter 3 versus Virtua Fighter 2. Unless you are a proctologist, you can't find a dime's worth of difference in the gameplay. It is clear that the design team focused on the beautiful water effects, facial expressions, awesome backdrops, and 400-polygon, fully rendered loincloth animations."
Eugene Jarvis

[Dave_K.]

Amen brother!

Care to share the source of the quote (I've got most of his intreviews bookmarked, but don't remember seeing that one off the top of my head).

The video interview of Eugine on the Williams Aracde Classics (PC) cd is well worth the bargin bin price of 5.99-9.99.  Its totally hillarious!

[Dink]

Another quote:

"To my mind, this was the golden age of the coin-op videogame industry. Not only did this period see the boom of the arcade business, but it was also the most innovative period in the industry. Many of the games designed during this period are still being copied in some form or another on platforms today."
Ed Rotberg, designer of Battlezone and STUN Runner


From an article on GamesRadar, a very good read:

http://gamesradar.msn.co.uk/features/default.asp?subsectionid=200&articleid=64489&pagetype=2

[1UP]

Interesting article.  I've read all of "ZAP! The Rise and Fall of Atari" and "High Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Games" and this article had a few perspectives I've not heard before.

To me, it seems that arcade games were at their height when home systems just didn't exist, or were too expensive for most to afford, or featured low-quality graphics.  The end of the arcade could be very near, since home systems now border on photo-realism, and you can buy any of the current systems for about what the Atari 2600 VCS cost in the beginning.

Games may still be at pizza places for awhile (you've got to do SOMETHING while the pie is cooking) and Gameworks may still survive with their unique simulation games.  But the last thing I want to do is trudge down to a mostly empty arcade to dance like a fool on a metal platform.

Now if they have a row of classic games, that's a different story!

And you can quote me on that!  

[Dave_K.]

Arcades are not going to die.  Sure it will thin out (a lot!) but they will never die.  And not becaues of the classics, but because of a little thing called "competition".  There is something about going shoulder to shoulder with an opponant, talking trash, taking/giving a beating in front of all your friends.  Its a rush.  Its also a very social thing.  Online gaming (from home) isn't the same...and consoles will learn this the hard way.  I predict arcades will make a comeback...but probably not for another 5-10 years.  

And you can quote me on that.  

[1UP]

Arcades are not going to die.  Sure it will thin out (a lot!) but they will never die.  And not becaues of the classics, but because of a little thing called "competition".  There is something about going shoulder to shoulder with an opponant, talking trash, taking/giving a beating in front of all your friends.  Its a rush.  Its also a very social thing.  Online gaming (from home) isn't the same...and consoles will learn this the hard way.  I predict arcades will make a comeback...but probably not for another 5-10 years.  

And you can quote me on that.  

I hope you're right, but it seems possible.  The problem with arcade games today is that they're more expensive than ever (to build and to play) and so need a steady stream of business to make it profitable.  Go to a golf center these days, and most people are actually playing golf, rather than inside on the video games.  I personally don't find many new games appealing, other than the really cool, moving race sims at Gameworks.  Also, the graphics aren't appreciably better than what I can get at home.  Superior graphics used to be a big draw for me to put down the Atari stick and head for the neighborhood arcade.

Also, I never seem to meet anyone that's much fun to play against at arcades, just jerky punks who spend their whole lives learning every secret move so they can mercilessly kick your --I'm attempting to get by the auto-censor and should be beaten after I re-read the rules-- off the game in seconds flat and have the machine to themselves.  You've got to bring your friends to have any fun.  And the people (like you and me) who enjoy actually going out to play are few and far between, most would rather have the latest greatest 2-week-long RPG at home, with cheat book in hand, etc.  And if, in the end, it's just you and me, occasionally dropping a buck or two into a machine that cost $3000 or more to build, there will be no motive for the operator to keep the arcade open.  It could happen.  Arcades close all the time.