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David Foley - Ultracade - Pinball controller
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Crazy Cooter:
I don't see how the UC pinball machine could last a week in a "real" atmosphere.  It's home-use only in my mind.  Put one in front of a group of kids and watch how hard they hit it when they find out they can "nudge" the ball... monitor will be toast.

UC broke the law when it came to the TM stuff.  I can provide legal docs.
Grasshopper:

--- Quote from: RandyT on September 05, 2005, 04:31:48 pm ---
--- Quote from: Rook3 on September 05, 2005, 03:37:31 pm ---It's like saying "Movie theatres are dead" because DVDs were invented....

--- End quote ---

Errr...if everyone had the setup I have in my living room and movies were released on DVD the same time as in the theaters, yes, the theatres would be dead as well.  This is essentially what has happened to the arcades.  Better than arcade quality games at home, usually on a bigger screen, better sound, and more comfortable playing conditions (sofa, etc...)


--- Quote ---Has arcade income decreased? yes. Do people still go to arcades? Yes. Not everyone has a dedicated cabinet in their home to play Gran Tourismo or whatever, but in the arcade you have steering wheels, pedals, etc. There are some games the home consoles can't quite match in terms of the gaming "experience."

--- End quote ---

And these are exactly the types of games you see currently in the arcade.  Unfortunately all that fancy fiberglass and control mechanisms cost over $10,000 a clip, forcing owners to charge a buck per play, forcing players to think twice about playing it more than a few times....  And no, just having a spinner on a machine to play Tempest properly isn't going to offer the same thrills.

The "rule of thumb" according to everything I have seen is:

Unless you can offer the gamer an experience they cannot achieve at home, or have a "killer app" that is not yet available on the home platforms, you are destined for only mediocre results if not failure altogether.

Maybe your situation is different where you live, but I assure you that the closing of the small arcades across the country and the continued struggles for profit facing the ones that remain is a very real situation.  And the people who point it out to you with well thought out reasons are not the ones to blame for it.  The market has spoken.

RandyT



--- End quote ---

You make some valid points but you're ignoring the social aspect of going to an arcade or a movie theatre. It's a bit like saying that pubs will go out of business because it is far cheaper to buy alcohol from a supermarket. Yes, you can invite friends to your house to play games/see films but it's not quite the same.

The arcade industry's strategy of focusing on games that require specialised controls seems logical at first glance. But I think it's doing more harm than good because it's causing the per play price of arcade games to exceed the price that the market will bear. Maybe there is no answer but the current strategy is clearly failing.
shmokes:
I love watching people (including Foley) try to defend Foley.   They always point to a few of the things he did and say, "Look....maybe you don't like it, but this is what anybody would do in his situation."  And then when people point to all the things he did that were clearly unethical and illegal they simply don't respond.  And that's exactly what Ahigh is doing here.  Complete silence on trying to trademark the MAME logo.  Complete silence on trying to shut down Marquee makers.

So Dave has a business to protect.  Dave has to pay his bills and put food on his and his employees tables.  Well, so do the people who have businesses on Ebay.  They make a living there.  Dave was having auctions pulled, knowing full well that he had no legal or ethical grounds to do so, merely because it helped his business and he knows that Ebay is easily manipulated in that way. 

There's a word for that.  It's called sabotage.  And it ain't right no matter how good it is for business. 
RandyT:

--- Quote from: Grasshopper on September 05, 2005, 06:12:06 pm ---You make some valid points but you're ignoring the social aspect of going to an arcade or a movie theatre. It's a bit like saying that pubs will go out of business because it is far cheaper to buy alcohol from a supermarket. Yes, you can invite friends to your house to play games/see films but it's not quite the same.

--- End quote ---

Yes, but there's a major difference between the social interaction in a pub and what takes place in the arcades.  In an arcade, the main draw is (was) the games.  In the pub, unless you are a horribly lonely alcoholic, the attraction is the social interaction.  The alcohol is merely the lubrication for the "social machinery".

I mean, who seriously went to an arcade hoping to take home a member of the opposite sex after a display of prowess at a video game?  I'm not sure those guys that live on the DDR machines are even interested in that kind of thing (it's a joke.....nobody get offended :)  )

As for the movies, again, different than the pub.  I'm willing to bet that very few people go to the theatres to hear the drunks make jokes, get crowded out by the person next to them wearing  too much (or not enough  :P ) cologne or to have difficulty seeing the screen over the "8ft clown with the scare-do in the seat in front of you".  A private setting with an 8-10 ft screen, digital Dolby 5.1 or better, comfortable seats and some friends will beat that out every time.  The only thing that causes a problem is the lack of simultaneous releases in both venues.  This was often talked about a few years back, yet it has not happened.  IMHO, this is why.

RandyT
Xiaou2:

 I stopped playing New arcade games when they got crappy looking 3d graphics and the gameplay was way too easy.

 I liked a race game like  Outrun.. where if you hit something your car flipped over into a spectacular wreck.   In the later race games,  you could hit a high curb and it would just move your car back by itself.   

 I played fighters like Tekken III just fine in the arcades, even tho I could play it on psx.   Theres was a thrill about playing in the arcade that you didnt get at home.

  There was also almost no origianlity left.   After Streetfight 10,000..  there were also 10,000 sf clones.   Or all gun games.

 No dual control games like Tron.  No spinners, 360 wheels,  or anything of a complex or different/original nature.

 Nothing anywhere near Robotron difficult and boaring as hell.

 The games also started all this ' add coins to continue '  crap.. so the game became more like watching a movie.   Almost no challenge at all.   Worthless.

 There were a few titles that came arround that probably saved the arcades deaths.. but they just were not enough.   They dissapear every day.

 I tell you..  it doesnt matter if the gfx are worse  than the best console.   Just make something that is a damn challenge and is FUN to play.. and it will make money just cause its calling your name to play it - and you are physically there.

  Put a limit on its arcade to home conversion for at least 1.5 yr.. and there should be no problem.

 Make things that you cant get at home.. like moving cockpit with 3d glasses that are worm,  to add the the impact. 

 make a Skill game that is fun and skillfull.   Something that an adult would do, just because its tough and fun.   Not like these gambling type games.. which rely more on luck and payout percents than actual skill : (   If skee-ball were made today, there would be no balls.. and the virtual ball would be electronically moved by a payout percent!   :(    Can you tell Im an angry classic gamer?! :)

 
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