Went to an arcade to see what's new, interesting thoughts...

[releasedtruth]

I haven't been in an arcade since I designed my new cabinet, just hanging out on the web absorbing all the knowledge I can handle, trying to help out where I can. So I'm in the arcade looking at the newer games, the dollar a play types, and thinking how overbloated things have become. This arcade has a Galaga, Space Invaders, Centipede in the back so I screw with those a little while. I was on a mission to get photos and measurements of different machines to compare to my CP layout, which is very small at only 24" wide. I wound up playing an Ultracade for a good long while, had to beat Street Fighter 2 and it's a closest to my size CP at 26.5" The fierce buttons were jammed so it was hard to play, really not kept up well. I was disappointed, but still beat it down after 40 min or so. The other cab I focused on was a Metal Slug 6 Nintendo cab, 28.5" wide. Definitely a little more comfortable. I needed to learn some things about marqee retaining and I think I've learned what I need to know to get the job done. Tomorrow starts the build, 3 days straight of cutting and assembling. I'm so excited it hurts. I'll post the project in the announce thread when I get back in town with the completed shell. All in all I came to the conclusion that while there are some decent designs in cabinets, most are poor rebuilds of old cabs and the ones with style are enormous, unusable in a home of my size. My footprint will be 36"x27" but it'll weigh a freakin ton. Should survive an earthquake... If that ever happens in Arizona.

[ahofle]

I don't understand how today's 'arcades' stay in business anymore.  They are usually empty and most of the games are, as you said, giant monstrosities that must cost at least 10 grand each.  I throw up in my mouth a little when walking around and seeing all the horrid, unoriginal games like "Tekken 8" and "Capcom vs Marvel vs SNK vs Namco 9 Championship Edition" that kids have to choose from these days.   

[shardian]

The worst I have seen is a new Pacman I saw in the mall that cost $1 to play. Yeah...they'll make their money back for sure charging $1 for Pacman.

[horseboy]

We've had the same arcade in our mall for as long as I can remember (probably close to 20 years), and I cringe everytime I walk by it now. There are probably 30 games in there, and only 1 (yes 1) of the games has joysticks. Friggin ridiculous if you ask me. The joystick game is Tekken 3. They also have 1 DDR game, about 15 driving games, and about 15 gun games. As of 3 years ago, they still had a Galaga and at least 6 or 7 other oldies, but no longer.  I die a little inside everytime I think about it.

On a side note, though, I did find a couple of laundromats with about 5 games each. I had to pop in one the other day for some Ms. Pac-Man, T2, and Die Hard Arcade. Hey, and those places are 24 hours. 

[Level42]

The worst I have seen is a new Pacman I saw in the mall that cost $1 to play. Yeah...they'll make their money back for sure charging $1 for Pacman.

Hey then it's a (little) bit better here, 2 credits for 1 Euro on a Galaga/Ms.Pac Man reunion.

I was at one of the latst "real" arcades here in Holland recently and I have to say I was pleased that they HAD that cab at all. It was actualy quite busy, but then it was at a beach resort, and it was summer of course....Especialy the 2 DDR's drew a lot of attention (or was it the girls dancing on them ?) Shame they didn't have a Samba de Amigo !! Also three Naomi's, one was assimilated by Ultracade, the other some fighter and Virtua Soccer. The Ultracade got no play at all during the time I was there. I checked out the gamelist and there were just not appealing enough games on it. Only Bomb Jack looked tempting to me, but I resisted

Played the fairly new Harley Davidson pinball and it rocks !!!
They had HOTD 2, 3 and 4 (!!!) nicely lined up next to eachother. Because I have HOTD 2 on my cab with the LCD lightgun, I thought I could easily play a few levels on the real machine....well forget it, the gun was SO much out of line....didn't even complete the first level !

Come to think of it there was some Happ joystick in the Galaga/Ms.Pac Man, not the "real" Ms.Pac man reunion....the first play of Ms.Pac Man went pretty well, heading for a good score, then my wife goes all crazy because she'd lost track of our 4 year old son. Big panic, and I got scared of myself because I hasitated a moment to choose between my score (where's the pause button Oh it's not MAME ) and my son  .......

but this was more because our little guy is not the run-away kind. And I was right in the end.....he was having fun, sitting next to a boy who was "driving" a King of Route 66 cab (the full-size version amazingly !!!) 

Whatever you think of the new games (some are actualy fun), it's amazing there are still arcades and let's pray they will last as long as possible. So, yes,  I think it's OK to teach my son to play a couple of games there, if only it is to keep this business rolling.

[Kevin Mullins]

The joystick game is Tekken 3. They also have 1 DDR game, about 15 driving games, and about 15 gun games. As of 3 years ago, they still had a Galaga and at least 6 or 7 other oldies, but no longer.  I die a little inside everytime I think about it.

Exactly what I see anymore....

[patrickl]

I was at one of the latst "real" arcades here in Holland recently and I have to say I was pleased that they HAD that cab at all.

Slagharen has a few arcades too. No Galaga or Pacman there though

[Level42]

I was at one of the latst "real" arcades here in Holland recently and I have to say I was pleased that they HAD that cab at all.

Slagharen has a few arcades too. No Galaga or Pacman there though

Hey fellow Dutchman !

Yep I know, I was there about a year ago. The main one has a pinball line-up that is AMAZING for todays standards !
But I thought some of the videogames were in really bad shape.

I still don't call these "real" arcades though....that's because they're on an amusement park http://www.slagharen.org, but yes they still have them and hope they keep them up, especialy all those pins !!!!

The one I was talking about is Hommerson Funland in Scheveningen. http://www.funland.nl/

[bleemus]

Places like Dave & Busters still have some classics hanging around, but mostly in a "classics" format where they have a ton of games on one large machine.

IMO, not many people will pay to play the classics... not for any more than 5 minutes of nostalgia before they are ready for something else.  Kids these days have grown up with home systems that are as good, if not better, than the arcade games.  Why spend all of your allowance on games at the arcade when you can just stay at home and play the X-Box, etc that your mom got you for christmas?

To keep them interested, you have to give them something they can't get at home... which these days is some kind of prop.  Whether it is simple as a gun or as complex as motion sensors, you need something to keep you interested, that feels like it is worth your money to play; something you cannot get at home.

Sure, some of us that grew up in the 80s will still pay for those games, but I dare say that the majority of the people in that age group still wants something more modern if they are going to chuck their money into it.

Anywho, I really don't have a point with any of this, just ramblings...  good luck on the cabinet!

[Tahnok]

Most arcades I am rather unimpressed by, since they normally are overpriced and have nothing unique. On a recent road trip though I got to swing by a couple arcades. The first was Nickel City in San Jose, and, believe it or not, the Winchester Mystery House, also in San Jose.

Nickel City has a two-dollar admission, and then games are normally a few nickels, based on how new the game is. The newest racing and shooting games were 30 cents (which was pretty darn good, since they had full-size machines, along with some very cool Japanese imports), while the vintage games in the back were a mere 5 cents. Don't be fooled by the photos though, most of the vintage games are either very badly converted, or not working at all. Anyway, anyone looking for a nice collection of the best new games should really check this place out. You can go there with five bucks and play for a few hours.

But, what if you really can't stand the new stuff? The Winchester house has you covered. Walk into the gift shop and you will immediately find a handful of old coin-op games scattered around the overly large room (love tester, slot machine, fortune teller, etc). Exit the gift shop towards where the tours start though and you will find the actual arcade. Step inside for a rather nice collection of Asteroids, Centipede, Simpsons 4-player, Nintendo Vs Super Mario Bros, Street Fighter 2, Ms Pac-Man (with speed up hack), and a few others that I've forgotten. All of them in their original cabs, with their original controls (including leaf switch buttons). Truly a treat to play while I was waiting for my tour number.

If you happen to be in the San Jose area, check both of these places out.

[SithMaster]

ever play dragonballz budokai in an arcade?  it was the worst attempt at taking a console and shoving it into an arcade.  they used a ps2 and placed it inside a metal box that had a coin door which is odd since there are no credit options in the game.  the ps2 controllers hang out by the cords and its all on a wide flat panel.

but when i do go to an arcade i look for something i dont have at home.  not to say i wont play it but the first thing i look for is a lightgun game.  ddr is a no no since i have stepmania and not very good.  i can look stupid for free thank you.  but for the whole its on xbox or so and so then why should i pay is that you cant find dot or star wars arcade (except gamecubists) on the console.

even the local amusment park i used to go to has considerably reduced their games.  the basement once filled is now more then half empty.  the upstairs has racing and redemption games.  so maybe around 40 games are in there, 3 pins, and chexx hockey.

and maybe its not so much the kids not wanting to pay but the parents.  they go to stores near arcades or to places of fun to do errands and go on rides and dont want another thing to have to pay for.  they figure ill get you a 50 dollar game and i dont want to hear from you till next year.

[Aceldamor]

Most arcades I am rather unimpressed by, since they normally are overpriced and have nothing unique. On a recent road trip though I got to swing by a couple arcades. The first was Nickel City in San Jose, and, believe it or not, the Winchester Mystery House, also in San Jose.

Nickel City has a two-dollar admission, and then games are normally a few nickels, based on how new the game is. The newest racing and shooting games were 30 cents (which was pretty darn good, since they had full-size machines, along with some very cool Japanese imports), while the vintage games in the back were a mere 5 cents. Don't be fooled by the photos though, most of the vintage games are either very badly converted, or not working at all. Anyway, anyone looking for a nice collection of the best new games should really check this place out. You can go there with five bucks and play for a few hours.

But, what if you really can't stand the new stuff? The Winchester house has you covered. Walk into the gift shop and you will immediately find a handful of old coin-op games scattered around the overly large room (love tester, slot machine, fortune teller, etc). Exit the gift shop towards where the tours start though and you will find the actual arcade. Step inside for a rather nice collection of Asteroids, Centipede, Simpsons 4-player, Nintendo Vs Super Mario Bros, Street Fighter 2, Ms Pac-Man (with speed up hack), and a few others that I've forgotten. All of them in their original cabs, with their original controls (including leaf switch buttons). Truly a treat to play while I was waiting for my tour number.

If you happen to be in the San Jose area, check both of these places out.

I used to work at a place here in AZ over a decade ago called Nickle Palace....1.25 admission fee with games ranging from 5 to 20 cents each...I wonder if the owner of the nickle place you go to got the idea from where I used to work. It was bought out by someone and they went crazy with merchandizing vs. games and he lost his ass, as well as the 8 arcades he had..

[releasedtruth]

When I was a kid I never had the money to play any of the games I loved. I watched other kids play and thought that someday I could own them. I wanted a Chase HQ cab for a while, then decided on something more universal. Being at the arcade last night was great, they still have probably 80 full cabs, a whole row of shooters, classics, fighters, etc, but there weren't many people there and I didn't really want to blow a dollar for a 3 minute romp through zombie town. The gimmicks rule the roost, but they don't draw crowds here. The experience energized me to recreate the experience I missed years ago in a way that fills my creative need. Will I go back? Probably, will it ever be the same? Not a chance

[severdhed]

i just checked out our local arcade, if you can call it that.  I havent been there in a long time, i walked in and there were alot of games, but mostly like play-for-tickets kind of games.  as for actuall arcade video games, there were 10 lightgun games, 1 set of side by side racing cabinets, 1 set of side by side motorcycle cabinets, and 1 bizarre tank game where this vr style helmet comes down from above you and you aim around the screen and shoot stuff.  not a single joystick or trackball game in the entire place..it made me sad.

[Level42]

To be true, in the 80's I never spent a lot time at arcades really. There just were not many real arcades here. You found them in tourist places only, and that's still true here. The memories I have are from playing Donkey Kong Jr. at a small old movie theater, playing Crazy Kong in a snackbar (went specialy into town for this with a friend). The most time I spent at a place near my school. It was so tiny, it fit 2 cabs (one was Ms.Pac Man first, later Q*bert, don't remember the other), one soccer table and a tiny bar where you could get softdrinks. Can't believe that guy made a living out of it ! But I played Ms.Pac Man A LOT there during school breaks.

Also you'd play arcade games at holiday parks like Center Parks http://www.centerparcs.com/ if you were there. I remember playing Frogger for an hour and a half. Not that I was that good, but there were some boys who had fire igniting devices (don't know the right word) that had the pin bent out. When the held it to the coindoor and used it, some (not all) games would rush up the credits. The place was without supervision then

Well, for what it's worth: I will leave for a holiday in the US in about a week. I will visit FunSpot http://www.funspotnh.com and from the looks of their insane classics collection, it looks like heaven on earth. The most exciting thing will be the fact that I will actualy play games on their original cabs for the very first time, instead of MAME !!!
I'm planning on being there on the 9th, check out this if your in the neigborhood :
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=52474.80

[danny_galaga]

I was at one of the latst "real" arcades here in Holland recently and I have to say I was pleased that they HAD that cab at all.

Slagharen has a few arcades too. No Galaga or Pacman there though

Hey fellow Dutchman !

Yep I know, I was there about a year ago. The main one has a pinball line-up that is AMAZING for todays standards !
But I thought some of the videogames were in really bad shape.

I still don't call these "real" arcades though....that's because they're on an amusement park http://www.slagharen.org, but yes they still have them and hope they keep them up, especialy all those pins !!!!

The one I was talking about is Hommerson Funland in Scheveningen. http://www.funland.nl/

ah, scheveningen! been there a few times. i must be one of the only aussies around who can pronounce 'scheveningen' (",). i have family in den haag. sometimes wed hope on our fiets and go hang out. its funny, there was really cool tv show on tv recently about a rundown resort town in the UK called 'funland' (",). that place wasnt very fun though...

[Level42]

Hah, well in WW2 you could have saved your life with pronouncing Scheveningen correctly

Hey Danny, say hi to Edna from Sydney for me. A pretty tall girl, dark curly hair.She works at Mars there. Had a very nice chat and danced.....She took a picture of me and my mate when we were out in Rotterdam. Damn she was nice.....damn I loved that Aussie accent.....damn I don't have her number......damn, I'm married 


Sorry guys, back on topic !!!

[danny_galaga]

Hah, well in WW2 you could have saved your life with pronouncing Scheveningen correctly

Hey Danny, say hi to Edna from Sydney for me. A pretty tall girl, dark curly hair.She works at Mars there. Had a very nice chat and danced.....She took a picture of me and my mate when we were out in Rotterdam. Damn she was nice.....damn I loved that Aussie accent.....damn I don't have her number......damn, I'm married 


Sorry guys, back on topic !!!

i suspect we are thinking of different ednas 

[deadkenndys1105]

What I love about the arcade near my house is that they have a few of the new games but that have a room that has all the classics.  There in a small room tho but because the so much smaller than the new cabinets it doesnt matter.  I have to take a trip down there.  My mame cabinet needs a rebuild so im looking for a better design.  Im thinking 1943 (not 1942) style. Also if anyone has the plans for that cabinet please PM me.

[missioncontrol]

the little arcade in our mall closed down this year... I blame the games

[lloydcom]

I live near Blackpool where it was once known as the arcade capital of the UK.  Sadly now all the arcades are full of gamblers, with a few light gun games and classics that are waiting to be junked.

I blame todays consoles for the demise of the arcades, as the kids today get so much input from mass media, that recent games are just visuals. No game play just repetition and too much violence.

Which kid in their right mind is going to play a classic like Donkey Kong, when they can play epic movie like games on the Xbox 360?

Let the kids have their xbox 360's, the arcades with their gamblers and toy grab machines, and us with our beloved MAME cabinets.

I take the odd stroll down the golden mile every year and peek into the arcades like Funland and Mr.B's.  I think it is very good for us to search out our old arcade haunts. It makes me fire up the cab when I get home and give it  that little bit extra on Frogger and Dig Dug.

[deadkenndys1105]

Im with you.  Almost all games now are all graphics no gameplay.  While im a hardcore game, im in all aspects of it.  Arcade,classic,retro,and new.  Not big on FPS games tho.  I love going to the classic room of the arcade were all the good games are.  Because of my age I wasnt able to see the golden age of the arcades. 

[dudebozo]

dang it Tahnok, you brought back all my memories from when i lived in SJ.  my friends and i would always go to nickel city, and then we would go to D&B when we turned 21.  alcohol and arcades, whomever came up with that concept is a genius. 

i wasn't around too much of arcades while i grew up.  the occasional pac-man or galaga cocktail while we waited for our pizza at pizzahut, but that was about it.  but i think i'm still old enough to appreciate the classic arcades and such.

before i really got into mame and building my mame cabinet, around the time that jakks started doing all the arcade gaming things, i had to jump right into it.  i would remember some of my younger cousins being like, why would you want to play this so called game called pole position when you have gran turismo 4 for your ps2.  these kids nowadays

[Level42]

Hah, well in WW2 you could have saved your life with pronouncing Scheveningen correctly

Hey Danny, say hi to Edna from Sydney for me. A pretty tall girl, dark curly hair.She works at Mars there. Had a very nice chat and danced.....She took a picture of me and my mate when we were out in Rotterdam. Damn she was nice.....damn I loved that Aussie accent.....damn I don't have her number......damn, I'm married 


Sorry guys, back on topic !!!

i suspect we are thinking of different ednas 

HA, yeah, she actualy spelled her name to me three times before I got her name......it was a combination of her accent, loud music and me not expecting a girl like that to have that name !!!! 

[danny_galaga]

I live near Blackpool...

ha! thats where 'Funland' was set 

[arzoo]

There's an arcade on the boardwalk in Ocean City, NJ that has a classics section with 20 to 30 oldies, all in original cabs. Still a quarter a game. I love that place. I've also found a go-cart track near Lake George, NY that had a bunch of classics, including electro-mechanical pins!

[severdhed]

I live near Blackpool where it was once known as the arcade capital of the UK.  Sadly now all the arcades are full of gamblers, with a few light gun games and classics that are waiting to be junked.

I blame todays consoles for the demise of the arcades, as the kids today get so much input from mass media, that recent games are just visuals. No game play just repetition and too much violence.

Which kid in their right mind is going to play a classic like Donkey Kong, when they can play epic movie like games on the Xbox 360?

Let the kids have their xbox 360's, the arcades with their gamblers and toy grab machines, and us with our beloved MAME cabinets.

I take the odd stroll down the golden mile every year and peek into the arcades like Funland and Mr.B's.  I think it is very good for us to search out our old arcade haunts. It makes me fire up the cab when I get home and give it  that little bit extra on Frogger and Dig Dug.

i agree, to a point.  my wife and I just recently purchased an xbox360, and to be honest, i downloaded all 35 of the available game demos, as well as some xbox live arcade titles, and i found that i play Geometry Wars more than anything.  i love some good fancy, hi def graphics, good story lines and great gameplay, but as much as i love some of the 360 games, i always come back to geometry wars. 

either that or i play grid wars on my arcade cabinet.