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| The Death of Arcades |
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| BrentRadio:
I thought the video was ok, nothing special. I find this thread much more interesting though! I like seeing the young'uns and the old fogies going at it. As for me, my console of choice was the Atari 2600, still have it and 350 carts too. I never did like the NES controller, too many buttons. But I was 18 at the time and had too many other things on my mind (girls, drinking, parties, girls, booze, girls, working, and girls who were drinking) to learn what button A did and what button B did. Give me a joystick and 1 red button and I would kick your ass in just about any game. That's just the way it was for me. And yes, I grew up in the golden age of the arcades, and no matter what anyone says, it was never the same after the crash in 83. Yeah you may have played Pacman, or Frogger, but if you weren't there to experience the thrill and awe of seeing it for the first time with 10 people around it waiting to play it, then you missed out. There will never be, and there never has been the same feeling as those days. But just because someone younger who grew up in the late 80's and early 90's didn't get to experience those feelings and emotions doesn't mean that their arcade memories aren't just as strong for them. There were plenty of "classics" during that time, just classics to a different set of people. We can argue that Galaxian is a classic, and so is Galaga that came after it and Space Invaders that came before it. The same goes for MKII. SFII came before it and other great fighters came after it. I think it's best to give props to each era, for what each brought to the arcade, and to the memories of the people who lived through it. The cool thing about this hobby is that it brings all of us together. I never played MKII before, but when I came across one for only $16.33 I did a little research and found out that it IS a classic. So I am proud to own it, even though I suck at it and don't know ANY moves, I still like it. There are lots of "newer" collectors who have some of the older classics in there collection. And to me that brings it full circle. We can all get along! :) One of the reasons why I collect and restore these old games is to preserve the memories of my childhood and to pass that on to future generations. Everytime I have an arcade party, the kids play my classics constantly the entire night, and that is all the reasons I need. Brent P.S. The golden Age was the only time in arcade history that little kids were pimping themselves out and working the streets to get a couple of quarters to play some Dig Dug and Donkey Kong... If you don't believe me then watch this... ;) |
| NickS:
:laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: Very Funny. |
| jcoleman:
--- Quote from: Sir Auros on August 14, 2007, 07:37:52 pm ---jcoleman - The late 80's and early 90's had games in all of those places as well, so I don't know what point you're trying to prove there. In regards to the control argument, disliking complex controls is not the same thing that Artifact was implying. He very strongly implied that modern controllers are only enjoyable by "hardcore gamers" and that they aren't normal people somehow and that normal people cannot use modern controls. All of those statements are false. That's the key difference between an opinion and what he tried to pass off as an opinion. I can't stand people who hide behind the defense that what they're saying is an opinion when it's not. --- End quote --- I meant the time when just about EVERY grocery store, drug store, gas station, convenience store, and Waffle House had at least one arcade game. That was certainly not the case in my area in the late 80's and early 90's. Artifact's opinion* is that console games are getting too complex for non-gamers (i.e. the majority of the population, of which we are obviously not a part) to pick up and enjoy quickly. There is a lot of agreement on that and that's why the Wii has been so successful (try to buy one!), not to mention the tons and tons of successful casual games that are out there now. There's plenty of room for both, however, and I totally agree with BrentRadio's comments. BTW, your "old fogey syndrome" comment is just as bad as us "old fogeys" taking "cheap shots" (as GG said) at the 20-something crowd. Age-ism is BS no matter which way it goes, so let's all just try to get along - I'll look you up when I finally pick up a 360 and we can play SF2. ;) * (he was clearly making a point by humorous exaggeration when he made the "have a PHD in the room" comment, not taking a personal swipe at anyone) |
| RandyT:
I have a theory as to why the Wii is enjoying success in a market where it is clearly outclassed from a technological standpoint; It came with a pack-in that even the old fogeys can jump in and play without going through a 30-minute tutorial, or reading a book. It's marketed to "casual gamers" and those who have been cast aside by the recent gaming trends. I agree with RayB. There is clearly a market for a "gimme a simple game to enjoy for a 10 or 15 minute break I might have in my busy day." I think those who can afford to spend 5 hours a day playing a video game can safely be considered "serious gamers." They are the same people who will pay the $75 for the latest title, and who will think nothing of learning complex control schemes that utilize every button on the gamepad (x2 because the left trigger is a toggle.) Honestly, I enjoy the depth that some of the more complicated games provide, but I just don't have the time for them. I also remember the first time PONG showed up at the local K-Mart next to the "2-plays for a quarter 5-ball pinball machine." This was literally like someone seeing an automobile rumble past them for the first time on a horseshit and mud covered unpaved street. We see cars everyday and the machines of today make the early ones look ridiculous at best. But the people who were around the early ones at the time, experienced the quantum shift in society and the way we perceived things as a result. Just like with cars, every new game spawned speculation about what would be next and the form it would take. Imaginations ran wild, and there just weren't enough quarters in the universe to satiate the gaming desires of the young people of the time. There will probably be some technology that represents this same "step" around the corner, but there hasn't been one since then. As for the decline of the arcades, it was simple economics. Based on the above, it didn't take people long to start looking at how much they were spending, 25 cents at a time. And the more poorly you played, the more it cost. All of the home video game companies tapped into this as a marketing strategy and quickly had people doing the math and realizing that once they made the investment in the console, the $25 game could save them a quarter every time they played it! Sure, the games weren't as advanced as the arcades at the time, but they were still fun and could provide a reasonably similar experience. Every time the home console advanced, it placed another nail into the coffin of the arcade. I still remember the day that I personally called it over...Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation had been out for a few months and I was taking a stroll through the local arcade. There were the big, "can't do it at home" type games, redemption machines and fighters. A few people on the fighters, a few kiddies playing the redemption machines, and everything else pretty much static. The console had finally taken over. The problem with the hobby is that us old farts can show the younger group the games that inspired many of us, and like the first automobiles, were the foundation for what we know today. But unfortunately, there's no way to fully convey the experience of living through both the dawn and eventual demise of of the arcade phenomena. RandyT |
| Malenko:
I was going to reply before watching the video, but I'm glad I watched it first. First off, the video was quite shallow and Harry Potter came off as completely uncompelling. Also, the guy with the really horrid sideburns had a super annoying lisp. I'd prolly nail the tattoo chick if given the opportunity. The Icons show on G4 did an exponentially better job of doing what this "show" tried (and exceedingly failed) to do. The dumbest point I saw was saying Final Fight sucked... it was a great game back in the day... they stated you could take it home and die all you want, but the game was $50, thats 1 start and 99 continues, if you cant do that in final fight in the arcade you should stick to needlepoint. Another "point" in the video was that you cant play sports games at the arcade.... Yeah NFL Blitz, NBA Jam, and NHL Open Ice were abysmal. If you want less "modern" examples; Pigskin , Arch Rivals, and Hit the Ice. All good sports games (the olders at their time) imo :dizzy: I don't really understand the attack on the Neo Geo though, the games were arcade perfect, the ROM data was exactly the same! The price point is what killed it, not the games. If you bought a Neo Geo , you went in knowing that 90% of the games were fighters.... I own 2 NeoGeos. To reply more to this thread, I'm 27 I enjoyed a multitude of arcade games, frogger, bad dudes, pac man,Street Fighter Alpha, MKII been there played that, hell I even owned kickman on my C64. More often then not I played games at my local corner store, who always had 2 machines; one of the first I played was Break Thru, and that is the game that sucked me into arcades. If I didn't play at the corner store I either played on the rare trips to the mall or roller rink, or every Saturday at the bowling alley. The only real arcade was at the mall 20 miles away and I didnt have a car or a way to get there short of my parents or friends when they went with their parents. As for no classics post 1985? memory dont fail me now...... Tetris Smash TV Arkanoid Ikari Warriors Contra Rampage Out Run Shinobi Golden Axe Street Fighter II I could list a hundred or so great games but those can still be revered to as classics imo. EDIT: I forgot to add that Mortal Kombat II on SNES was a downright AMAZING PORT, yeah the fighters were scaled down but other then that it felt like MKII at the arcade. Street Fighter II ,and all the variants as well, were ported superbly to SNES. I dont get the Wii and other then bowling all the games have sucked on it, my nephews only play the GC games I bought them on their Wii and Tony Hawk downhill jam |
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