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Game Over: Death Of The Arcade

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jukingeo:

--- Quote from: mytymaus007 on June 18, 2011, 09:30:35 am ---
--- Quote from: jukingeo on June 17, 2011, 10:24:54 pm ---

Are you kidding?  I want a Chuck E. Cheese fully loaded with classic video games and pins.

Well...realistically I am halfway there, I am a games technician for the local Chuck E. Cheese :).  Luckily we do have a combo cabaret cabinet that has Centipede, Millipede, Missle Command, and a bowling game.   I have been trying to push for a Pac-Man/Galaga and a Space Invaders cabinets as well.  We definitely need more classics.

We do have some cool (somewhat newer) video's though such as:

Chase HQ2, Arctic Thunder, Global Vr3, Johnny Nero Action Hero.

--- End quote ---



Yeh the classics 100% it makes sense because if the parents are there with kids they will be playing also I know i would. thats the first thing i look for.

--- End quote ---


They do have a Deal-No-Deal which is pretty much adult oriented.   Surprisingly, I have no interest in this game except to fix it when it breaks (as that is my job).   There is a nice bowling game that uses a physical ball that you throw down an 'alley' and then the ball disappears and is replaced with a virtual ball on a video screen.   I think this is one of the best machines we have and it caters to all family members, hence the name "Family Bowl".

Supposedly some CEC's have a Hyperbowl, which I thing is also an awesome bowling game, but none of the stores in my district have one.

I think the reason why CEC doesn't have more classics is that 'next generation' parents don't bother with 'Gen X' games and they probably will not introduce their kids to them.   The token count on the Centipede/Missile Command is low, on the order of about 200 - 300 tokens a week.   To put things into contrast, the Family Bowl pulls 700 to 1200 a week.

Still considering the fact that the old 80's style arcade games require very little maintenance, I think it is good to have at least 3 or four multi-play cabinets around for us Gen X parents.    One cabinet I forgot to mention which I would like to see is the Multi-Williams cabinet.   You can squeeze two players in on this one for Joust :).  In addition, I think a game like Defender will still attract attention for the more modern audiences.

Really I do think there is space enough in every CEC to allot for 3 or 4 multi-game cabinets lined up along a small section of wall.  Many CEC's do still have a pinball machine as well.  Sadly my store doesn't have one...and I have pinball repair knowledge (go figya).

Geo

ark_ader:
I have an arcade around the corner that still has the classic games.  It has been there since the early 80s.

They seem to be making money.  In the UK they allow gambling machines in the arcades, and there is a small amount of suckers around capable of losing their money to them.

Sad to think that the kids have so much with consoles and that Mame has practically killed off any attempts for a grand classic arcade comeback. CAX is as close as you can get.

On the other hand Mame allows me to coin up on rainy days and on my phone at work.  So it is not all bad I guess.

Arcade hording?  Sounds like a good idea if you have the money. 

Better a cabinet in someones basement than in a land fill.

jukingeo:

--- Quote from: ark_ader on June 18, 2011, 03:55:10 pm ---I have an arcade around the corner that still has the classic games.  It has been there since the early 80s.
--- End quote ---

The last time I was in an old arcade like that was when I was looking into the possible purchase of a classic dark ride (another interest of mine).  The place was in Staten Island and was called Funland.  Attached to the dark ride was a classic arcade.

Now you are probably wondering why an arcade would have a dark ride attached to it.  Well the story is long, but there is a simple explanation.   As it turned out, the arcade/dark ride was situated across the street of what was once an amusement park.  The park had long closed but the owner of the dark ride/arcade continued to run both sometime afterwards.   At one point in time, the owner decided that the ridership of the dark ride was too small to keep it running and thus decided to close it, sell it and rent out the space.   That is how I came into the picture.

Needless to say, they wanted too much money for the dark ride and I backed out.  While I visited, I did get a good look at the arcade which did have its fair share of 80's games and pinballs.   A good majority of the arcade did have modern machines and also redemption machines.

The place was kind of run down and it looked like they were on hard times back then (it was about 2000 or so when I visited the place).   I am not sure if they are still around today.  I seriously doubt it.

That was the last time I was in a dedicated 'arcade'.


--- Quote ---Sad to think that the kids have so much with consoles and that Mame has practically killed off any attempts for a grand classic arcade comeback. CAX is as close as you can get.
--- End quote ---

Well, I wouldn't pin it all on MAME.  It is also the next generation of kids that are growing up now, but haven't been exposed to the games from the 80's.  Or those that are simply not interested as they want to play something with 'good' graphics.  But yeah, I do admit too, with MAME there really isn't a need to go to an arcade anymore.


--- Quote ---On the other hand Mame allows me to coin up on rainy days and on my phone at work.  So it is not all bad I guess.

Arcade hording?  Sounds like a good idea if you have the money. 

Better a cabinet in someones basement than in a land fill.

--- End quote ---


Well, I am not one for the heavy hording as mentioned here where the guy says he has 100's of machines.   I mean c'mon save some for the rest of us!    While I still believe this for pinball machines and jukeboxes, I have lightened up quite a bit on those that horde video games.   This is actually due to the 'good' side of MAME.   MAME actually has spawned on many that create their own cabinets, thus cutting down the need to hack original cabinets which could be restored by these 'hording' collectors.   So yes, that does help keep those cabinets out of the landfill from botched MAME jobs.

Taking it another step further MAME has also spawned on the idea of the reproduction cabinet.  Considering that an original Defender or Asteroids cabinet will probably cost more to buy than re-create, it does encourage those that want to save some money to build their own reproduction cabinet.

So in this case I don't mind the hording so much.

Geo

RayB:
Which guy said he has 100's of machines? If it was Gerald, he's been trying to open an arcade museum in Toronto for a few years now, so it's not a "hoarding" type thing.

jukingeo:

--- Quote from: RayB on June 18, 2011, 09:00:17 pm ---Which guy said he has 100's of machines? If it was Gerald, he's been trying to open an arcade museum in Toronto for a few years now, so it's not a "hoarding" type thing.


--- End quote ---

No, it was Mike Hanley of whom made the comment, not Gerald.   But yeah, for an arcade museum, that wouldn't count (as hording) because that would be a situation where others can see (and hopefully play) the games.

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