What do you think on classics being turned into "Videoredemption" games?

[voltz]

I just finished checking out this latest Galaga release for arcades (or Amusement if that's today's term) and noted the idea is you shoot 100 enemies to face the final boss in an attempt to hit some big ticket jackpot.  Now I've seen this before with Pac-Man as a previous release and I'm thinking to myself these could have been official game releases with levels and skill challenges for us long time players, but no it's a single playthrough so you can tally your ticket stubs for whatever silly little trinket you wish to pick out. 

While I understand the business environment in this industry, the thing that bugs me is none of the publishers who release games today are brave enough to bring us full titles anymore with the mentality they need to compete with console and PC formats. 

[yotsuya]

Let's be realistic - if I can get 100,000 people to pay $5 for an app that costs me nothing in cabinet or hardware costs, I'm probably going to go that route as opposed to the old school arcade model.

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah and a lot of modern arcade games are just tablet games converted.  There was a time when arcade games were the cutting edge of technology in terms of graphics and sound so people flocked to them to get an experience they couldn't get at home.  That just isn't the case anymore.  You can't go home again unfortunately. 

What arcades are still good at is giving different experiences, so racing machines and gimmicky redemption machines are the only machines that will make an operator money. 

[yotsuya]

Yeah and a lot of modern arcade games are just tablet games converted.  There was a time when arcade games were the cutting edge of technology in terms of graphics and sound so people flocked to them to get an experience they couldn't get at home.  That just isn't the case anymore.  You can't go home again unfortunately. 

What arcades are still good at is giving different experiences, so racing machines and gimmicky redemption machines are the only machines that will make an operator money.

Yep. Also, if you notice, most new arcade games are just licenced properties. No one wants to try anything original anymore.

[voltz]

Sad that Japan still gets all the good stuff, unless you want to pay an arm for it.

It's funny that I'm looking at this situation and it reminds me of when amusements were more about carnival tables, shooting galleries and the like, before electronic videogaming became the norm.  Now that it's shifted back, I can't help but think arcade gaming's days are truly numbered.  Of course for those games that aren't coming over here or are so rare we'll never come across a cab in our lifetime (unless we're lucky), publishers really need to start thinking about that home port or else the emu scene may as well do it for them.

I still want to try my hand at that new Pengo.

[Howard_Casto]

From what I understand arcades are starting to decline in Japan as well.  Mind you they'd still got a few years left, but sales are sluggish.  It's hard for an operator to justify thousands of dollars for a SF IV (and now V) machine when most kids just go home and play it on their ps3.  Multiplayer Pengo and pac-man battle royale are the Japanese equivalent of the gimmicks you see in American arcades to try and drum up business.  Mind you their gimmicks suck a lot less, but still....

[voltz]

That's where I go back on saying they're not putting any real effort into it.

I think the last two great blunders were Pac-Man CE and Mortal Kombat.  Those certainly would have revived the industry for an extent.

[Howard_Casto]

The cost factor still gets in the way.  A person can buy MKKE on the pc or on console for 60 bucks new, or an operator can spend $1500-$2000 on a arcade version and be forced to charge a dollar a play.... a price that everyone is going to see as too high.  The arcade and home ports are going to look and play identically.  Also the operator has to actually have an arcade, which is like seeing a white rhino in most towns. 

[dkersten]

The only modern arcade games that are worth anything are the ones you wouldn't want to play unless at a bar having a beer or five.  I carry my Big Buck Hunter card so I don't have to type in my number when I play.. I just swipe and go.  Kids have their tablets, they don't need to go to an arcade, so arcades are all about tickets and mechanical "games" these days (mostly crane games that reward them with something).  The best video games are the ones you can play with a group of friends at the bar.  GT and Big Buck... I used to laugh at people who played until I started playing.  Often we pick where we go based on the quality of their Big Buck hunter game.