Who here plays games at an arcade?

[salt_peanuts]

I live up in Westchester right by Playland, and if any of you NYC'ers are ever up in Rye, NY you might wanna check it out....there's 3 arcades there so far I saw, and they have a nice little vareity....Ms. Pac Man and Galaga original cabs, a whole bunch of pinball machines that actually work 100% like the Simpsons, Twilight Zone, Addams Family, and some other great Bally machines that I'm pretty sure aren't made anymore. There's a Pole Position sit down cab, an old 1930's baseball game type machine, and some other old school games, but it's mostly nice for the great pinball machines they have there, and most are only a quarter....I'll have to check out what else all is there...

[Scourge]

I just went earlier this week. Downtown Austin is one of the few places where you can find multiple neo geo, Guilty Gear, CvS2, etc. cabs all within walking distance of each other.

The arcade I usually visit seems to specialize in Neo Geo with some Golden Tee and quiz games to help pay the bills. The staff is also pretty willing to let the regulars come in during the weekdays (aka dead times) to play for free or just play some PS2 on a system one of the guys brings in. They're also very willing to take customer feedback/advice on which games to buy. Occasionally, I'll even lend them a cart or two...really nice place. Oh and just about everything but Golden Tee is 25¢ a play (SvC, 3rd strike, raiden fighters, KOF2k3, Puzzle Fighter, Ultracade, KOF98, etc).

Sure seem to be a lot of people from Austin on this board.

[Shapermc]

Quite the depressing thread. Anyways, I love arcades. I unfortunatly do not go as much as I would like to. There is one about 45 - 60 min away depending on traffic. Now that I am married and only have one car it is a bit difficult for me to make it, but I go one to two times a month. It is hard for me to want to go. The arcade offers almost nothing that I cannot give myself at home, aside from an old loose ass Virtua-On and Pump it Up (I don't play pump it up though).

For the past 5 years I have been trying to replicate the arcade experience at home. I have made some crazy journies to get some of my stuff, but it has all been worth it. I have a 19" vertical cabinet for shmups. I have a 25" hori cab for just about everything else. It runs off of MAME from my PC most of the time (yea yea, I still probably have more PCBs than most) so I am not left missing too much from arcades.

I have arcade stick controllers (2) for every system for that arcade at home experience. Now that I have been getting into rythem games (well just Pop'n Music, but I am looking at expanding) I have build more Arcade controls for these games. I have some great 4 player games that you will never find at an arcade (Ware Ware Gamecube anyone?) I find it more difficult to go and spend $5 or $10 at the arcade when I could put that toward GameX.

What I do miss is snagging a handfull of quarters from my dads change jar, riding my bike to Galaxy Arcade and playing Afterburner in that cockpit set up. Or Tron with pimp flight stick. Playing a game of Pac-Man untill my quarter runs out. Watching some guy beat Arkanoid. I still have these memories though, nothing will replace that. I just wish that there was an arcade 15 min away with something to offer I can't.

Bah, memory lane sucks.

[cigsthecat]

Well, I just moved to Pasadena so now I'm about a minute away from that Pak- Mann arcade. Finally I've found one that has more shooter PCB's on play than my apartment.

So I've been going there frequently. Mostly for Strikers III (Triple Lei, I WILL beat that score of yours ;]) - the RF1, 2 and Gunbird 2 monitors are all fucked up and I can't even play. Such a waste.

[Masaka]

Up until 2 years ago, Gametime Aracade in Alexandria was the closest real arcade I had, and it was 5 hours away. I'm pretty much arcade-less now.

What I miss most about arcade is being around people who love doing the same thing that I do. I don't miss the dimly lit holes-in-the-wall that I used to frequent, or bubblegum stuck to my feet or half working controllers. But I miss trying to topple JAB from the top score in Raiden II, or sticking a quarter up in the line while waiting for my turn in Shodown 2 or Super Turbo.

Here's a question: What would it take to get you back into an arcade today? I hear a lot of people saying that they aren't really interested in arcades anymore. But is that because the arcade forumula in the US has been the same for 20 years (likely), or because you're genuinely not interested in them anymore? Just curious.

[Shapermc]

Here's a question: What would it take to get you back into an arcade today? I hear a lot of people saying that they aren't really interested in arcades anymore. But is that because the arcade forumula in the US has been the same for 20 years (likely), or because you're genuinely not interested in them anymore? Just curious.

Closer locations, recent games, owners who listen to sudgestions, working controls. I would go to the current ones if they offered tourneys (I don't even want a prize). The current price of arcades in my area is decent ($.25 - $.50 for the "big" sized games) so I have no complaints about that, but I refuse to pay the $.50 that some places ask for for SF2 or the $2 that the theatre wants for a go at Cruis'n USA.

EDIT: Pop'n Music would get me to a real arcade. I would love to "show off" on a game for once

[gameoverDude]

Here's a question: What would it take to get you back into an arcade today? I hear a lot of people saying that they aren't really interested in arcades anymore. But is that because the arcade forumula in the US has been the same for 20 years (likely), or because you're genuinely not interested in them anymore? Just curious.

Variety, variety, variety.

I'm not at a loss for close locations, but it seems that the offerings are mostly light gun/driver/3d fighting titles. A friend and I sent suggestions to the Chapter 11ed GameWorks, including Battle Gear 3, Border Down, Virtua Cop 3 (whoda' thunk it, a Sega place WITHOUT this?), Ultracade, and Ketsui. Will they take any of these ideas? I'm not inclined to bet on that.

http://www.gamepro.com/gamepro/domes...ws/34389.shtml
This news is oldish, but I wonder what "cutting costs" could entail- I would like that to entail replacing some of the DX cabs with some standard JAMMA stuff. Dropping their prices on games can't hurt if they want to keep competing with D&B. $1.00 for Rampage World Tour is ridiculous.

50c for Cruis'n USA? No one could get me to play Snooz'n even if it were a penny per credit- now if they offered me $10,000 a game to play that dreck, perhaps I'd oblige.

[Eight One]

Well, I just moved to Pasadena so now I'm about a minute away from that Pak- Mann arcade. Finally I've found one that has more shooter PCB's on play than my apartment.

So I've been going there frequently. Mostly for Strikers III (Triple Lei, I WILL beat that score of yours ;]) - the RF1, 2 and Gunbird 2 monitors are all fucked up and I can't even play. Such a waste.

There's another Pak-Mann branch in Azusa. I know there's a Dimahoo and Twin Cobra, at least.

I think there's a third one in El Monte, too.

[Masaka]

Closer locations, recent games, owners who listen to sudgestions, working controls.

What's amazing to me is that those things all seem like common sense. It's really surprising how long arcades have lasted with the kind of apathetic management that most of them have.

I would go to the current ones if they offered tourneys (I don't even want a prize). The current price of arcades in my area is decent ($.25 - $.50 for the "big" sized games) so I have no complaints about that, but I refuse to pay the $.50 that some places ask for for SF2 or the $2 that the theatre wants for a go at Cruis'n USA.

EDIT: Pop'n Music would get me to a real arcade. I would love to "show off" on a game for once

Tournies, I think, are pretty big. Even small weekly ones in various games can do a lot to generate business. They don't have to be just fighters either. Shooters, pinball, hell even Pac-Man. It's something for people to shoot for, or in some cases, some one.

It'd be cool to have competitions with other arcades too. It wouldnt' work for things like fighting games, but online score competitions and what not seem like a no brainer. How many arcades do you know that have a semi-decent website, or even have one at all?

I'm not at a loss for close locations, but it seems that the offerings are mostly light gun/driver/3d fighting titles. A friend and I sent suggestions to the Chapter 11ed GameWorks, including Battle Gear 3, Border Down, Virtua Cop 3 (whoda' thunk it, a Sega place WITHOUT this?), Ultracade, and Ketsui. Will they take any of these ideas? I'm not inclined to bet on that.

All signs point to no. For some reason, arcades just tend to not listen to their patrons. There are obvious expections (Stargate, 8 on the Break, etc), but they're definitely not the norm.

I remember suggesting to my arcade at VT that they get Street Fighter Alpha 2 in, and they totally blew it off, even though SF games by far made the most money. We managed to talk them into getting Virtua On one year, and what do you know, it raked it in. Did they continue to listen? Nah of course not.

I'd go to an arcade that kept up with its games and maintenance, had a staff that acutally knew how to tell when a button was broken (test menus be damned), and actually had an environment that was worth hanging out in.

[Mzo]

I'd go to an arcade that kept up with its games and maintenance, had a staff that acutally knew how to tell when a button was broken (test menus be damned), and actually had an environment that was worth hanging out in.

Yeah, that seems to be the biggest problem... broken machines that sit there, unfixed despite my complaints, while people play them regardless. I can't think of any other machine that people will still put money into despite its being defective. 90% of the problems can be fixed in under 5 minutes, is what really kills me.