The Age of the Broken Arcade

[BoneSnapDeez]

Things really have changed lately.

I grew up near Old Orchard Beach, Maine where there were two arcades right across the street from each other. Played some of my most treasured games during the summers spent there.

A few years ago one of those arcades was demolished and replaced with condos. The other one still exists but now barely contains any true arcade games! Instead, it's filled with those shitty games of chance where you pop in quarters to try to win a random amount of tickets, which of course can be traded in for cheap knick-knacks. Such a shame.

[ExedExes]

Things really have changed lately.

I grew up near Old Orchard Beach, Maine where there were two arcades right across the street from each other. Played some of my most treasured games during the summers spent there.

A few years ago one of those arcades was demolished and replaced with condos. The other one still exists but now barely contains any true arcade games! Instead, it's filled with those shitty games of chance where you pop in quarters to try to win a random amount of tickets, which of course can be traded in for cheap knick-knacks. Such a shame.

Reminds me of a YouTube video where some guy went to New Hampshire around the same area as the legendary Funspot, but to some other arcades which had games in such poor shape and tons of redemption games (of course!) and many of them were out of order, he was complaining for nearly the whole video --

*researching*

Found it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DrTwEPT9fc&t=7m00s (fast forwarded to the guy's rant with a scrolling list of game faults at 7:00)

And General_Norris, found a video of an arcade in Salamanca, Spain!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guNOr1e_ulE

[Erik_Twice]

And General_Norris, found a video of an arcade in Salamanca, Spain!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guNOr1e_ulE

All arcades are like this! Exactly the same machines, everywhere you go. Silent Scope, Virtua Tennis 3, Crazy Taxi and some SEGA racers. Everywhere. Notice how there's only racing and shooting games and everything is a decade old.

And not because it's an old place, they simply bring machines from their warehouse. A couple of years ago another arcade opened and you still had exactly the same machines. For shame.


I will watch the other video soon, I'm always ready for a good rant
EDIT: Watched, exactly, it's sad to see such a long list of problems, specially since it probably took him less than five minutes to discover each one.

[ExedExes]

And General_Norris, found a video of an arcade in Salamanca, Spain!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guNOr1e_ulE

All arcades are like this! Exactly the same machines, everywhere you go. Silent Scope, Virtua Tennis 3, Crazy Taxi and some SEGA racers. Everywhere. Notice how there's only racing and shooting games and everything is a decade old.

And not because it's an old place, they simply bring machines from their warehouse. A couple of years ago another arcade opened and you still had exactly the same machines. For shame.


I will watch the other video soon, I'm always ready for a good rant
EDIT: Watched, exactly, it's sad to see such a long list of problems, specially since it probably took him less than five minutes to discover each one.

It was a Sega showcase! I'd probably have a good time there

But that's just it too, as in the NH video, pinballs require a great deal of maintenance, and when nobody puts time and effort into keeping the video portion of their games working, then it's not good for business. But no problem on buying those new redemption games! Fortunately in the US there are still places that take great care in keeping old games good as new and also feature the latest titles. Again I say to check out Gamester81Arcade channel on YouTube for he highlights all the places that still do this.

[Erik_Twice]

It was a Sega showcase! I'd probably have a good time there

Haha, actually I love Sega arcade games and they are fun but ten years later I can assure you it gets boring and racers (which are really most of the games) don't age very well.

Specially since no wheel is going to work properly

Again I say to check out Gamester81Arcade channel on YouTube for he highlights all the places that still do this.

It's an interesting channel for sure, I don't think anyone else is touring arcades and "reviewing" them so as to speak.

[ExedExes]

It's an interesting channel for sure, I don't think anyone else is touring arcades and "reviewing" them so as to speak.

It's a damn sweet gig he's got, doing all that, and going across America finding awesome game STORES as well, and having the time and money to get all those obscure consoles. Dude has it made

[J T]

If I owned an arcade, I'd hire the narrator from Bastion and people could pay an extra buck to have him narrate their gameplay on the game of their choice.

[Bikeage]

Lucky to have a decent sized "family fun center" type place nearby with a nice selection of 80's and 90's coin-ops and pins among the modern racing and rhythm games. Not been in a while, but remember 20-25 classics in various states of upkeep, with the shittier ones placed farther back.

The lack of classic arcade atmosphere keeps me from visiting too often, especially how brightly lit the place is. It's not too bad while playing most cabs, though some are placed in unfortunate spots. The pinball section is the worst, with glare from florescent lights reflecting on every table. And everything has the volume turned down, which is crap. When i've got some crazy multiball jackpot bonus blowing the machine up, I want the whole place to hear it.