I went to gatti town today and.......

[raztat]

I was so disappointed when I walked in the arcade area. There was only a few games I recognized and none of them I wanted to really play. They also don't use tokens no more, instead you put money on a card and use that. I miss the tokens. I was hoping they would have at least metal slug, but no. I also wanted to play the x men game that racket did a article on but they didn't have that either. Most of the games that I did play were broken. Jurassic park the lost world the guns where falling apart, made me mad. Then I believe it was called point blank or some light gun game, the shots didn't register so you could never advance to the next stage. I spent the rest of the coin card on a claw machine and won like 6 candy bars. What a waste of $10. Then we got on the bumper cars and they were messed up too. My girl friends would only work if some one hit her, then the engine would cut off. On mine, I could not go straight unless going backwards. There was not even a DDR game their. I don't think I have ever seen an arcade with out DDR. Over all the experience was horrible. I need to find an arcade near where I live, but I doubt there are any.

If your wondering why I went, it was my brothers 13th birthday and he wanted to go there.

[Curlypaul]

I hear your frustrations, all the arcades round here are just plain full of gamblers or gone. The cinema still has a few machines, other than that the only place you'll find an game machine is likely to be a motorway services or the near the sea - and then they only have the same old games we've all played before, or like you say, are broken/worn out. sad really that that particular bit of game culture has dissapeared

[fastbilly1]

The arcade I use to go to had a great selection up until DDR came out. Slowly all the old games were phased out and now it is mostly expensive games. Heck a game of Ms Pacman/Galaga is 50 cents. But last time I was there, 04, they still had the 6 player Xmen - the sole redeeming factor.

[racketboy]

Machine maintainance seems to be the biggest issues nowadays when places actually still have games. My local arcade closed, but I'm actually not that depressed because all the good games had sucky controls and ate quarters. It's no wonder people stopped coming.

[gradualmeltdown]

we've still got at least 2 good arcades here in Portland. One retro-cade called Groud Kontrol has mostly 80's games and pinball with a mix of newer stuff. Another is an old Wunderland nickel arcade that imports whacky japanese games and high end stuff like House of the Dead 4 and the likes. Both of them draw a wide demographic of people because they have a nice variety of games. Hardcore gamers like us would like rows of 2D fighters and shmps but thats what leads to dingy empty arcades.

That said, the little "retro-cade" arcade machines with 100 or so old school games are great. Only one machine to maintain and tons of variety. Just stock 15-20 of those and rotate some custom cabinets for several featured high end games and you have a cool arcade.

[fastbilly1]

retrocades, or "legal" mamecabs are a good and bad thing. Just like the Jamma standard, they mean the operators only need a handful of cabinets, but it is also killing the industry. One of the magical things about American arcades is that each machine is different. So when I go to a Wizard of Wor machine it is not the same as a Gorf machine, or my personal favorite a Joust cocktail table. Granted it is impractical to think any arcade should have all of these (well there are two that we may need to schedule trips to, but that is in due time - remind me later), but with a whole host of multicades it really is not the same thing. That and many games simply do not emulate well with out original controls (Tron, Virtual-On, Robotron, etc. Sure it is playable, but it is a far cry from it being the same.

[Gamerforlife]

You know losing arcades is the equivalent of losing movie theaters and having everything just go straight to DVD. Could you imagine if that happened?

Movies seems to be the last stand in the entertainment industry. With music going more and more the way of mp3 instead of people buying albums, and video games having left arcades to die, movies are the last place in entertainment that have retained the purity of the experience. People still actually get off their butts today and go to a theater to see movies the way they were meant to be seen.

[racketboy]

You know losing arcades is the equivalent of losing movie theaters and having everything just go straight to DVD. Could you imagine if that happened?

Movies seems to be the last stand in the entertainment industry. With music going more and more the way of mp3 instead of people buying albums, and video games having left arcades to die, movies are the last place in entertainment that have retained the purity of the experience. People still actually get off their butts today and go to a theater to see movies the way they were meant to be seen.

I don't go to the movies that much anymore because most places have too many obnoxious people talking/cell phones/kids and the operators don't seem to know how to focus the stinkin' projector.

And, yes, when I go, I sneak in my own snacks....

[durkada]

You know losing arcades is the equivalent of losing movie theaters and having everything just go straight to DVD. Could you imagine if that happened?

Movies seems to be the last stand in the entertainment industry. With music going more and more the way of mp3 instead of people buying albums, and video games having left arcades to die, movies are the last place in entertainment that have retained the purity of the experience. People still actually get off their butts today and go to a theater to see movies the way they were meant to be seen.

You know, let the movie theaters die. I'm sure each city will still maintain an art-house theater, for those seeking the nostalgia. But with TVs approximating, in closer quarters, the size of movie screens -- or, hell, get a cheap projector and a real screen -- the value of going to the movies is ever diminishing. And, of course, 1080p is beautiful.

Unless the flick is something I am dying to see, and _happens_ to play at one of the local theaters that serves beer and caters to adults (ehh, not that kind of theater -- art-house, I mean), I don't bother. In most cases, I still wait for a media release. Besides the sheer amount of people behaving in a manner thats wholly contrary to the experience (cel phones, talking, yelling, whatever), advertisements killed it for me. I didn't particularly mind when they replaced shorts and cartoons with film previews... but making me watch Pepsi advertisements -- to hell with it.

Then again, I'd like to see every billboard destroyed -- I, loathe, advertising everywhere you go. Or, really, lowest-common-denominator advertising. If I were reading a magazine that caters to a specific audience, such as Guitar World, I don't necessarily mind seeing an advertisement for guitar strings. But to be confronted with soda pop, tampons, medicines -- wherever you turn... it's too much.

I'm starting to sound/feel like Andy Rooney. Not a good sign, as I grow older.

But, really, I find it much more enjoyable to hang out with some friends and watch a movie at one of our homes, or to sit in a cozy environment with my wife, than to endure the theater.

The only thing I have against public places, is the public.

Curmudgeonly yours,
Jon

[racketboy]

Bravo!