This is cool but kind of sad at the same time...
Sad because kids should be able to find these awesome games at arcades... instead they get to view them like they are a fossil collection brought to the school to take a look into the past.
My guess is that it's the first time some of these kids have ever even seen a classic arcade machine in person. (unless they are the same kids who saw them previous years)
I think the weird thing about all this is the fact that other games are still abundant everywhere... Like pool tables have been basically the same for hundreds of years. (except they had less pockets way back when)
Nobody will bat an eye if they see a pool table in some recreational area... but if a kid saw a Pac-Man arcade they'd be like "what the heck is this thing... why are the graphics so bad?" etc. I mean I guess that's the price you pay for having arcade machines fall into the "technology" tree of recreation.
I think really only pinball machines can last for centuries to come without anyone thinking they are outdated... (obviously still need to update stuff like the displays and lighting to whatever modern tech exists, but the game play is basically unchanged)
Yeah, the technology tree has a lot to do with it for sure.
A lot of the reason for the "mystique" of arcades during the Golden Age was that the chasm between the arcade game and home game experience was so vast. Even when better systems like ColecoVision and the Atari 5200 narrowed the gap, their conversions still lagged behind their arcade counterparts pretty significantly.
I have a portable PS one with the LCD screen mounted, and I have some of the Namco compilations for it (I still play PSX Doom on it every so often)...one day about 10 years ago I brought it to my friend's house (he just wanted to see it), and as he was playing Galaga he said, "Damn, imagine having something like this in 1982 or so?" As we all know, that was about as pipe-dream as pipe-dream got. We just kind of accepted that home conversions were going to be kinda-sorta at best (and often not-even-close, as was the case with 2600 Pac-Man)...just something to play until you could get your ass to the arcade, where the real deal awaited. One was definitely not an acceptable substitute for the other (much to the chagrin of parents who thought "Why does he still want quarters when we bought him the same damned games for his Atari?!").
There were obviously many reasons why many arcades saw drop-offs in business (lack of new ideas/too many clones, unsavory elements starting to show up, etc), but once you could play games at home that were VERY close (and later, just as good or even BETTER) to the arcade versions, the need to go to a proper arcade to get the highest-quality gaming fix was definitely diminished. That "arcade only" mystique took a huge hit.
And yeah, I think a lot of kids my daughter's age barely even know what arcade cabs actually are, and that places that used to host anywhere from a few to a few dozen (if not more) were once all over the place. Most of my daughter's exposure to them is through my three cabs in my basement (finished), and only one of them is a true Golden Age relic (Space Invaders Deluxe). And most people have moved on from the old days...many parents who loved these games back in the day but outgrew them aren't sharing that love with their kids, whose gaming experience is likely strictly related to modern systems and home/online play. Like you pretty much say, it's technology and progress...but yeah, I still feel a bit of sadness that the pure arcade experience that was so much of fun for me and so many others will be completely lost on future generations.