How long do you expect arcade machines to still be around?

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How long do you expect arcade machines to still be around?

I was into collecting old wooden radios. Swapmeets and electronic stores clubs and BBS systems were places to buy parts and pieces.

That hobby collapsed, When the customer base shrunk a lot of the vendors closed their doors and sold off their inventory.

Does anyone else see signs that hobby is heading to the same fate?
 
A lot of people here will pass this hobby down to their children, which I would assume a certain percentage of those kids will end up with the same passion for it as most of us here have. Still though, it's bound to die like everything else. Won't be in our lifetime though.
 
I feel like once my generation (born 87) is done with it then that's about it.. I mean figuring I didn't experience arcades in there prime. I collect them now because they were on systems I had as a kid and loved. But figuring todays technology and kids really having no introduction to them (older games) is gonna kill it.
Sent from X
 
I feel like once my generation (born 87) is done with it then that's about it.. I mean figuring I didn't experience arcades in there prime. I collect them now because they were on systems I had as a kid and loved. But figuring todays technology and kids really having no introduction to them (older games) is gonna kill it.
Sent from X


Well I was born in '75 So I'm good till death :) works for me.
 
I'm thinking your counting the newer generation out too soon. If you notice in media arcades are popping up in commercials etc to cater to the older demographic but it's also socially exposing the younger generation to a concept they haven't had the pleasure of experiencing. If this trend continues and game companies start to create new machines (which is happening) arcades will rise again in some facet. Hell I've seen tons of kids up at galloping ghost in Chicago. Radio as a whole in it's current state is on a decline. Video games are still growing as a market, they're becoming a social norm.
 
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I don't know but some games will always live through emulators long after all the arcade boards become unrepairable. Even though many kids have never been to an arcade they may have played the games and might want to see what playing on a real one is like.

Also many conventions around the US are starting to have an arcade room which also exposes the younger generation to coinops. PAX is the big one but the small one they had at Anime Weekend Atlanta last year was a blast!

Add this to the fact that there is a market for 100 year old arcade/boardwalk machines so as long as someone can keep'em running we'll bee good on the electronic ones. However I doubt that CRT monitors and old computer chips will last that long...
 
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I have noticed in the past 2-3 years alot of the ops are liquidating their warehouses. The cost to store the machines is no longer worth it to them so eventually the supply of project machines will dry up and we will be stuck keeping the ones we have running.
 
My guess is: When the people who were kids/teens from the late 70's to mid 90's all die off, so will our hobby.
 
I don't think the hobby will die off. I think it will expand. More people are getting into the hobby and are buying games on craigslist. At least that's how it seems to me. More competition when games get on craigslist locally and nearby here in CA. Also, KLOV membership is growing. Things will become harder to find, but I don't think it will die down anytime soon, unless Armageddon is this year. And the main reason I think these machines will be around for a while is because collectors like us making it easier to find information on how to restore and fix these things. Maybe the real concern is making the pcbs and monitors and chassis last. And if you think about it, as long as there are KLOV members there will be arcade machines. So when you make out your will, be sure to give the games to some one who appreciates them. :)
 
I think it will always be around. I think the prices will bottom out at one point but in a few hundred years they should start going back up.
 
I was into collecting old wooden radios. Swapmeets and electronic stores clubs and BBS systems were places to buy parts and pieces.

That hobby collapsed, When the customer base shrunk a lot of the vendors closed their doors and sold off their inventory.

Does anyone else see signs that hobby is heading to the same fate?

I'm not sure where you think the radio hobby has gone, but I go to a huge convention every year that deals with radios and vintage electronics as I think your discussing.
It has changed, but by no means is it gone.
Underground a bit more, maybe.

Yea, the arcade hobby will change, someday LCD's and multi boards may be more accepted simply because CRT's are not available new and people that REPAIR the PCB's have gone on.... People like DPtwiz will still be making cabinets, even if in the backyard with a jigsaw.

It will be here as long as people like retro, games, and vintage stuff.
 
Well I own a video game store that sells PS3,Xbox etc. I have this Pac Man in the store and the young kids love shoving quarters in the slot and playing. I have a few kids that look forward to playing it everytime there parents bring them to the store. These kids will remember playing that game many years down the line. Maybe, just maybe they will be collectors when they grow up.. We all have a story of I remeber playing ? at the ? when I was a kid .
 

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As long as we continue to pass our love for arcade games on to the younger generation it'll continue to go. My son loved console games, he never even payed attention to the arcade games when we would be out doing things. After I got my Rush 2049 he was hooked, now he's playing Star Wars and my older games. He was so bummed when my SW went down a couple weeks ago, he keeps texting me asking if it's fixed. I'm sure once the CRT monitors become extinct that LCD's will go in their place, flash memory will replace hard drives and discs, PCB's will be redesigned and will be 3X4 inches. I do my part daily to tell people about my games and have BBQ's that everyone want to come to.
 
A really big change in the hobby was the loss of all the auctions around the country. Just a few years ago, you could hit up St. Louis, Iowa, Dallas, Kansas City, MO, several times a year and see 200 to 400 machines for sale, it served as a place to sell extras and buy projects and it also was an informal get-together for collectors.

I can't tell you how many times we'd end up going out to eat with collectors that lived a couple states away, and many, many deals were done when we'd meet up at the auctions simply because we all knew we'd be there.

Now those auctions are a fraction of what they once were, and the chances to easily meet other collectors are few and far between. There are shows and events, but they lack the informal-ness of hauling a trailer of machines somewhere in the middle of the night and spending the next day elbow to elbow with dozens of other collectors.
 
I feel like once my generation (born 87) is done with it then that's about it.. I mean figuring I didn't experience arcades in there prime. I collect them now because they were on systems I had as a kid and loved. But figuring todays technology and kids really having no introduction to them (older games) is gonna kill it.
Sent from X

My daughter had a friend over here yesterday and they were playing the Wii. I fired up the MAME cab for them and after playing Tapper then Timber then Zookeeper, my daughter's friend says, "These games are so much better than the new ones". I couldn't help but laugh.
 
Video games are hugely popular, and there will always be interest in the original games, especially the rarer titles.
 
I think the stuff that will increase in value depends on the popularity of the title and demand. I do think unpopular machines will bottom out as will laserdisc stuff, but standard popular classics (since they are always being reintroduced) will continue to hold value.

Laser games are only popular with "this" generation and even then it is very niche. You can tell just by going to any laser game site and message board to see the lack of interest.

Multicades are the defacto 30s-40s man cave guy with a family type deal.

Most of the old operators selling now just thought their stuff would be gold but didn't realize that the "gold" is in the parts if you know what you are looking for, not the cabinets.

Even so the market will bottom out on certain pieces but not on others; it all depends on who keeps up the value and "hype" of these types of items following them along to others. Penny arcade games from the 20s are worth money because of books/interest in "rarity" so it will happen as people get older that care about the history, same goes with anything..
 
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