How many cabs do YOU think make an arcade??

[Ghostlyguy]

You sir, have an arcade room. Nice. Mine would be "The Back Light Arcade".. Thats if I had a arcade.. Well a guy can dream.

Yep, a name for the arcade Mine is "The Game Pit.

 

[playpin35]

I have 50 games and still call it a gameroom. I look at it as a replication of what I remember seeing and playing years ago, but I don't classify it as an arcade

 

[Ghostlyguy]

I have 50 games and still call it a gameroom. I look at it as a replication of what I remember seeing and playing years ago, but I don't classify it as an arcade

Spoiled...

 

[playpin35]

Spoiled? It's taken me from '93 to present to get to this point and it's a constant battle to keep all of them running. Far from being spoiled I think, more like punished.

 

[Ghostlyguy]

Spoiled? It's taken me from '93 to present to get to this point and it's a constant battle to keep all of them running. Far from being spoiled I think, more like punished.

No, No! Thats not what I meant! Keep up that great collection of yours!
I need to remember people aren't thinking about what I am...

 

[TheBasement]

From Wikipedia:
A video arcade is a venue where people play arcade video games that are housed in colourfully-decorated cabinets.

From Merriam-Webster:
An amusement center having coin-operated games

From Answers.com:
An establishment featuring rows of coin-operated games.

I think its a relative point of view to each person myself. Do you have enough games that feel like you have your own arcade or mini-arcade? If you have coin-operated games (plural) and dedicated space for it (a section of the basement, a garage, an extra bedroom, etc) then you are your own arcade. Maybe its 3 games, maybe its more. Just my opinion.

At one point I had 2 small opposing rows in "half" of the garage. A waverunner was parked in the other half. I liked going down into the garage, turning out the lights, and turning on the games. It was MY arcade, my place where I can go hang out. Of course people that know me know that I now have a much larger space in the basement for my arcade, which can be seen by clicking the links in my signature. But just because my arcade got bigger, doesn't mean I didn't have one when it looked the below picture.

 

[nuckinfuts68]

since a few folks asked where i came up with the number 25 for the amount of games.... he is the way i look at it.

if any of you were to open a true working arcade right now, how many games would ya want in that arcade?? see why i said 25 now?

 

[IvanTT]

The answer is all about the experience. An arcade is any area that truly reminds you of the Arcades you grew up with. For me it was a Gold Mine. Dimly lit, narrow, bout 4 rows facing each other(although 2 is enough), and great with noise. If your arcade had a raised walkway, you need a raised walkway, if you played pins heavy, you gotta have a pin. If music was prevalent, you either need a sound system or a jukebox. But you'll know when you have an arcade. I think I had an arcade at about 8 machines. That's when I got the feeling, I was in an arcade. But for those that don't know, here's the test.

1. Have you ever gone into your gameroom at night and turn all the games on and just look at them.

2. Have you ever coined up those games just to hear the background noises.

3. Does doing 1 and 2 evoke strong emotional responses.

If the answers to the above questions are yes, then you have an arcade.
But hey, that's just my 2bits.

Totally agree here because for me it is totally about atmosphere. I could careless how many games were in an arcade BITD because I only played a couple of them so they could have had 2 if they were the right ones. I've done both 1 and 2 yes.

 

[cdjump]

to me, an arcade was a business. Therefore, i don't own an arcade. The best times i ever had at an arcade was at Putt-Putt's Super Saturday. All the video games you could play from 10 am till 2 pm on Saturday, plus a hot dog and a coke, for 3 bucks. Me and my friends spent many many Saturday mornings at our favorite Putt-putt doing just that.
I'd guess this was between 1982 and 1986, maybe into 87 a bit. None of us could drive, and we all lived out on the fringe of the 'burbs, so there really wasn't alot of opportunities for us to play video games, besides the one or two the local mini mart might have, and nothing was worse than having to leave a game unfinished, cause your ride (aka mom or dad) was leaving. So, that was the majority of the arcade experience for me. We did go occasionally to the mall, and hit the arcades there, but, we never had quite enough coins to really enjoy it, and i spent as much time watching as playing, as i wanted to make the 2 or 3 bucks i managed to schmooze out of my parents last. There's nothing worse than having to wait at an arcade when your out of money.
Anyway, of all of my arcade experience, the putt-putt was the best by far. They always got the new cool games, the ones i own and want now are all from that arcade, and i guess thats why i insist on setting all my games to free play. To me, its what i remember and had the best experience doing.
FWIW, i have 12 cabinets, 4 with 5 or 6 games each in them, they're all keepers. I have room for one more cab, and that'll most likely be a system 1 w/MM installed, if i can ever find one reasonably close.
So, do i consider my gameroom an arcade? Nope. But, when i turn out the lights and fire them all up, do i get that warm and fuzzy feeling and feel like i'm teleported back to a simpler time - absolutely. Did that happen after a set number of cabinets? Nope. It happened as soon as i got my first one home and working. Every cab i add it just gets better. Would i love a nice big Luna-Cityish arcade? Of course, is it necessary for me to relive those great experiences? Not at all.