I could have written this exact quote. This is exactly what I remember as well!
Until DK for CV, it was all crap and we knew it, but it was the best we had. And it wasn't too bad, but definitely not worth 25¢ a play!
how much longer would arcades have lived with no consoles?
- Thread starter vintagegamer
- Start date
I could have written this exact quote. This is exactly what I remember as well!
Until DK for CV, it was all crap and we knew it, but it was the best we had. And it wasn't too bad, but definitely not worth 25¢ a play!
saturnkk
Active member
Consoles like Colecovision didn't kill it. Why? Because Coleco could not keep up with the technology advancments at the arcade... Remember, this was when technology was growing by leaps. Coleco could play yesterdays and some of today's games but not tomorrow's...
It was the consoles that could start handling the next wave of games that came out and the ones after that. That made the expensive to produce giant machines irrelevant. Games that became popular were the ones that could mot easily be duplicated at home like 10 person sit down racing and giant dancing games.
Similarly, I think that movies are going the same route. I used to go to a dozen movies or more a year 10 years ago. Now I maybe go to 1 or 2 that I can't wait to see or want to see in 3d or Imax. My home system is as good as as most anythng at the theatre and I can watch on my schedule in the comfort of my house with as many people as I wish for the cost of about 1 ticket... Pause is awfully nice too ;-)
It was the consoles that could start handling the next wave of games that came out and the ones after that. That made the expensive to produce giant machines irrelevant. Games that became popular were the ones that could mot easily be duplicated at home like 10 person sit down racing and giant dancing games.
Similarly, I think that movies are going the same route. I used to go to a dozen movies or more a year 10 years ago. Now I maybe go to 1 or 2 that I can't wait to see or want to see in 3d or Imax. My home system is as good as as most anythng at the theatre and I can watch on my schedule in the comfort of my house with as many people as I wish for the cost of about 1 ticket... Pause is awfully nice too ;-)
well, i grew up on the atari 5200 and c64, but i think, that without consoles, you wouldn't have seen as much a push for computers as gaming machines, as i think that was one big selling point on a lot of them, that you can do all this stuff, but also play games, so it made sense for parents and what not to buy them for kids.
with that in mind, i don't think we would've seen a videogame crash. why? because, if shitty arcade games came out, they wouldn't make money, which equals the op/arcade losing money and possibly even going out of business. word of mouth would've spread, and the bigger companies like atari would've stayed afloat.
i don't know if we would still have arcades at this point, though. i think computer gaming would've just stayed quieter more for a while, and allowed arcades a few more years to compete. which, going off that, i'd think the net result would be that we'd all be computer gaming now, with arcades being around a bit more than they are now, but also a higher ratio of arcade games to redemption.
you know, another thing i think is that it would've possibly made more arcades family friendly, as kids would be there rather than at home playing consoles.
with that in mind, i don't think we would've seen a videogame crash. why? because, if shitty arcade games came out, they wouldn't make money, which equals the op/arcade losing money and possibly even going out of business. word of mouth would've spread, and the bigger companies like atari would've stayed afloat.
i don't know if we would still have arcades at this point, though. i think computer gaming would've just stayed quieter more for a while, and allowed arcades a few more years to compete. which, going off that, i'd think the net result would be that we'd all be computer gaming now, with arcades being around a bit more than they are now, but also a higher ratio of arcade games to redemption.
you know, another thing i think is that it would've possibly made more arcades family friendly, as kids would be there rather than at home playing consoles.
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In 1983, my 12 year old mind didn't understand what you mean. To be able to play Donkey Kong, Front Line and Time Pilot at home? Brilliant!
I think the crash would've happened in 1985 or so instead of earlier, but it would of happened. You had video games in supermarkets and dry cleaner shops -- it was the equivalent of the dot-com boom or the real estate bubble of the 2000's.
These locations had no fundamental chance to recoup their costs because they didn't have the volume of a dedicated arcade. They were just trying to cash in on the craze.
A correction was inevitable.
g3n3r1c
Permanently Banned
In my business our arcades are doing just fine, some better then they did 5 years ago. This is an odd question because it really depends on WHERE you are more then what you have available to you.
I'm sure that everyone would agree that as far as consoles go Japan has everything we have here in the states maybe even sooner then we can get it. So why then are arcades still going strong there? Its something in the Japanese culture/mindset that we dont have here. I've got friends that go to Japan and China 10-15 times per year. They say that arcades in Japan are PACKED dusk til dawn. Maybe its something social? I dunno.
The notion that arcades are totally dead here in the states is false. Street arcades/locations might be dead but the locations that are tied to other venues like FEC's (Family entertainment Centers), Movie theatres, theme parks still do very well.
Many here will complain that most current larger arcades are "full of junk that no one plays." You guys are wrong. If no one played the games I bought I wouldn't have a job. The fact of the matter is that YOU GUYS dont like the games therefore the arcades suck. Well, I dont like onions... That doesnt mean they suck it just means that I dont like them. Everyone is entitled to not like something but to call it dead because its not what you consider good is not right.
I'm sure that everyone would agree that as far as consoles go Japan has everything we have here in the states maybe even sooner then we can get it. So why then are arcades still going strong there? Its something in the Japanese culture/mindset that we dont have here. I've got friends that go to Japan and China 10-15 times per year. They say that arcades in Japan are PACKED dusk til dawn. Maybe its something social? I dunno.
The notion that arcades are totally dead here in the states is false. Street arcades/locations might be dead but the locations that are tied to other venues like FEC's (Family entertainment Centers), Movie theatres, theme parks still do very well.
Many here will complain that most current larger arcades are "full of junk that no one plays." You guys are wrong. If no one played the games I bought I wouldn't have a job. The fact of the matter is that YOU GUYS dont like the games therefore the arcades suck. Well, I dont like onions... That doesnt mean they suck it just means that I dont like them. Everyone is entitled to not like something but to call it dead because its not what you consider good is not right.
I got the Atari VCS when it came out in 1977. Later got the 5200 when that came out. For computers, I had the TRS-80 Color Computer, C64, and the C128. I played games on all the systems, but NOTHING could hold a candle to an arcade game. I was at the mall arcade EVERY saturday and at least 1 night during the week. The excitement of an arcade was so much better than sitting at home by myself playing sub-standard games. Not to mention, the mall/arcade was where the girls were... so that's where I was.
In the late 80's, the games just weren't much fun anymore, so I made the switch to pinball.... and if any of you were into pinball in the late 80's, you'd remember that companies like Williams made some really awsome pins during that time. Great times.
But if there were no consoles today, arcades would still be flourishing today. What else would kids be doing?
In the late 80's, the games just weren't much fun anymore, so I made the switch to pinball.... and if any of you were into pinball in the late 80's, you'd remember that companies like Williams made some really awsome pins during that time. Great times.
But if there were no consoles today, arcades would still be flourishing today. What else would kids be doing?
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saturnkk
Active member
The industry was crashing before laser disc games came out. If anything, laser disc games breathed new life into the ailing industry for about a year. Cinematronics, for example, was already operating under chapter 11 BEFORE they released Dragon's Lair. Dragon's Lair & Space Ace probably kept them a float for another 10-12 months.
saturnkk
Active member
I don't think they have ever died for me. There weren't very many good arcade games coming out around '85 or '86, so I started playing more pinball, because those were just getting better at that time. Movie theaters have always had games, and I usually play them when I go to one.
I live in Reno, and most of the casinos still have arcades. I enjoy the new stuff as well as the old; it just isn't a very good value anymore. It is hard to play for over 3 minutes on a lot of these games without feeding it again. The old ones you could play for a long time once you got good at them.
I played through House of the Dead 4 a while back, and I had a lot of fun. It cost me about $10 because I had never played it before, but that seemed like a decent value to me.
I was a truck driver for 10 years, and a lot of truck stops have games as well. I enjoy the shooting games, and every once in a while, you find some other stuff to play.
I always hear about arcades dying, but I just didn't have that experience. If anything, some of the arcades are bigger now; of course so are the games. I don't like that the redemption games are taking over, but hey, most people are really bad at math and think they are worth playing.
I live in Reno, and most of the casinos still have arcades. I enjoy the new stuff as well as the old; it just isn't a very good value anymore. It is hard to play for over 3 minutes on a lot of these games without feeding it again. The old ones you could play for a long time once you got good at them.
I played through House of the Dead 4 a while back, and I had a lot of fun. It cost me about $10 because I had never played it before, but that seemed like a decent value to me.
I was a truck driver for 10 years, and a lot of truck stops have games as well. I enjoy the shooting games, and every once in a while, you find some other stuff to play.
I always hear about arcades dying, but I just didn't have that experience. If anything, some of the arcades are bigger now; of course so are the games. I don't like that the redemption games are taking over, but hey, most people are really bad at math and think they are worth playing.
Level42
New member
Funny you say that, games like SFII, MK, Gauntlet and DL killed the arcade fun for me. I just didn't like them...they got over complicated IMHO.
Having said that, the arcades I used to know over here (there weren't really that many) are still alive and kicking. Yes, they added a lot of redemption machines, but most still have the large sit-down games of today. The one thing that an arcade videogame has to offer is an experience that can not be done at home. No-one can fit an Outrun SE at home, so they earn money. The games of the golden age were technically MUCH better than the home versions.
Only when the PC games and graphic cards became so good that the actual arcade games started to use them, this advantage disappeared but that was LONG after the golden age.
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Level42
New member
Which was only caused by the novelty of having video-quality graphics. That's why it lasted only 10-12 months....
I literally spent 4 guilders (it was 2 guilders per game, DOUBLE the price of regular games at the time) on DL before I felt it was a complete waste of money. I clearly remember feeling totally ripped off, because while it asked double the price, I felt that my deaths were TOTALLY unfair, unlike other hard new games like Asteroids I had played in the past, which gave you the feeling of being totally responsible for your own deaths and still giving you the feeling to try one more time...Rightful or not, at the time DL made me feel the arcade business had become greedy and offered shit for it in return. It was definitely one of the reasons for loosing my interest in arcade videogames at the time...the gap was filled nicely by my Atari 600XL which played the best DK port ever, so who needed arcades anymore......
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gutsman004
New member
What he said,although I think that the tipping point was a little earlier. (SNES era.) So many great arcade games were ported very well to the SNES. SF series,MK series,Turtles in Time,Final Fight,Smash TV,etc.
Roadrunner000
Well-known member
Exactly....the real question that is at the heart of this debate is why aren't there arcades anymore like there once where...and the question always has the same answer..."MONEY" When it ceased to be profitable for vendors and business people to rent a building, pay utilities and maintain these games..there was no reason to have the arcades to begin with...
Take in account the home systems started to get better graphics and become somewhat more affordable and less kids in the arcades and more people staying home....therefor less cash..
Markets change and so do the areas where cash is made...consoles and home markets exploded in early to later 80's so only makes sense the arcades disappeared...no big surprise or debate...
Now there are plenty of arcades...just look at how many great collections are on this site...just need to have some more parties to showcase all the great collections out there...same concept just eliminating the money idea...so you went from "Public Arcade" to "Private Arcade."
The other interesting thing to remember is that we had this great fascination with being able to do things at home that we always had to go out to do...and starting in the 80's so you started seeing things developed to allow things to be done in the home as opposed to having to leave your home...lots of things became obsolete
Drive In movies almost died out...now they are making a come back.
Movie Theater's themselves were hurting when Block Busters stores popped up..and pay per view was introduced...who doesn't remember going to get that VHS movie on Friday to watch..they even had the large movie theater style candy and it was sure cheaper...
Same deal with games...why leave when you can play at home..Atari, Coleco, Nintendo..the list goes on...
Now I'm young (25), but I've done a lot of research into the arcade industry as I'd like to release my own game into it, and I have to say that the business was never solid to begin with. The manufacturers were more concerned with selling machines than recouping the operators' investments. Ed Logg was quoted in the book Replay: The History of Video Games as saying that the arcade industry was basically a pyramid scheme. As someone else on here said, it all comes down to money, and if the arcades aren't making money, they aren't going to stay open. It doesn't matter how profitable the arcade industry made Atari at some point. The arcades were most likely never very profitable businesses.
The reason is that they reside in living spaces 1/3 the size of what we're used to, so they just want a reason to get out of the house (or at least that's what I've read).
The reason is that they reside in living spaces 1/3 the size of what we're used to, so they just want a reason to get out of the house (or at least that's what I've read).
Space Invaders caused a Yen shortage in Japan and in 1982 (I think) the arcade industry made over 2 billion dollars in the US. Those are simple examples. I think that the arcade industry has been and will be an ongoing profitable business.
That would explain things a bit. I'd hate to be piled up all over my family like that.
