Arcades and all that entails

Shmups are like, the best spectator games ever.

Rythmn games such as DDR would like to have a word with you. In the last Japan culture convention exhibiting Arcade machines that I happened to go to, back in 2010, the DDR and Taiko Drum Master machines were by far the ones with the most spectators around it.

edited 29th Apr '11 4:09:51 PM by AceNoctali

If you ask me, every great arcade must have at least one Metal Slug cabinet and one of either House of the Dead or Time Crisis.

It's necessary.

^ Laugh at me if you want, but I've never, ever seen an arcade facility with a Metal Slug machine, be it either in France or Japan, despite having visited a good number of them in both countries. However, nearly all of them had both of one entry of House Of The Dead and Time Crisis.

Awwww, that's depressing...

I love Metal Slug...

I have an interesting thought:

For the same reason that arcades became extinct (i.e., you can have everything it offers at home, and better, and cheaper for you, and more profitable for the gamemakers, and even better social benefits, etc.), I would think that movie theaters are now becoming extinct.

Within one or two decades, I predict that movie theaters will no longer exist, except in very rare instances.

As far as the larger screen, sound, etc., that is definitely becoming less and less of a draw. I have an 82" HD tv with my recliner parked right in front of it. I definitely prefer to watch movies at home instead of at a theater.

As far as the experience of "going out", "doing something special", that may soon be the province of restaurants and live performances and outdoor activities only. (Arcades have died, movie theaters are dying, malls are dying.)

Coffee shops could fall under the same logic. Even if we were to look at the more premium drinks you normally see at one (lattes, mochas, etc.), I could imagine that someone with the right ingredients and some practice could whip up such drinks at home.

Instead? People tend to spend hours at cafes—grabbing one drink and then going to do work on their laptops or whatever, or coming there with friends—I've overheard some rather thought-provoking conversations at cafes.

edited 29th Apr '11 5:40:40 PM by TsundeRay

@Tsunde, yes, but it used to be the same thing with arcades. I used to have some of my deepest conversations with friends while we were taking turns with an arcade machine.

Also, coffee shops may fall under the classification of "restaurant".

The act of "Breaking Bread" together in public will always be part of human cultures and will have places to do it.

Part of that's linked to the decline in quality. Theaters and studios are abandoning film for “high definition” video that's little or no better than TV and digital audio that's similar in quality to home recordings, home viewing would find it difficult to stand up to movie theaters if they had all switched to IMAX in the '80s and continued advancing at the state of the art from there to now. In spite of this, prices at theaters have exploded in the last four decades.

The same is true of arcades. They used to have hardware years beyond that of top-end PCs, while now a look inside the cabinet most often reveals recycled console motherboards. Technology isn't everything in venue entertainment, but it's certainly more than nothing.

Nah, those aren't spectator games, those are spectator sports.

No, seriously, I was thinking in terms of watching the gameplay when I wrote that. What you mention is true, but the audience is watching less of the screen and more of the player.

Damn. My local arcade is finally closing down. As much as I'd like to say "so it goes" because arcades are a dead technology, I honestly think that place could have been ran a hell of a lot better.

Best arcade I was ever in was in some otherwise soulless multiplex cinema in Newcastle. It had Terminator 2, the lightgun version. I was in love. I remember that game, where it was, and how I felt.

I don't remember the film I went to see.

Any arcade that has a SEGA sit-down shooter is a good one. Usually The Lost World Jurassic Park, but some times it'd be Star Trek Voyager.

My local mall still has a TILT. They have one of those Lost World machines, as well as a two player Time Crisis console. Also the usual assortment of fighting games, other shooters, and Redemption games like Skeet ball and game show machines.

But I don't go very often. I prefer my home games. A lot of people prefer their home games. And either single player, or the anonymity of the internet. A lot of us Americans are very competitive in your face brats, and it's safer to say the shit that comes out of those brats' mouths when the person you're trashing isn't within striking distance.

The Arcade is more popular in Japan for a multitude of reason. Houses there are freakin' small, and have less room for a console. So handhelds and public gaming areas are the norm. They're also a Hell of a lot more communal than Westerners in general. U.S. culture is built on having space all to yourself and people not invading it.

> Houses there are freakin' small, and have less room for a console. So handhelds and public gaming areas are the norm.

I hear this argument put forth a lot, but if so...why isn't PC gaming (at least low-end PC gaming) a bigger thing in Japan? (Or is it and I just haven't heard about it?)

This seems like the appropriate place to ask this:

What the HELL is a Neo Geo?

As a rabid Metal Slug fan and Retro Game collector, it gets mentioned all the damn time. I have no idea what it is though. Is it a home console or an arcade cabinet interior?

It was pretty much an arcade cabinet the games of which could be changed out by the owner, I think. One cabinet that you could keep even if a game stopped being profitable. My old dentist when I was a kid had one in the waiting room.

EDIT: Yeah, that's basically exactly what it was.

edited 27th Nov '14 4:09:09 AM by BaffleBlend

We actually have a NEO GEO at my workplace, with a couple of untranslated Japanese games on it (Sonic Wings 2/Aero Fighters 2, Metal Slug X, Puzzle Bobble, and I think one other). Too bad the control stick is busted so moving it to the left doesn't work anymore.

We also have, oddly enough for a pizza place, Marvel Vs Capcom 2.

edited 27th Nov '14 4:13:03 AM by Odd1

Both. The arcade cabinet is known as the Neo Geo MVS, while the home console (that had arcade-level power, but was absurdly expensive) is called the Neo Geo AES.