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who wants to be the creepy, single, older guy hanging out in a Chuck E. Cheese's paying the last worn-out videogames?

Why would a single guy want to go to Chuck E. Cheese? There are adult versions around like Dave and Busters. Last time I was in Chicago, several years ago, I believe the ESPN restaurant had a pretty big arcade as well. Granted, it was sports themed, but it had some cool stuff. But I recall a Sega restaurant or bar or something in the Schaumburg area or something. Ah, here it is. GameWorks.

The only problem I'd see if you didn't have one close to you.

There's a similar sounding arcade I've been to called Dave and Buster's which is basically a club/bar with tons of arcade machines, they're scattered in various places all over the US. Lots of fun, but I wish one was actually close to me :(

"Gotta reinvent"

Pretty much my sentiment as well.

While it's tragic - businesses need to evolve with the times to stay relevant. And really - the price for the gaming experience you receive on the old arcade machines is just way too high for me these days now that I actually have bills to pay. I've seen countless times where outdated games are still costing a dollar per play. It was fun and affordable when it was a quarter - and you could actually spend all day there on 20 bucks with some friends.

I think younger kids probably aren't going to give a crap about arcades as long as they can still play online with their friends and strangers via their PCs and consoles. With that said - I think the bar idea is a good idea for catering to the grown up crowd. I've never been (as there isn't one near me) but I hear Dave and Busters has a similar business model and seems to be doing fine.

The other successful arcade model is the Dave & Buster's model. Bar and arcade, cater to adults. Alcohol sales ftw. A friend of mine once called it the "barcade," which I always hoped would stick.

There's a free Power Card in it for everybody that buys from Dave Buster, so even if your WiFi goes out you can have fun!

I know that the Dining and Gaming combined nicely and has several locations. I've done some light research on this topic and what you'll need is a way to be able to get rid of most of the stuff if it doesn't work out. Leasing equipment untill your making enough profit to satisfy your tastes. http://www.daveandbusters.com/

already been done before?

...to compete with WoW and Evercrack 2 you need to be at least on par with their fees and ideally less.

Underpricing is more important for commodities and less so for something like an MMORPG. I don't think that (say) a game with a monthly fee of $5 less than WoW's would entice anyone to switch to them. There's also the matter of perception-of-quality -- I would guess that most people, upon seeing a $4.95/mo MMORPG would turn their noses up at it.

Conversely, if there are gameplay elements that make the game worth $14.95, consumers would probably be willing to pay a few dollars more.

There are, of course, limits to this. If you're going to charge $50/mo for a subscription, you'd better either a) provide something pretty amazing, or b) disassociate the subscription fee from actual money. (Ever been to Dave and Buster's? When you walk in, you buy credits, then use arbitrary numbers of credits to play games. They disassociate the cost of playing a game from actual money. So, while you're probably paying $2.50 for a game, it doesn't feel that way.)

As a corrolary to this, in the early '90s, I used to work for a company that charged $6.95 an hour to play its online game, (with a $3/hr connection surcharge). This was pretty standard. We had a few flatrate customers who paid a whopping $1,000/month for unlimited access. Yeeaaaugh!

As a result $14.95 never seemed so bad to me.
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Inago Rage - Our first-person shooter

We have plenty of these places in America... two right near my house are Jillians and Dave and Buster's.

You hand in your driver's license and/or leave an imprint of your credit card. The host then walks you over to the game unit and unlocks it, sets it up, and takes your initial drink order.

When you're done playing, you go back to the desk and get your card back. The place marks off how much time you've spent playing and charges you accordingly, and the host then wanders off to make sure the game was powered down correctly and the area is cleaned up for the next gamer.

You mean like dave and busters.

In StL, Dave and Busters is strikingly similar to these fine establishments.

The small, shitty mom and pop arcade in the mall might be shutting it's doors, but the niche is being filled by upscale (albeit expensive) "Entertainment Venues"

Do any online services ever give any indication of where the other players are, or could you spend hours playing the guy down the street from you and never know it?

I don't know about all -- some might. When I play on public servers a lot of people come and go and you often don't know where they are. But when you play regularly the in-game chat functions and voice-chat allow you to learn these things with the people you regularly see. It also seems that players that play in clans have a tight relationship with others generally.

And LAN parties often fill the social aspects for others using PC/console games. I don't deny that there are opportunities to set up parlors and make a go at it. I just don't agree with the article's promotion of this as a coming popular thing in this format in the US. I think to make something commercially viable you have to do more than plop down some Dell computers running Counter Strike. The places I've been to that seem to have more potential would be Dave & Busters and Gameworks. Others have mentioned similar concepts at Mall of America in Blommington MN (auto racing similators), and others.

yeah, they were the JAM!

Heck- I had an arcade bachelor party- Dave & Busters- I drank this whack midori drink all night long (green tea) and played games till the cows came home. Even a lil' skeeball, jsut for old times sake! You gotta love cashing in hundreds of those damn tickets for a $5 stuffed animal...

Life isn't watching a TV set, and as good as graphics get, no game will ever equal that feeling as you blast in a shot from 20 yards, or nail a 3 pointer over your work mates.

And no game ever will beat the smile you get from your kid first thing in the morning.

I've "played" this game at the Dave & Buster's in Milpitas, California. I don't know if all the other D&B's have it, but I've heard at least one Chicagoland location has it... They've locations in several major metropolitan areas, so if there's one nearby you you can check.

BTW... medium is for wussies ;)

Dave and Busters is a way the world has turned us from totally geek to totally sheik. Cancel out the carnival games and you've got geek land, bar, food, sci-fi short films, and tons of games...

I like dominating Tekken Tag, it's a Chucky Cheese for adults / geeks, and a great place to find women that like video games, which is pretty much what we are all looking for anyway am I right?

Arcade games have home console and pc games beat because of hardware. Totally immersive environments that one just cannot duplicate at home without thousands of dollars. That's where arcades come in.

I'm not sure where you got the idea that arcades are pretty much history. In fact, the arcade industry doing just fine. It's just that the industry is changing. The better arcades are now aimed at adults - not teenagers. Places like Dave and Buster's and Jillians. They are making millions. These are the companies that have the capital necessary to buy and install those types of networked games. They also cater to clientel that can and do pay the outrageous prices they charge. Hell I'm one of them, and I think it's worth the 50 - 100 bucks per visit, drinks and food included of course.

It's the mom and pop shops that are losing their shirts. Sorry kids, you'll have to wait for the cool shit - or get your folks to take you.