Midway Quits Coin-Operated Business

Robot writes "Midway Games on friday, reported it is exiting the coin-operated video-game market in order to focus its business exclusively on games for the rapidly growing home video-game market. The Chicago-based company said it made its decision based on the "ongoing declining demand in the coin-operated arcade video game market". Midway said its game development efforts will now be focused on games for next generation platforms including the Xbox, PS2 and Gamecube. More information can be found at FunXbox." Another nail in the coffin of the arcade.

Comments

Re:Arcades outdated

[Chelloveck]

As video game systems and computers became more advanced they could run every game that was in arcades and more.

Not every game. I defy you to find any PC or console system capable of an accurate rendition of a pinball machine.

Of course, pinball had its own problems in the arcades. The machines were expensive, not prone to upgrading, and had hellish maintenance requirements. It was finally killed by video games which only required the operator to wipe the screen and empty the cashbox. And of course, since pinball is entirely skill-based someone who's good can play forever on a quarter or so. Timed video games work. Timed pinball games went over like a lead balloon. (Although Capcom's "Kingpin" had a lot of promise. Pity it never got released.)

Hopefully Stern can make inroads by marketing pinball as a novelty machine. But, having played Striker Xtreme just yesterday, I'm afraid I don't have much hope for them being able to reverse the trend that drove Alvin G., Gottlieb, Sega, Capcom, and even Bally/Williams out of the arena.

But I'll give up my Black Knight and Big Bang Bar machines when they pry the flippers out of my cold, dead hands!

Chelloveck

semi smart move

[joq]

Out here in New York City, the good od mayor has saw fit to ban many of the old arcades that once owned the Times Square area, since they claimed, the arcades posed a dangerous hazard to the citizens. The stated too many kids cut classes to end up their, pedo's went their to pick up kids, etc, etc.

Anyways, I haven't seen a decent arcade in ages, and the ones I do see are all like Starbucks type places with bars, neon lights, etc. Well it may be nice to some, but no longer do most of those games take money but ATM like refillable cards, and they're not 25 cents like they used to be. Why should I spend 2.00 on a game when I could stay home playing PS2?

Aside from that, hardly any pinball machines make money in todays world. Think about where the majority of p'ball machines end up, honky tonk pubs, and shit. Definitely not a money maker.

It is about time that Midway left the biz...

[smirkleton]

Even those here who steadfastly continue to trivialize the potential for videogames to permanently damage the psyche of impressionable children (yeah, YOU Katz) must be forced to reckon with the spectre of one of the most inarguably traumatic experiences of all our childhoods.

Many games amused and inspired me, some even frightened and frazzled me.

But Midway / Williams was responsible, nay, dare I say irresponsible for bringing to life one game that had the power to terrify through barbaric taunts and satanic jeers.

How many thousands of children were permanently scarred by the memory of this quarter-eating tormentor?

How many millions of nightmares were spawned in response to this evil whose name we dare not speak?

How many more nights will I awake to my own pitiable screams, as I hear that demonic bellow again and again?



He could not be placated... Only postponed....
He could not be killed... Only delayed...
His power was greater than all foes combined...
The only way to win was not to play.

Re:It is about time that Midway left the biz...

[John_Booty]

I would have to say that being chased by Sinistar ranks among the all-time scariest moments in video game history that I've ever experienced. There were a few monents in Doom that came close, but nothing else as remotely scary comes to mind....

God, I miss Sinistar. And, thanks to its 49-direction custom joystick, it's something that will never really be duplicated in the home, MAME or no MAME.....

http://www.bootyproject.org

Of Course the Fucking Market's Declining

[Greyfox]

Go to a coin-op arcade, if you can find one. It's a lot harder these days. What do you see? Half a dozen fighting games all of which look like Tekken or Street Fighter, a few racing games and a few FPS games where you've got a gun. The only thing these games have in common is that they suck your quarters down at a prodigious rate. For one thing, most of them are 50 cents or more. For another, you generally don't last too long in any of them, assuming they're not on a timer. Even if you achieve decent enough skill to last for a while, you'll find that you can generally beat the game in 20 to 30 minutes.

The problem with the coin-op gaming industry is that it's currently showing no creativity in coming up with fresh ideas. A lot of games in the historical past are still more entertaining than today's offerings, despite the fancier graphics that we get with the latter.

Arcades outdated

[Scrag]

When people used to go to arcades they got to play the newest and most advanced games. There was no way that any home system could compete with them. As video game systems and computers became more advanced they could run every game that was in arcades and more. Combine this with the price of arcades constantly going up, and no one wants to play anymore.

I don't really care about the loss of arcade developers because there will always be video games, just in a different form. If you really like the arcade feel, you can build your own and play your games on that. Search the net for plans and with about $400 you'll never be without an arcade again.

I've seen it coming

[piecewise]

A lot of arcades have been shutting down where I live, and when I visited Vegas this year, the huge arcades were turned into restaurants, and the arcades relocated to little corners of the buildings.

Arcades have been stereotyped, as well: a place for male losers to hang out and burn through money.

But let's face it, the market has shifted -- or is shifting, anyway. Before, you had your SNES at home, and you'd go to the arcade to play the latest and greatest. Sort of like, you have your PC/Mac at home, but you could check out some SGI workstation at a university.

Today, "arcade power" fits quite nicely in a black rectangle that also plays DVDs for you (PS2...).

Certainly, arcades could always out-do home systems, but if the difference isn't great enough, people don't care to make a trip. I love realism (sometimes), but I don't need PERFECT realism.

Meanwhile, am I willing to play more than $0.75 or $1 per game? No, sorry. Even as the games got more costly to produce, arcade income didn't rise accordingly, I don't think.

So Midway's decision makes sense.

Another problem, I suppose, is that there's no Mortal Kombat on the scenes right now. There's no incredible game only for arcades (meaning, when MK came out, you had to go to the arcades to play it).

I think this trend could continue.

Not declining (as much) in Japan

[achurch]

Maybe it's just that Japanese companies are better at coming up with clever games, or Japanese arcade operators know that not everybody likes fighting games, but arcades in Japan are, if not exactly flourishing, certainly not dead. Most arcades here have a pretty wide selection of games, from fighting to shooters to sports to puzzle games; where you'd be lucky to even find a Ms. Pac-Man in the US these days (heaven knows how many quarters I dropped into that game), pretty much any arcade here will have a decent number of puzzlers, probably 20% or so on average. One place in Akihabara I tend to stop in whenever I'm in the area has Columns and a couple other puzzle games despite having little floor space. Some arcades even have machines with several games available, which presumably saves a lot on hardware/maintenance.

The fact that games here are, and AFAIK have always been, all 100 yen (~= US$0.83) could also be a factor in the health of arcades...

--
BACKNEXTFINISHCANCEL

Not to make light of things...

[Maveryk]

I hate to make light of this sad sad day.... but I'm sorry.... I can't resist....

HOORAY FOR NO MORE ARCADE MORTAL KOMBAT GAMES!

.... Ok, now that I've gotten that out of my system.... let us now mourn the swarm of Midway games that shall soon hit the console world....

Seriously though, Midway made some really great games in "the day," and while I dislike their clinging to certain franchises, it's their fight to keep innovative pinball games in production that kept the "genre" alive until the very end. For all their continued life in console gaming, no console game will ever compare to the true arcade experience, and there'll never be an emulator that can simulate the joy of real pinball.

Oh, and apologies to anyone who may have been offended by my making light of the situation. I just REALLY hate Mortal Kombat.

Why the market isn't declining in Japan

[baumanj]

I know there are already at least two other posts in this discussion that mention Japan, so I'll try to not be redundant. BTW, I'm living in Japan for the summer, so that's why I refer to it at "here".

Go to a coin-op arcade, if you can find one. It's a lot harder these days. What do you see? Half a dozen fighting games all of which look like Tekken or Street Fighter, a few racing games and a few FPS games where you've got a gun.

The reason that arcades (or "game centers" as they're more logically referred to here) do better business is twofold.

1. The games are simply more innovative
2. Since the games cater to a wider audience, here is less of a social stigma associated with spending time in an game centers

The first point is un-debatable I think. In an arcade in the US, there are basically 4 type of games: Standard (Gauntlet, Tekken, etc.), Driving, Shooting, and Pinball (though it's becoming rarer). I'll ignore games like skee-ball and other redemption-ticket games since those are rarely played by anyone over 8. In a Japanese game center, there are all sorts of different games, with a wide array of user interfaces. Dancing games like DDR are just making it to the States, but there are a lot of other music-based games which are very popular here (Guitar Freaks to name one). On a recent trip, I saw a boxing game, where you actually threw punches with your fists. You just can't get that kind of experience from a console, so there's actually a reason to go to the arcade. Some of these games are so popular that you actually can buy these bizarre input devices for the home versions (DDR has a PS floor pad controller), but I think the success of things like that has more to do with the gadget-obsession of the Japanese. All that aside, I'm sure even Americans would go to an arcade if the gaming experience was significantly different from what one could do at home

The second point is probably just as important if not more so. At game centers there are plenty of straight-up video games, but there's also a lot more. I know arcades in the US often have a little booth where you can take a picture of yourself. Usually it's a PC hooked up to a camera and a printer in a plywood box. At the game centers here there are invariably dozens of these machines, all with their own special features. Many of them allow you several trys to get the best picture, and then after you select, you have the option to decorate it with little clip art, and write messages on it before it gets printed out. I'll admit, this caters to the teenage girl set, but how many teenage girls go to arcades in the US? Another thing most game centers have are betting games. They're called genkin geemu in Japanese, if memory serves me correctly. Anyway, they are a lot of different kinds, some based on detailed simulations of horse racing and whatnot. It's not the kind of thing that interests me, but it does interest a lot of adults. The point is, the game centers' offerings cater to many different kinds of people, where as most US arcades cater to the 12-18 year old male.

This issue has just as much to do with the shortsighted management of arcades as it does with the dreary offerings of coin-op companies. If the arcade industry is to survive in the US, I think they both need to take a cue from their Japanese counterparts.