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

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Arcades outdated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.

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.