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The U.S. Arcade is Dead?
Via GameSetWatch, an article by one of the editors of GamePro positing that the U.S. arcade is now a dead thing. By positing, I really mean ranting. From the article: "Americans play videogames for one reason and for one reason only, to kick ass. It doesn't matter if you're crushing skulls in the fighting arena or on the football field. Being a virtual DJ, riding a horse (not into battle), and playing other violence-free games is not enough to draw people into arcades. Gaming isn't about having family-friendly fun it's about indulging in man's carnal desires. And then Konami drove the nail through the heart of coin operated gaming... The abomination of videogaming known as DDR served as an outlet for wannabe Travoltas to flail around wildly and quickly made the house of tank simulators and street fighting a haven for lamos. "
Arcades are expensive. And I can't remember the last time I saw a game at an arcade I had to play. Maybe the Star Wars arcade game. That was pretty fun. But still, one game. Big deal. I get better gaming experiences hanging out with friends at someone's home playing HALO or Smash Bros. or something like that. Or I'll go online and do that. Arcades were great back in the day but they're being replaced. It happens.
"Armed forces abroad are of little value unless there is prudent counsel at home" - Cicero
One of the actually good things they have at Chuck E Cheese is this bubble thing that moves around. They have some Microsoft games on it, Mech Warrior and Crimson Skies. Those games are actually fun. And they'd be even more fun if there was more than one machine linked together.
The abomination of videogaming known as DDR served as an outlet for wannabe Travoltas to flail around wildly and quickly made the house of tank simulators and street fighting a haven for lamos.
On the weekends, do the people at GamePro pretend that they work for a good magazine, like Edge?
Hmm... non-violent fun... like Mario Kart DS? Animal Crossing? Guitar Hero, Katamari Damacy, SSX, Amplitude, Marble Madness, Puzzle Pirates, Devil Dice, Super Puzzle Fighter, The Sims, Uplink... Yup. No fun games out there that don't involve 'shootin and boobies.
BTW, I don't care if they do look like Danny Bonaduce, don't make fun of the expert DDR players. Trust me on this: they can kick your ass several dozen times per second. They may look like someone from Riverdance while doing it, but you will just have gotten your ass kicked by someone from Riverdance, which is even worse.
The ______ Agenda
Funny that this story was posted today. I just got back from an extremely well put-together arcade called Nickel City. You pay $2 to get it, and every machine is nickel operated. they cost anywhere from 5-50(DDR's the only one that costs 50) cents. And there's even lots of machines that are on Free Play, including Tetris, Ninja Turtles, Frogger, (Ms.) Pac-Man, Asteroids, and a lot more. You can spend hours there by only spending $5. The one I went to is in San Jose, and the website says there's one in Illinois. www.nickelcitygames.com