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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. "
I think arcades can be saved once they realize that they need to have content that can't be reproduced at home. Why would I want to spend money at the arcade to play Teken or Mortal Kombat when it's available on my home console. The advantage arcades used to have was they could offer games that needed more powerful hardware than what was available on computer or on home consoles. I remember having Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II for Nintendo, but I would still play TMNT at the arcade because the quality was so much better. Now with MAME, we see that PCs have more than enough processing and graphics capability to play arcade games. Couple that with unlimited quarters on the emulator and the draw for traditional arcade games goes way down. Arcades can still draw people though. These days, when I go to an arcade, it isn't to play regular games. I play skiball, because I don't have a skiball machine at home. I play pinball because I don't have a pinnball machine at home. I play gun games like Police 911 because that game uses hardware that I wouldn't have at home. That's where an arcade's strength lies, offering access to hardware and games that aren't practical for people to personally own. Just because the era of the arcade's dominance in computing ability is over, doesn't mean it doesn't have other elements to it.