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The Uncertain Future of NYC's Last Arcade
HansonMB writes "At around nearly the same time every year, rumors start to crop up that Chinatown Fair, the last beloved vestige of New York City's video arcade golden age, will soon be facing its final days. It happened again last week when tweets and blog posts reignited talk of the legendary arcade's imminent foreclosure. Without even talking to anyone, you could feel a sense of looming dread as gamers of all ages partook of their usual button-pounding pastimes. But the Fair, which has stood in one form or another on Mott Street just off Canal since the 1950s, isn't going down without a fight."
Okay well, maybe that's just par for the course in Brooklyn. But it's sad to think that this hole-in-the-wall is all that's left of the videogame arcades. Is this seriously the only one left in all of NYC? Please tell me that's just hyperbole. I thought the Japanese were still turning out popular stuff like Dance Dance Revolution for arcades. Surely someone is still buying those machines, no?
Come to think of it, the last remaining Chuck E. Cheese's in my city is starting to look pretty run-down too. And it's not exactly located in a neighborhood you would want to take your kids through, if you could avoid it. Not that I frequent it much anymore myself--who wants to be the creepy, single, older guy hanging out in a Chuck E. Cheese's paying the last worn-out videogames?
I guess this is how it must have felt to pool players when the pool halls went into the shitter. It's probably a good preview what the last Vegas casinos are going to look like someday too.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
TFA says this is the "last great arcade" and the "last vestige of New York City's video arcade golden age." It does not even imply that there are no other arcades in the Big Apple. Video arcades, albeit in newer forms, are still common across the USA.
If you care about quality you should care about arcades. Arcades force ruthless competition between games. Only the best earn enough to be worth their floor space. Developers are forced to innovate, and good ideas spread to the rest of the industry.
This essay explains the greatness of arcades:
http://insomnia.ac/commentary/arcade_culture/
I was going to say, I can't imagine Barcade going out of business. Maybe coin-op games don't make enough money for NYC rents by themselves, but overpriced beer does, and the games get them in the door.
Now where will the drug dealers be able to market their products to kids?!?
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
They used to be, perhaps. Used to be that every mall had a video game arcade, but they've all closed down. The closest thing I have available is a Dave and Buster's, more than an hour's drive away. Consequently, I only head there with a group of friends a few times a year. Even that is looking empty these days. This might be because they haven't changed any of their machines in well over three years though...
But, at the same time, if you want to game with your friends then your PC/XBox/PS/etc. is right there in your home and you don't have to feed it quarters every time you want a little bit of joy. There's more variety. I think the sad reality is that arcades are too expensive for what they offer compared to what is available without ever leaving your house.
Love sees no species.
Unfortunately this is inevitable. With the exception of few places like Dave and Busters, amusement park midways and kids places like Chuck E Cheese which are more event and party locations than standalone arcades there just isn't much need for them anymore. In the 80's and 90's arcade machines easily surpassed home video gaming graphically, immersiveness and socially. First graphics were matched if not surpassed, then the social aspects of multiplayer gaming were surpassed with online play and finally the immersiveness was matched with addon peripherals like guitars, guns, dance pad and motion sensing. At this point the only thing traditional arcades can really offer are lines at more popular games, sticky floors, crime and empty pockets. I constantly hear fellow gamers lament the demise of the arcade but truthfully most of them would only frequent one when feeling nostalgic. Its the inevitable evolution of the medium, the same thing is happening with record stores, video stores and I fully expect other staples of society like book stores and casinos to follow eventually. Its sad but if the only time people patronize those types of establishments are when they feel like going "old school" its simply not a sustainable business.
Real estate in Manhattan is only getting more expensive, even in Chinatown and the youth culture (hipsters they may be) are in Brooklyn and they would love nothing better then to prop open their shiny MBP's next to a vintage Galaga machine, even if they were born 10 years after it was new...
Also I'm curious do they host any of the retro tournaments (ala King of Kong) at this location, a move to a larger facility might make that feasible and get some more attention to the place.
Overall the arcade of old is a hard business model to sustain in this day and age for obvious reasons, especially with some games costing $1 or more per credit. You need something unique to get people in and staying in.
I don't see anyone crying because Radios replaced bandstands, Digital cameras replaced film, or Cars replaced manure-spewing horses.
The arcade was a product of an age when advanced graphics (basically: 16 bit) required an expensive machine, because home consoles (Atari, Intellivision) looked like crap. You went to the arcade to be awed by the sights and sounds.
That's no longer the case, because now you can bring the advanced graphics home. Hence no reason to visit the arcade and blow 100 dollars worth of quarters. Technology advanced - obsolete crap died out.
Information wants to be expensive AND wants to be free. So you have Value vs. Cheap distribution fighting each other.
we need good places to play pinball! pc based games are not the same as a real game.
Having been a community member in the dancing-game genre for quite some time, it's really a shame to see Chinatown Fair go.
I have read that they will be re-opening in Brooklyn likely.
And likely to remain overpriced, but hey what can ya do. :)
The fact is, PC and console games are worlds better than what you see in arcades. I was in one last summer (first time in a long time) and I was thoroughly unimpressed with arcade technology. Even being able to race side-by-side w/ my girlfriend was kind of lame because of the weakness of the software. Maybe that's necessary when users have to learn on the fly, but it wasn't a very satisfying experience for me.
Yes, there are other non-arcade games there, and we actually played those *more*, but I'd rather sit at home and play on a good system.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Arcades are outmoded by home consoles and online play. They simply no longer fill any void in the lives of people. It's time to let them go.
BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
we need good places to play pinball! pc based games are not the same as a real game.
You check out any of the sports bars around your city? Several of the ones around me have a couple arcade and pinball games. Actually, that's pretty much the only place I see them nowadays.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
What a filthy looking place! Just the horrendously unkempt front sign should be a warning to stay away from such a sleaze pit. What about pickpockets in such place?
Face it - they're both dying. Between home theatres and consoles, their days are numbered.
We complain about bad movies, but movies are intended still to put asses in seats, not sell DVDs. Yet lots of people complain about the theatre experience - cellphones, rude people, expensive tickets, etc.
Arcades have the same issue - the good game machine is always busy, why keep pumping in quarters, etc.
And the biggest issue of all - if you have responsibilities, it's a lot easier ot sit one's butt on the couch for a movie or a game versus arranging a sitter, going out, playing a bit, returning home, etc. (And when the trip can be a half hour each way, it's a complete loss of an hour in one's day - an hour that oculd be spent watching the movie or gaming - important when most people are rushed and tired).
Sure, arcades and theatres provide a more social experience and have their advantages (big screens, pinball). But the reality is, they're not big draws anymore given the inconvenience. Theatres have big screens and latest movies, arcades have pinball (whose experience can't be replicated virtually - you miss out of the feel from real balls hitting real objects), but the draw isn't there.
I'd love to play pinball, but going out of my way to play it isn't appealing. And a movie has to be really good for me to see it, but even so I've only gone at most once a year.
Yep, Barcade isn't going to go out of business until Williamsburgh gets too expensive even for the parent-subsidized hipsters who inhabit it. Which honestly should be soon.
I used to play at the Yonge + Dundas arcades in Toronto to be able to be one of the first to play the latest iteration of Street Fighter (starting with Champion Edition). Sleazy people, sleazy owners/change-givers, lots of fighting, strong-arming for money, not-so-subtle drug deals, and rear areas of the arcade where you feel uncomfortable being in if you're by yourself. About the only positives I could remember were well-maintained joysticks/buttons on the fighting games and the electric atmosphere in the crowd whenever a new game was out (the Street Fighters and the multi-player X-men game specifically).
About the only arcade I'd be sad to see go is Funspot in New Hampshire, as it has more of a museum feel than an arcade one.
As a side note, does anyone know the name of a "game" from the 70s or 80s that involved nothing but a series of slides that involved a woman stripping? You had ~60 seconds to play and had to shoot at various targets around her. If you hit the target, it'd go to the next slide where she would have less clothing.
There's various places online that tell you where your nearest Pinball is, I use this one for the UK: http://pinformer.willcoxonline.com/ A google search for "pinball locator" will reveal more.
I thought I was decent at the game. A couple of years ago, I ate at Mott Street and played some high school kids. I should have scouted the competition before dumping in the quarters. Blackheart + Sentinel + Juggernaut doesn't cut it. After 4 perfect scores with infinite combos against me (damn Magneto and Cable!), I realized my arcade days are long over. But it was kind of weird to lose to HIGH SCHOOL students: shouldn't it have been some 40+ geezer beating me?
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
It's mostly for adults, due to the bar, but still Ground Kontrol in Portland (OR) is a fantastic example of how arcades can survive: http://groundkontrol.com/arcade/index.php
arcades have been dead, not dying, for over a decade
and theatres just experienced the most profitable movie ever made last year: avatar. so i don't really understand why you think of them as the same when they are very different
would you pay much attention to someone saying "television and player pianos are dead". what? what with the false contrived linking of two totally media phenomena?
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
I find most of them only have Golden Tee and that game on the bar that has Tetris and Bejewelled rip offs. :( I use to go to the arcade at the mall all the time in my youth. Thankfully we have "Playdium" (URL:http://www.playdium.com/) not too far from me and they had decent games last time I was there.
K Man
A high school class went on a class trip to Chinatown in '77. (I remember the year because on the same trip I picked up a copy of Analog with the original short story version of "Ender's Game.")
The highlight of the visit was this arcade. It was in a lot better shape, but still not exactly a palace. There was a little "Chinatown museum" in the back, but it was closed on the day we went.
I honestly don't remember many of the games, but we made the chicken dance and the other chicken play tic-tac-toe. As I recall, you got a "consolation prize" of a fortune cookie.
Also, a thuggish kid, maybe 16, offered to sell us switchblades.
Yesterday was it's last day.
AC above had a good comment about hangouts. For me it WAS about the tech for certain years - specifically the large controls vs cramped controller buttons. I was a solid B- player; no threat to anyone but enough to hold the machine open between the champs. I retired pretty early - MK3 with a touch of Killer Instinct.
Now you can't go anywhere to hang out - the two big bookstores are right ahead of the theaters on the way out. For the way a guy shops that leaves nowhere to go.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
Just like going out to see a movie is no longer the only option with home theaters and huge screens, getting the real "arcade" feeling is no longer tied to a location if you can get the cabinet inside your home.
A lot of people have been building their own arcade cabinets for the last decade or two with the help of community websites such as Arcade Controls. There's also plenty of companies who sell real arcade parts such Happ/Sanwa/Seimitsu buttons and joysticks, others sell "empty" cabinets in which you add your own game hardware (console or computer).
then arcades aren't safe. CBGB's was a legendary club where many punk and new wave acts literally got their start. Now? The last I remember reading it was a Gap.... Arcades and CBGB's. Two members of a bygone era in NYC life.
Avatar was priced 30% higher than the movie next door that wasn't 3-D.
What I don't understand is why they don't go non-profit. If their truly the "last vestige of New York City's video arcade golden age" as the article suggests, they may even be eligible for historic building protection. That would, I imagine, cut their rent and their taxes, while at the same time bringing the possibility of donations and publicity.
There's always Ground Kontrol! It's Portland so it's really a bar with a lot of great arcade games. I haven't been there in a little while but they just finished remodeling. This thread reminded me to head down there again. My personal fave is Track & Field.
Some might balk at the idea of it being 21 and over only, but realistically anyone less than 21 isn't going to know what a true arcade is. They are used to the mall 'arcades' that are mostly games of moderate skill that spit out tickets that they exchange for some crappy toys when they are done.
"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?" - Patrick Henry
if avatar didn't have any 3D profit hike, the grosses would still put it at the most profitable movie ever, just in movie theatre box office receipts. i personally think 3D is a dumb gimmick, my point has nothing to do with 3D at all: movie theatres are obviously not dying. in fact, even if 3D is a dumb gimmick, it shows there is new technological life in the theatre, nevermind solid economic performance
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
They used to be, perhaps.
There are several full arcades within 30 minutes' drive of me, and that time is only because they're spread out over a large metropolitan area (Portland, Oregon). One of them I could easily bike to. Those are free-standing arcades. If you are willing to count arcades inside other entertainment (e.g., that have climbing areas for kids, etc.) then the number doubles.
Each has a hundred-odd machines.
I know the same is true in many other cities.
I will say that most of the arcades today are the "win tickets, trade for cheap prizes" sort. Most of the ones I've visited are 60-70% ticket-generating and the rest standard video games.
Advice: on VPS providers
There is a place in Houston called Joystix. It is mostly just a shop that sells classic cabinets and has the largest collection in the country. However, the first and last Friday of every month, from 9 pm to 2 am, you can pay $15 to get in and play all the games without coins or tokens. They also have a full bar.
No one cares what your captcha was
Houston TX, USA
that if people want it saved they should got here regularly and spend money.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
They are only 21 and older after 5PM.
Open 7 Days a Week
Noon - 2:30AM
All Ages Admitted Until 5PM
21+ & I.D. Required After 5PM
and stop calling Portland, 'Portlandia', it's fucking annoying as hell and it isn't 'hip'.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I was a kid in the 80s and I have such good memories of my dad taking me down to our local arcade after my getting my report cards. I wish that I could recapture the awe and have my son (only 5) be able to have a similar experience as I did. The games were phenomenal: Pac-Man, Joust, Asteroids, Space Invaders, Frogger, Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., Dragon's Lair, Space Ace, Mill/Centipede, Double Dragon, Gauntlet, Ghost Busters, Robocop, Saturday Night Slam Masters and Operation Wolf were some of the games I fondly remember. I have to give a special shout out to Pinbot as one of the best pin ball machines ever. There was nothing better than spending $20 and staying up past my bed time to play video games at an arcade.
partook of their usual button-pounding pastimes
Perhaps arcades are no longer what I thought they were.
Proverbs 21:19
Theaters days have been number for decades.
Color TV - Cinema days are numbered
VCRs - Cinema days are numbered
Wide Screen Format VCRs - Cinema days are numbered
Laser Disk - Cinema days are numbered
DVD - Cinema days are numbered
Wide Screen TVs - Cinema days are numbered
Digital TV - Cinema days are numbered
There are aspect of going somewhere to see a movie that people want. Will it change? yes. Will they go away? No.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Here is the question: Why are they seen as inconvenient?
People are not more busy nowadays. They - are - not - more - busy. Period. They are actually less busy due to things like cellphones and other mobile technologies.
Actually, I found that most people nowadays are under a false illusion of being "busy" and that it's a lifestyle they actively choose even though it has nothing to even do with, say, their job.
Here's what it is: People are lazy, not busy.
People were certainly way more busy in the 80's when the arcade business was booming. People are less busy now and refuse to do anything that isn't handed to them on their sofa.
A) even adjusted it made more money
B) It doesn't matter because it was successful.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
The Galloping Ghost Arcade in Chicago charges $15 at the door and all the machines are set on free to play. I and a group of 6-10 friends go to this arcade once a month and it's usually fairly full. It's not dirty or in a bad part of town either. I think the $15 charge at the door in place of requiring rolls of quarters helps that a lot, and in an age where movie tickets are at least $8, $15 for an all day time warp into 80s glory seems like an OK deal to me.
Went here my last visit to New York. It's microbrews, arcade games, and even a score wall with some impressive local Donkey Kong scores: http://barcadebrooklyn.com/
It's not so much consoles that are killing arcade's in the states. They're more a symptom than a cause. It has a lot more to do with local city governments and their belief that arcade's are the bane of society. City governments decided long ago that arcades are responsible for truancy, drugs, gang activity, and probably a lot of other things (nevermind that these things still occur now that arcades are nearly dead). As a result, you have a bunch of ridiculous hoops to jump through just to get an arcade open. City governments can't outright ban arcades, so instead they make it as difficult as possible to open arcades and make it just as difficult to keep them open.
So of course game companies aren't going to make games for arcades... when there's hardly any around. When new arcade games are released, there are still issues. I'll use Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition as an example:
1) Game is released on crappy PC hardware (tx2) for _$10,000_.
2) A few months later, the game's price drops to "only" $6,000 (that's still a lot of games before you recoup your money).
3) In a few months, there will be a console port released, and it will be perfect because although the PS3 and 360 have been out for years, their hardware is far superior to what's used in the arcade. So why go to the arcade to play? A long time ago, arcade hardware was generally much better than what you found in consoles, so even if you had the home port, you still had motivation to play at the aracde.
4) Super Street Fighter 4 AE is only being released to arcades in Japan, so you have to import it. This is not a huge deal, but it's yet another hoop to jump through.
How do I know all of this? I'm a co-owner of an arcade.
When I was a kid, I had a mental map of all the arcade games in town - and in the next few towns too. We had 2-3 arcades, for a while at least. Star Worlds, Aladdin's Castle, The Machine... Sure, sometimes it was a sit-down conversion of karnov in a bowling alley that was never open except for league play, or a double dragon console with the first player punch button broken in a 7-11, or even a robotron in the back of a newspaper/magazine & soda jerk place.
The thing about it was, in all these various locations, there was nothing as dangerous or decrepit looking at that chinatown arcade looked. I lived outside of chicago, and the seedy bars we went to because they had zaxxon and vanguard (with the sound turned off) were more reputable looking than that place.
So no wonder this one is closing. It looks like it's falling down. Or waiting in an alley to shiv you.
They used to be, perhaps. Used to be that every mall had a video game arcade, but they've all closed down.
Not around here. Many malls still have arcades, but they are definitely not the glory they used to be, esp since they still have Area51 and many older games still around.
Back in the early 90's when I lived in Charleston SC and my daughter was between 1-3 years old. I'd give my wife a break and get my pinball fix in one swoop. A few times a week, I'd take my daughter to the arcade and put her car seat with her sleeping in it next to or between the machines and play away. I went a little later at night and she almost always slept the whole time.
... they don't seem to go out of business anytime soon.
If you're in NYC, 8 on the break is not too far away. http://www.thebreak.net/ Home of the NJ Pinball League, all the machines are well maintained, and they have great cheese steaks to boot!
The corner of a round room
I played Virtua Fighter there a number of times. Don't let the lights go out. This was a special place. A true arcade and throwback to the good ol days of the late 80s and early 90s.
"Victory can be anticipated, but not assured" - Sun Tzu
one of the only good ones left is gameworks that gets new test games.
It's about as logical as piracy killing anything else.
Barcade in Brooklyn is a live and well. Sure, it's 21 plus, but it's clean, and the beer is decent.
1. profit and revenue are two very different things, especially in hollywierd
2. 3D was the reason that movie got made
3. one movie is not a sufficient sample size to determine the health of the movie industry
i don't disagree that theatrical movies aren't dying, but your arguments don't logically support the conclusion.
and while they aren't dying, they are limping. they're going to need something soon, because on-demand and home-viewing are very close to being technically capable of allowing you, the teeming masses, to sit in your own home and get theater-quality sound and picture in realtime on the movie's release date.
... to move to New Hampshire! http://www.weirsbeach.com/halfmoon/arcades.html
Part of the Second American Revolution!
"theatres are limping" says random yahoo on internet
box office revenue says otherwise
so i'll go with cold hard figures on this one
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
tl;dr
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
I am fortunate enough to live in Chicago, where this arcade opened last August near Brookfield:
http://www.gallopingghostarcade.com/
I was there last weekend, and put in heavy hours on Vulgus, Dig Dug, SVC Chaos, KOF 97, and Commando. They have over 200 arcade games and the place was packed on a Saturday night. On the top of each cab they have a small placard with the arcade's personal top score which you can try and beat if you want your name on there, as well as the Twin Galaxies hi-score for comparison.
In addition to this, we have a GameWorks in Woodfield... with every light gun game ever (All of the HOTD's, all of the Time Crisis games, Razing Storm, 2Spicy), along with a row of actual Japanese Candy cabs for SFIV, KOF XII, and Tatsunoko vs Capcom (though I am sure they swapped this out for MVC3).
Mind you, at home most of the games I own on consoles like the Dreamcast and Saturn are arcade ports that I play with real arcade sticks like the Saturn HSS-0130 Arcade Stick; it's still nice to head out to a real arcade and put in some work on a real Tiger Heli or 1942/43 cab.
(whose experience can't be replicated virtually - you miss out of the feel from real balls hitting real objects)
In other news...the porn industry is still doing quite well. Even sans this feature...
Robocop was the only one I could beat with a single quarter. Getting to the end of Black Tiger cost a few. Never made it to the end of Bubble Bobble, even with a partner.
He was a little inebriated. His equally-lubricated buddy tried to help by distracting the chicken.
There is talk of CTF moving, but if it is a close this really affects Street Fighter players alot. CTF was the place you could go and really test if you were skilled. You could beat your local people all you like but the best players were at CTF and everyone knew it. So you went there and waited your turn and if you could hold down the machine for a while you had a real barometer of your level. And if you get beat you have a group to learn from and with.
Xbox live and their like don't offer remotely the same level of play consistently. Now, any small group of dedicated players can produce that same skill up effect if they all commit and train up together. Good luck building that group. It's similar in many ways to trying to have a tech startup in Wyoming. You can do it, in theory, but good luck finding funding. Better to have a ready made Silicon Valley.
And now it's closed: http://slashdot.org/submission/1485408/UPDATE-NYCs-last-arcade-is-now-closed
What we need are donation run public bring your own game centers.
The future of arcades is to become donation public run bring your own video gaming centers.