But where’s the love? Where’s the heart? Where is the “event” of video gaming? It’s all just a regular part of life now for so many millions of people; gaming ceases to be a special activity. It’s now just “that thing that you do”. Such universal adoption is a good thing, really. Video games kick ass. But I remember when kicking ass was a public spectacle. I remember when a day out at the video games was very grand indeed.
The demise of the arcades
Most people had a local arcade they could drop in to after school and spend that extra $2 on a round of Daytona with your mates. Now it’s dropping a solid $79.95 and playing Xbox Live until the wee hours of the morning with your mates – and millions of others you don’t even know. The trade-off is justified, as arcade machines cost thousands, and needed a pay-per-play system to get the gears of those beasts running. Now cheap, effective gaming is completely widespread, and the world may indeed be a better place for it.
The stuff dreams are made of.
But it’s hard to deny the appeal of the arcade. All those machines lined up ready to go, crappy electronics and stuffed toys just begging to be won. The price and inconvenience are the sole reasons for the downfall of the arcade, despite the fact that the machines provided the absolute best way to play for all the unique games. This is a tribute to the best of the best when it came to video game arcades.
The Games
Fighting games used a flexible joystick and mashable buttons for Dragon Punch and Hadoken tomfoolery – but at a cost of inflated pricetaggery. Racing games allowed a full driver seat set-up and responsive steering controls – not to mention manual transmission. You’d have Dynamite Cop, Virtual On, Raiden <insert Roman Numeral here>, Time Crisis and Tekken Tag Tournament. Every machine was a gem of technical and playable superiority, and the real dedicated players would seek out the venues containing original Pac-Man and Space Invaders units.
The Nerds
There’s still a few arcades of the bigger, chain/franchise variety around, and chances are they're all still a haven for the sweaty nerds. The backpack-wearing, 600ml Coke-carrying, coinpocket-jingling nerds. And damn, can they play. I consider myself a pretty decent player in most genres, even securing a few eight-player Daytona victories back in the day. Regardless, there’s no chance I could take any of the Arcade Elite. Dance Dance Revolution was the most impressive way to display mastery of one’s craft – but peek around the corner to see just one devoted fan, sitting all by himself, quietly annihilating the competition in any one of the hundreds of fighting games. Semper Fi, comrade.
Whichever version this is, someone out there is an undisputed arcade champion.
The Tokens
The most fun anyone could have with tokens is sitting around watching the fluctuating prices. The owners of the stores never seemed to decide on whether or not to charge a perfectly equal amount for a coin-token trade-off. A game may cost 4 credits to play, meaning 4 tokens. The simplest conversion would be to charge 50c for one token, bringing the game to an even $2. I suspect the arcade owners didn’t think the patrons were smart enough to work out these conversions, and always tried to squeeze those extra few cents by charging 60c per token. Meh, we’d still pay it. Then they had those “Cheap Tuesdays” or something – and eventually the token prices went back down to 50c when they realised the arcade wasn’t making enough money. It’s a never-ending loop.
Of course, you’d always have the machines that simply required a $1 or $2 coin. While these were handy, tokens worked just like regular money – only they were fun.
The Tickets
Using the aforementioned tokens to try and win tickets was some of the most fun to be had. You could never expect to actually win enough to be getting value for money when redeeming tickets for prizes – but tickets weren’t about that. They were about achievement, and personal glory, and teamwork. The best two-man operation was the Sting and Push – referring to the games involving inserting tokens to knock down other tokens to win tickets. The Stinger was a master of insertion (you heard me), who could seemingly bend the internal mechanisms of the machine with his mind alone, so that the token would always drop to the bottom at precisely the right moment. The Pusher was a genius of force and subtlety – nudging that machine just enough so that extra tokens fall down, but the tilt alarm – which would alert the fuzz immediately - didn’t activate. True masters of the craft, I honour you.
Razorfight II: The Slashening is another time tested classic.
The Lock-In
Possibly the greatest day for an arcade devotee. This holy day of gaming occurred in two circumstances – a booked birthday party, or a scheduled timeslot from the arcade owners. Essentially, you would pay a flat fee to get down and dirty with as many games as possible within a time limit – the standard being two hours. Kids at school would actively make friends with someone who was planning a Lock-In birthday party, and then ditch them the very next day after stealing their lunch money and copying their homework. It was a cut-throat combination, the arcade and the schoolyard. Even the older kids (read: me, 21 and over) would abandon girlfriends and loved ones to actually have the chance to beat Virtua Cop 2 without using $20 in tokens.
Reflection
Arcades weren’t about getting value for money. They were about playing specific games the way they were originally intended to be played, and meeting a bunch of new friends while doing it. Plenty would much rather head out to the nearest coin venue than sit in the dark listening to muffled voices on their internet headset. The good news is, for anyone interested, arcades will have a devoted cult following for many years to come, and this won’t cause every outlet to shut down. Even genuine article enthusiasts are finding and restoring older machines for play at home, and this is a profession in itself.
I supposed it’s time to officially bid farewell to arcades – or at least the heyday when they were so culturally and internationally revered. Play your home console versions of arcade classics with pride, and respect the pioneers and industry figures who made such a marked advancement in video gaming culture possible in the first place.
Stat-building
Pow, pow pow pow! Hear that? That's the sound of email responses coming in thick and fast for the Dexterity series. Wow! While many have actually sent in their own personal reflections and information for the topics discussed, there can never be enough for PALGN. In fact, I'm looking for some crazy stuff, questions they may just stem from the brain of a true gaming revolutionary - so everyone can laugh at me while I struggle to come up with a response. Funny is good - keeps me awake. Get writing to phil@palgn.com.au!
Current game pick: Okami, Okami, Okami. Next-gen is for losers.
+1 | +2 | +3
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Thoughts and opinions expressed in +4 Dexterity remain those of the author alone, and do not reflect the views of PAL Gaming Network, its advertisers, sponsors, and all other related parties.
before ballsing it up, and his mate was filming it.
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