When I was all of nine-years of age I would take a two dollar note down to my local fish and chip shop and spend a good two hours playing one of four arcade cabinets on offer.
It was here that I would cut my teeth on the latest game release and, if you could stand the constant gaze of the eager (and often penniless) stander-by or the the quip of the local know-it-all, you could develop a decent set of hand-eye co-ordination (take Defender for example) and generally have good innocent fun.
After a while, I shifted to the Laundromat (and a much larger choice of cabinets), but still kept my budget reasonable ($5 would normally last me the afternoon - with change to spare for a can of fizzy drink).
When I turned twelve, I discovered "downtown," movies and the Video Parlour (most often referred to as trouble-spots for roaming wayward youth) - where $20 would get you a bus ticket to and from town, a movie pass, popcorn, ice cream and drink, with at least $6 to spare to play "spacies" (some games were a daring 40c so sometimes we would spend extra on playing games and walk home). Once again, I could spend three hours effortlessly, watching others and playing my own preferred games, sharing knowledge and generally having a blast.
The last game I checked out in a parlour was Virtua Fighter 3 - a must see on the cabinet as the current consoles were not up to speed to handle the amount of detail and polygons.
What I have noticed in my time is that my beloved Arcade experience is a thing of the past - last quick look around in my local parlour only offered Dancing and shooting games and a tired looking Daytona cabinet - and each unit setting you back $2-3 a turn - not exactly loose change in this day and age.
What this has translated to is the loss of the quick-fix Arcade games that I treasured so much - most games now offer complex stories, detailed events and long cut-scenes that push the narrative of the story. It begs the question - is there room for arcade-driven games and high scores? We still get the fighting games, but even they can become complicated with characters to be unlocked, back-stories, costumes and upgrades - similar to driving games and endless campaigns and upgrades.
Most games come attached with a costly price-tag, driving consumers to demanding more bang for their buck - but when I am pressed for time (especially as a parent) I find myself dedicating less time to larger games, and enjoying the brief buzz of a retro-download to keep my skills sharp.
My children couldn't care less - the simplicity is routine and mundane.
Are we in danger of losing love for the arcade-style games, and thereby losing the niche market that brought about the video game revolution? Or is it simply a case of moving on and saying goodbye to the past?
