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?
1 comment:
I definitely miss those days of catching the bus into town and hitting Stages or Yifans to check out the latest version of Street Fighter, Tekken or the multitude of SNK releases. It was an event and just added excitement to think how the eventual console version would stack up.
Today you're lucky to find a dusty arcade unit of one of the past greats and if you do you usually have to pay 3x the amount!!!
I do think there is a ray of hope in the form of Indie developers and services like PSN/Live/Steam. With their reduced budgets, imagination and unbridled passion for gaming we'll be seeing some true gems heading our way at budget prices. For you Jez I think Resogun on PS4 will be a huge addition and its free with PS+ :)
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