Exactly when did arcades die in the USA?

[Flojomojo]

I'd say the shark was jumped on September 9, 1995, when the Sony Playstation hit the scene.

 

Big-name arcade releases were waning

CD games were cheaper to produce and distribute than cartridges

There were a TON of releases

Many of which were very good arcade ports

Games like Tekken and Ridge Racer were close to the arcade versions

Sega Saturn also had excellent arcade ports, but was a relative failure. Correlation?

[Zonie]

Good point, I concur, when the home consoles started having graphics quality equal to the arcades, that was about it. A few hung out longer, and there are still the usual Dave and Busters and Golf-n-Games type places but arcades died about the time the PS came out. The heyday ended in the late 80's...

Edited April 5, 2017 by Zonie

[Zaineb]

I'd say they survived longer, until about 2001 or 2002. I was very young at the time, so obviously I didn't have the sense to see it was a dying business but I did remember going to a few independently owned arcades then. As for the reasons why, I think you're right on the mark. Games got bigger and better so there was no reason to fill your pockets with quarters and stand in front of a cabinet for hours when you had the same quality at home.

 

 

Party on, Space Cowboy

[VectorGamer]

I can tell you that around 84-85 the large arcade at the local mall of over 100 machines downsized to a smaller location - maybe with 40-50 machines. Someone has stats of how many arcades were open year-to-year.

 

Fighting games happened in the early 90s that got kids back out to the arcades.

 

Arcades aren't dead. They're coming back as beercades all over the country.

[zzip]

I'd say the shark was jumped on September 9, 1995, when the Sony Playstation hit the scene.

 

Big-name arcade releases were waning

CD games were cheaper to produce and distribute than cartridges

There were a TON of releases

Many of which were very good arcade ports

Games like Tekken and Ridge Racer were close to the arcade versions

Sega Saturn also had excellent arcade ports, but was a relative failure. Correlation?

 

There were different phases. In the early 80s it seemed like they were popping up in every strip mall, and a few years later most of them were gone, so to me that felt like the death of arcades. Of course you could still find them at the beach, big malls, Chuck E Cheese, amusement parks after that.

 

But by the 2000s, it seemed like everything in the still existing arcades was dated technology.

 

But now arcades seem like they are in a resurgence, with places like Dave & Busters and other places having a whole new breed of arcade games

Edited April 5, 2017 by zzip

[Stewart_Pidd]

Back in '83-'91, there were six good-sized arcades (including two in the malls) here in the Temple/Killeen, Texas area. Then suddenly, the four outside the malls closed and the two arcades in the malls turned into claw machine havens with the occasional light gun or fighter machine.

 

I agree with the idea that it happened because the home systems reached a point of equivalency with most arcade machines. I also think that the whole "80's vibe" died out, so arcades just weren't interesting any longer. Myself, I was much more interested in PC games in the early 90s, as were many of my friends.

Edited April 5, 2017 by Stewart_Pidd

[Flojomojo]

I guess I should have said, "classic arcades as we knew and loved them." Fighting games are a whole other beast.

 

My favorite games at Dave&Busters and Chuck E Cheese are the machines that resemble my phone games. I'd probably like them better if they didn't dispense tickets and required a bit more skill. My kid likes the meta game of getting tickets for crappy toys more than the games themselves. Sigh.

 

Barcades are neat but don't you think as often as not, they rely on console game nostalgia?

 

The Dreamcast was like the last arcade port machine for me. Crazy Taxi, Soul Calibur (better than arcade!), Virtual On, House of the Dead 2, Virtua Fighter 3tb, San Fran Rush 2049, Hydro Thunder ... bright, shallow games were (and continue to be) my jam.

[godslabrat]

I concur with the Playstation date. That really was what finally did them in. It probably would have been sooner, like maybe 1993, but Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat gave them a boost. And yeah, Barcades are something of a resurgence, but they're a completely different business model. Trying to grab pocket change from teenagers and trying to grab a paycheck from a working adult on a night out are two VERY different prospects. It's a bit like saying vinyl records are back in style because hipsters and rich audiophiles like them... I mean, there's a grain of truth to it, but they've had a considerable change in usage between then and now.

[Flojomojo]

Back in '83-'91, there were six good-sized arcades (including two in the malls) here in the Temple/Killeen, Texas area. Then suddenly, the four outside the malls closed and the two arcades in the malls turned into claw machine havens with the occasional light gun or fighter machine.

 

I agree with the idea that it happened because the home systems reached a point of equivalency with most arcade machines. I also think that the whole "80's vibe" died out, so arcades just weren't interesting any longer. Myself, I was much more interested in PC games in the early 90s, as were many of my friends.

 

Malls themselves -- at least as a hangout, a town center, a gathering place -- are kinda dead now, too. http://www.deadmalls.com

[jhd]

I'm not in the United States, but I can share my experiences as a Canadian...

 

The main arcade in the mall near my house was given over almost entirely to redemption machines by the mid-1990s. It closed around 2000.

 

Here in Alberta, arcades limped along until about 2005 (with a few holdouts lasting a little bit longer). The main focus was on specialized controllers (e.g. DDR, racing games, light guns, etc.) that were not really available on home consoles. One establishment reinvented itself by installing PC games; this only lasted for a few years. All that remains are some small and pathetic game rooms at the two major airports.

 

There is apparently one mall arcade left in Saint John, New Brunswick. I have not yet visited it, but it apparently has a selection of classic titles.

[zzip]

 

Malls themselves -- at least as a hangout, a town center, a gathering place -- are kinda dead now, too. http://www.deadmalls.com

 

yup! and this could be a whole other topic- Seems like many of our old favorite retail and entertainment options are disappearing with nothing to replace them. Are people really content to stay in and shop on and be entertained by our phones? Or is the stage being set for an explosion of new entertainment and shopping options (that offer experiences online shopping can't?)

[VectorGamer]

and the two arcades in the malls turned into claw machine havens

 

I was in Wildwood NJ a couple of summers ago and walked into an arcade that had a shitload of claw machines. It was unreal

 

 

Barcades are neat but don't you think as often as not, they rely on console game nostalgia?

 

 

Not following you there - all the articles I've read online about new beercade openings have classic arcade cabs from the 80s and 90s. Only a minority of them feature a console gaming area.

 

 

 

Malls themselves -- at least as a hangout, a town center, a gathering place -- are kinda dead now, too. http://www.deadmalls.com

 

The only thing I don't buy online is food, gas and clothes. I would think there's a significant number that prefer to try on their clothes and shoes before they buy.

 

I'm surprised that book stores are still around. I just bought a book online today with free shipping cuz I can't justify driving out to the local strip mall book store in case they might have the book I need in stock and at a lower price.

[zzip]

I guess I should have said, "classic arcades as we knew and loved them." Fighting games are a whole other beast.

 

Then the answer is 84-86

[Eltigro]

Playstation release is a pretty good estimate I think. With graphics getting closer to arcade and the convenience of being able to play them on your couch in your underwear, it was at very least the beginning of the end.

 

I never liked fighting games so when they started taking over arcades was when it died for me. What's the point in going if out of 30 machines, 15 of them are games of a genre you don't care for? And then out of the other fifteen, ten are ticket redemption games. I'm left with a Ms Pac Man/Galaga machine, a Golden Tee, and three deer hunting games. No thanks. It seems 90% of Dave and Busters is ticket redemption machines or scaled up versions of iPhone games. The local mall arcade I used to frequent when I was a kid is still around, but it now fits the description I gave above.

 

It seems like it's not just the arcades, though. It's arcade machines in general. When I was a kid, the Dairy Queen had Galaga. There was Anteater in the diner in town. The corner gas station had Zaxxon and Moon Patrol. The Pizza Inn had a Ms Pac Man cocktail table. I feel like it's rare to go into a place that has an arcade machine anymore... or maybe I'm just not going to the right places. The last restaurant I went in that advertised an "arcade" was a local pizza place. I think it had three machines. A sit down racing game, and two shooting type games. I didn't bother playing anything, but the pizza was good. I went to a roller skating rink recently for a young cousin's birthday party. I had hoped to play some games... the ones that weren't broken were again, nothing I cared to spend money on. The local laundromat has one of those emulation type arcade machines where there's a lot of games on one cabinet, but it looks like someone's tried to break into it a few times, so I haven't tried putting any quarters in it.

 

All this is why I say that the last time I was in a great arcade type atmosphere was at the Video Game Museum in Frisco Texas. I do look forward to trying out some of the "barcades" that they have out now, and there are a couple in the Dallas area I think. So maybe those will spark some kind of arcade resurgence... but it seems like they are more of a trendy gimmick or something so far... will have to try them and see.

[atarian63]

 

Malls themselves -- at least as a hangout, a town center, a gathering place -- are kinda dead now, too. http://www.deadmalls.com

Malls are busy here, far from over, online is a thing but far from the only thing.Just wish arcades could make a resurgence, barcades are ok but not the same thing or feel.

[BassGuitari]

My local arcade was still pretty awesome up through the late '90s at least. (IMO, anyway). It had stuff like Tekken 3, Soul Calibur, Crazy Taxi, House of The Dead 2, Time Crisis, whichever Virtua Fighter they were on at the time, Hydro Thunder, Silent Scope, and stuff like that (a lot of gun games, sit-down racers, and fighters), as well as slightly older games (early-mid '90s) and a few golden oldies from the '80s.

Around the time the PlayStation 2 launched...that's when it became a barren hell full of crane games, skee-ball, and other mechanical skill games. Mercifully, it was put out of its misery not long after.

[Zaineb]

Malls are busy here, far from over, online is a thing but far from the only thing.Just wish arcades could make a resurgence, barcades are ok but not the same thing or feel.

Arcades could only make a resurgence if you'd have companies willing to make new cabinets with new games and be willing to regularly service them. Of course that costs $$$, more so than making a game for a console or PC. There are novelty places like Funspot in Laconia, NH that keeps these cabinets alive, but like I said, in order for arcades to come back, companies need to be willing to take good care of these.

 

 

Party on, Space Cowboy

[zzip]

I just ran across this article. Maybe if you get tired of the claw games and scaled up mobile games, you can spend your coins on VR games?

 

http://www.growngaming.com/news/playstation-vr-coming-arcade/

[VectorGamer]

FWIW I wish members here would stop posting arcade topics outside of the arcade forum.

 

a barren hell full of crane games, skee-ball,

 

Who doesn't love skeeball???

 

Arcades could only make a resurgence if you'd have companies willing to make new cabinets with new games and be willing to regularly service them.

 

Raw Thrills makes new cabinets and games. They have a list of authorized sales/service companies on their www.

 

[zzip]

Arcades could only make a resurgence if you'd have companies willing to make new cabinets with new games and be willing to regularly service them. Of course that costs $$$, more so than making a game for a console or PC. There are novelty places like Funspot in Laconia, NH that keeps these cabinets alive, but like I said, in order for arcades to come back, companies need to be willing to take good care of these.

 

 

Party on, Space Cowboy

 

Check out modern arcades like Dave and Busters. Full of nothing but brand-new machines-- so there are companies doing this. I think the real problem is the older arcades aren't making the money so aren't investing in new systems and doing minimal maintenance to keep the old ones running.

[VectorGamer]

here's some stats from Wikipedia:

 

The number of video game arcades in North America, for example, more than doubled between 1980 and 1982;[8] reaching a peak of 10,000 video game arcades across the region (compared to 4,000 as of 1998).[9] Beginning with Space Invaders, video arcade games also started to appear in supermarkets, restaurants, liquor stores, gas stations and many other retail establishments looking for extra income.

...

 

By 1982, there were 24,000 full arcades, 400,000 arcade street locations and 1.5 million arcade machines active in North America.[1

 

 

[Zaineb]

My bad, when I said arcades I meant independent ones, unless there's a chain of arcades besides Chuck E. Cheese, Dave and Busters, etc that I'm not aware of.

 

 

Party on, Space Cowboy

[VectorGamer]

My bad, when I said arcades I meant independent ones, unless there's a chain of arcades besides Chuck E. Cheese, Dave and Busters, etc that I'm not aware of.

 

 

 

The only arcade chain I'm aware of that you didn't mention is Barcade.

 

Here's an article published yesterday:

How Arcade Bars Are Reviving a Decades-Old Subculture

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/how-barcades-are-reviving-a-decades-old-subculture-990213

 

The answer to the question of why, after so many years, arcades are becoming popular again may not be just nostalgia. The business model has evolved to offer more than just a hall filled with classic video games. It's a more grown-up version of what made them popular in the first place. “The cabinets do more than pay for themselves, but they wouldn't keep the lights on themselves," Weiss says.

 

Instead, they simply act as the catalyst to attract patrons to the establishment.

 

Crowds continue to flock to the new guard of arcade, a mixture of nostalgia and pioneering that has struck a chord with a generation reviving a culture that began, decades ago, with an invasion of eight-bit aliens.

 

[Midnight Synergy]

 

 

There is apparently one mall arcade left in Saint John, New Brunswick. I have not yet visited it, but it apparently has a selection of classic titles.

 

There's one a bit closer to you, in Regina: https://www.facebook.com/Wonderland-Entertainment-Centre-168429786562149/

 

It does have a small-ish selection of classic titles, along with multi-player driving games (the big cabs linked up), shooting and dancing games, and a couple of Mame machines. Not bad, of course nothing compared to the 80s and early 90s.

[Flojomojo]

yup! and this could be a whole other topic- Seems like many of our old favorite retail and entertainment options are disappearing with nothing to replace them. Are people really content to stay in and shop on and be entertained by our phones? Or is the stage being set for an explosion of new entertainment and shopping options (that offer experiences online shopping can't?)

 

Where I live, they're doing a lot of mixed-use buildings, with high rise condos/apartments on top, and restaurants/retail on the street level, with underground parking. It's a more efficient use of space and gets people outdoors. I'm certain this is just another trend and someone will make a megamall straight out of a Vegas casino before too long.

 

FWIW I wish members here would stop posting arcade topics outside of the arcade forum.

 

 

Ahh, go make a 5th Intellivision Flashback 2 thread, you're not the boss. What's more "classic gaming" than an old-style arcade?