Arcades

[Wrath of Foamy]

So I'm staying in Cornwall, I visited Newquay yesterday and entered three attractions, only to find them dominated by penny machines and those cheap games that reward children with tickets for shit prizes.

A year prior, I visited Brighton pier and Bournemouth pier, and whilst there were some classic arcade games, there really wasn't much in terms of modernity or innovation.

A key part of my childhood was visiting Southsea once a year and jumping on the arcade games there, and in my teenaged years? I used to live in Ryde and often visited the arcades in Ryde pier, playing classics and Fist of the North Star.

So my question is this.

Is there any arcade in the UK that specialises in modern arcade gaming?

Much love to AM2.

 

[rikwebb]

So I'm staying in Cornwall, I visited Newquay yesterday and entered three attractions, only to find them dominated by penny machines and those cheap games that reward children with tickets for shit prizes.

A year prior, I visited Brighton pier and Bournemouth pier, and whilst there were some classic arcade games, there really wasn't much in terms of modernity or innovation.

A key part of my childhood was visiting Southsea once a year and jumping on the arcade games there, and in my teenaged years? I used to live in Ryde and often visited the arcades in Ryde pier, playing classics and Fist of the North Star.

So my question is this.

Is there any arcade in the UK that specialises in modern arcade gaming?

Much love to AM2.

There's a bar not too far from me that's a dedicated place full of arcade machines and pinball machines, I went straight for the Tekken 3 machine they had last time i went

Pinball Pixels Pints | Retroids Arcade Bar | Worcester | England

Retroids Arcade Bar in the heart of Worcester offers up arcade gaming, craft beer from around the world, cider, soft drinks and pinball whilst delivering a heavy hit of nostalgia.

www.retroidsarcadebar.co.uk

 

[moreorless87]

So I'm staying in Cornwall, I visited Newquay yesterday and entered three attractions, only to find them dominated by penny machines and those cheap games that reward children with tickets for shit prizes.

A year prior, I visited Brighton pier and Bournemouth pier, and whilst there were some classic arcade games, there really wasn't much in terms of modernity or innovation.

A key part of my childhood was visiting Southsea once a year and jumping on the arcade games there, and in my teenaged years? I used to live in Ryde and often visited the arcades in Ryde pier, playing classics and Fist of the North Star.

So my question is this.

Is there any arcade in the UK that specialises in modern arcade gaming?

Much love to AM2.

Most of the time I think really the switch happened during the late 90's and early 00's as consoles took over from arcades, I know my local place switched to gambling machines after that and generally developed an unsavoury reputation.

There were definately some hold outs, my grand parents lived in Bexhill and I used to visit the arcades there growing up in the late 80's and early 90's but I remember once or twice looking down there in the mid 00's only to find one of them pretty much unchanged, full of stuff like Final FIght, R-type, Twin Cobra, etc although it did always have gambling stuff as well, mostly penny falls though.

It was notable some of the cabinets were showing their age a bit by that point though, screens and controls getting a bit worn so I kind of suspect a lot of such holdout places that was probably what forced a change sometime in the 00's or 10's or perhaps arcade machines used value to private buyers increased enough that they just sold off.

Theres much more of it in the US and especially Japan but I'm guessing there are still probably a few retro aracdes around but there probably not your typical seafront locations, probably more in big cities.

 

[Wrath of Foamy]

There's a bar not too far from me that's a dedicated place full of arcade machines and pinball machines, I went straight for the Tekken 3 machine they had last time i went

Pinball Pixels Pints | Retroids Arcade Bar | Worcester | England

Retroids Arcade Bar in the heart of Worcester offers up arcade gaming, craft beer from around the world, cider, soft drinks and pinball whilst delivering a heavy hit of nostalgia.

www.retroidsarcadebar.co.uk

Looks nice. I may look for it when I next drive up.

Most of the time I think really the switch happened during the late 90's and early 00's as consoles took over from arcades, I know my local place switched to gambling machines after that and generally developed an unsavoury reputation.

There were definately some hold outs, my grand parents lived in Bexhill and I used to visit the arcades there growing up in the late 80's and early 90's but I remember once or twice looking down there in the mid 00's only to find one of them pretty much unchanged, full of stuff like Final FIght, R-type, Twin Cobra, etc although it did always have gambling stuff as well, mostly penny falls though.

It was notable some of the cabinets were showing their age a bit by that point though, screens and controls getting a bit worn so I kind of suspect a lot of such holdout places that was probably what forced a change sometime in the 00's or 10's or perhaps arcade machines used value to private buyers increased enough that they just sold off.

Theres much more of it in the US and especially Japan but I'm guessing there are still probably a few retro aracdes around but there probably not your typical seafront locations, probably more in big cities.

That's kind of my point. When I was younger, arcade games were either on par or better than the console equivalents.

Now? They're either the classics, or they're penny machines, or they're ticket machines designed for kiddie gambling. I must have seen five arcade videogames yesterday, and I went into three arcades in Newquay.

There is nothing new.

 

[moreorless87]

Looks nice. I may look for it when I next drive up.

That's kind of my point. When I was younger, arcade games were either on par or better than the console equivalents.

Now? They're either the classics, or they're penny machines, or they're ticket machines designed for kiddie gambling. I must have seen five arcade videogames yesterday, and I went into three arcades in Newquay.

There is nothing new.

Again really you had a switch over happen around the late 90's and early 00's, there was a bit of an inbetween period were arcades were still superior for SOME kinds of games, specifically sprite based games as consoles of that era(espeically the PS1) were focused most on polygon performance. By the time you got to the late 00's there was very little in the way of high end gaming which was arcade exclusive/superior, what new stuff their was tended to be just versions of console/PC games like Street Fighter 4, Arcades tended to be either gambling of gimmicks like dancing games.

 

[Wrath of Foamy]

Again really you had a switch over happen around the late 90's and early 00's, there was a bit of an inbetween period were arcades were still superior for SOME kinds of games, specifically sprite based games as consoles of that era(espeically the PS1) were focused most on polygon performance. By the time you got to the late 00's there was very little in the way of high end gaming which was arcade exclusive/superior, what new stuff their was tended to be just versions of console/PC games like Street Fighter 4, Arcades tended to be either gambling of gimmicks like dancing games.

Yeah, I get it.

I think that the quality of consoles and the emergence of console online multiplayer, harmed evolution of arcade gaming as well.

I just done it surprising that I can't get my hands on the latest Street Fighter or Tekken, or a new Time Crisis. I haven't even seen a classic AM2 game for a really long time.

 

[moreorless87]

Yeah, I get it.

I think that the quality of consoles and the emergence of console online multiplayer, harmed evolution of arcade gaming as well.

I just done it surprising that I can't get my hands on the latest Street Fighter or Tekken, or a new Time Crisis. I haven't even seen a classic AM2 game for a really long time.

It depended a lot on your location as well, in Japan arcade culture did survive more because it tends to be focused on just a few locations. If you were say a Street Fighter player it was easy to meet and play other top player sin person in Tokyo arcades but in the US you could be thousands of miles apart so the scene outside of places like Newyork and the LA area really took off more as net gaming became easier and faster, when Street Fighter 4 was such a big shift.

 

[Wrath of Foamy]

It depended a lot on your location as well, in Japan arcade culture did survive more because it tends to be focused on just a few locations. If you were say a Street Fighter player it was easy to meet and play other top player sin person in Tokyo arcades but in the US you could be thousands of miles apart so the scene outside of places like Newyork and the LA area really took off more as net gaming became easier and faster, when Street Fighter 4 was such a big shift.

Yeah, that's the issue over here in the UK.

A lot of the amusements are based in coastal towns and they're very much tourist based, low income and struggle in the winter. The amusements over here seems to go by seaside nostalgia, so you'll see a lot of 2p machines, and the shift of ticket games for kids. No evolution at all, pure nostalgia.

I did go to an arcade in London once called Las Vegas. It did have a few modernish games in it, though me and my brother left after half an hour. It was practically a basement with poor ventilation, very busy and stank of B'O.

Suburban areas get very little.

 

[moreorless87]

Yeah, that's the issue over here in the UK.

A lot of the amusements are based in coastal towns and they're very much tourist based, low income and struggle in the winter. The amusements over here seems to go by seaside nostalgia, so you'll see a lot of 2p machines, and the shift of ticket games for kids. No evolution at all, pure nostalgia.

I did go to an arcade in London once called Las Vegas. It did have a few modernish games in it, though me and my brother left after half an hour. It was practically a basement with poor ventilation, very busy and stank of B'O.

Suburban areas get very little.

As I said I think you had a few of them holding out until the late 00's with people like us playing games from their youth at them but as the machiens started to need maintenance and the players started to age out they shut down or replaced them.

Again I wouldn't be surprised if part of it was those arcade machines started to be worth something, the people who aged out of still doing the odd arcade visit in their late 20's had the money to spend in their 30's and 40's and actually wanted them at home, so arcade owners sold them off and replaced them with cheap penny falls or other child gambling stuff.

edit Looking at Ebay I think there might be something to that, a renovated original R-type cabinat goes for £4000, guessing a lot of arcade owners may have seen those prices and decided it was a good time to cash out and reitre.

 

[Plissken]

I miss arcades, they were a social thing, not just for playing games. Hang out with friends, meet new people. There was nothing else like hanging out and playing a four player game with other people all the way through; either with friends (sometimes you'd rotate out between levels if there were more than four), or going through and beating the game with people you don't know and maybe making new friends that way.
A way to add modernization would somehow be letting people play group sessions of multiplayer games normally on pc or console (as well as normal arcade games), like have a custom lobby or server set up for the arcade, or you and friends could log in as a group with your accounts (as long as it's made secure, that's the big thing here) and play together irl. I'm sure there are arcades that do something like this already, I just don't personally know of them.

 

[Croaker]

Most of the time I think really the switch happened during the late 90's and early 00's as consoles took over from arcades, I know my local place switched to gambling machines after that and generally developed an unsavoury reputation.

There were definately some hold outs, my grand parents lived in Bexhill and I used to visit the arcades there growing up in the late 80's and early 90's but I remember once or twice looking down there in the mid 00's only to find one of them pretty much unchanged, full of stuff like Final FIght, R-type, Twin Cobra, etc although it did always have gambling stuff as well, mostly penny falls though.

It was notable some of the cabinets were showing their age a bit by that point though, screens and controls getting a bit worn so I kind of suspect a lot of such holdout places that was probably what forced a change sometime in the 00's or 10's or perhaps arcade machines used value to private buyers increased enough that they just sold off.

Theres much more of it in the US and especially Japan but I'm guessing there are still probably a few retro aracdes around but there probably not your typical seafront locations, probably more in big cities.

Japan is also losing most of their arcades at this point

 

[moreorless87]

Japan is also losing most of their arcades at this point

Covid probably didn't help but also I suspect again your probably having people age out, the fanbases of a lot of games from the peak years would now be in their 40's and probably can't get to them very often whilst its becoming easier than ever to play classic games online with stuff like Fightcade,

 

[Croaker]

Covid probably didn't help but also I suspect again your probably having people age out, the fanbases of a lot of games from the peak years would now be in their 40's and probably can't get to them very often whilst its becoming easier than ever to play classic games online with stuff like Fightcade,

They were falling pre-covid, but part of it is age, part of it is home consoles, part of it is economic, part of it is no longer being able to smoke indoors, part of it is nobody makes new games for the arcade.

 

[moreorless87]

They were falling pre-covid, but part of it is age, part of it is home consoles, part of it is economic, part of it is no longer being able to smoke indoors, part of it is nobody makes new games for the arcade.

You look at say the big name 3rd strike players in Japan and increasingly you suspect "these are people who probably can't get away from home/work to hang out in arcades".

 

[Flower2dPeople]

I miss arcades, they were a social thing, not just for playing games. Hang out with friends, meet new people. There was nothing else like hanging out and playing a four player game with other people all the way through; either with friends (sometimes you'd rotate out between levels if there were more than four), or going through and beating the game with people you don't know and maybe making new friends that way.
A way to add modernization would somehow be letting people play group sessions of multiplayer games normally on pc or console (as well as normal arcade games), like have a custom lobby or server set up for the arcade, or you and friends could log in as a group with your accounts (as long as it's made secure, that's the big thing here) and play together irl. I'm sure there are arcades that do something like this already, I just don't personally know of them.

My (adult)daughter still goes to the arcade for those dance and rhythm games. One time, my wife went shopping so I went with my daughter to the arcade and I just sat in the corner. There would be groups of teens laughing, talking with my daughter, fist bumps and all. When she was done, I asked her who were they, she told me she doesn't know. People are just friendly at that part of the arcade.

Growing up in the angsty 90s, arcade was more competitive. Console took that away.

 

[Zazen]

Japan is also losing most of their arcades at this point

Didn't they close that big Sega building in Akiba? It had multiple floors of arcade machines. It was awesome. At least I got to experience it when I visited back in 2005 and 2012.

Yeah, it's sad what's happening. I have fond memories of going to arcades. When I worked in China I actually met a cool group of dudes that were playing Street Fighter 4 regularly. Even in Asia though like you said many are closing or are simple less crowded.

 

[Kaybee]

The arcade I went to in Miami years ago had Dead or Alive 5 which I suppose is relatively new compared to the likes of Killer Instinct, MK2, SoulCalibur 3 etc. that they had for fighters. Not sure how old the rhythm games like Dance Dance or that Japanese drum game are but overall it isn't like there is some great change from 20 or probably even 30 years ago

 

[My Spot]

An arcade actually opened here in the mall closest to me. They have a decent selection.

6 player widescreen X-Men
Altered Beast
Crazy Taxi
Darkstalkers 3
Fatal Fury
Galaga/Pac Man
Gauntlet Legends
Ghosts and Goblins
House of the Dead 2
Marvel vs Capcom 2
Mortal Kombat 2
NBA Jam
NFL Blitz
Playchoice 10
Rampage World Tour
Samurai Showdown 2
Street Fighter Alpha 3