Bad feel of never experiencing real arcades

[neorichieb1971]

If people were expected to go to arcades nowadays they might suffer from stage fright.

Sony killed the arcades, so it should be they who bring them back. There isn't a more perfectly suited company.

[Jeneki]

you can also do this online...

Sure, but this is a topic about the up close and personal experience.

[Xyga]

For me going to the arcades first meant playing games that looked bigger, better, badder than anything else, as much as I could with the coins I had.

There was that little sense of fright mixed with excitement no other game platform could provide, plus of course many arcades had that noisy yet blended together by the necessary dark+neon ambiance (when some weren't almost completely dark only lit by the machines, always with really shady people hanging around)

I rarely went there with pals and didn't play a lot of 2p in the arcades (vs cpu was never very engaging), going more for shmups and bmups, so I haven't experienced that social side.

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And wtf, stream and chat? quit imagining stuff, it's light years away from what arcades were and meant. Nerds superplaying and chatting around gameplay and scoar and whatever were not part of that world. The sense of 'community' just didn't exist, you could identify a regular gang visiting and playing their favourite 2p thing casually, or a loner playing the shit out of the same game every day without saying even 'hi' to anyone. But nothing emitting 'conviviality and sharing' vibes.
The people whoring on streaming platforms and ephemeral discussion media today, were those who at the time were more the computer nerd type to begin and wouldn't step into these filthy scary joints. Or they were too young/not born and barely or never experienced that era anyway. Or maybe people forget, dunno.

IMPORTANT NOTE: of course I'm talking mainly about how arcades were in France, and there were also safer/cleaner opportunities to play outside of those street-of-rage~y places (malls, more 'family-friendly' pubs, seaside arcades, etc) but never as well-furnished as the real businesses.
The only other countries wehere I've experienced arcades were England (sth coast along the Channel, maybe one in London but didn't stay there long), and bits of Spain and Belgium, and although I'm far from having toured tons of places there of course lol i was a kid-teen, I found that the UK ones had more stuff in numbers and were cleaner/safer, with more 'normal' adult frequentation and few to no kids at all (I was always with my father and big bro so I dunno if kids were allowed or not but I could get in anyway)
I think I've seen only a couple in Belgium one of those the same kind of dark place I was talking about, same in Spain but maybe even darker and shadier.
The punks you could sometimes see in England were flashier but much less scary than the thugh-looking creatures I've mentioned in France etc.

In any case we're never getting 20th century arcades back. Never. It was another dimension.

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EDIT: wanted to add that in my eyes that era of arcades and video games in general I'm talking about peaked during the first half of the 90's, even though several arcades remained until the turn of the 2000's things were of course not the same. But most of us know that already no need to develop.

[jugemscloud]

Though in USSR there were ussr-made arcades but they were like 1960s sega electromechanical machines
http://www.15kop.ru/en/

You have a true gem on your doorstep don't overlook that place, modern style arcades outside Russia are becoming ten a penny (so common they're worthless) particularly when the people running them don't really know what they're doing it further diminishes their worth or value (to me anyway). EM (electromechanical) arcades are truly rare internationally and should be savoured particularly given the amount of physical work not just technical expertise that goes into keeping the whole thing running.

Also as some form of balance not all arcades particularly new ones are any good they are ran with good intentions but by people that don't really have a good frame of reference for what the are trying to recreate or emulate. There are no arcades in my country that are worth my time and energy to travel to and need to go to England for ones that are worth my effort. So be selective and do your research if you are making a holiday out of it.

[orange808]

Track and Field (bring a ruler) wasn't an entirely friendly social gathering.

Mortal Kombat II would get down right nasty. Apparently, I'm "cheap". You wouldn't believe how many times I heard that whiny shit from a hapless unskilled victim. Always funny to watch you try to beat me with throws as some kind of payback. I don't turtle, muthafucka. Let go of the block button.

Good times.

[Bananamatic]

you can also do this online...

Sure, but this is a topic about the up close and personal experience.

you can go to fighting game locals for this experience too...

[qmish]

you can go to fighting game locals for this experience too...

Ain't the whole point is to make stg treated like fightings too?

[Xyga]

There should be an equivalent to Nextdoor only for video games.

Easy to organize local meets, or if the game goes wrong and someone cheats you can always walk out and kick Player 2's ass on his lawn.

[Bananamatic]

you can go to fighting game locals for this experience too...

Ain't the whole point is to make stg treated like fightings too?

considering everyone plays something different and it's single player
no

[orange808]

The local arcade didn't turn off the games overnight. I knew who owned the initials at the top of the screen. I couldn't compete on Defender, but (for me) the rivalry on Punch Out!, Centipede, Robotron, Galaga, Galaxian, and Tron was real.

The stage fright games were Kid Niki, Space Ace, Dragon's Lair, and SMB. They all had a second display overhead and you usually would draw a crowd. There was a tradition of friendly ribbing for any screw ups.

Screw Astroids. That guy just stood there for hours watching one astroid float by and shooting the UFO. Boring as hell.

[BryanM]

Heh, good 'ole Asteroids. I remember looping the score counter on the even easier Atari 2600 version.

A lot of those old games were like "who can get the high score on Super Mario Brothers!"

Unless you're Todd Rogers, it's a rather time consuming endeavor.

[YoniArousement]

Alright, so recently I went to Dave & Busters for the first time in forever. The two games I played were Mario & Sonic at the Rio Olympic Games 2016 (as Knuckles), and the 2018 Rampage Arcade game. I didn't know that D&B used cards for currency. Would be nice if Rampage 2018 made it to the consoles. It brought me back to those days where I used to play Rampage World Tour on N64.