Video Game Arcades Are Dead
Other articles on the topic say "are dying", but I think "are dead" is more accurate. I grew up going to video game arcades as a kid, especially the nickel variety. Back when it was affordable and there were good games (better than console), it made sense to go to the arcade. Nowadays there is essentially nothing worth going to the arcade for, and the games are far too expensive (some arcades charge $0.75, $1.00 and more per game). It's probably nearly impossible for both game vendors and arcade owners to make a profit, and most noteworthy arcades in the area have either closed entirely or downsized severely, almost entirely crippling the attraction.
I remember still enjoying arcades when I owned fourth generation video game systems and games (I still have my Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis and games, but will probably sell them off soon). Shortly after that, in the early 1990s, the consoles began to match or outperform arcade machines, so people opted to stay home rather than going somewhere to play games. In a way it is somewhat of a shame because video game arcade culture has its own distinct fun factor.
Last Saturday Jim invited us to the arcade as part of his birthday celebration. All the Jim Guys were there, as well as Scuba Eric and M.B.S. We went to Wunderland Electric Castle on 103rd & Halsey in Portland. Man, have things changed there! The first thing we all noticed after browsing the game selections is that they got rid of anything resembling FUN! All that is left are racing games and first-person shooters that use guns as the controller. All the fun shooters and action games were nowhere to be found. Crowding out the video games were countless ticket games, where you insert nickels to hopefully win tickets in exchange for prizes. Since the video game selections were simply put-you-to-sleep boring, I spent much of my time winning enough tickets to get some seriously brilliant prizes!
Click the image to see my prizes on EsoShow
Saturday was my first trip to the arcade in a number of years, and it may very well be my last. Soon this dying bread of business may entirely cease to exist - at least until V.R. rooms gain in popularity. When that day and age comes, I hope I'll already be gathered into the heavenly realms. I see that next stage of technology as ushering in an entirely new level of mind-altering corruption, desensitization and blatant evil. Along with each new technological invention eventually follows all sorts of wicked applications, which are becoming more and more acceptable in the world as it degenerates. My interest is still back in the 2D era of video games. I am impressed by the graphics and realism of the newer games, but I prefer the relative innocence and simplicity of ages past.
In the end, I actually enjoyed this arcade experience - but mainly because I was with the best group of friends possible, and we all had a good laugh at how sad the game selection was. We did end up finding one shoot'em up game that we spent the time and nickels to beat. Afterwards the birthday celebration continued at Jim's house, with a delicious barbecue and traditional style Jim Guys console game playing. This time we stuck mostly to retro games, though a Halo party ensued after some of us left.