Obsolete: The Arcade thread

[Almonds]

I realized there was no separate thread for arcades. So wynaut.

Have you been to the arcade? What's your favorite game in the arcade? If the arcade offers prizes, have you won any?

My first arcade visit was when I was around ten, and I still visit the arcade every few months or so when I feel like it. However, it is getting hard to find arcades because many of my favorite places have either moved or closed down. I've never tried the famous Pump It Up series or the Tekken series. But I have tried Mario Kart and Taiko no Tatsujin (the Taiko Master). Both are really fun.

I sometimes try to get dolls using the claw machine but eh, in most cases money is wasted.

 

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

Well, I'm sure that arcades weren't as big in the 90's when I was growing up as they were in the past (in America, anyway), but I do have some memories of them nonetheless. There was this one place not far from our house that we used to go to that had a number of fun things to play, including a few arcade game machines (not as many as I would have expected, though). That said, the thing that I remember playing the most there was ice hockey, which I'd like to think that I was really good at, but I also don't remember having a particularly impressive win record for that, so... maybe not so much.

I also remember the coins that we collected to play games in said arcade. They were "golden" coins that looked far more valuable than they actually were, stamped with whatever logo the arcade was using at the time. Kid me thought they were pretty cool. Grown-up me kind of wishes they were dollar coins instead...

As far as arcade video games go, I actually don't remember playing a lot of those that much. That said, I do remember almost always trying out the racing arcade game machines that I would find laying around in various restaurants, movie theaters, and other random places. People would always say that I was unusually good at them, although the only real improvement that I thought I had over most other players was that I actually managed to stay on the road the whole time... that's hardly something to be put on a pedestal for, in my opinion! I also had the opportunity to try console ports of some of these racing games at some point, but I found that the experience wasn't nearly as fun that way. I think that there's something about actually sitting down in an arcade cabinet with an actual wheel - and with only one chance to play until who-knows-how-long - that a console game can't quite replicate...

 

[dragon_nataku]

I dunno if this counts as an arcade, but when I was a wee child back in El Salvador we had this place called Quasar. It was a laser tag thing and we would go there quite often. I'm not sure any of us really played with any sort of strategy or particularly good aim but it was fun to run around like idiots.

We used to come here to Miami quite often for vacations and mum loved going to this giant shopping mall that's a few hours from where we currently live. Since dad and I weren't so fond of shopping, he would take me to go play mini golf, and after that to the arcade that belonged to the mini golf place. I got to play Mortal Kombat and some shooting games with a dinosaur (might've been Turok, I dunno).

More recently (maybe like 5-10 years ago) I used to frequent an arcade near my house. It was this huge place in the mall. As usual I was into the racing games, fighting games, and shooters. There was one Jurassic Park game that was like super-involved. You sat in chairs and shot stuff and it would move the chair around and it was just really complicated but kinda fun. Also the only reason I liked Star Wars Episode I was cause it spawned the pod racing game in that arcade and that was a super-fun game.

 

[TeaWest]

My favorite arcade games include House of the Dead, Puzzle Bobble and pinball tables. Also that Pod Racing Star Wars game was the shiiiit.

I'm also a huge Metal Slug fan, I have the compilation game on PS2 and Metal Slug 7 on the DS.

 

[Pyrax]

I haven't been to an arcade (not counting the ones in cinemas) in years tbh, but I really like fighters, specifically Tekken and Mortal Kombat. It's a shame most arcades here have either been replaced by slot machines, or closed down and vandalised.

 

[Stratelier]

Arcades are a rarity nowadays, but back in the 90s they WERE the AAA of the gaming industry.

I remember seeing 90s classics like TMNT, Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat. I may have put a quarter into Street Fighter 2 but I had no one to play against, and didn't understand how to play fighting games in general, so I definitely let the hype train fly by without me. (No regrets.)

Played TMNT a number of times, maybe got as far as stage 3 (the sewer level) but that was all.

Played The Simpsons a lot (in fact, we tended to attempt this one as a family, with all four players) and eventually we DID beat it.

 

[DarkMeow]

I've never been to a VINTAGE arcade, I was born a decade or two too late for it. There's a vintage one quite a ways away from me but I just don't have the ability or the money to go. I'd absolutely love to go though, as I've been enthralled with arcade games ever since I was very young.

I have a variety of arcade favorites. I like Galaga, Space Invaders (which I'm actually not half bad at), Mappy (I played this so much on those little plug n play things that I memorized the enemy AI and where they would move depending on where I would move in the first few levels), Dig Dug (though I'm awful at it), Punch-Out!! arcade (I'm absolutely awful at this one, but it's fun nonetheless), Bosconian, Xevious, and Rally-X. Pole Position is ok but it's rather boring. I guess it's a bit odd, but I don't like Street Fighter and similar games.

I've played a few cabinets, but never been to a full on arcade. A sandwich shop had a Donkey Kong cabinet that also had several other games on it. I've been to places with go-karts that had a few older cabinets around (mainly Galaga and Pac-Man, because everyone apparently loves that dot munching demon), but I have yet to see a Punch-Out!! cabinet or a Mappy one.

Someday I want to get my favorite arcade games for my house. I figure it'd be cool to get Mappy, Punch-Out!!, and a Galaga cabinet. If I can't get my hands on original ones, I could probably like, build my own replicas (not sure how legal that is, but hey? What's the worst that could happen?)

 

[Dolce]

Most arcades I go to now are located inside of a casino. :') They're usually not a place I frequent but even knowing when that they're rigged I love crane games. Or any games with prizes really.