flynn23 wrote:
] Jello wrote:
] ] flynn23 wrote:
] ] ] ] There was a time when an arcade operator in America
] could
] ] ] ] buy a Ms. Pac-Man machine for less than $1,000, let it
] ] ] ] sit in an arcade, bar or storefront, and see that game
] ] ] ] make back over 30 times the initial investment. In 2004,
]
] ] ] ] that kind of profit margin is little more than a pipe
] ] ] ] dream.
] ] ] ]
] ] ] ] Since 2001, Midway completely shut down its arcade
] ] ] ] division, Konami closed its U.S. arcade operations, and
] ] ] ] Capcom did not even support its most recent title,
] Capcom
] ] ] ] vs, SNK 2, in the U.S., instead handing the game over to
]
] ] ] ] Sega for sales and marketing purposes.
] ]
] ] I went to Vancouver recently. They still had the old style
] ] street arcade. Like in malls in the 80s. That it was tied
] ] into a video peep show did not detract from the sentimental
] ] feelings it invoked in me. That I ran out of quarters, did.
]
]
] Sentimental is the right word for it. It's one of those really
] fuzzy things about being a teen in the 80s in suburbia that
] you can't really explain to people. Which is why I enjoyed
] Donnie Darko so much I guess.
]
] Thank God for MAME32!!! Crank up the Rush and go for the power
] ups!

I loved arcades. Smokey, dark, damp... flashing lights. The bomb. My brother has taken to collecting arcade games. We've been looking for a good 720 forever. The game I really want to get is Spy Hunter. That thing was badass. Keep switching between low and high gear... what a rush that game was.

RE: State of the U.S. Arcade Industry 2004