Amusement Arcades



Wow, if you thought the PC specs were going to be difficult to talk about, you ain't seen nothing yet. Arcade games (until the advent of standards like System8, System16 etc) are pretty much individual every time. Custom hardware, custom software, and even custom cabinets.

So hey, I really can't write much about arcade games... but arcades themselves have changed so much! I remember times where arcades had row upon row of video games, maybe an area devoted to the latest video games (especially when something like Daytona USA or Mad Dog McCree came along) and a small smattering of the "one-armed bandit", or Fruit Machines, as they are better known. Now, it's pretty much all Fruit Machines with just a few arcade games (usually the newer more reliable games rather than classics, many of which get bought by collectors if they are still around and working).

I prefer the old style arcades. Some of them are still around, but they are getting increasingly thin on the ground. Fruit Machines take more money, and although there's more and more gambling being encouraged as a result, the benefit of all the extra income makes up for it. Seriously, a pound on a Fruit Machine (even at 5p play) will last about 40 seconds, unless you actually get some feature play to slow things down a bit, one credit on Time Crisis 2 lasted me 15 minutes or so whilst I completed it. And these days, that's more likely to be 50p than a quid.

It's not a surprising situation. But it's the reality. How I wish it wasn't.