State of the Arcade Industry 2004

Junior Asparagus · Administrator Joined: 23 Jan 2002 Location: Natick, MA

The 1UP gaming site has written an article detailing the conditions of arcades in America. Though not specifically about DDR, it explains the growing challenges that face modern arcades as well as potential possibilities for the future. DDR Freak is mentioned as an example of how some gamers have formed communities around specific games, and how some arcades try to focus on these communities.
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eryk · Trick Member Joined: 25 Jul 2003 Location: Toronto

Heh, thought this pic in the article was pretty funny... http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/5/0,3363,sz=1&i=58746,00.jpg Good article. Read it this mornin'.

Phoenix Flame · Trick Member Joined: 03 Feb 2004 Location: PA

Hmm......Well, hopefully DDR will live on! Maybe in the future they'll make a sequel, where you'll have to use your hands too? It'd have aroows on the sides too, so your hands could hit them. Wow, that'd be interesting...
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"The difference between genius and insanity is success"

Ultramix Gamertag: OmyHomyboy

Daniel · Trick Member Joined: 29 Aug 2002 Location: Sonoma, CA

The Shoryuken article http://www.shoryuken.com/forums/ext_columns.php?f=176&t=34763 is more insightful and more to the point. But this article is actually pretty good. I would recommend all arcade players reading both.

WeDrinkRitalin · Basic Member Joined: 02 Dec 2003

Whats really weird to think about is...

Atleast here, all the older games (pac-man galaga, etc..) are wayy in the back, with only 12 year old posers going "Hell yeah man, i loved this game since the day!"

or people that actually do, remember it from the day...& its always on free play, or like 7 games for a quarter.

in 10-20 years, will DDR be way in the back? with a round for like, 25cents? Will we be those older people talking about how ddr was sweet in the day?

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Bring back Hot Limit.

Catastrophe · Trick Member Joined: 04 Mar 2002 Location: Worcester, MA

Eh, its all all stuff I knew last year. And I still do go to arcades. I even recognized every game in those photos. But I wouldn't buy the home version of any Silent Scope game even if it cost me $10. Well, maybe then I could use it to memorize the levels but thats about it.

But since I agree completely with both 1UP and Shoryuken I can just link people to their articles rather than going off on a long rant of my own.

Did I see a Beatmania Complete Mix 2 turntable with a sticker in that article? Bonus points for their photographer.

Resident Lune · Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2004 10:37 am Post subject:

A friend of mine and I talked about how arcades do about a month ago, actually. I had more or less concluded that as time goes on, we're going to see more arcades in places like malls and areas that are surrounded by stores and environments that people flock to. The arcade nearby me is dying at a rapid pace -- no thanks to the managers -- but when I am back at home the two arcades I know that do the best are ones that are in malls.

Stand-alone arcades with nothing but games, games, and games are slowly dying out. There are some that still hold their own, but they seem to be few and far in between.
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dj-Luminus · Trick Member Joined: 24 Jan 2002 Location: Atlanta, GA

Hmm...arcades near me also seem to be dying out

On what they said about how Konami folded by not releasing an up-to-date version of DDR I completely agree and cannot believe Konami were such idiots.

If they had just spent some money instead of being cheap and started out with the 4th or 5th Mix interface, there might be DDR US Arcade Versions out right now besides the crappy ones already out.
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Melvis at the Disco! · Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2004 3:05 pm Post subject:

Good to see the ol' SHGLboss (Bailon) get some pub.

Derby Owner's Crack (err... Club) owns.
Nice tidbit on DDR and stuff...

Kennywood · Staff Member Joined: 24 Jan 2002 Location: SHGL

Phoenix Flame · Trick Member Joined: 03 Feb 2004 Location: PA

Unfortunately, the arcade at my mall recently closed

It was fun too, but it didn't have ddr. I miss the days when arcades were the place to be.
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"The difference between genius and insanity is success"

Ultramix Gamertag: OmyHomyboy

YoshiFan · Trick Member Joined: 28 Jul 2002

There are 6 malls within a half hour of my house. At one point, all had arcades. Now 1 mall out of those 6 still has an arcade.

I don't like how arcades are changing to entertainment centers like Gameworks. I may be alone on this but I think Gameworks is a disgrace to the arcade industry with their prices. Last time I was there was Summer 2002 at the Philadelphia Gameworks and DDR USA was $3.25 for 4 songs and Max 2 was 3 songs for $3.75! Daytona USA was $3.75 as well. I used to like going to mall arcades and hanging out with friends and going to an arcade where it's almost $4 a game isn't my idea of fun.

sandm000 · Basic Member Joined: 23 Jul 2003 Location: Valhalla, NY

I used to go to the gameworks in Indianapolis, where they had USA ($1/3songs) and EXTREME ($2.75/3songs), while the prices for the games is a bit much they also had $20 thursdays, where you could play all they games you wanted from 7-11pm and 2 for tuesday where $20 got you $40 worth of game cards, so while your regular mall arcade was charging $3 a game for its brand new EXTREME you could play for half as much or less at gameworks. Plus the manager put in huge fans on the machine to cool you off while you played.

However, I do like my local mall arcade better than gameworks, it just feels better.
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Yeah, but you know what? This one, this one right here. This was my dream, my wish. And it didn't come true. So I'm taking it back. I'm taking them all back. - Mouth

2kM · Trick Member Joined: 08 Feb 2004

Not going in to detail here, but I'm starting my own arcade soon! Hopefully a player's perspective on what should and shouldn't be will help it grow

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robbway · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2004 9:07 am Post subject: The Dying Arcades?

The one thing completely overlooked by the article is what kind of games make money in arcades. Unfortunately, it's ticket redemption games, although Ms. Pacman tends to peek in the top ten from time to time.

Ironically, the arcades that do well are the big mega-plex style like Dave & Buster's. This is ironic because people are going to those places to mainly play the same stuff that's in arcades at twice the price.

Malls, on the other hand, actively try to break the leases of arcades unless they need the rent money. My local mall needs the money, or our arcade would have been gone in 2003. They want them gone because they encourage loitering by children and illegal drug use. I wish I could say this is totally wrong, but unfortunately, it is true. I'd rather kids and teenagers loiter in an arcade or mall with their friends than hang out at the grocery store parking lot, but that's just me, I guess.

The cool part about the old arcades in the 70's and 80's is that they had games you simply couldn't play at home. DDR is like that, because the home pads always feel different and don't match the adreneline rush of making a fool of yourself in public!

Arcades of the present simply have to match the thrill of playing games you can't match at home: Mocap, Fighting Mania, almost all Bemani, sit-down driving games, Silent Scope, etc.

Games that can be matched at home should be in multigaming systems that can be switched out easily, and to match the arcade thrills they should but experimental or cutting edge. If they fail, you're only down a little until you order another game. And here's a wild concept: make arcades supplement home games. Earn secret characters. Play between sequels. Sneak previews of home games coming at Christmas. Side quests for RPGs. And most importantly, be the master of the arcade and the home systems combined!

I think the optimism of the article is well-placed, but we're currently in a second "slump" of the arcade industry. The first slump was about '84-90. There are many exciting innovations that should spice things up: rollable screens for unique, wrap-around views. Thin-air flat displays that project images on disturbances in the air immediately above--and they're touch-sensitive! Retinal VR projectors.

As for DDR, and the other bemani games, they've really only scratched the surface of how complex this things can get and how well players, especially the younger ones, can pull off the complex motions.
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The Old Fart [DDR Seniors Division]

Who wears a purple belt with green pants?

Catastrophe · Trick Member Joined: 04 Mar 2002 Location: Worcester, MA

Misaki's Midnite Blaze · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2004 10:04 am Post subject:

thedarktemplar · Trick Member Joined: 06 Jul 2002 Location: Shackurus

and i thought seattle gameworks wuz overpriced...
there its 1.25/3 DDRUSA and 1.50/3 songs DDREX
and they always have the all the games u can play in an hour 4 20 bucks
but 3.75 have 4 a game of ex, geez..
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Homer's suger coated dreams come true in the ture land of chocolate!

Phoenix Flame · Trick Member Joined: 03 Feb 2004 Location: PA

Wow, that's insane. When I was visiting relatives in Georgia, it was 50 cents for 3 songs, and at the recent tourney at CMU, it was 1 dollar. $3.75? Geez...
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"The difference between genius and insanity is success"

Ultramix Gamertag: OmyHomyboy

Darkjolt1 · Trick Member Joined: 11 Apr 2003 Location: Darkness

awesome....weird how us humans improve so much on these things we use...
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