My God, arcade games! Just when you mention word arcade I get flashbacks of those stuffy arcade places with a lot of noise and bright lights full of children and young adults. Sticky wheels and combat sticks, gun games with realistic sights that magnified, moto handles and bikes oh dear, can’t you just hear the sounds coming out of those right now? Everything is mixed up and everything is so loud, but yet, somehow simply soothing.
Arcade games wake a lot of memories I have put aside for a long time and thanks to some latest developments those memories are coming out. Back when I was a kid all I could dream of was having my favourite arcade game machine tucked downstairs in my basement at my disposal whenever I wanted. Now thanks to my position and my earnings I can fulfil my childhood dream and own one. But what exactly has happened and why are old arcade games so popular now when we have plenty of breakthroughs in modern gaming systems like PCs or gaming consoles? Better graphics, stories, game flow and accessibility of newer games seem to not be enough to make these arcade games stay in the past.
If you want to know what exactly is holding these type of games in the 21st century well just keep reading!
1. Nostalgia
Everything in life happens in part thanks to nostalgia, and this is one of those cases. If you are like me then you come from that part of life when Arcades were the rage and now you just want to relive that part of your childhood at least in one part. Another thing is that people my age now probably have kids and when watching them play games on their phones, tablets, PCs or consoles at a chair in the warmth of their home, you want to show them and explain that it was a lot more difficult and different playing games in our time.
You had to go out, take a bus or walk to the nearest arcade, get your money and buy coins to play, and you had limited lives opposed to now. Your lives, back then, depended on the amount of money you had. Whether it was your lunch money, your small savings or the money your parents gave you, your fun time in the arcade was very much limited. Thanks to that your time spent there was much more appreciated than our kids do today.
2. Affordability
There are companies out there who make these kinds of games and they are making them available and affordable to everybody. Thanks to new technologies and new materials as well as knowledge these arcade machines are now compact, cheap and easy to own. Companies like theclassicarcades.com sell these and you can find anything from business to home use. You don’t have to get a loan to own one and they are cool, you can have you friends come over and enjoy a blast from the past, or you can beat your kids’ records on one of these. You know, just to show them who is still an undisputed boss in Mr PackMan.
3. New age combinations
What you have now for a trend is all these BarCades popping around this is a good thing because you have a combo of two favourite pass times drinking and gaming. With a lot of friends included, there is no way that a good time will not be guaranteed. Before you had bars with darts and pool (you have those now as well) and now you have bars with Galaga, Mr and Ms Packman, Mortal Combat and whatnot. Its there to enjoy with friends or by yourself, whatever the way you prefer. Yes, there is not that Arcade place commotion and mess with screaming kids, but hey this is something more appropriate for us growing up in the Arcade golden days.
4. It is all about who’s best
How hard was for you to achieve that high score on your favourite Arcade game? How much time did you spend playing it and just how long did your name stays on the top of the table? Well, let me tell you about my experience. I still haven’t managed to beat one of those and as far as my high score goes, it never managed to be on top more than 30 mins.
Arcade games were all about coordination, quick thinking and patience which is why only rare people are champions at certain games. The difficult stages were something to talk about and there were no cheat codes like today. There was no YouTube and a playthrough to show you what to do next, you had to figure it out by yourself or learn from the ones better than you standing next to them while they smashed those buttons and sticks. Pure competition at its best.
5. An art form
Any way you look at this vintage arcade games were a piece of art. Try and distance yourself from modern games for a bit and imagine just how difficult, labour intensive and demanding it was to make a game back then. It was and will be pure art and skill of the game creators. Believe it or not many of those games served as a guide and even a template when newer games were coded and planned. They were well thought, planned, and very often had puzzles and mysteries attached to make you sweat about your next decision. With this, you had to employ all of yourself to achieve the goal of the game.
Arcade games are coming back and they are doing it slowly. There is nothing wrong in modern technologies and modern games, but somehow our generation will always be true to its roots and attached to this era. Those were happier times when you had to work for your free time. Arcade places were the spot to come and see what’s news in the gaming world, just how good is it and that can never be forgotten. Sounds of quarters hitting the tin tray, screaming, laughing, angry yelling, those were the days of something simple and true.