does anyone here miss arcades as much as i do?

well at least we still have arcades at pizza places

I totally agree. Luckily I have an arcade 20 minutes from me. I constantly play DDR: SuperNova and Capcom versus SNK2: Mark of the Millenium it's just not the same when you play at home. You don't do street matches and get that arcade feel. And don't even ask me to start my rant about how ridiculous having online in a fighting game is.

Anyway arcades are in the need for a huge comeback, they're still big in Japan, maybe it depends where the market swings , we've been seeing some big changes recently. 

I remember going to the local bowling alley and pizza place to play arcade games as a kid. I have some fond memories of playing Donky Kong and Asteroids on the arcade machines.

^^^^Online arcade blows.

Because

#1 What the hell is the point of playing against or with someone you can't see or interact with?

#2 No offense but most of them resemble flash games more so then arcade games. Compare and contrast Raiden, King of Fighters, Time Crisis, and NBA Jam and see if the stuff on XBLA or PSN hold a candle to their whim.

I honestly think what the arcade industry needs are more big hits. IMHO I think Guitar Hero would've done wonders for the arcade, hell we see people lining up at Wal-Mart to play the game. I mean people go out to see movies in theaters why not to play a game?

The market is yet again changing, and if you notice some games that are popular are pick-up and play such as Wii Sports or Wii Play. I wouldn't be surprised if some genius companies take advantage of this by opening up an arcade cabinet simliar to these games at a coffee parlor or mall or something similar. IMHO arcades didn't die because console caught up with them in the graphics department, they died for the sole reason that noone in the West wanted arcade games anymore. Back in the early 90's beat-em-ups and fighting games were very popular, and everyone knew that the arcade version was superior to the console version especially in gameplay. But as times past these genres faded away and JRPG's, Action-Adventure, and Exploration type games took the throan so there was really no demand for these genres let alone the arcades. All I'm saying is that if these types of games become popular again, arcade may become revitalized.

Yeah I miss my old arcade.  There was nothing funnier than the look on some people's face when I'd go up to Street Fighter Alpha to challenge them and then choose Dan.  Got many a priceless "WTF" kind of look whenever I'd do that.  Overall it was a nice social atmosphere that can't be replaced online no matter how fast highspeed connections get. 

And you just can't replicated wack-a-mole virtually, you know?

I like the whole arcade experience, but I don't like the actual games because they cost too much, they're too hard, and in order to get good at them, you have to spend a ton of money on them.AbusementPark

 Agreed...but I think the cost increase was due to sagging attendance at the arcades.  Definitely a Catch 22 situation...arcade owners need to make more money, but no one wants to pay $1 to play a round of Street Fighter.

Yes, I miss the arcades. I really miss the social aspect. We had a whole community. We were like brothers (there were some girls too, but they were rare). I loved the atmosphere of it as well. You can't replicate that with x-box live or psn. The fact that you can trash talk and play with a live person next to you will never compare with an online match.

 However, I agree that once the arcade experience was replicated at home (ex. Tekken 1,2,3,etc), arcades were less appealing. Also, the amount of cash I spent could have bought me a couple of systems. But oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

i miss playing initial d. i still have my save card. i'd go to the arcade sometimes by myself, race a little bit on the single player and then people would start challenging me with their cars. we'd have so much fun and come out as friends. they were good times. dont even get me started on how fun it is to trash talk people on the capcom fighters. i have to admit though, i did practice a lot at home on the console versions of games:oops:SDog624

The only thing better then trash talking was beating someone's ass who was trash talking before the game about how much he was supposably going to own you. :) 

It is hard to miss arcades when we have FIFTEEN arcade machines at work, that we can play FOR FREE all day long!

 Sorry, felt the need to brag about it :P

It is hard to miss arcades when we have FIFTEEN arcade machines at work, that we can play FOR FREE all day long!

Sorry, felt the need to brag about it :P

someone6669

What games?! 

I haven't played all of them, but the ones I like are

StreetFighter 2
Rastan Saga
Marble Madness
PacMan
some weird japanese game where you can change the color of your ship from white to black (can't remember the name)
Galaga

I will have a look at the rest and come back :) 

^^^^Old School I see.

 Nothing bad about that.

You should try to get some modern ones, like Soul Caliber III *hint it's miles better then the PS2 version :)* 

I do miss the arcades. Countless hours of fun. It's not the same playing online. The movie theater near me has a pretty decent arcade in it, I try and play when I'm there.Rainman2007

ya the closest arcade now is the movie theater but like you'd expect, you have to buy a movie ticket ($7-$9) to get to the games area. its sad too because they have the original riiiiiiiiiiidge raaccerr. its funny how i never knew that krazy ken (or was it kaz) was imitating the voice in the game. i was standing around near the games after a movie and suddenly after the demo mode ended (insert coins), it went "riiiiiidge raaacer". i was lmao for a good 30 seconds. the whole time i thought ken (or kaz) was just on crack during the presentation.:P

Metal Slug Anthology (PS2) + Arcade stick = not really, no. I used to, though. Until I bought MSA!

(I know that sounds like viral marketing, but I'm pretty much serious. The only other arcade games I REALLY love are Time Crisis 2 and Smash TV - both of which are also available on the PS2, in one form or another.) 

well at least we still have arcades at pizza places

PanPizza15

Those aren't "arcades," they're decorations. 

I do. I was sad when the Nickel City near me closed down D: