Can anyone explain the appeal of arcades to me? It is expensive and games do not look really interesting.
Sega quits arcade business after 50 years
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Re: Sega quits arcade business after 50 years
#32Can anyone explain the appeal of arcades to me? It is expensive and games do not look really interesting.
It's the original pay to play/win gaming model, back when arcades actually had people in them. Anyway arcade is a unique genre of games often characterized by more fast paced chaotic gameplay, "infinite" levels, extra focus on leaderboards, more eye-candy style of visual design akin to casinos, etc. It can be a pretty fun space
Re: Sega quits arcade business after 50 years
#33I have a lot of found memories of Sega World in Picadilly Circus. Later as I lived in Japan, I really loved the Sega arcades. Truly the end of an Era. Sega is a company that I always liked and always feel regret for, I loved my dreamcast and wished they had remained in the console business, I loved their arcades and wish they would still be there. It's one of the companies that most marked my childhood and early twen…
Game consoles are a tough racket. Tough business to be in.
Re: Sega quits arcade business after 50 years
#34Can anyone explain the appeal of arcades to me? It is expensive and games do not look really interesting.
Yeah, you should be able to see the appeal of bespoke machines inappropriate for the home easily. Not everyone has a golf simulator in their home to hone their swing, yet people go to a place where they have one.
Same thing with arcades; not everyone has a DDR machine at home, yet people love them and want to play them.
Re: Sega quits arcade business after 50 years
#35Note Sega is divesting from arcades (the places of business), but they still make machines that go into arcades.
So they are not operating Sega World or Arcade Centre, but still making arcade the machine? If that is the case I am fine. I was rather worry about the end of Arcade. Especially with Racing Games.
You should be exceedingly worried. If Sega has no ownership of arcade locations, they lose a very big reason to make machines for the arcade.
For Sega, the money was in owning the complete operation.
Re: Sega quits arcade business after 50 years
#36Can anyone explain the appeal of arcades to me? It is expensive and games do not look really interesting.
Just like the difference between movie theatres vs home theatres, arcades can be a very different and more (or less) social experience than playing games at home, but the appeal might depend more on what your home is like than what the arcade is like.
You might live in a small space where you can't keep a functioning Dance Dance Revolution setup without noise complaints from downstairs, but you can dance at the arcade, maybe with an awestruck audience if you're really good at it.
You can take your SO to the arcade on a date and giggle as you race down a mountain together with a steering wheel and pedal setup, even if he/she isn't into that kind of thing most of the time and wouldn't have fun playing Gran Turismo with you at home.
You can hang out with your friends each week and play with them even if your home environment is too strict, chaotic, or unpredictable for that.
But if you have everything you need at home and can couch-co-op Halo with your buddies on a big screen TV, you might not see any appeal in the arcade.
Re: Sega quits arcade business after 50 years
#37Can anyone explain the appeal of arcades to me? It is expensive and games do not look really interesting.
Nostalgia I guess. If you're old enough to remember the world before ubiquitous internet, you likely have some fond memories of arcades. We didn't always have everything available at arms length instantly. Many of us saved up money for the one-per-week (or month) trip to the arcade. The delayed gratification and shared experience made it a phenomenon that has few parallels any more.
Re: Sega quits arcade business after 50 years
#38Victim of COVID for sure, but I wonder if they were also a victim of the indoor smoking ban enacted in 2020. Japanese arcades were full of smokers when I was there. The smoking ban might well end up being the most significant legacy of the cursed Olympics.
The complete foreigner ban also probably didn’t help. The arcades were pretty popular with tourists.
Re: Sega quits arcade business after 50 years
#39Sadly in Germany arcades are illegal, never seen one for myself and am close to 40 years old. What is allowed are gambling game casinos. Wish it would be the other way around.
I worked at a small arcade machine maker in the late 80's. We had an option in our arcade machines to adjust the violence slightly for the German market.
Re: Sega quits arcade business after 50 years
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Sadly in Germany arcades are illegal, never seen one for myself and am close to 40 years old. They're not illegal, they just never became popular. There are a few around.
You only find some 20+ year old aracade machines in cinemas and in adult enternainment venues and the like. Due to youth protection laws there is no difference between gambling machines and arcade machines, which turn those places into 18+ entertainment stuff.
Actually in Japan I believe the arcades also have curfews for kids under 18.