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Sega quits arcade business after 50 years

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Re: Sega quits arcade business after 50 years

#111
post #100

Arcades used to have the next level graphics games with the best controls vs consoles. Now the gap is almost completely closed. Which is why you see a lot of arcade games with crazy controls that you cannot have at home.

I think of Mortal Kombat at the arcade before there was any version to play at home.

Nothing can ever compete with that. The finishing moves were like this occult knowledge that you would see certain kids have and think of them as some kind of martial arts masters. No internet to tell you how to do them. Would just have to try to watch the master and figure out what they were doing when they did the finishing move.

Scarcity of game play the coin created along with having to be social at the arcade. Just an awesome experience as a kid.

Re: Sega quits arcade business after 50 years

#112
post #8

I 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…

Sega World was always one of my highlights of going to London. Would always stop in there. I remember one time I'd just sold 800 Beanie Babies for $250,000 in cash (dude flew in from Chicago with it) and was feeling flush. Went in Sega World and they had a new Jurassic Park hydraulic deluxe game. IIRC it was three quid PER CREDIT, and it was a two-player game. So it was six quid just to start. There was an employee s…

Have you written about your beanie baby endeavors somewhere? That is an insane amount of money.

Re: Sega quits arcade business after 50 years

#113
post #100

Arcades used to have the next level graphics games with the best controls vs consoles. Now the gap is almost completely closed. Which is why you see a lot of arcade games with crazy controls that you cannot have at home.

I think of Mortal Kombat at the arcade before there was any version to play at home. Nothing can ever compete with that. The finishing moves were like this occult knowledge that you would see certain kids have and think of them as some kind of martial arts masters. No internet to tell you how to do them. Would just have to try to watch the master and figure out what they were doing when they did the finishing move. S…

The thrill of challenging someone on Street Fighter 2 and the crowd watching was amazing

Re: Sega quits arcade business after 50 years

#116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sega World was always one of my highlights of going to London. Would always stop in there. I remember one time I'd just sold 800 Beanie Babies for $250,000 in cash (dude flew in from Chicago with it) and was feeling flush. Went in Sega World and they had a new Jurassic Park hydraulic deluxe game. IIRC it was three quid PER CREDIT, and it was a two-player game. So it was six quid just to start. There was an employee s…

Have you written about your beanie baby endeavors somewhere? That is an insane amount of money.

I've written about them on-and-off. I just saw there is a new Beanie Baby documentary out. Shame I didn't know about it. I was the largest seller of Beanies in the world. That $250K deal was fun. I had to get an armoured truck to meet the guy at the airport to take his cash. When we picked up the Beanies the security guys freaked as they thought the Beanies must be full of drugs.

Re: Sega quits arcade business after 50 years

#117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's more accurate to say arcade MTX have moved into the home. I don't follow your thinking. "Making the game more difficult" and "microtransactions" are both ways to squeeze more money from players but man, they are very different.

Putting money in every time you want to play is the ultimate micro-transaction. Gaming has been trying to push its way back to that golden era of profit since the home console genie was let out of the bottle.

For me, the difference is crystal-clear and razor sharp.

"Putting money in every time you play" leaves the play experience itself pristine. The cost of each game is consistent.

"Microtransactions" pollute the gameplay experience itself. I don't know how much each game will cost. I might get hooked on the early stages of the game only to discover that accessing the rest of the game will require either impractical amounts of time, or some unpredictable and arbitrary amount of money. It also completely shatters the 4th wall for me, ruins the immersion.

Re: Sega quits arcade business after 50 years

#118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you written about your beanie baby endeavors somewhere? That is an insane amount of money.

I've written about them on-and-off. I just saw there is a new Beanie Baby documentary out. Shame I didn't know about it. I was the largest seller of Beanies in the world. That $250K deal was fun. I had to get an armoured truck to meet the guy at the airport to take his cash. When we picked up the Beanies the security guys freaked as they thought the Beanies must be full of drugs.

Where can I read about it?
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