Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Golden Age of the Video Game Arcade: 1981

adamharkus.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 99 posts

Re: The Golden Age of the Video Game Arcade: 1981

#71

Post by emodendroket »

deadmetheny wrote: post #13
rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sigh ...your comment reminded me of the broken hearts my girlfriend and I endured when she bought me a brand new Xbox One for us to play Halo 5 together, only to discover that split screen multiplayer has been effectively smothered to death by the games industry (sans Nintendo). Although I'm not sure I agree 100% with your last comment. Many of my friends bought DDR home versions and Guitar Hero/Rock Band accessories…

Oh absolutely, I was certainly willing to shell out the money for a Cobalt Flux dance pad as well, but without the arcade version of DDR selling me on the game I wouldn't have been willing to do so. The soft pads aren't even close to the same experience, honestly.

I was sad to learn those guys went out of business. But DDR also got me into hardware modification hobbyism, which was cool.

Re: The Golden Age of the Video Game Arcade: 1981

#72

Post by emodendroket »

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #10
deadmetheny wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least around here, arcades still had a strong social aspect. You could certainly play excellent games at home with similar graphics to an arcade, but you were limited to playing against your friends, where at the arcade you had all sorts of new potential challengers. I personally made a lot of new friends in the mid 90s fighting game arcade scene. Rhythm games like DDR, Para Para, or Bemani are something else enti…

Sigh ...your comment reminded me of the broken hearts my girlfriend and I endured when she bought me a brand new Xbox One for us to play Halo 5 together, only to discover that split screen multiplayer has been effectively smothered to death by the games industry (sans Nintendo). Although I'm not sure I agree 100% with your last comment. Many of my friends bought DDR home versions and Guitar Hero/Rock Band accessories…

Fighting games remain something with offline multiplayer games and in many cities there's a scene with people regularly getting together to play... so that's pretty cool.

Re: The Golden Age of the Video Game Arcade: 1981

#73

Post by xbkingx »

marban wrote: post #18

Obligatory movie recommendation: The King of Kong http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0923752/

I usually recommend A Brief History of Graphics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzN2pgL0zeg&list=PLOQZmjD6P2... (Despite the name, it focuses on video games.)

Also, The Video Game Years is an excellent series on console gaming which highlights the broader atmosphere (mostly in the US) around each device, spanning the late 70s to late 80s: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC2468FB35ED2DAC2 (edit: Forgot to mention, skip to 1980 for less babbling and more info. It's one of those series that gets better in later episodes.)

There's actually a ton of other good retro-gaming channels on YouTube that I've found to be on par with or better than the more well known gaming documentaries.

Re: The Golden Age of the Video Game Arcade: 1981

#74

Post by emodendroket »

jetti wrote: post #47
Grazester wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes Sega was ridiculous with the Saturn's price and its surprise launch. You can pick up a Saturn for pretty cheap(~$60) now if you are still interested and those games are dirt cheap. If you do get a Saturn then also get yourself the scart RBG cables and a scart to HDMI converter if your screen doesn't support scart(if you're in the US then it doesn't). This would give you the best picture.

I know it is cheap now but I just can't justify keeping it around (and I know my wife would hate it). I would love to get all the old Sega consoles such as Sega CD, Saturn and Dreamcast.

Saturn and Dreamcast emulation are pretty good these days, so you can relive all these games if you are so inclined.

Re: The Golden Age of the Video Game Arcade: 1981

#75

Post by toast0 »

freeflight wrote: post #69
toast0 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A large number of games released in 1981 defined new genres, which I don't think is very true now. It feels like there were a lot more arcade releases going on in that time too (but perhaps I'm just not seeing new things very often, I don't visit many dedicated arcades). The latest trend I've seen is popular smartphone games in the arcade with enormous screens and ticket spitters; these are pretty fun (the angry bird…

New genres constantly get "created", MOBA, MMORPG or to the name the most recent one being on the verge of becoming its own thing: Battlegrounds Sure one could argue these are just different game modes of established genres, but where to draw that line, how to define a "genre"? Imhho it's the same as with music, there are no clear-cut lines, concepts just bleed into each other, adopt each other, creating entirely new…

MOBA and MMORPG never showed up in arcades, afaik. I had latched onto the arcade part of the thread, but I now see it had included video games in general. In which case, I agree, there's a lot of interesting content to be found (some years, you have to dig deep).

Re: The Golden Age of the Video Game Arcade: 1981

#76

Post by antod »

Toenex wrote: post #44
mmjaa wrote: post #9

I was lucky enough to have grown up with computers, writing my first program in 1977, and then entertaining myself with the Arcades of the 80's as they released title after title .. while also having access to the internals of the cabinets, through friends of my Dad who owned an Arcade rental business .. without those halcyon days of burned fingers and EEPROM copiers I don't think I'd have gained the insight I then l…

I recall the first time I encountered a 'Defender' machine. Up until then the machines had basically all been Space Invader or PacMan derivatives. I must have been 11 or 12 years old and it totally blew me away both virtually - it repeatedly kicked my arse as it took 10p after 10p (British btw) and I was only lasting about 20 seconds each game as I grappled with the controls - and also physically - the noise of the t…

Defender is the all time king of video games IMO. Even though I sucked at it.

Re: The Golden Age of the Video Game Arcade: 1981

#77

Post by freeflight »

toast0 wrote: post #75
freeflight wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

New genres constantly get "created", MOBA, MMORPG or to the name the most recent one being on the verge of becoming its own thing: Battlegrounds Sure one could argue these are just different game modes of established genres, but where to draw that line, how to define a "genre"? Imhho it's the same as with music, there are no clear-cut lines, concepts just bleed into each other, adopt each other, creating entirely new…

MOBA and MMORPG never showed up in arcades, afaik. I had latched onto the arcade part of the thread, but I now see it had included video games in general. In which case, I agree, there's a lot of interesting content to be found (some years, you have to dig deep).

They are mostly games played with mouse+kb, so an arcade cabinet ain't the first choice for genres like that.

Tho I wouldn't be too surprised to see an arcade like this in the Asian region. Online Multiplayer (not massive but with quite a few players) also made it's way to the arcade, complete with your own profile on a storage device so you can take it along to different arcade venues.

At shows like PAX there's usually a special section/event just for arcades, which has also become a rather experimental sector showing off arcade games like Killer Queen. It's a really diverse space, the issue being that only very little of it bubbles up to the "mainstream".

Re: The Golden Age of the Video Game Arcade: 1981

#78

Post by adamlovesgin »

gm-conspiracy wrote: post #14
mmjaa wrote: post #9

I was lucky enough to have grown up with computers, writing my first program in 1977, and then entertaining myself with the Arcades of the 80's as they released title after title .. while also having access to the internals of the cabinets, through friends of my Dad who owned an Arcade rental business .. without those halcyon days of burned fingers and EEPROM copiers I don't think I'd have gained the insight I then l…

If you are ever near Cincinnati, visit "Arcade Legacy".

Honestly, I couldn't be more envious. There's nothing left here.

Re: The Golden Age of the Video Game Arcade: 1981

#79

Post by adamlovesgin »

harel wrote: post #21

Those of us who lived through those years have a priceless benefit of having witnessed technology history unfold in real time. We saw the evolution of technology beyond just a bigger screen size of slightly faster processor. We had actual leaps and breakthroughs. My kids today will never have that unless some sort of huge technological miracle happens that changes everything.

Thanks for reading. We'll never see anything like the technology leap we had back in the late 70's early 80's ever again. I mean, even the internet wasn't that great a leap. Simply connecting PCs.

Re: The Golden Age of the Video Game Arcade: 1981

#80

Post by Noos »

hanasu wrote: post #53
eoun23nntheo wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ugh. For me, that's when arcades were no longer fun. Every game was a fighting game, and there was no skill involved - only memorizing combinations of buttons to press. (How is that fun?) Furthermore, no levels to explore, no secrets to find. Just non-stop mindless punching and kicking.

If you think fighting games don't involve skill try beating an experienced Street Fighter 2 player having never played the game. When you lose, and lament that you 'simply haven't memorized the combos' go home and look them up. After you've realized that there's only one or two major combos to learn for each character in that game, come back and I promise you'll still lose. There's much more to it than that. Most imp…

I doubt you played Street Fighter 2 in the arcades when it first came out, then. This was a game where it was possible to redizzy people simply by spamming jab, or one where moves often did insane damage. SF really only became balanced around Super Street Fighter Turbo in the arcades, and a lot of people who play fighting games now don't realize how bad or frustrating a lot of that generation was.
Post reply on HN