Remember Arcades?

Arcades, those were fun. IIRC Japan's arcades are still kicking.

I'd have to say DDR is one of my favs (especially getting into it recently), because its one of those games where its not the same if you play it at home, unless you buy a really expensive mat.

I also like SEGAs various arcade hits, House of the Dead, and Cruisin.

The old atari and namco games are cool too, but the reason I don't consider them favorites is because those games are very easy to come by on home consoles. There are just certain games you have to play at arcade. Also love that arcade smell.

Yeah, I mean you have a few places in the U.S., but they never get anything new it seems and their retro collection is lacking. I even miss the nickel arcades.cellmysoul

Never seen nickle arcades:|.

Most of the arcades I find in the US are on boardwalks. Occasionally you'll find one in a mall or something, but they come and go quickly.

I do remember finding this one arcade that had a retro section with the retro prices, but yeah, a majority of them consist of new and gimmicky stuff.

I remember when I was a kid (about 14 or so) they used to have Chucky Cheese lock in's.They would lock you in the place from 11pm till 6am and all the games were free. It was so awesome, and it was back when they used to have "real arcades" not just baby ones like today.

yeah the arcades were awesome. i miss the good old days

Some of my fondest memories about the 90s took place in arcades. I loved playing Top Skater, Virtua Cop, Virtua Fighter 2, T2 Arcade, The Simpsons Arcade and Area 51 to name a few. The only arcade I still know of is Dave and Busters, but it is nothing compared to the shopping mall arcades of the 80s and 90s.

millipede,time pilot,donkey kong jr,super ms.pac man ,robotron 2084,sf, mortal combat. you could spend all day in the arcades the memories!

There was a Jurassic Park lightgun game, a stand-up one, at my Walmart. That game was so much fun. I know most people prefer the sit-down one, but that simple lil game was incredible. I would put a dollar in and use both guns, felt great. But as for Arcade games I still have access to, I love POLICE 911 and Soul Calibur 3. There is this really fun rafting game too I play, and DDR is always great; even if I suck at it :D;

nba jam

What was your favorite Arcade game? cellmysoul

Ninja Turtles

Street Fighter 2

Mortal Kombat

Terminator 2

Virtua Fighter 3 and Time Crisis 2 have strong nostalgic value to me.

Most of my favorites arcades were beat em ups like Final Fight and Captain Commando;I also liked to played a lot SFII and Moortal Kombat 1 & 2.

Ninja Turtles

Afterburner with the full cockpit

Hard Drivin with the manual transmission

I would have to say beat em ups were my favorite as well. I grew up in a household that started with an Atari, and then an NES (which we had over 100 games for), SNES, etc. etc., but the majority of the games were for me or neighborhood kids to play to keep us occupied and out of trouble if we were tired of being outside all day long. One of my my most fond memories even though I had a great childhood was the day my dad took me out to an arcade (which was closed many years ago :( ), and out of all the games there, we played through the majority of the Simpsons Arcade game! He actually handed me a $5 and told me to go get some more quarters :) lol... I still remember thinking how cool it was that my dad and I were both enjoying a game outside of the normal sports titles, or NES games we played on occasion at home.

I have a larger game collection, but I am running out of room in my current house. I have already told my wife (and she seems to agree... maybe kindo of... lol)that when we move into a bigger house that I want to devote the basement as a HUGE game room, and the two arcade cabinets I want down there are The Simpsons Arcade game, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II the Arcade game!

I'm glad there's so many arcades in where I live ^_^

Anyway my favorite arcade games are the Tekken6 Bloodline Rebellion and Wangan Midnight: Maximum Tune 3 DX, but I'm sure that most of you guys never heard of the games I mentioned.

Metal Slug Franchise, KOF 94-2002... and a bunch of games I don't remember xD

I still play on arcade machines everytime I go to the border.

there were a ton of great games. the MK and SF series, KI, house of the dead, final fight, the neo geo games, area 51, virtual on, stun runner, the simpsons, the gigantic xmen cab and my favorites were the D&D games developed by capcom. its a shame they can't make something like that with online play for current gen systems.

Half of my childhood was spent in the arcades. I loved the MK games, NBA Jam, SF and many others. I really wish they would have survived over here.

I've spent so many quarters on Time Crisis II & III, House of the Dead I & II, and Crusin USA/World.

I'd have to say DDR is one of my favs (especially getting into it recently), because its one of those games where its not the same if you play it at home, unless you buy a really expensive mat.

JonChaoZ

Heh, even with an expensive pad it still isn't the same. I still frequent arcades, only for ITG (a better version of DDR), but if my arcade managers decided to buy some Blazblue or Street Fighter 4 I'd be all over that. Contrary to popular belief, scenes for many games are still alive and well.

I played many,many games throughout the years,but the one that I have the fondest memories of it´s Tempest.

Yeah,I really miss the old days...

My all-time favorite arcade game is probably Final Fight. I played that game a ton. A few other games that I loved along with it were X-men, The Simpsons, Steel Talons, Hard Drivin', and good ol Pac-man.

What do we actually consider an arcade? There's a bowling alley not too far away from where I live, and they had arcade games like Crazy Taxi and a few others. But is that considered an arcade? There's also a dual bowling alley+rides+arcade place where I live but I haven't been to in years. Even then, it was expensive to play the games, but I loved playing House of the Dead and Paperboy. Honestly, a lot of games I have played in traditional arcades I don't remember anything about. One thing I found out not too long ago is that there is an actual traditional arcade in my college town. I've never been there, but from looking at the pictures, it looks awesome. It looks like a REAL arcade. Too far of a walk for me though, and I don't have a car. :P

I'd have to say my favorite arcade game would be Paperboy.

I spent way too much money as a kid on arcades. I wasted my quarters on beat-em up games mostly. Some of my childhood favorites:

• X-Men (4-player beat-em up) - Much like TMNT: The Arcade game. Beat-em up with impressive graphics.
• The Amazing Spider-Man (where you could be Spider-Man, Black Cat, or Hawkeye) - Another Beat-em up starring Marvel super-heroes with impressive graphics.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game - The funnest game back in the day to team-up with freinds on.
• Golden Axe - A classic action-fantasy game where you could team-up with a friend.
• The Punisher - Yet another super-hero inspired beat-up where you could also use weapons dropped by enemies.
• Altered Beast - An innovative classic where you changed from fighting man, to supernatural beast as you progressed through levels.
• Street Fighter II - The first fighting game I ever played. It was AMAZING!
• Aero Fighters - I was obsessed with 2D spaceship shooters like this. Fast and furious gameplay
• Raiden Trad - Same reason I loved Aero Fighters.
• Dig Dug - Yeah, I like Dig Dug, what's it to ya?

-Nate-

X-Men Vs. Street Fighter And Marvel Vs. Capcom

I have a tie up between 4 of them.

The Simpson's / X-Men ( the one where you could play as nightcrawler ) / House Of The Dead 2 and the Ms.Pac Man and Galaga machine.

I remember going to the Boys and Girls club when I was younger with my old school gameboy ( when it was cool to have the spinach screen one, before the pocket came out ) and rolling down to the play room downstairs where they had the xmen and simpsons arcades, man...me and my friends would spend so many quaters on that machine, drinking mellow yellow and trying to get to the end of the game.

I still love arcades , when I go to visit my family in New Hampshire they live a hour away from Hampton Beach so I get pumped because my wife wants to go to the beach and lay out while my nerdy ***(censorship) goes right to the huge arcade they amazingly still have there, I bring at least 50 bucks with me and go all out for the whole day , this place still gets new machines from here and there so it's pretty rad and they keep and maintain all the orignal ones.

If I had the money I would open a arcade here in Syracuse where I live now, I think there need's to be more of them...it seem's like everywhere I go there isn't many youth centers or anywhere to keep kids busy or keep their minds busy so they stay out of trouble...but then again if I had a violent game some idiot politician or parent would come in and blame because their kid got to shoot the head off a mindless dead zombie with a look a like gun and how offended they are...here's my tip...stop watching Fox News and stop being so paranoid...let your kid live life now (with positive RULES of course, there is a difference between negative reinforcement and positive reinforcement and you can set rules and respectable standards for your kid this doesn't mean *hey little Johnny go try every drug out there and do everything that your friends are doing and don't worry about getting in trouble!*) so by the time they are 18 and released into the wild all on their own they aren't overwhelmed by all the downs of man around us in society like most kids who are sheltered are for so long...they were always told no or don't look...they turned 18 went to college and now the are high on cocaine,drinking everyday and having sex with everything that moves and on a downward spiral of addiction and failure all because this is so new to them and hey...they are only 18...they'll get over it...some kid's are more naive then other's and never see the wrong in this and those are the people in society that corrupt us.
Not the kid who goes into a arcade to have some fun and shoot a zombie in the head with a pink plastic gun.

p.s. sorry for all the bad spelling, i'm in a rush.

I miss the "glory days" of arcades, not the mess you see nowadays. Now almost every arcade is filled with ticket winning games, lame. I remember once going into an arcade and seeing a line just to play Tekken Tag or any big fighting game. You don't see that any more :( Luckily, where I live there's still an arcade that has some of the goodies. Ninja Turtles (4 players!), The Simpsons (4 players!), Xmen (6!!) and a lot of good fighting games and shooting games.

I miss the "glory days" of arcades, not the mess you see nowadays. Now almost every arcade is filled with ticket winning games, lame. I remember once going into an arcade and seeing a line just to play Tekken Tag or any big fighting game. You don't see that any more :( Luckily, where I live there's still an arcade that has some of the goodies. Ninja Turtles (4 players!), The Simpsons (4 players!), Xmen (6!!) and a lot of good fighting games and shooting games.

LDSCM84

Also to add to that, it's rather funny because I live in Syracuse, NY ... we have a pretty large mall here and each time I go to the mall that once in a blue moon to go shopping I always tend to go to their arcade they have there where it's some d-bag behind the counter that doesn't even care about videogames working and they always have that one Galaga machine or Pac-Man/Donkey Kong machine in there and the rest is just all flash and color and "ticket" machines...they do have the new Time Crisis game which is very good but they want 4 quaters a pop!.....way too much.

I always get sad because I see a lot of younger people in there playing all these garbage games and that is going to be there memory of a "arcade" and it's a shame they will never get to know what a real one with REAL games use to be.
The real arcade machines if any, always seem to be hidden in some weird conrner of the place and are either A: never on or B:are not maintained and look like they are about to die at any minute.
It just goes to show the respect these places have for the machines that helped start it all or that were truely groundbraking in their time.

the modern day arcade is a pile of you know what.

The Simpsons Arcade - It's the best Simpsons game made I think I wish it was released to current gen consoles with some online support I'd buy it because I haven't even seen the arcade machine in years since the arcades have got rid of it now and replaced it with more modern games it's a shame. I wish Konami would make a follow up the the original Simpsons Arcade classic.

Time Crisis - The original still great fun it's the version I remember most.

The Fast and the Furious - I think it's the best racing game I've played in the arcades I wish Raw Thrills would port it on consoles considering I've spent a lot of money playing that game and the Bikes version.

Bubble Bobble - I used to spend a lot of money playing this game.

Daytona USA - You just can't forget that game mostly because of the song still every arcade I go in all I here is 'Daytona Let's Go Away' I can't believe that many arcades still have the game considering it's age.

my faves were rail shooters with area 51 and carnevil being the top two. i also loved primal rage and mortal kombat arcade style

My dream is to open a large arcade, as I loved them so much in the past, and I believe it would be a good business move. One day, one day...

What was the name of that super realistic driving simulator. It had force feedback and everything. i cant remember. Used to like that one.

What was the name of that super realistic driving simulator. It had force feedback and everything. i cant remember. Used to like that one.

khlash

Hard Drivin is the one I was thinking of.

my fav would be that 4 player version of x-men wasted so much money on that with friends it was a blast

You guys need to read this article about Japanese arcades. It will make you miss the childhood you never had: Arcade Culture

Excerpt from the article:

Why are arcade games so good?
Arcade games are good because they just have to be. Floor space is always limited in an arcade, regardless of how big it may be, and a game that's not making much money is simply taking up space from another one that does. The fact that all these games are sitting right there, right next to each other, and that a few coins is all it takes to try them all out, means that the players can easily compare them and judge for themselves their quality, directing their attention to those they deem the best.

[...]

Because every single thing that's great about arcade games can be traced back to the pay-per-play model. Nothing is a result of chance.

-Why are the controls always spot-on and intuitive?

Because players wouldn't put up with anything less: they'd simply move on to the next game in line.

-Why are there no cutscenes?

Because operators wouldn't tolerate games which expect players to just sit there and watch some movie clip for fifteen minutes at a time -- as far as they are concerned if you are not playing you are not losing, and if you are not losing they are not making any money.

-Why are licenced games rare?

Because the primary function of a licence (to trick people into buying a bad game) doesn't work in an arcade environment where no one buys anything and where crap games can be exposed for what they are with a single credit.

-Why are the games extremely challenging?

Because operators would not invest in games which many of their customers could beat in a short time, before they got a chance to recoup their investment and turn a healthy profit.

-Why is there no padding (à la Halo, for example, where half the latter stages are a bad joke)?

Because arcade players, since they are not forced to invest up front large sums of money in specific games, do not feel obligated to keep playing a game which turns to **** and laughs at them after the half-way point (a boring third or fourth stage will do almost as much harm to an arcade game's earnings as a boring first stage).

Arcade Culture

Steel Talons, Hard Drivin'

Talldude80

Matt Mania / Exciting Hour - my favourite wrestling game of all time. You fought a series of matches until you met the champ and if you beat him, you just kept defending your title till you lost. With just two buttons (modern day game developers take note) you could run, jump, throw, kick, punch, suplex, piledrive and more. A masterpiece. Thank goodness for emulation since no one seems to have been able to put this on a retro compilation yet.

I was only seven at the time, but I remember the arcade days of 1993 - 1994 with The simpons arcade, Street Fighter II, X-men, Samuri Showdown. Great times!

I haven't seen an arcade in the U.S. in years. Sometimes near beaches on boardwalks and stuff, but that's it. I used to love the Simpsons game, and for some reason I always played Carnevil. It's kinda bad looking back at it now though. lol. Japan still has tons of arcades, but they have way better games to support them too.