Why arcades really died in the West (and why it's your fault)

The official explanation for why arcades are dead in the West is that the consoles killed them. This is what most people will tell you.

But if this is the only reason, then why are arcades in Japan still alive, and in certain genres (fighting, shooting, rhythm) even thriving and leading the way? Consoles mauled arcades in Japan too, but they didn't quite manage to kill them dead. Why is that?

Some of the more knowledgeable people will have an answer to this. Arcades are still alive in Japan, they will say, because of the way cities are laid out, with game centers to be found in every sizeable neighborhood, next to coin laundries, subway stations, etc. Students and salarymen have developed a habit of going to the arcades before and after school or work, and during breaks, and they are the ones who sustain them. In the US, in contrast, arcades are usually in malls in the middle of nowhere, forcing people to go out of their way to reach them.

1/2

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Now this explanation certainly accounts for the larger part of the US, but it doesn't account for European cities, which have more in common with the tight layout of Japanese cities than with the downtown/suburbia model of many American ones.

So let me provide the last piece to this puzzle.

Arcades survived in Japan because far more players there came to understand the essence of arcade gaming, while realizing that those newfangled full-motion-video wankfests that started appearing during the 32-bit era could never provide them with the rush that only an unforgiving arcade game can. So even though many were seduced by the cheaper, easier, better-looking console games, many others were not, and they are the ones we have to thank for the survival of the arcade form.

In the West, however, the one-credit rule never really took hold, and as a result the vast majority of players never managed to get good at anything -- many of them in fact being so ignorant as to regard 1CCing as impossible. Going back to my childhood, I remember that in the arcades I frequented there were always a couple of guys who were said to have 1CCed this or that game, but I rarely ever saw such a feat in person, and pretty much everyone around credit-fed games when they could afford to.

2/2

Credit-feeding was never looked down upon in the West, and therefore the vast majority of players never got a chance to become skilled in any particular genre. So when the consoles overtook the arcades in the technical specs, and when, for the first time, home games started looking better than arcade ones, the masses became seduced by the high resolutions and pretty colors and CG cutscenes, and there was nothing that they missed from the arcade days -- indeed, they were happy to be finally rid of all those "shallow quarter-munchers". They never knew the buzz one gets from ruthless high-level competition (as in all kinds of versus games), or from that of high-level performance requiring intense concentration (as in shooters, side-scrollers, puzzle games, beat 'em ups, etc.), and so they never missed it.

Why did this ethic take such a strong hold in Japan, to the point where credit-feeding is now considered unthinkable, and not in the West, where credit-feeding is considered normal and everyone who objects is labeled elitist?

Doubtless the answer has something to do with cultural differences, and doubtless part of it is that the Japanese have produced 99% of arcade games worth mentioning, so I guess it's only natural that they understand these games better than we do.

3/2

fuck off with this kotaku article

Round 1 and Dave & Buster style establishments are the only way arcades survive in the US.
You gotta offer the beer for the normies.

It's not wrong, though

arcades fucking suck

it's not right either
as said, arcades fucking suck

It is. The "it's not wrong" portion of the article ends exactly here:
>but it doesn't account for European cities, which have more in common with the tight layout of Japanese cities
This is actually completely blatantly false, to a point where it makes me want to throw up. Everything from then on is truly an Icycalm-level of utter drivel and bullshit desperately trying to dress up some personal insecurity as some kind of broad and great wisdom.

You can't use Japan as an argument. Conditions and values are wholly different there. People value arcades because they are in compounded cities and being out with friends is more convenient, allowing for easier access to arcades. Also consoles have been slowly dying in Japan for a good while because people don't stay home (again the lifestyle of Japanese is to work and be out of the house). Handheld has grown in popularity for the same reason that arcades are still alive. So they offer certain games that would sell just fine on Consoles on arcades instead covering that market. And then offer games better suited to handhelds on handhelds.

>going to shitty arcades

Most of my local arcades got shut down because the owners were also selling drugs on the side

So basically you're argument is that bad game design, intentionally made to eat money is something we should miss? Well, you're in luck, user. Microtransactions do just that.

>he didn't go to MAGFest

I spent at least 18 hours in the arcade alone. Fucking hell, Japan has it right when it comes to arcades, must've played Beatstream 30 times.

>because people don't stay home
It's also important to note that a lot of people in Japan live in some crapped ass spaces. There's a reason they have stores dedicated to just doing something in more open buildings.

why the fuck would i go to an arcade (since any and all are shitty)

>Icycalm

Because it's fun you fucking faggot

Arcades are a cool experience if you're out. Like last year I went on a cruise and went to the arcade they had which was the first time I had been to an arcade since I was a kid. But would I leave my house just to go play a game at an arcade? No.

i find fun in fucking bitches and im not forcing you innit

>not giving me sloppy seconds on your bitches
I thought we were cool man

>In the US, in contrast, arcades are usually in malls in the middle of nowhere

Old guy here.

Arcades were usually in shady parts of commercial districts on the outskirts of the neighborhood near the residential areas. Anyone who tells you most of the were in "malls" is not old enough to know what they're talking about.

>better-looking console games

In no way shape or form did console games look better than arcade games in the 90s.

arcades was thuggery.
white kids didnt want to deal with thuggery and white kids = money.

>the Japanese have produced 99% of arcade games worth mentioning

Only post-crash. Before 1985 most quality arcade games were American.

You're obviously not old enough to remember the arcades.

Nigga, we HAD beer in the arcades.

only if you're a loser faggot

LOL

It had more to do with them just not being profitable. There's nothing more to it than that. It was always a shaky business model that barely broke even. Once operating costs raised and inflation reduced revenue the profit margins disappeared. It's as simple as that.

im living in japan atm theres a multi story arcade like down the street and another multi story arcade like 50 feet down the road from it

NA just doesn't have population density to support location based services. here you can walk like 25 feet in any direction and find a restaurant, literally, and convenience stores on every corner

its pretty god tier

too bad the food here sucks and vidya is massively overpriced

>Consoles mauled arcades in Japan too, but they didn't quite manage to kill them dead. Why is that?
Because Japan is densely-populated.

The nearest arcade cabinets to me right now are about a mile away, in a bar on the side of a busy street I would really rather never drive down again.

If I were still living in the neighborhood I grew up in, it'd be like a 20 minute drive to the nearest cabinet. Nobody's going to bother with that.

Japan is high on foot traffic, so it's easy to just stop into a store on the way home from work or school, or whenever you might be outside.

I dunno why you gotta write your fucking college dissertation on this. I'm not reading all this shit.
The answer is too simple to put this much effort into it.

But buying your own pinball machine is expensive.

Who cares though? Arcades are shit.

Niggers and mexicans killed malls this they killed arcades. No one wants to go inside them anymore cause of the trash that hangs out there.

Japan doesnt have many niggers.... gee i wonder why they have arcades?

only if you're a literal homo

The real answer is that niggers ruined them like everything else.
Arcades, especially in medium cities, turned into crime ridden shitholes where packs of useless niggers would hang out. Drove people away from the business.
Fucking blacks.

Before 1985 most games weren't quality.

Hence the crash.

well I'd hate to be an illiteral homo otherwise I couldn't read what a faget you are.

>Icycalm
literal criminal and a confirmed cuckold who steals content from other websites and presents them as their own

Just remembered SBH did a video on this and summed it all up pretty well (while showing off some really cool arcades)
youtube.com/watch?v=pcgr2ThIWnk

Eh, most economic activity in the US (or any country) is located in densely populated urban areas. I don't see how New York or San Francisco is so different from Tokyo.

The only true answer
Every major problem with American cities can be traced back to that root cause.

dw imma make you a faggot

I fucking hate those places though, everything is like a dollar to play.

I love to go play After Burner with its movement effects though, it's the cheapest game in there. If only Round1 wasn't an hour away without traffic.

Sounds like you're talking the pinball and pool hall type arcades.

I'm 38 and it sounds like you are talking about quite a while before my time...
They were in malls, roller rinks, and shitty pizza places when I was a kid.

I am often in Japan too and dont understand how you cant like the food.

But I do admit when I first time came to Japan I didnt like the food too much.Living 5 years with my Japanese wife might had changed that

You realize arcades hardly exist outside Japan, even shoving ant people into colonies of 10 million+ by the chinese government hasn't fostered an arcade culture. They just have net cafes where they play PC games and pay by the hour.

Arcades are gone, they sucked ass, and they will never come back.

>most economic activity
Yes, but most PEOPLE are not in those big cities.

Yes, there are like eight million people in New York City, but there twelve million taking up the rest of the state New York.

That's what population density is.
Japan is roughly the size of California, housing 127 million people. A density of 340.8/km2

The USA has 324 million people, with a density of 35/km2.

Japan is nearly TEN TIMES as dense as the US. That is why arcades work there and not here. It's literally 100% density.

Maybe it's true, but I don't agree it's a bad thing.
Japs get scammed, we don't.

>Arcades survived in Japan because far more players there came to understand the essence of arcade gaming, while realizing that those newfangled full-motion-video wankfests that started appearing during the 32-bit era could never provide them with the rush that only an unforgiving arcade game can. So even though many were seduced by the cheaper, easier, better-looking console games, many others were not, and they are the ones we have to thank for the survival of the arcade form.
>the moment the bullshit theorywank sets in

>Go to arcade.
>Some little shit broke the buttons/joystick.

>3/2
excellent writing.

any JP fags in here?? are there really gg revelator tournies at arcades there? or people just casually playing???

>Buy SFV once for $60
OR
>spend over $60 collectively everytime you played SFV in arcade

the only thing Arcades were good for were actually non laggy play against good opponents and that's only if you city has a decent local FGC if not it's a waste of money

Arcades are shit tier i'm glad they're dead

I'm in Japan. OP is dumb.

>but it doesn't account for European cities
>So let me provide the last piece to this puzzle.
>*retarded, contrived, pseudo-esoterical waste*

And now for the real explanation, European cities are CENTURIES old, and the well connected centers of the thight layout is dominated by equally centuries old buildings that are partially protected by monument laws, making their rent very high, making it impossible for arcades to use them, because only loaded companies or individuals can afford them, which eliminates the factor that makes european cities akin to japanese ones where 99% of the buildings were built within the last 70 years.

Arcades simply had no space in europe, therefore were relegated to the far off places as well, and subsequently never took off.

After reading a bit more, everyone in this thread is also dumb. And on welfare apparently.

Are there many russians in Japan?

No.

>illiteral
>couldn't read
>faget

this is literally the dumbest post on Sup Forums right noiw

>noiw

this

arcades imploded because of gangs taking over cities in the 90s

arcades became unsafe and kids couldn't go to them anymore

This desu

Arcades are for nerds and manchildren
Most western adults would rather spend their money at normie establishments such as bars and restaurants.

All non-Asian demos make up 0.1% of the population. Which is only like 130,000 people or so.

Same age here. Last arcade i went to was probably around 1993 or earlier. It was something to do when your parents dragged you to the mall and they knew where you would stay.

only faggots didn't like arcades

economic activity in America has always centered around middle class suburbs

Why arcades really died in the West:

*cough*

niggers.

that's an obvious typo though

that other guy actually thought his post made sense

Are you are least aware that most of Western population DOES NOT live in the huge metropolitan areas, while Japan is urbanised to the point where there is less than 100 villages in the country, half of them in Hokkaido?
I will repeat - less than 100 villages in entire country.

Tokyo metropolitan area covers roughtly 1/8 of Japan. You seriously want to compare it with any other such thing in the West, in the first place implying such cities exists?

It's a combination of lack advertising, presence of home consoles and PCs, and population density.

>They were in malls, roller rinks, and shitty pizza places when I was a kid.

That's how I remember them too except for maybe the occasional machine at a chinese take out or pizza hut or something.

Both

>then why are arcades in Japan still alive
they're dying one after the other though? Same shit as in the west, just happening later.

I think the reason people stopped going to my local arcade is they couldn't keep up with current technology

>In the West, however, the one-credit rule never really took hold, and as a result the vast majority of players never managed to get good at anything
Not only is that bollocks, arcade games are specifically designed so that you are likely to die as time goes on and you will have to keep putting in money

To get to the point you don't have to you have already spent a fortune

>igh resolutions and pretty colors and CG cutscenes
Fucking arcades did this as well. It is why games have those attract videos at the start, it was to get you to come over and play something you couldn't at home

>They never knew the buzz one gets from ruthless high-level competition
You can put a hard game on a console, you can play with people online and experience high level competition

...

THE REAL REASONS:

1. They just straight up stopped being profitable. This is the #1 reason by far. Operating costs went up and wiped out the profit margins. It's a business thing, not a "cultural" thing.

2. 90s was the worst decade for gangs and crime. This meant that arcades became unsafe and that meant kids couldn't go to them anymore. With the little kid demographic gone arcades had to get by on teens and it just wasn't enough.

3. Consoles played a minor part, but not even remotely close to the above to reasons.

>we HAD beer in the arcades.
those are called bars that just had one or two machines

[citation needed]

Good, arcades always sucked anyway. I'd take a gamr like ratchet and clank or zelda over any arcade game any day.

What about countries with no niggers, mofo? What then? Jewish conspiracy?

>Banned female member after learning she had a boyfriend

Alpha as shit

Except for the pedophile part and all

One uncomfortable truth about the Arcades is a lot of Gangs hung around them & made it unsafe

& most of the kids with big disposable income were White kids

So put 2 & 2 together, you can see why it died in the USA

>90s was the worst decade for gangs and crime.
What country are you even talking about?

No, the niggers are lurking in the shadows and coming out to kill the arcades then they go back to US

>So let me provide the last piece to this puzzle.
>mumbo-jumbo about the superiority of the japanese people
Fuck off back to /jp/

Here in Spain there are a moderate amount of Arcades. Almost in every commercial centre there are at least one Arcade (although most of them are just mixed with bowling/darts/pool).

there are no citations on this post but Sup Forums is an irrefutable source of information.

Cant believe it took someone this long to say the truth. Arcades became a gang hangout, place to fight or score drugs

>Shmups section is empty

Is there no justice in the world or is everyone at work/school?

So let's add some Slav perspective to thise pointless "US vs Nippon" wankfest by making it even more pointless!

Arcades NEVER really caught up in Poland, because, well, commies were in charge till '89 and after that, for next few years people were too busy to even make a look in the possibility of arcades. Around mid 90s arcades started sprouting up one after another... in tourist resorts. And that's where they've remained to this day, usually the same cabinets ever since. Half of them bankrupted anyway about a decade ago.
In short - the business never caugh up, it never expanded and always remained associated with little brats asking daddy/mommy for a coin to play and get bored before even dying.
And like always, it's dying, because seriously - you expect kids nowdays playing 25 year old games, while their smartphones offer better games and without the need for throwing in coins?

What's the average price to play an arcade machine in Japan?

>too poor and commie for arcades
wow, such an interesting history

Well in LA the nigger part is true

The arcade scene was booming in the 80s here then early 90s the blacks got rowdy and the earthquake in 94 didn't make it any better

That would imply nerds and manchildren want to leave the house and socialise, though.

Nope. You're clearly too young to have ever been in an arcade back in the day. People used to drink, smoke, and fight in arcades. You could even take girls there.

you have shit taste then

this guy gets it