A Concise History Of Arcade Games

Arcade games were all the rage before the year 2000. Some of the best video games ever made had arcade games, before going on to conquer a global audience and cementing their status on the sands of time.

The arcade games were the pre-eminent means of fun for most people born during the 80s and 90s. It was then common to see arcade game emporiums packed with children and adults, all poised over the arcade machine playing for all they were worth and competing for bragging rights.

Old school arcade games include the likes of Punch-Out, Donkey Kong, Pacman, Crazy Climbers, Galaga, Metal slug and more. The arcade games of today are relatively featureless and are by most accounts inferior in some aspects to their old school counterparts and that is a pity.

Arcade machines of the period were usually coin-operated. All that was needed to play the games was to feed the machine with coins and the simple nature of this helped make arcade games and machines very popular.

Arcade gaming began during the later part of the 1930s. Pinball machines were created in that period that were operated by coins. They quickly became popular and their use spread far and wide in less time.

The Arcade Games Come of Age

As time passed and technology matured, arcade games and machines became increasingly better and better and were improved in all aspects. They were also made more fun and accessible.

Light gun shooter games were soon created. In these games, players were given a make-believe gun. This they pointed at the arcade game screen and used to shoot up enemies. Duck Hunt was one such game and it was revolutionary in its own right, with its influence being felt right to the present day.

Racing games were unveiled in 1969. Grand Prix was the first such game and it triggered a racing fever of sorts among players. Since racing games were being played with steering wheels and were quite realistic for the period, game developers soon saw the utility of adapting this to create flying games. In these games, players could control all sorts of aircraft and bomb, strafe and shoot to their heart’s content.

With racing games, flying games, shooting games and more, the arcade gaming sector was able to offer a wide array of fun and thrills. As a result, it boomed greatly. 

By the 70s, these games were big business and could be found just about anywhere. Some food chains resorted to installing arcade machines in their premises, both to draw in new clientele and get the old ones happy for a change.

As the 80s arrived, new games came flocking in. Among these were motion-controlled games, like racing games in which the players rode on a miniature car or bike and controlled the onscreen character by moving the vehicle they were riding. 

While the arcade gaming sector was booming at this time, it was also dying as interest in arcade games waned across the globe. To shake up the gaming sector, Capcom unleashed its Street Fighter 2 fighting game.

This was so popular that it was credited with reviving the flagging interest of folks for arcade gaming. It also made Capcom a fortune.

With the success of Street Fighter 2, other game developers started making and releasing similar games. This included the likes of Mortal Kombat, Virtua Fighter, King Of Fighters, Killer Instinct and more.

The sector was further revived by the creation and release of driving games like Ridge Racer, and Daytona USA, in addition to games like Virtua Cop and Time Crisis.

While all these games were excellent in their way, the arcade gaming sector was by the mid-1990s under severe threat from the home console market. These home consoles boasted ports of the most popular arcade games and were cheaper, easier and more convenient to use.

Arcade Games in the Present Day

As arcade games and the arcade gaming sector declined, more than a few arcade emporiums were forced to close their business. The arcade machines at strips and malls were also uninstalled as they were no longer profitable.

As of now, most arcade games boast the sort of games that need a different method of control found in home consoles. These include dance pads for dancing games, enormous plastic guns for shooting games and drums, and other musical equipment for musical games.

Although there are currently lots of fighting arcade games, but this is not the driving force for the players to explore the various games. Instead, the aim of the developers now is to create very competitive games that will make players challenge themselves, strangers and anyone in their friend circle. Most old school games are as of now either ported to consoles or available for play on net browsers. Accessing this is easy and surely pleasurable.