The era of the video arcade was a great time, one that many young game players of today will never experience. Most video arcades are gone now, lost to the mists of time, and although they still exist (there is one a few towns over from), it is a pale imitation of the splendid places I frequented as a young geek.
There is nothing wrong with playing games on a console, far be it from me to argue against that. But I truly miss the magic, yes I said magic, of the video arcade when it was in its heyday. The demo screens of the upright cabinets flashing interesting bits of gameplay so they could steal your quarters away (sometimes 2 or 3 at a time), almost calling to you, come play me, it'll be fun. The smells, surprisingly in my memory lacking of B.O., although in my mind I may be romantisizing it; the smells were clean, maybe a little ozone in the air from arcade machines working 12 hour shifts. There was the matallic rattle of quarters, of course, and the omnipresent beeping and booping.
To me, each screen was like a looking glass into another world, a world that I, for the price of a shiny quarter or perhaps ten, could be a part of for a short while. This feeling still exists even now with the multitude of console video games I possess now, and is part of the reason I play them to this day. The feeling was much stronger then, either because of my youth, the relative newness of video games, or because I was surrounded by others who also shared my addiction.
Strange thing is, then, as today, I am a 'lone' gamer. I don't mind playing video games with others, even complete strangers in arcades, but I had just as much fun playing with myself (yeah, hardy har, snigger all you want), as playing with others. I never got very far in any one game, either because I did want to spend tens of dollars mastering one game, or the bright lights of other cabinets beckoning me. Or I have ADD, could be that. Squirrel!
Thing is, I spent as much time watching people play arcade games as playing them myself. And, if you wanted to watch most if not all of an arcade games gameplay, get behind an asian person and watch him play. I kid you not, I have seen the ending of games I would not in a lifetime finish. I don't know if they try harder or it's a cultural thing , but thanks to the nice asian fellows who allowed me to watch over their shoulders as they played. I would have missed a lot of cool stuff otherwise.
As a young man uninterested in sports and basically a friendless loner, the arcade was a wonderful place to hang out. I never found it to be a den of sin, as many adults may have thought at the time (and God bless my parents, for never thinking that.) It was, and always will, a great part of my life. I still love videogames with all my heart, but the loss of arcades took that bit of joy I got from wiggling joysticks and slapping buttons, trying to beat that end boss that just won't die, dammit. And I admit that this is painfully cliche, but it was a simpler time. Games have become too complicated,a subject I will rant on in a seperate entry, I assure you. Thankfully, a lot of this simple=fun equation has come back in the form of downloadable games (I know, I own none of the new systems and don't care to yet, but I still read gaming mags and internet gaming sites)and I always have retro compilations to fall back upon to get a little of that magic back (thanks Capcom! Thanks Taito!)
But seeing row upon row of arcade cabinets, worlds upon worlds inn which I could be a hero, for just one day...that day has long passed. Still, it was fun while it lasted, and I will never forget. RIP, arcades.
