Was the arcade era of gaming really that good or is it just nostalgia?

Was the arcade era of gaming really that good or is it just nostalgia?

it took me way too long to figure out what the fuck i was looking at here

Rather than the games itself, it was the fun experience of playing and competing with your friends and strangers you meet on the arcade. No technology can make that shit up.

Japanese girls use the weirdest sitting poses when gaming

Arcade gaming technology advancements was great compared to home computing of the day but the concept of pay per play was cancer that encouraged devs to make balls hard games to squeeze your coinpurse and pump quarters.
Going to a real arcade nowadays is pretty sweet if they have freeplay set. 20 bucks for an entire day is a nice deal for playing on real hardware. I need to do another daytrip off work to galloping ghost sometime.

I think all girls are this way (natural females that is)

Good god, i thought she had a huge tumor growth growing out of her for a moment there.

It used to be great. It was like playing next gen consoles/games at a convention because games ran at 60 fps with the best visuals out there. They were extremely difficult and some were pay to win, but no one minded it because there was nothing like it for consoles or consumer PCs.

Modern arcade games are just cheap ports of mobile games now, so they suck.

hard games designed to drain your wallet

it was fucking awful

The social setting and being around other people in person makes it infinitely better than gaming at home.

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I have no idea why the fuck they always make people play in the dark like this. It sets off my alarm and I don't dare hanging around too long.

I miss cool arcade games with weird mechanical cabinet setups that aren't fucking broken all the time

youtube.com/watch?v=Jyagk_N8rbw

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I am constantly fooled by this thumbnail and it's not funny anymore.

God i love watching troons play arcade games do we have anymore of this type of content?

I'll tell you, the bullet hells weren't that helly. Touhou ruined everything. Even my friends won't try any schmups for free

it's cute

everything was better before smartphones and social media and globohomo

Arcades used to have everything and at an affordable price, when I was growing up I would occasionally be left in an arcade with about $20 in quarters and have hours of playtime and a couple little prizes or candy.
Used to be you could walk in, hit that candy claw machine for a little sugar rush and play Simpsons and Cruis'n for hours

and at home friends would gather to play together on the same console, splitscreen coop was common

it's a girl

just nostalgia?

Go to a fucking arcade parlor and play you terminally online failure. It's not like this shit doesn't exists anymore

go to local nip arcade

mud on all the seats from bitches standing on them to play

melted buttons from bitches putting cigarettes out on them

why the fuck are gamer girls like this?

It was fun, not good. Big difference

Why do they always dress like their mum?

I still go to arcades (barcades lmao) because I play Pump it Up and StepmaniaX. No, its garbage. If I had space for a machine in my house, I'd buy one in a heartbeat. I'm so fucking tired of drunk retards making whooping noises behind me, children jumping on the pads sometimes mid song, and at one point actually getting groped by some obese sheboon. I just want to dance in peace.

I miss Hydro Thunder and House of the Dead cabinets, nothing else is really worth missing.

Arcades were fucking sick. Can you really say you've lived if you've never had access to a Dave n Busters unlimited play card for an evening?

What do you call this then?

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If you've ever played this PvP mecha game, you are officially a gaming legend

I went to a D&B with a couple friends once, but it was already well past the arcade era. They had a giant fucking version of that phone game, Fruit Ninja or whatever its called. As soon as I say that i knew the place was trash

Hydro Thunder

This game is a blast to this day. Just imagine the glory of eight of these machines hooked together, racing all your friends

Is this tendies the game?

Alright, one last post in my gaming cabinet dump. This one is for the high rollers, who aren't afraid to drop $1.50 per play (or the extremely skilled light gun marksman)

I remember getting nervous playing SF3 and SF4 on the cabinets on friday nights as the crowd was big and raucous. It was a lot of fun, its much more convenient to have the game at home of course but the in person experience of playing someone beside you cannot be beaten. You can feel their emotions, fake them out with dead button presses, read when they are flustered etc. I miss it.

Globohomo

Only in cuckasian land or places with cuckasian bases.

PvP

It's a fighting game, zoomie.

HOTD

Time Crisis

Episode 1 Pod Racing

Dreadstorm Pirates

SW Arcade

Big Game Hunt

Area 51

SF II + Virtua Fighter

KOF

Metal Slug

True kino.

Use to love The Lost World Jurassic Park arcade one

It was that good. due to how the format worked, there was an actual financial insensitive for arcade developers to focus on the gameplay first and make the gameplay as fundamentally good as possible. This is the key part that's just not found today, where it's just better to make a shit game and then sell skins for 20 bucks every month, or make an award bait game for journos to shill the game with the prettiest graphics

The coin munching aspect of arcades sucks donkey cocks for sure but that was the necessary evil.

If I had a billion dollars and could only use it for myself instead of something charitable, I always thought opening up an arcade would be cool. I just like the atmosphere. I wasn't even alive in the 80s, but maybe have certain times throughout the year with an 80s theme with 80s music, maybe an early 90s theme here and there.

I'm spitballing in some random thread on Anon Babble, I haven't exactly thought all this through. But yeah, arcades seem fun.

for me, SF4 was the swansong of the arcade. there was a place in central london called casino and every weekend was just a hive of dudes (and like, 2 girls) queueing up their coins for the 6 linked cabs. you might get a legit local pro or some some random scrub but it was always hype as fuck.

On one hand, I do have some nostalgia for playing MvC2 on a cabinet in the campus arcade when I was in college. There was always a 5+ deep lineup to play it and we had some seriously good players but god knows how much I spent on in during my three years there. I would hazard more than $300 and that is in quarters and on top of that I think I still had more fun playing the Dreamcast version with friends / roommates.

A bit of both.

Well yeah you got to socialize and watch people play games sounds like a blast to me.

I got really good at a tank game like that
then some asshole decided to punch me in the face for winning, and I got thrown out of the arcade because he was black

Looks like fun to me probably have more skills then most people on this board.

Yes. It was.
Same like playing in the streets with your friends from morning until sun down.
You kids do not know what was taken from you.

100% nostalgia, arcades were gambling machines to scam children

God i love watching troons

Post-2013 Anon Babble summary.

without balls you can move your legs anywhere you want

because he was black

Sure, anon. In the 90's, a white kid got thrown out because of a black kid?
Bait used to be believable, zoom zoom.

Trip to the skating rink during early middle school and summer camps.

50% watching girls end up face down ass and skates up due to falling

50% Virtual On: Cyber Troopers.

Robbing kids out of money with Raiden and Apharmid

Raiden's beam is a monster one shot if it hits center

God. It's not nostalgia. I loved that game.

Also had Crazy Taxi and Top Skater

Cozy Sega arcade desu

haha i thought that was her booby

Oh, so now being forced to socialize is a good thing.

with people who have the same interests? yeah

Galaxy Force 2 arcade pod (enclosed) (gyroscopic motion when turning)

Afterburner Climax with swivel seat

ARCTIC THUNDER WITH THE ICE BLASTING AIR THAT COULD FREEZE YOUR SWEAT AND TEARS ON A BALL-STICKINGLY HOT SUMMER DAY

Magical.

There was an undeniable drive to scam kids out of their money by making the games hard as shit. However, pretending that it's all arcades were is just false.

Fightan gaems like Street Fighter II where you directly face off against your local area allowed for real human interaction with your opponents even as an outsider to fightan gaems

"Score games" like Donkey Kong would be a constant challenge to keep improving at a vidya and to compare to whoever else touched the machine at any point

"Gimmick" or racing games allowed for controller setups that would be too expensive for a household, adding more interactivity that wasn't available anywhere else

Even the hard ass games designed to nickel and dime people would eventually become easier, so you'd see the local arcade hero eventually 1CC them and become a living legend in the area

It's kind of sad how with understanding of human psychology improved, modern arcades mostly turned into shitty gambling halls and glorified low attention span mobile games

There's a new (non-ticket) arcade thing opening up in my city soon™.
They're going to charge an entry fee of 20 bucks, games are free to play.

I fully expect everything to be broken within a month and the place to shut down within a year.

why is she using both sticks?
I never been to an arcade

playing with herself

I want to go to Japan and play the arcades there.

Japanese girls at arcades are cute

games designed specifically around their hardware, games like Daytona USA and Virtua Fighter 3 being made with literal military grade technology to produce the best looking games in the world

constant innovations in gameplay and cabinet design, blending the technological and creative aspects of game development in a way you don’t see now

tough but generally fair games that become incredibly satisfying to beat and master

can get the home port and play it in arcades to show off your practice to other people

get instant lag free matches in fighting games and form a community around your arcade, and compete with other arcades in tournaments

I love arcades

i dont get it, is the machine broken? aint now way that little bitch set a high score

lol

It was the only way my autistic ass had friends.

Arcades were my home away from home since like 5th grade and I worked at my childhood arcade part time in college.

The card game crew would play on the tables there was an anime store nearby... Just really nice.

I just cant find "a reason" to leave the house thee days.

After a level or two the game would subliminally tell you to fuck off by cranking up the difficulty and usually result in your death. You either had to coin feed or by the home release at that point to get better and without realising it you’d be playing the game more and more before getting to some level of mastery with it. Nowadays games will practically beg you to keep playing them without really providing any incentive in return. Two completely different attitudes towards player retention and the former is genuinely more effective

i hate men too, sister!

Artificial difficulty: the era.

It was good because society was better.

I need a cute bug gf like this so bad bros

Does she know..?

that's just the slav squat

100%

This was considered comically bizarre in 2010.

One 9/11 wasn't enough

incredible

i look like her

When the Japanese companies pulled the plug on their North American distribution centers,
this company swooped in and gained a monopoly on the fledgling American arcade market overnight.

They flooded the market with shitty D tier games like the ubiquitous Fast and Furious. They make all redemption and ticket earning games.
They even have distribution rights of some titles from Capcom and Sega for North America.

Fuck Raw Thrills. They are one of most predatory companies in the game industry, and no one knows about it.

What, are you fucking retarded?

I miss playing Daytona USA every weekend. I can play it at home, but it's not the same without the steering wheel and 7 other guys taking turns to play.

going somewhere public to play videogames >>> playing games with people on the couch >> playing games online with people

heels raised

IMPOSTOR

I used to go to a local arcade place all the time, but then they took out one of my favorite games Dance Maniax 2.5 and I'm not that great at IIDX and I dislike maimai so I haven't really gone lately. I do miss the place but I've kind of become a lazy shut-in.
But yeah I always had fantastic times and met some cool people and it was fun to watch some absolute legends tear it up in the dance games or clear 11s in IIDX.

OK
YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH

There are virtually zero places for people to interact with strangers in a positive environment because the world optimized that out. We've WoW MMO'd the fun out of the world.

The games themselves were good sure.
Having to leave your house every time you want to play and having to buy coins per attempt eeh not really.

Shaped like a potato, lol

You can tell JAV because, like... wtf is he even doing?

Rainbow SF2 is fun

And she's a hag

I was close enough then though

Based. Love hags.

It's ok, there are plenty of jav actresses just like her

what is gravure

It’s not gravure doe

I thought she had huge tits with black tape over her nipples from the thumbnail. Failings of a dirty mind.

or maybe it's because of the lack of actuel sex.

Post shmup cabs

Imagine....

Imagine what Anon?

id steal her shoes and sniff them

Aside from a few ecchi-mahjong games that stole money like no one's business Japanese arcade design was actually really solid and were made around skilled people being able to 1CC them.
It's mostly american arcade games that were unfinishable without paying up.

Probably in no small part because jp arcades had way more contact with the devs and their scene was much bigger so it was less about selling gambling-for-kids to laundromats and more about being the latest flashiest/best-playing thing to beat out competing companies fighting for floorspace and PCB sales all over the country.

i thought the thumbnail for this thread was a girl sticking her massive saggy boobs out while at the arcade...

I have no idea why the fuck they always make people play in the dark like this

less glare, moron. also, you were the faggot kid in school who would always turn on the bright as fuck classroom lights after lunch but before the teacher arrived

get trashed in an arcade

guy who shat on me gives me some solid tips

teaches me how to do basic combos, control neutral, etc, even stays around to play more sets or fuck around in other games

get trashed in modern online fighting game

"NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER NIGGER", teabagging, Xbox messages

People were more humane back then. Sure they were fights but nowhere near the level of toxicity we are used to these days. Shit man, not sure if arcades were that good, but something happened when we transitioned from arcades to the commodity of our homes

webm

does jumping around like this all the time cause the boobs to sag faster?

No, it actually strengthens them to resist sagging. Like working out.

the way she runs away with her arms up is so cute. I love women so much bros.

Not really. I actually prefer dim classroom when it's about to rain. I just find it retarded to keep your eyes strained in the dark like that.

what do you call this dimple/indent?

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stfu nigger

I've never heard of that place. After googling, I might actually book a flight just to go there

strain

dim lighting

I actually prefer dim classroom

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Not gonna lie, I unironically want to experience a Japanese arcade at least once. I know that era's (presumably) long gone, but I can dream.

it actually strengthens them to resist sagging

pulling away from the skin in all directions in a fierce way

i don't buy it

ywnbajtin

You will never be a japanese teenager in 1996

Why do the screens look higher quality than an oled?

I should watch that. I missed it during 25 days of autism a couple years ago and remember people seemed to like it.

I know that era's (presumably) long gone, but I can dream.

it is gone, the main arcades are full of gay trash like cranes and rhythm games. There are still specialized arcades that focus on anime or older fighting games with communities that are still alive but it's obviously not the same.

I usually just play galaga.
Good lord.

Looks pretty cute

Anime shit?

On MY anime website?!

Surprised that degenerate medium hasn't been banned yet considering the controversy it garners thanks to all the sexualized underaged girls those shows have

no slav stripes

Heels in sky is foreign spy.

Good job mods

Been years. I still love her.

They not like us.

The arcade era is basically all virtual now thanks to the existence of gacha games

People should not be allowed to do things in their home. If you want to play videogames, go to public videogame playing place. If you want to eat? Go to public eating place. Life should be organized the way school is. It makes for a healthier society.

Koreans and Japs have smelly asses from all the fermented, nitrate-filled food they eat.

t. a guy who fucked a Korean girl and almost died when I flipped here over for doggy

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You are a fucking fascist.

even gooning games?

ass stinks

No shit

What would a home be used for then, sleeping? What if you simply have nothing going on during the day and you're not in the mood to go out and do anything, just stay at home and stare at the wall?

Is that why trannys are so good at speedrunning? Better performance sitting?

Especially gooning games. If you had to endure the shame of gooning in public, even if in a private little back room somewhere, you wouldn't be doing it.
Hence the 'healthier society' part.

yes.

They both suck at taiko, incredible.

we had tekken 4 cabinets
we had 4d cabinets where the seats hovered a little and moved in all manner of ways and there was water and wind splashes while I used a gatling gun on dinosaurs
we had house of the dead themed bowling cabinets
this cheap arcades with only 80s cabinet craps with the occasional crazy taxi cabinet and hotd cabinet should fucking die.

The US has nearly the same suicide rate as Japan, the difference is their is consistently decreasing and the US's is consistently increasing. in <5 years they will flip.

Damn imagine her punching my nutsack

why does she sit like that?

Because japanese girls are cute and quirky, just in a more subdued way than the annoying western cute and quirky girls.

It was good because you were with people and you could make friends. These games on their own being played the same way at home alone, would just suck.

Just buy an arcade stick

Play shmups with it
Play retro fighting games with it, auto-quit if you encounter a high level griefer posing as a noob

kek

L if she a girl

Nah I don't agree with this. Fighting games are plenty fun, run and guns like Contelra and Metal Slug are pretty fun I still use my PS3 Move and Wii for light gun games they are fun.

It was cool and nicel, the games for the most part great

I never understood the "better than at home" argument. My NES and SNES ganes were way better. Even the fanily computer abd the DOS games

Pinball ruled though. Theatre of Magic forever

Playing games with and around others who also put in the effort to be there, knowing full well they also wanted to play games and be around others that wanted to play games

Nowadays gaming is overrun with tourists, people who want to put in as little effort as possible just because gaming is now popular and they want to be a part of it.

I didnt mind this remake actually. Very fair game for a Raw Thrills "joint". You aren't getting tollbooth like Halo and Aliens.

It genuinely boggles my mind how Japanese men suffer when their women exist

If you think tourism is bad now you werent around in the 90s, or even the Wii era

They aren't allowed access to their women. That's part of the problem, and it's developed into a problem in the west as well.

boobs are held up by skin

I was, it's infinitely worse today. The very core of online gaming has shifted to matchmaking systems that favor these low effort tourists. Hell look at gaming "journalism" too, compare the magazine landscape of the 90's to what we get today, there's a very stark difference between the people and the product of then and now.

Yeah i wonder what it was

0 ass

impressive

I want to live in the era where there's a hot alt chick sitting in my bedroom staring at me

This is timeless, zoomers are just being retards and pretending women aren't real again.

Asian women prefer white men, the only race that actually prefers a foreign race

No. It was a social hangout spot and a total money sink. Think how games are microtransactioned out the arse now - games were intentionally made to fuck you up so you would spend more on the machine.

it's ai

Millennials at least got to experience a time when things were good, and the outlook was that the future would only get better and more awesome. Zoomers know life from an early age as doomed while everything gets politicized and propagandized against them, once-in-a-lifetime catastrophes keep happening every couple of years, the only people in a position to do anything about their worsening life prospects don't care, and the people who do care don't matter. I don't blame them.

White men also prefer asian women. Sounds like a good trade.
Japanese prime minsiter, I have an offer for you...

I want to live in an era where every single piece of entertainment was trying to push some political ideology

kek zoomers have know nothing but shit

quarter muncher

this nigga never got so good he could play pac man on 1 credit for hours

she looks familiar, who is that?

Bitch my cousin and I made a habit of beating all of the Time Crisis machines on 1 credit, literal skill issue.

always have been. Flatscreens have always been shit.

I made an arcade game. Going to make the rest. Use for all will be the same. Oh, you can play Minecraft though. The voxels don't lie...

not him but that's you, most other people aren't as autistic and his point stands

sock garters

The best thing about it was that it was social. It was easy to find other strangers to play Vidya with. The games themselves ranged from great with limited replayability to dogshit designed to munch quarters.

That girl is a mexican zoomer btw, she's just takes pics with an old camera to post on instagram to larp as millennial

When Mortal Kombat 2 first came out, I asked a teenager how he knew how to do the fatalities. "Internet" was his one word response before taking my last quarter.

I went home and learned about what the internet was from a friend who had an older brother in college. He gave us the phone number for the dial up connection and his username and password, we used our IBM x386 computer and 2400 baud modem to connect and eventually found rec.games.video.arcade and the holy grail: the mortal kombat 2 FAQ. We printed it out with his dad's dot Matrix printer, which used paper with alternating green and white lines with small holes on the edges to feed the paper.

I went back to the arcade with the full printed FAQ and started memorizing the fatalities. A black guy shoved me to the ground while I was reading it, stole the printout, and left.

pretty much

pay infinitely, never own games

all games are boring loop shit

forced to interact with retards

It was shit, its always funny seeing people try to romanticize this shit

It was fun competing against friends in a public space, but if you were alone they were just stealing your quarters.

PINK control sticks?

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candy cabs are the only way to play

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I thought that was someone's balls getting squeezed really hard.

based

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Non-ownership of games has quite the history. First the arcade cabinets, then expensive home console games that people preferred to rent out rather than buy, the voluntary 'don't copy that floppy' cuckoldry, the EULAs, the DRMs, the GaaS. Seems like the idea of owning the stuff you play has never been much of a concern to most folks.