Bring back the arcade

There have been so many references to the "arcade" in the modern console gen that, statistically, someone should have accidentally stumbled across the correct definition. Looking at each major offering from the big three, the only "arcade" concept that they want to get across is that they managed to snag the rights to actual arcade games from decades ago. While this is all well and good, these aren't actually helping advance the idea of a gaming arcade, and there's a gold mine waiting to be had if someone actually thought about what made money-making arcades in the old days.

"Quarter-munching" is a term that has become extinct. Even console games these days allow you to play through with infinite lives. I had to slap myself out of absurd behavior when I realized Duck Tales for the NES had approximately zero continues to help the player out. Not that I am lobbying for the return of cheap greed tactics on behalf of the arcade developers ala Ikari Warriors 3, but getting good at an arcade game that no one really owned demanded an attention span. Games demanded technique. Not all of them, but a good amount.

Also, arcades were in malls. I'm not going to bore you with "back in my day" stories, because those are worthless opinions that change with the times. Just because I don't generally like to run into crying emo kids that looked like they crawled out of a dumpster with burnt Crisco on their heads doesn't mean I'm equating arcades with age groups. They aren't equal. In arcades in the 80's and 90's, it did not matter what group you were. What mattered was that Mortal Kombat had arrived, and you were either going to kick ass or get it handed to you regardless of what hair the opponent was wearing. Games brought kids together, period. In arcades, you left it all behind.

Now, arcades barely have a grasp on culture and don't have many good games in them if you did stumble across one. At home, the arcade concept has been reduced to talking immense amounts of shit without respecting the person on the other end because, well, you're talking to your TV screen. Super Smash Bros. Brawl got nailed by so many people because it was a "simple" game, but that "simple" game brought everyone into the living room regardless of skill levels. So did the arcades. Your dad would wonder what was going on with you and then find himself playing the old Star Wars arcade cabinet while you blasted things on Smash T.V., and while you were waiting for your mother to show up you would play skee-ball.

Dave & Busters is a relatively foreign concept to Alaskans, but on a trip to the lower 48 I managed to get myself into one. A few hundred inebriated people in their mid-20's were giggling to themselves with a pint in one hand and the joystick in the other. Looking all around, I would see girlfriends cheering their boyfriends on, already knowing which stuffed animal they wanted. I would see some kid dressed up in your classic ghetto gear pounding away at a fighting game, and to his right I would see one of the geekiest corporate recruits to ever wear a tucked in polo shirt. They were both laughing and enjoying themselves. That's what gaming is about.

When I heard that Nintendo decided to launch its own Arcade section, I just hung my head and sighed. Is this what we really need? Another company rereleasing old arcade games in the name of home convenience? That's great, but that's not an Arcade. That's a game, release "in arcades" first.

So here's an idea. Get a real arcade. Make good, simple, fun games that don't involve 200 megs of hard drive space. Get them on a "channel" or something, but make them available for everyone. Credits cost 10 cents. If the game itself costs $10, then each credit is true credit towards purchase. 100 plays=ownership.

This is a win-all situation. If a million people just try the game out one time, then the developer just scored itself $100,000 just for releasing the game. On top of that, players went to the arcade to play games they loved and to try new ones. Nowadays, people (including myself) brag about their home gaming setup and flaunt it to everyone they know. Why not turn these people into hosts that can actually make some friends off of this by bringing everyone over to try out some arcade gaming? Playing through a selection of 20 different games (good launch number, I think) not only scores the gaming industry some dough, it also sounds like a recipe for controller passing fun.

The last thing that could be revived with this concept is the idea of a high score. It used to be that your local mall would have an arcade stained in the initials of a select few. That was the mark of excellence. Nobody actually remembered the initials, but the focus went from the arcade to the entire world in the snap of a finger. Bring back the high score. Make it local and regional, as well as worldwide. Give gamers a chance to see the small picture before thrusting them into a room full of level 70's in Korea.

Just bring back the real arcade feeling, is all I'm sayin'.

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