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paulsbuck5
Member

Posts: 11
Why are most arcades getting rid of good arcade games?
on 8/12/2010 2:22:25 PM
The arcades I've been to in my area recently have been decreasing the amount of machines. The bowling alley near my house used to have an awesome game room. They had all the best games. Now they only have 5 machines: Hydro Thunder, Revolution X, 18 Wheeler, Cruis'n Exotica, and a Centipede/Missle Command machine. The game room used to be PACKED with machines, and I'm a little disappointed in their arcade collection right now.

Arcades have been decreasing the amount of machines, and some are filled with mostly crappy racers, Guitar Hero, and Deal or No Deal.

Anybody have arcades in their area that's doing the same thing?


 
Nashvillan
Admin

Posts: 666
RE: Why are most arcades getting rid of good arcade games?
on 8/13/2010 1:51:42 AM
The bowling alley's around here have gotten very skimpy with their selections. One racer, one shooter, Deal or no Deal, Stacker, and Golden Tee. That's about it.
I agree with you they do seem to be scaling back.

Revolution X is one of my all time favs! Is it a two player cabinet or one of the deluxe three player cabinets?

The redemption center also seems to be taking a hit. They seem to want to generate more and more self serve redemption games like Stacker, American Idol, Lighthouse, and others... especially since they don't have to man a redemption counter anymore.

There's one pool hall here that actually has a pretty decent selection, but they've had the exact same selection for the past several years with no change in floor layout, and the games are slowly falling into disrepair.

Some of this may have to do with the amusement company that placed those machines there. If the new machines are not making money, then the amusement company doesn't want to risk having that machine broken if it's not earning anything. Thus they get scared and pull it.

There is one local arcade here that has a wonderful selection of games, plus they rotate their inventory monthly so it seems like there's always something different there every time you visit. Great arcade.


 
BadBrains
Member

Posts: 46
RE: Why are most arcades getting rid of good arcade games?
on 8/13/2010 6:17:19 AM
The two local bowling alleys have only a few 90's games in bad shape now. The Roller rink hasa 90's racing game and games like X Men, Off Road, a candy crane and some other bad 90's games. I have this one arcade near me that has 70 machines in immaculate shape and the owner is great :)


 
paulsbuck5
Member

Posts: 11
RE: Why are most arcades getting rid of good arcade games?
on 8/13/2010 1:43:06 PM
The Revolution X at my local bowling alley is the 2-player version.

There's an arcade in my area called "Funtasia", it used to be called "Mountasia". They have a lot of 90's arcade games and some 80's. They have a Wave Runner with the handlebar not tightened very well, they have a Sega Bass Fishing Deluxe with the rod taped together (but it still works), a Lethal Enforcers II cabinet with the marquee saying "Gun Fighter", or something like that. In one corner of the arcade, there's a bunch of machines crowded. One of them is a Lost World upright.

The Mr. Gatti's near my house has lacked a lot of classics. They had a Harley Davidson & L.A. Riders Deluxe, but they got rid of that back in 2002, or something. They had Lethal Enforcers II, a 6-player X-Men game, NBA Hangtime, Sega Water Ski, Top Skater, Marvel vs. Street Fighter, Tee'd Off pinball, Alpine Racer 2, and Turret Tower.

At a skating rink near my house, they only have one machine, and that's Harley Davidson & L.A. Riders. It's the standard version, and it's 75 cents to play. Not that bad.

They last had a few machines: Cruis'n Exotica (it was $1 to play), a deer-shooting game, a Mrs. Pac-Man/Galaga cabinet, an air hockey table, and a "Full Court Fever" basketball game. The basketball game and the air-hockey table are still there. I'm a little bit disappointed, but it's cool that they have Harley Davidson & L.A. Riders.


 
Pac man Pat
Member

Posts: 16
RE: Why are most arcades getting rid of good arcade games?
on 8/25/2010 6:16:51 PM
It is true many of the bowling centers and even arcades are getting rid of games. In my area I'm an operator that has our arcade and service out side accounts. We have not been doing this, actually we've been increasing games in a few locations. Many operators of the games cut down the number of games so they can cut down on service staff/calls. Maybe it's because of my love for the games, but we have no plans of doing this. That being said, our games new or old are well taken care of and serviced. Star Worlds Arcade in DeKalb Il has one of the best reputations of having well maintained machines, as well as having all machines on our floor up and running correctly.

Pac-man-Pat
Starworldsarcade.com
Pac-ManPinkyInkyBlinkySue


 
paulsbuck5
Member

Posts: 11
RE: Why are most arcades getting rid of good arcade games?
on 8/27/2010 3:58:53 PM
I browsed through the photos on starworldsarcade.com, and I noticed you have a Crazy Taxi machine, and you have one of my favorites: "Lethal Enforcers II: GunFighters". That game used to be popular in my area, as it was at my local bowling alley, and a pizza buffet restaurant near my house called "Mr. Gatti's".


 
trickman
Official

Posts: 13
RE: Why are most arcades getting rid of good arcade games?
on 8/30/2010 12:37:22 PM
Pac man Pat Wrote:
It is true many of the bowling centers and even arcades are getting rid of games. In my area I'm an operator that has our arcade and service out side accounts. We have not been doing this, actually we've been increasing games in a few locations. Many operators of the games cut down the number of games so they can cut down on service staff/calls. Maybe it's because of my love for the games, but we have no plans of doing this. That being said, our games new or old are well taken care of and serviced. Star Worlds Arcade in DeKalb Il has one of the best reputations of having well maintained machines, as well as having all machines on our floor up and running correctly.

Pac-man-Pat
Starworldsarcade.com
Pac-ManPinkyInkyBlinkySue

I can attest to what Pat said. All of his games are up and running when you walk in. And he switches them out at regular intervals to keep the playlist fresh. A great variety of classic (80s) and newer (90s) titles, and I'm jealous of all the memorabilia on the walls. :)


 
paulsbuck5
Member

Posts: 11
RE: Why are most arcades getting rid of good arcade games?
on 8/30/2010 3:48:14 PM
One arcade in my area called "Blessed Fun at Funtasia" (which I already talked about) has a lot of that stuff, MOST games cost 50 cents, lots of classics, a few of the GOOD racing games, and 1 pinball machine: "Cue Ball Wizard".

Another REAL arcade in my area is Tilt. THAT place is OK. There's a variety of racing games, shooters, and a DDR machine (the monitor on that thing is messed up. It's completely dark and red, you can't even see some of the songs that you selected, but you can see the arrows). Every Tilt arcade has some broken games. The employees are nice, and some will give your change back, if the game is broken.


 
Nashvillan
Admin

Posts: 666
RE: Why are most arcades getting rid of good arcade games?
on 8/30/2010 11:45:58 PM
I used to work at a Tilt once upon a time so I can definitely say the employees are usually friendly... as long as you're not intentionally trying to sabotage the games. lol

Sadly, Tilt isn't around here anymore, but Game Galaxy is where a Tilt used to be.


 
paulsbuck5
Member

Posts: 11
RE: Why are most arcades getting rid of good arcade games?
on 8/31/2010 5:43:16 PM
I go to Tilt pretty often. It's not that big, because it used to be a Sam Goody store, but it has quite a selection.

What games did the Tilt in Nashville have when it was called that?


 
Nashvillan
Admin

Posts: 666
RE: Why are most arcades getting rid of good arcade games?
on 8/31/2010 9:09:46 PM
Oh gosh, you're gonna make me picture that place aren't you? Heh heh.
Let's see. It had:
MK II
Daytona USA (brand spankin new)
F-14 Tomcat pinball
Monday Night Football pinball
Phantom of the Opera pinball
Jurassic Park Pinball
Tecmo Bowl (deluxe)
X-Men (deluxe 6 player)
Cadash
Robocop
Afterburner (deluxe cockpit that moved)
GLoc (hydraulic cockpit)
Street Fighter Champion Edition
Revolution X
TMNT
Simpsons
10 yard fight
Rampage
Time Killers
Heavy Barrel
The NinjaWarriors
That is all I can think of at this time.

I would also like to point out this is my 100th post to the forums... the first to achieve it. lol
Ok, I'll get down off the soapbox.


 
paulsbuck5
Member

Posts: 11
RE: Why are most arcades getting rid of good arcade games?
on 9/1/2010 3:34:57 PM
My local Tilt has these games:

Sega Super GT (2 Twin machines, but all are not linked together)
Time Crisis II
Time Crisis 3
Wing War
NASCAR Arcade (they have 2 Deluxe cabinets, but one is tucked in another corner of the arcade)
NASCAR Racing (2 connected)
NASCAR Pinball
3 Silent Scope machines
Dark Silhouette: Silent Scope 2
Carn-Evil
Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (Deluxe cabinet)
Soul Calibur II (Deluxe cabinet)
Tekken 5
SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom (2 cabinets, one is a Deluxe, and one has the control panel saying "Killer Instinct")
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (player 1's gun is taped together)
DDR: Megamix (screen is completely red and dark)
Deal or No Deal...

and some redemption games.




 
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