Wednesday, July 27, 2005
VIDEO GAME ARCADES ARE DEAD
July 25, 2005 - Ray B. Proclaims Video Arcades Dead
"Kids no longer want to play video games outside the home" is the controversial statement recently made by self-proclaimed game guru Ray B. Others were heard to say "yeah" and "mmm hmmm".
In a recent visit to Niagara Falls, Ontario's Clifton Hill entertainment strip, Ray B. and family visited The Great Canadian Midway. Formerly a small old video arcade, GCM has been revamped into a large multi-format entertainment complex. Upon entering, to your right is a ghost-house ride where you get to also shoot at targets in the dark. In the main area you are greeted by a large colorful room full of coin-operated machines with blinking lights and exciting sounds. But these are not your father's coin-ops! No, in fact, these might be your grand-dad's coin-ops. The place is filled with "coin pushers"; machines where you take your chances, drop in a coin and hope that it causes more coins to fall out than you put in. Sounds like gambling to me. Oh, but they also dispense tickets, so I guess that makes it OK.
Searching in vain for games using CRT displays, I at last found a familiar face. Pac Man. But what's this? Oh Pac Man! How low you have fallen! Pac Man is now a pusher!
Digging deeper I eventually found some video games tucked away in the back room, surrounded by air hockey tables, skee ball and other skill games. They were mostly gun shooters from the early 90's and a few pinball machines. An old Funhouse with a broken flipper. Lethal Enforcers. Terminator. Revolution X...
So I sat myself down on a firetruck kiddie ride. Dropped in 3 tokens, and tried not to cry while I went up and down and the siren went "whoop! whoop! whoop!" and I thought "Video arcades are dead".*
*OK I didn't really ride a kiddie ride or cry.
"Kids no longer want to play video games outside the home" is the controversial statement recently made by self-proclaimed game guru Ray B. Others were heard to say "yeah" and "mmm hmmm".
In a recent visit to Niagara Falls, Ontario's Clifton Hill entertainment strip, Ray B. and family visited The Great Canadian Midway. Formerly a small old video arcade, GCM has been revamped into a large multi-format entertainment complex. Upon entering, to your right is a ghost-house ride where you get to also shoot at targets in the dark. In the main area you are greeted by a large colorful room full of coin-operated machines with blinking lights and exciting sounds. But these are not your father's coin-ops! No, in fact, these might be your grand-dad's coin-ops. The place is filled with "coin pushers"; machines where you take your chances, drop in a coin and hope that it causes more coins to fall out than you put in. Sounds like gambling to me. Oh, but they also dispense tickets, so I guess that makes it OK.
Searching in vain for games using CRT displays, I at last found a familiar face. Pac Man. But what's this? Oh Pac Man! How low you have fallen! Pac Man is now a pusher!
Digging deeper I eventually found some video games tucked away in the back room, surrounded by air hockey tables, skee ball and other skill games. They were mostly gun shooters from the early 90's and a few pinball machines. An old Funhouse with a broken flipper. Lethal Enforcers. Terminator. Revolution X...
So I sat myself down on a firetruck kiddie ride. Dropped in 3 tokens, and tried not to cry while I went up and down and the siren went "whoop! whoop! whoop!" and I thought "Video arcades are dead".*
*OK I didn't really ride a kiddie ride or cry.
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