Arcade Games Make A Comeback

http://videogames.yahoo.com/feature/arcade-games-make-a-comeback/1187268

Arcade Games Make A Comeback
Feb 15, 2008

When David Ellis was in high school, he, like millions of other teenagers, became mesmerized by videogames. That was back in the 1980s, however, when the most popular place to play a videogame was in an arcade.

These days, Ellis, who is today a game designer for North Carolina-based Vicious Cycle Software, is at the forefront of a very retro trend: installing those grand old game playing consoles at home. He bought his first game console, Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator, in 1997. Since then, Ellis has snapped up more than a dozen and has even written a book, The Official Price Guide To Classic Video Games. "I like the older games because they are so much more creative than what is in the arcades now. Today, everything is a fighting or shooting or driving game," he says.

Home entertainment today is squarely focused on the kinds of high-definition graphics offered up by systems such as the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. The graphics and speed of those machines can't be matched by the arcade games of 30 years ago. But many people miss the thrill of arcade games--of getting swallowed up by the monstrous machines and immersed in the abstract graphics.

"These old-school games might not have the best graphics," says videogame industry analyst Billy Pidgeon of IDC. "But the game mechanics are sound, and the game play is a lot better than many of today's new titles. That game play lets the players hold on to their youth."

The golden age of arcade games, collectors generally agree, lasted from around the 1978 to the mid-1980s. Despite their size, arcade machines had only a dash of electronics--little more than a few circuit boards and a reasonably sized CRT monitor to show the action. The vivid and bigger-than-life artwork featured on the sides of the machines was never matched by what was on the screen--but it sparked the imagination and competitive juices of waves of teenagers.

"A big part of the appeal is nostalgia," says Rick Kirby, president of Betson Enterprise, in Carlstadt, N.J. For 70 years, Betson has been a major supplier of coin-op machines, including pinball, jukeboxes and of course videogame arcade machines to commercial businesses. More recently, Kirby says, he's seeing orders for machines from individuals, many of whom look to get a machine that reminds them of their youth. "The last few years, we've seen an all-time high in sales of machines for home use."

That nostalgia and passion for arcade games was even chronicled in last year's documentary film King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, which focused on a cross-country duel between game rivals Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell as each competed to become the 2007 Guinness World Records holder for the high score in "Donkey Kong."

While Donkey Kong may have been one of the stars of a film, according to Kirby, there isn't as much interest in the great ape as there is another character from the early days: Ms. Pac-Man. At first merely an unauthorized sequel to "Pac-Man," this game became a bigger hit. Debuting in 1982, it scored points for girls' rights to play in the arcade. Today, restored "Ms. Pac-Man" machines are among Betson's top sellers.

"The combo 'Ms. Pac-Man' and 'Galaga' machine is certainly one of our most popular games," says Kirby. Original versions of classic arcade machines can be found for sale on sites including eBay for only a few hundred dollars.

Enthusiasm for arcade-style games isn't limited to teenage boys-turned-grownups. "The buyers of these machines are families, husbands and wives who grew up playing the games in the arcades and today want them for their game rooms," Kirby notes.

Collectors, such as the likes of Ellis, however, still revel in the vintage machines--even if they come encrusted with decades worth of spilled soda, old gum and scratches from the thousands of winners--and losers--of the past. "These were the games I grew up with, and I want the vintage machines," says Ellis. There is, he concedes, a downside to the classics: "The originals can break down, and collectors have to repair them."

As a result, many buyers today are snapping up modern versions of the classic machines. Those machines are pricier--often topping $2,500--but in many cases they can play up to 80 game titles. Having one machine--instead of say, 80--is a far more realistic option in most homes. And worrying about breakdowns becomes less problematic. "The modern machines are more reliable," says Kirby. "That is what we're seeing from many buyers. They want the game they remember, but they don't want to have to make it work."

Whether it is a modern version or an original from the 1980s, Ellis says that these games offer something that today's games on the PlayStation fail to deliver. "I can get the quick fix from these arcade machines. I can play for 10 minutes and have my gaming urge satisfied."