Arcades — What Was… and Now Lost Forever

Big boxes of fancy colours that swallow your tokens and make it hard for you

Though now a rare occurrence that you can only find in dedicated places, there was once a fad that everyone could enjoy, because even when you came to play games, you stayed for the friends, and sometimes even the pizza. A place that could be found virtually anywhere, especially in America and Japan… Of course, the place that I’m talking about is the Arcades, a cultural impact that is largely forgotten today.

Although I was just a kid when I played in all the Arcades I have been to, regardless of which country I was living in at the time, I know that the Arcades saw prominence in the late 80s to the late 90s before falling into obscurity owing to the initial introduction of online-based gameplay allowing people to connect from home (further enforcing the Couch Potato lifestyle). Of course, it’s easier to do it from home, because then that means that you can play in your pyjamas and whomever you play with at the moment will never know that (unless you have a camera or something).

But when they were popular, it was a joy coming with friends and having coins in the pockets, ready to slip in a coin and as many as it takes just to beat that unbeatable boss in that one fighting game I can’t remember the name of (probably was another anime-style fighting game or the likes). But most importantly, the Arcades was a social place to meet and play with new people, make new friends while strengthening the bonds you currently have, and maybe even sometimes find a date. Of course, all that is only relevant to the 90s, since nowadays people are incentivised to remain at their houses because the Internet makes it easier. That’s the problem with today, but it’s not the problem I want to talk about.

Arcades in different countries

Though they were mostly popular in America, my experience with Arcades was outside of it. Arcades are a universal concept; they are big boxes with a joystick and several colored buttons, and that’s what you use to play the game. Languages, on the other hand, make it a tad harder to make friends, even when you have a common interest with them, which is mashing buttons while figuring out how to pull off the Hadouken in Street Fighter.

Although I was exposed to Arcades at a younger age, it wasn’t until I was 6 or 8 that I discovered that bringing half the class, all of whom were my friends, and having the Arcade cabinets swallow our collective quarters as we all take turns trying to beat Goro in Mortal Kombat. The purest joy was not the games, but laughing and being excited together at the prospect of pulling off a simple victory because we were all elementary schoolers at the time and everything was exciting back then. Eventually, that spark faded, but it was fun while it lasted… and there was also pizza at the end!

But the thing is, when I was that age, I played Arcades when I was in Thailand. Don’t ask me how I got there, but on the occasions that I did play in the Arcades, I found myself playing with other kids that I couldn’t understand what they were saying. Nonetheless, we became friends, and it turned out they were living in my apartment building so we got even closer, until we never saw each other again after I moved out some ten months later, but it was a good friendship for the short time that it was. But the fact that there were language barriers didn’t make it easy at all, as in other circumstances this might not have worked out at all. And then what?

It’s not a contemporary issue

Although it is irrelevant in today’s culture because everything happens online now (humanity is half a century away from the “never leave the house” era), back in the 90s, it was a real bummer to play with someone whom you do not share a language. It was even a bigger deal when it was a cute girl you’re interested in (although I personally haven’t heard of any romance stories born in the Arcades). So in order to solve this problem, or at least come up with two-cent ideas for solutions, first, it is important to realise that today this isn’t a problem because nobody goes to the Arcades. But on the assumption that this is an article in the 90s.

It’s important to understand that this is not a big deal, because all you need is an arcade cabinet and willingness to have fun. Take someone, friend or stranger, and start playing, doesn’t matter what game it is because the real purpose of the Arcades is to socialise by leaving the house, not playing games as you do at home by yourself (a good reason to step out of the front door and into the sunlight). But even you don’t speak Spanish or speak English, just finish each other off in Mortal Kombat (or at least try to since knowing how to pull off a Fatality mainly was hearsay because most people back then didn’t have Internet).

The real consideration here is that the Arcades were mainly popular in America, so I guess language barriers weren’t too much of an issue. I suppose it was also popular in Japan during that time (fun fact: to this day, Japan is still making arcade games, long after they stopped being popular in the west), but I don’t know that for sure.

Any 90s kids want to give their word?

Anyone familiar with Arcades when they were still a thing should also share their experience of what was back then because frankly, that’s the only outside help I want for this article, which is why I will keep it at one paragraph.

In conclusion…

As I said earlier in the article, I understood that there are dedicated places for Arcades, but they are rare, and I think most of them are in America because Arcades are DEFINITELY DEAD where I’m from. Also, this one tidbit is something that I learned some 8 years ago, so I don’t know how much it holds up today. But if you happened to stumble upon such a place, it probably won’t be like the old days, mostly because people today are just into other stuff that wasn’t possible decades ago.

The Arcades were fun while they lasted, but it’s over. It didn’t matter where you played, be it America or Asia. Language barriers mainly were non-existent when people did them anyways.

I would brag how fun it was back then, but it won’t really serve a purpose. That and it won’t come back anyways… and I’m tired.