/vr/ - Retro Games

>>5060060
There's a number of arcades still active where I live. Granted this is the UK so I'm not sure if this applies to the US or not.
1. They're a lot smaller than you think. Don't expect an entire warehouse full of machines unless it's a literal arcade museum like the OP pic.
2. Expect a lot of older stuff from the 50's and 60's. Coin drops, crane games, that sort of shit. They're the reason your grandmother keeps a giant jar full of coins.
3. Now this one is definitely only a UK thing, fucking fruit machines. They're like the British pachinko, and they're everywhere.
4. Dont expect a huge amount of activity around 'proper' game cabinets. Lightgun games are king. Followed by rhythm games. Then racing cockpits. Arcades are 99.9% about novelty.
5. Screen burn in. If you're expecting amazing crt image quality, prepare to be disappointed.
6. Ticket machines are great fun. Especially when they spit out a comical amount of tickets.
7. They were expensive, and were the haunts of rich kids. They still are expensive, probably worse now as new machines cost £2 a credit. Fucking Terminator Salvation.
8. If you had food or drink, you finished it outside the arcade. They could still stink of sweat, but it wasn't that bad.
9. Same goes for smoking. I'm sure there were some seedier arcades out there, but arcades were places for kids first and foremost
10. I never envied the attendants. They're not cool nerd types who lean on the machines giving tips, or setting machines on freeplay so they could get some practice in. They're just random retail workers who spend their time either counting tickets or cleaning up puke. Not a fun job.

All in all, I still think they have a place in modern society. My local arcade still gets new machines, even if they're arcade ports of mobile games these days. I wouldn't go there often myself, but they still make great places for a date, or a night out with mates when you're bored of pubs. Fuck the fruit machines though.