A Brief History Of Arcade Games

Ah Arcades; what beautiful memories that me and another fifth of the population have failed to obtain because of our generational differences .Although Arcades were what first popularized video games and made the industry commercially successful, they eventually died off because of advancements of technology and accessibility to video games for the masses. Arcade Machines brought us Pong the very first commercially successful video game to grace the earth and Pacman the first video game character in the early 1980’s.

 Eventually developers were creating video game experiences so advanced they were essentially interactive movies such as Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace, this was much earlier than story driven games were popular like they are nowadays. Unfortunately or fortunately however you take it, Home consoles were popularized and took the focus away from arcade games when the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) was released in 1985. What also sealed the nail in the coffin for arcades was the Sega Genesis which allowed people to play the same games as the arcade systems at home, This essentially allowed more freedom to players because they weren’t required to pay every time they lose in a game and could take their time to explore different strategies and the world around them.

Finally the addition of the internet got rid of the interaction that going to arcades provided as you could get that same interaction with random people online. Arcade machines do still exist but they are nowhere near as popular as they were in the 1980s but there is some standout stuff being put out there for arcade machines only, take Dissidia Final Fantasy (2015) for example, which allows 4 people to battle against one another with gorgeous 3D graphics and tons of characters from the Final Fantasy Series but only in Japan unfortunately. What memories do you have of arcade machines? Let us know down below