What exactly are arcade games? The definition that you’ll find online (typically) is that they’re “Coin-operated games that you typically find installed in public places such as fast food restaurants, movie theaters, bars, and amusement parks”. Now, this definition is still true, because you literally can find arcade games in public places such as restaurants, etc – in fact, the first place I ever found an arcade game was in a Coney Island (a fast food restaurant that I know is very popular in Michigan) around the corner from my home (I can’t remember the exact name of the game it was so long ago but, if I were to take a wild guess it was a game with the main objective of escaping a house all while killing as many zombies as you possibly can). So, without further ado let’s get started on just what exactly it means to be an arcade game in today’s age as well as on the history of arcade games.
What exactly are arcade games?
Above I mentioned that arcade games are coin-operated video games that you find in public places such as restaurants, bars, etc. However, in today’s age (and with the available technology) arcade games have become much more. Games that you could typically find only in
A bit of history on Arcade games
Arcade games were first invented in the 1920s (technically 1909 if you consider skee ball an arcade game. And it is) and came in a wide variety of formats. For instance, the first arcade games were things that we would actually consider to be arcade games. An example of this would be the games that people would find in amusement parks during this period (coin-operated fortune tellers or games that played music). Other examples of arcade games during this period are the ball-toss games, shooting galleries that were also found at amusement parks.
*This bit is coming from research so it’s actually a surprise to me that these games were considered to be what we today call arcade games.
While the arcades during this era were usually fashioned from some form of sturdy wood, eventually (as with any piece of technology) they were improved upon by the inventors and innovators of their time. Soon (around 60 years after the first introduction of arcade games) there was the introduction of
Introduction of technology
The first-ever arcade game to use electromechanical technology was Sega’s (a very popular video and arcade game producer) Periscope. The idea behind including electro-mechanical technology in the production of an arcade game was to provide player’s with a very real gaming experience – it incorporated the use of lights, and plastic waves to give game players the feel of actually sinking a submarine (this was an ingenious move by Sega as it has been somewhat incorporated into cell phone and today’s video games as haptic sensors). So, they are basically the father/mother of today’s haptic technology.
Of course, this game was an instant success as it gave users the “real feel” that they needed to really get into the game they were playing. Besides the fact that it was one of the first games to include feedback during gameplay, it was also one of the first arcade games to actually cost a quarter to play.
After Sega decided to release their version of the coin-operated feedback-featured arcade game they were followed by another popular game producer, Taito. Taito decided to create a 2-person soccer simulation game called Crown Soccer Special. The great thing about Taito’s arcade game was that it was very technology-dependent. It was supposed to mimic association football in that it gave off the experience of actually kicking the football (soccer ball) with electronic pinball flippers.
And this was literally only the beginning. Sega also went on to make other, more advanced first-person shooter games (the first of which was the very popular “Duck Hunt”). This game had zoetrope-like technology that gave the game the appearance of having moving objects on the screen. Besides the “ahead of its time” technology this game featured, it also had the ability to print out the player’s score on a ticket as well as the volume-controllable sound effects.
*according to Google, a zoetrope is best defined as, “A 19th-century optical toy made of a cylinder with a series of photos on the inner surface that, when viewed through slits with the cylinder rotating, gives an impression of continuous motion”. Shortly after releasing Duck Hunt, Sega also released a popular game titled, Grand Prix. This game basically had first-person viewing capabilities, a dashboard with a racing wheel and accelerator, as well as electronic sound.
The following other games were also released with relatively advanced technology by the following companies before the year 1980:
*hint: these were mostly electronic video games. This shows how quickly video game production changed simply because of the fact that not long before their production most arcade games used electro-mechanical tech.
Jet Rocket – Created by Sega and featured a combat flight simulator with cockpit controls that allowed the user to control the motion (movement) of the aircraft as well as shoot missiles towards targets.
Killer Shark – Created by Sega and was a first-person shooter that used electro-mechanical technology to assist in the animation of the guns and targets.
Wild Gunman – This game was created by Nintendo and used full-motion video production to show live (moving) cowboys on the display screen. This was actually where technology started getting interesting.
F-1 – Namco, a popular video game producer made this game – and successfully so, as one of the last popular electro-mechanical arcade games. For a little info on F-1 it was basically a racing game that was created by this popular gaming producer that was distributed by Atari.
Space invaders – The emergence of Space invaders was instrumental in the fall of electromechanical games.
Evolution of arcade games throughout history
(1909 – 1928) Physical games – Examples are Skee Ball and Size of the Alley
(1931 – 1947) Coin-Operated – Were heavily regulated by states (because they were considered gambling implements) and had games such as Pinball Machines.
(1971 – 1975) Coin-operated video games – These were games such as Galaxy Game, Pong, and Gun Fight. These games had computer processors, their version of graphics cards, and in the last game mentioned, included a microprocessor. It was during this period when companies really began to focus on developing different versions of video games.
(1978 – 1999) Golden Age of Arcade Game development – This was the period when really popular and well-developed games such as Space Invaders (one of the most popular games of the 1970s in fact), Tempest, Pac-Man (the most successful video game ever), Asteroids, and Donkey Kong were produced. This was also the period when parents decided to lash out at the gaming industry due to the effect that said games were having on their children (of course there were adverse effects if games weren’t played in moderation).
Aside from this, several other switches were being made in the gaming industry, such as the creation of fighting games (Mortal Kombat and Virtual Fighter) as well as the popular Dance Dance Revolution. The creation of fighting games was a pivotal point in arcading history as it made most other corporations change their focus from the traditional, happy game to other, more involved fighting games. Let us also not forget that this was the period when the MAME (or Multiple Arcade Machine Emulators) were beginning to be built.
(2000-Current Time) Gaming got way more involved – With current and past technology, gaming tech easily got way more involved than they previously were. Games such as Strike Fighter, Mario Kart Arcade GP (a game with built-in cameras for profile creation), and Deal or No Deal were created. Games have not only gotten more involved but they have also gotten more social as scores have the ability to be shared through social media. Let’s also not forget the introduction of 4D gaming experiences such as Dark Escape 4D, which gave the ability to totally be involved in the gaming process (it literally allows players to have surround sound, 3D visual experience, vibrations or haptic experience, heart rate monitors, as well as air blasts for a more involved experience).
Conclusion
If you weren’t aware of just what exactly an arcade game was before reading this article, now you are. It’s a method of gaming that has consistently evolved with the development of technology. As you can see, these games have changed a ton over time and started out just as an attraction that you could play at circus events. Over time, the idea of arcade gaming has changed quite a bit (from standard physically exerting games to 4D realistic gaming experiences). And if you keep your ear to the pulse of the gaming market (or watch this and several other gaming sites) you’re sure to run into other, better gaming experiences.
The information in this article was sourced from Wikipedia
Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcade_game
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_electronics
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