During most of their history, Video Arcade cabinets have been stuck in the shadows of the home console and the PC, most often standing alone in the corners of diners and bowling alleys. Even when they're gathered together in a hall, often they are in reality attached to some other venue of entertainment, like a cinema.
However, between the late '70s and the mid '90s, arcades were actual, standalone venues, and they were extremely popular. If a town had a bar and a library, they likely also had an arcade. Video Arcades were a third arm of videogames in general, along with consoles and PC games.
Today, while still popular in Japan, most arcades in Europe and America closed down by the time of the Playstation, Nintendo 64 and the Saturn. What I'm asking is: What would it take for Video Arcades to remain as big as they were in the '80s, especially the early '80s, at the peak of their popularity? With more, larger companies focused on making cabinets, how might the technology differ? Which companies would flourish and fail? How might pop culture be affected?
However, between the late '70s and the mid '90s, arcades were actual, standalone venues, and they were extremely popular. If a town had a bar and a library, they likely also had an arcade. Video Arcades were a third arm of videogames in general, along with consoles and PC games.
Today, while still popular in Japan, most arcades in Europe and America closed down by the time of the Playstation, Nintendo 64 and the Saturn. What I'm asking is: What would it take for Video Arcades to remain as big as they were in the '80s, especially the early '80s, at the peak of their popularity? With more, larger companies focused on making cabinets, how might the technology differ? Which companies would flourish and fail? How might pop culture be affected?