Where are all the beat em ups in the arcades?

[lordcookie]

Where have they all gone?

I remember a few years back that in pretty much every arcade you would find at least one beat em up cabinet, be it a VF or Tekken game, or Street Fighter before it. However they have just all disappeared.
The only games in the arcades around Leicester are either driving, shooting or rhythm action games. Oh and slot machines of course.

So why have they gone AWOL?

I cant really come up with an answer other than perhaps they are more skill based than the other games, and casual gamers are put off by them. Thats not to say the other games dont require skill, but they can be picked up and played by anyone where as beat em ups probably need a bit more knowledge.

So are there any fighting games in your local arcades, or is this just a Leicester thing?

[Saurian]

It's because nobody touches them

I used to work in arcades and it pisses me off so much that the British public wont play anything unless it has a gun or steering wheel attached to it. Any game which requires skill or practice is overlooked, but if it has a gun or steering wheel attached they will at least try it once before claiming it's rubbish and walking off...

[metal_mutley]

I agree that it's disgusting. Worse than what Saurian said though, is the amount of gambling machines in arcades. The association of mindlessly dumb 'fruities' with arcade machines is a real shame. You know that when there are no arcades anymore (outside of bowling alleys, natch) that the only cabinets being made will be the slots. A_real_pity.

[stroppa]

my local arcade has 1 VF4 version C and a tekken 4 and nobody touches them. It's all dance games and Driving games up here. Which is fine if your into that I suppose.

[optimusomega]

Where have all the best beatem-ups in the arcade gone? To the home market, the UK arcade (games not slots) scene is more or less dead, maybe games like F-zero and Initial D can change that?..

[Shoju]

They were everwhere in the days of SF2 world warrior. Even newsagents had em.

[Burai]

I'm not surprised people don't play them.

?1 a go on a fighter (or any game) is not acceptable.

[Saurian]

I remember people used to complain at me constantly that my Daytonas were broken - apparently the game drives itself...

Force feedback is beyond most people...

If you want any kind of scene here you have to create it yourself with like minded people. Initial D has done wonders to bring people back to the arcades around London, but the arcades are so unbelievably **** that people wont go out for just one game much longer.

Example: Namco Station is one of the few places in the UK to have Pump It Up Extra - so what do they do? cram it in a corner of the bar downstairs, where the sound of the bar completely drowns it out and under 18s cant play it - twats.

[mid]

Its basically a symptom of the current attitude to arcade games, though.

There is a general feeling out there (admittedly understandable, really) that if you're going to be paying ?1+ a go, that you want to see some fancy hardware that you can't have at home. While I'm impressed with the depth in VF4, and think Soul Calibur is just stunning, I wouldn't really play them in an arcade very much.

While the likes of yourself and Tokuda are at the stage where you really need to play in the arcade against fellow experts to get the level of game you're after, novice/crap people like myself just can't justify getting the initial practice at ?1 a pop when ?20-?40 for the game (if you already have the arcade stick) will allow you to practice in the privacy of your own home for as long as it takes, with movelists and training modes to hand.

DDR genuinely isn't the same game without the metal mat. F355 genuinely isn't the same without the cockpit and force-feedback controls. VF4, particularly if you have sticks at home, really isn't enough to make the difference between ?1 a go and ?15 for life.

[optimusomega]

They were everwhere in the days of SF2 world warrior. Even newsagents had em.

Yep I remeber the days when they even had them in subways

[lordcookie]

I'm not surprised people don't play them.

?1 a go on a fighter (or any game) is not acceptable.

I do agree with you. I guess people probably think ?1 a game is fairer if they are using an expensive peripheral (like a dancemat of gun) rather than just a stick.

The thing is these games were being played 5 years back, and in arcades filled with casual gamers. Its a shame that they are dying out because out of pretty much all the genres they require human competition and the arcade is the ideal environment.

[Saurian]

The reason you play VF4 in the arcade is to challenge good players - any good arcade will have the machine set to 50p per credit as you make all your money on beat em ups by encouraging challenges. You have to be a complete ****ing idiot to think people are going to pay ?1 a credit on a beat em up - and trust me, people dont.

I remember when Segaworld were charging ?1 a credit for VF3 - while Namco Wonderpark were charging 50p. In Segaworld a couple confused tourist would ooccasionally have a go, while in Namco the place was heaving with VF3 challenges and tournaments.

It was so ****ing funny when Segaworld flew a Japanese champion in for an event and NOBODY showed up! ROFLMAO!

Spikeout died in the UK due to the ?1 a credit - Sega insist on pricing games on Model 3 boards higher. Who the **** knows or cares what a Model 3 board is????

[optimusomega]

The reason you play VF4 in the arcade is to challenge good players - any good arcade will have the machine set to 50p per credit as you make all your money on beat em ups by encouraging challenges. You have to be a complete ****ing idiot to think people are going to pay ?1 a credit on a beat em up - and trust me, people dont.

I remember when Segaworld were charging ?1 a credit for VF3 - while Namco Wonderpark were charging 50p. In Segaworld a couple confused tourist would ooccasionally have a go, while in Namco the place was heaving with VF3 challenges and tournaments.

It was so ****ing funny when Segaworld flew a Japanese champion in for an event and NOBODY showed up! ROFLMAO!

Yeah when street was 50p people where having loads of challenges ?1 is just unacceptable, that japanese dude must have been put right off the UK scene ****ing discraceful

[Saurian]

They called me down to challenge him as I was the only VF player in the place (he owned me with Wolf). He ended us being used by Gamesmaster (who staged a complete pisstake of a challenge sesh, most of the players were either button bashers or KOF, SF players) - then Namco used him for a WICKED event!

[stroppa]

how much is a credit in japan?

as in when it's converted to REAL money.