Hello Era,
For about 30 years, arcades were the future. Sure you could have far deeper experiences at home with your single player console RPGs and PC sim games. But in terms of presentation, immersion, and immediate engagement, nothing could come close to the ever growing and diverse arcade catalog.
However, around the turn of the millennium, the tide saw a drastic and irreversible turn. With the adoptions of dedicated GPUs, faster internet connections for online play, and DVD storage, the arcades were matched and eventually surpassed. While this was certainly not the end of arcades, it did definitively conclude their era of technological superiority and future relevance in informing the home video games market.
And yet, 20 years later, where are they? Where are the games? Beyond a handful of collections, you'll find only the slightest sliver of arcade perfect ports available anywhere.
I'd like to conclude this by highlighting games that may players may not be aware of which are deeply important to history of video games. Games that are owned by major publishers and developers and could easily be emulated on any home console or portable of the today.
Burning Rival
This odd fighting game was produced by Yu Suzuki around the exact same time as Virtual Fighter was being developed. Many people have no idea Sega tried to directly combat the popularity of Street Fighter 2 with a 2D fighter of their own. It has never been ported.
Rapid River
To compete with the surging popularity of consoles in the late 1990s, Namco released a series of quirky peripheral based games. Perhaps the most ridiculous of which was Rapid River, where up to two players sat side by side, paddling oars to avoid the dangers of the rapids and even a t-rex. It has never been ported.
Run and Gun 2
Three years after NBA Jam became one of the most popular sports games of all time, Konami decided to give basketball another crack with Run and Gun 2. It's unique behind-the-back perspective and two monitor gimmick stood out, even if the general gameplay was a bit soft. It has never been ported.
Conclusion
Once again, this is only the smallest, narrowest selection. I'm not claiming these are amazing games or that they hold up. What I am saying is that arcade history is nearly completely locked out to the average player. And with MAME proving how even hobbyists can create near perfect emulation, there seems to be less and less rational to ignore a vital thread of video games' success.
In short, as the people who grew up playing these games ages out, there will be even less motivation to officially re-release arcade titles. That concerns me, I hope I'm not alone.
For about 30 years, arcades were the future. Sure you could have far deeper experiences at home with your single player console RPGs and PC sim games. But in terms of presentation, immersion, and immediate engagement, nothing could come close to the ever growing and diverse arcade catalog.
However, around the turn of the millennium, the tide saw a drastic and irreversible turn. With the adoptions of dedicated GPUs, faster internet connections for online play, and DVD storage, the arcades were matched and eventually surpassed. While this was certainly not the end of arcades, it did definitively conclude their era of technological superiority and future relevance in informing the home video games market.
And yet, 20 years later, where are they? Where are the games? Beyond a handful of collections, you'll find only the slightest sliver of arcade perfect ports available anywhere.
I'd like to conclude this by highlighting games that may players may not be aware of which are deeply important to history of video games. Games that are owned by major publishers and developers and could easily be emulated on any home console or portable of the today.
Burning Rival
This odd fighting game was produced by Yu Suzuki around the exact same time as Virtual Fighter was being developed. Many people have no idea Sega tried to directly combat the popularity of Street Fighter 2 with a 2D fighter of their own. It has never been ported.
Rapid River
To compete with the surging popularity of consoles in the late 1990s, Namco released a series of quirky peripheral based games. Perhaps the most ridiculous of which was Rapid River, where up to two players sat side by side, paddling oars to avoid the dangers of the rapids and even a t-rex. It has never been ported.
Run and Gun 2
Three years after NBA Jam became one of the most popular sports games of all time, Konami decided to give basketball another crack with Run and Gun 2. It's unique behind-the-back perspective and two monitor gimmick stood out, even if the general gameplay was a bit soft. It has never been ported.
Conclusion
Once again, this is only the smallest, narrowest selection. I'm not claiming these are amazing games or that they hold up. What I am saying is that arcade history is nearly completely locked out to the average player. And with MAME proving how even hobbyists can create near perfect emulation, there seems to be less and less rational to ignore a vital thread of video games' success.
In short, as the people who grew up playing these games ages out, there will be even less motivation to officially re-release arcade titles. That concerns me, I hope I'm not alone.
