Victory Game Center

Alex Kierkegaard wrote: Understand that arcade operators want the player to die (and as quickly as possible).

Understand also that players do not want to die.

Understand finally that the developers, whose job, as we have seen, is to please these two sets of demanding customers, have to strike a compromise, and the only satisfactory compromise that could be struck under the circumstances is:

Only the skilled may live -- the rest will die.

This harsh statement may as well have been engraved above the entrance of every arcade joint that ever existed. It is a direct consequence of the arcade industry's business model, and forms the core of a formula around which all arcade games are built. It is responsible for the magic of arcade gaming.

But this magic cannot be recreated outside the environment that gave birth to it -- at least not without conscious and disciplined effort on the part of both developers and players.

Alex Kierkegaard wrote: To understand the essence of arcade gaming you must never continue.

Like, ever.

Machiguchi Hiroyasu wrote: In the world of arcade games, you’re judged under two different standards: one is the strict question of whether the game made income for the operator, and the other is whether the players liked it. And sometimes there is a gap between these two. Its especially apparent lately. There’s various aspects of arcade gaming… there are games that draw a low income but are loved by players, and there are also games that are popular but have a low replay value, so their income ends up being low. Gradius was very popular, but it had a low replay value and didn’t draw much income. Still, I think it made on average 18000 yen in a day.

From our perspective as game designers, we felt that a game where “the better you are, the longer you can play” was best. But its very difficult to do that now. So I think games you can play for a long time are being left to home console games. However, naturally we want those players who love arcade games to come back to the game center, so even if the profit falls a bit, and the replay value is low, I think games you can play for a long time are necessary.

Occam wrote:

Servbot wrote: Never enough quarters. :(

That's not how it works. You are supposed to 1CC them

sphinx wrote: me and lots of my friends used to finish games on one quarter at our local arcade. The trick was never use coins to continue,

—What is the appeal of the STG genre, in your opinion?

KK: I think it’s the fact that with repeated attempts, you will always steadily improve. How can I make this scoring section a little easier? This part is a little difficult, how can I find a safer route out of it? All that trial and error is trackable by watching your score go up, or your progress through the stages. I think that sense of accomplishment you get from reaching a new stage or new high score is the unique appeal of STG.

Willie Clark wrote: Meanwhile, combination arcade bars are springing up across the country, bringing their own methods of monetizing games with them, along with other changes to pull the machines in line with more adult — and modern — usage.

Like cupholders. Early arcade manufacturers didn't quite have the foresight to include a place for people to set their beers, and adding the cupholders hopefully convinces patrons that those expensive machines aren't the best place for setting (or potentially spilling) your drink.

Willie Clark wrote: It's akin to taking fragile dinosaur fossils from a museum collection and throwing them into the middle of a party.

Willie Clark wrote: Charging by the game ensures that each machine regularly becomes available to new players, where with free-to-play models, people could sit on a machine all day, leaving other customers waiting for a machine they wanted to play. Requiring people to pay for each play keeps that flow a little smoother.