After 56 years, Sega has sold off its remaining arcade stock to Genda and plans to remove its name from arcade machines around Japan. Japanese fans of Sega have had a few things to say, including:
“No matter how you look at this, it can’t be helped that arcades are done.”
“There is no reason to go to arcades now.”
“This is truly the end.”
Are these arcade fans overdramatic or is it the beginning of the end of gaming arcades?
Inspired by this news, MyGaming decided to look at the state of gaming arcades in South Africa and determine if they are either a thing of the past or not.
A Brief History
Gaming Arcades shaped a whole generation of modern-day gamers. Often located in shopping malls near food courts, arcades provided kids with something to do whilst their mom did grocery shopping.
Pinball machines in the 1930s set the arcade trend in motion, and by the late ’60s, games had become more graphically advanced and interactive.
In 1971, Computer Space was the first commercially sold, coin-operated video game and set the foundations of the industry.
At the low cost of 20c, kids and adults alike were introduced to gaming through games such as Pacman, Crazy Climbers and Donkey Kong.
The “Golden Age”
Between the late 1970s and 1980s, arcades were going through a golden age. In South Africa, arcades like “Magic Company” and “Wonderland” saw a vast increase in players.
This was primarily due to the accessibility of gaming arcades. Low to middle-income families could engage with video games for the first time.
If you could not afford an NES, you could still enjoy games with friends.
The legendary octopus floor of Cape Town’s Wonderland
Cape Towns N1 City Mall Wonderland was a hallmark of arcade gaming in South Africa, with two floors filled with 100s of different games.
Each area had a different theme, from underwater, space and castle themed interiors.
Communities of like-minded fans gathered to arcades like Wonderland and developed a fan club around specific games.
Communities formed around dancing games, platforming speed-runners and fighting games.
One of the most significant groups was founded around games such as Mortal Kombat, King of Fighters and Capcom’s Street Fighter 2.
The turning point
The introduction of home entertainment systems affected gaming arcades quite significantly.
This, paired with South Africa being late to the party when new arcade titles were released, reduced the number of visitors to gaming arcades.
The South African Fighting Game Community (FGC) is an excellent example of how arcade gaming slowly started to drop off.
The FGC missed out on major fighting titles like Street Fighter 3, King of Fighters XI and Tekken 6. This put the FGC in a corner, and they had to continue to play on either consoles or emulators.
The current state
In South Africa, arcade gaming is still hanging on.
The Fun Company continues to have 13 branches, primarily across Gauteng and secondly KZN. Plus, the Magic Company has 17 branches, often located at or near casinos.
The Fun Company now offers laser tag, bowling, bumper cards, 4D-experieinces, trampoline parks and arcade games. The price to paly an arcade game at the Fun Company ranges between R5 to R25 depending on the title you want to play.
The Magic Company offers very similar services but arcade games are not even mentioned on their website.
From personal experience, it is more often the bowling alley or bumper cars that makes me want to visit an arcade, and I think many people share this sentiment.
I can assume that we are spoilt for choice with Steam and Xbox Game Pass, but if I were from a different generation, I would rest easy knowing that I could go to a local mall and find myself in a dark, carpeted room playing games that take me back to my childhood.
A home bar-top Street Fighter 2 arcade system
On a side note, there continues to be a community of avid arcade fans who collect arcade machines or play through emulators. South African websites like Home of Arcadia, Arcade Blaster and Game Over continue to sell classic video arcade machines.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Loading ...
