Arcade games

Arcade games, historically, emerged as early as the late 1920's where you could find theme parks which combined mechanical form of gaming machines and a great fun atmosphere. This was the beginning of modern gaming. The first pinball machines appeared in the and were mainly coin-operated. To play the game, you sloted in your coin or token and when that run out the game ended. You then had to purchase further tokens if so desired. Now, most pinball machines use solid state electronics to operate. Scores and bonuses are all electronically controlled.

In the seventies, one of the major arcade games manufacturers Atari, which was started by Ted Dabney and Nolan Busnell dominated the arcade games industry. With viral marketing and the sheer addictive nature of these games, - including The Pacman series, Donkey Kong, Pong and Space Invaders - many video arcade game machines sprouted up all over cities especially popular social hangouts such as bars, college campuses, supermarkets, movie theaters and gambling houses. In fact, te presence of these machines in seedier places rather led to a dip in its popularity as increasing people perception of it changed. The advanced gaming console technology also contributed to the decline in the popularity of these slot machines.

With this decline in fortunes, dedicated arcade games businesses started to suffer and many had to close down or diversify. Diversification involved offering other attractions such as rides with arcade games being only a small part of the business and at least offering arcade lovers to still indulge in their passion. Most of these centers are so different, they are no longer what they used to be.