The Great Arcade Comeback & What It Means for Gaming

[LegendofLex]

Ars Technica recently ran a feature called “The surprising, stealth rebirth of the American arcade” that delves into one facet of “social gaming” that in recent years has been largely overlooked: the arcade as a social hub. Nowadays most of us associate arcade games with seedy hotels, movie theater lobbies, and the occasional mall-based establishment, where they still exist but are kept relatively out of the way. Back in the ’70s and ’80s, however, arcades were an integral part of the social scene, a cheap way to blow off steam after a hard day at work.

This kind of “social gaming” never totally died out, but the prevalence of home video game consoles definitely dug into their popularity. The article, however, notes that in recent years, arcade gaming has started to see signs of a comeback. While this may be an indication of the importance of games in social gatherings, I prefer to see it another way: social gatherings are one of the driving factors behind people playing video games.

The Great Arcade Comeback & What it Means for Gaming | GenGAME