Arcade stories

Arcades (or amusement arcades) are dedicated gaming destinations that feature a range of coin-operated activities and games.

The arcade of today has its origins in the Penny Arcades of the early 20th century. These featured a selection of mechanical budget-friendly games with simple objectives, novelty automation, and coin-operated sideshows. As these venues started to source electro-mechanical games in the 1970s, like Atari’s Pong, video arcades became popular with teens. The following two decades are often classed as the ‘golden era’. Household names such as Asteroids, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, and Space Invaders became commonplace in the US and Europe.

The 1980s also saw the start of innovation within sound and graphics, presenting more challenging games and, thus, the element of repeatability and replays for operators. The last decade of the millennium saw new game categories become popular such as fighting, racing and sports.

Modern-day arcades have a wide variety of machine types including slots, fruit machines, grabbers and pinball machines. Redemption games, with performance, usually measured in points, often have prizes, including sweets and soft toys, with tickets exchangeable for bigger prizes like electronics.

Depending on legislation, some games with jackpots or based on adult themes may be age-restricted. Those with a large proportion of such games may be classed as Adult Gaming Centres or Casinos. The latter usually includes table games such as Roulette and Poker.

Arcades have developed in recent decades to offer a range of additional experiences, with those in larger sites commonly referred to as Family Entertainment Centres (FECs for short). These may have additional attractions not found in arcades. For example, rides, bowling, laser tag, escape rooms, or VR/Mixed Reality experiences.