So I went to go visit my hometown for an extended four-day weekend full of visits with my creepy, bipolar family and craziness with my old friends. When you’re gone from home for a while, you really want to make the most of it, which results in some crazy, hectic schedule where you feel like you’re being pulled from all sides. Though no matter how hectic things get and how thin I’m stretched, I always make sure to set aside four hours for Manitou Springs, Colorado. This trip was no exception, aside from hearing something that has been a little heavy on my heart since I left.

This past weekend I was just a tad shocked to learn that a piece of Manitou’s history was going up for sale to the highest bidder. This piece of history isn’t a statue, nor is it a building of any sort. This particular landmark happens to be a large pavilion that houses what I tout as “The world’s greatest arcade in town”. The Manitou Penny arcade has been home to antiquities, the ultra rare, and of course the latest and greatest. Not only does this particular have a ton of arcade games, but it also has a room full of pinball machines and other oddities dating back to the 1920’s. All of it takes up half of a block and five small buildings. For just a penny, you can take a look into “The Sultan’s Harem” where you’ll find a neat little surprise – one of the harem girls split in half and a rubber alien standing in her place. Trust me, it’s a lot cooler than I make it out to be. There are also other crazy love machines, games where you shoot BB guns at targets, and miscellaneous picture shows showing porn from the 1920’s. The crown jewel, however, would be the horse-racing derby. Appraised at $400,000 US, the derby game is the only one of its kind and was brought over from England in the 1940’s to the arcade that calls it home.

Now this arcade is on the auction block where the next buyer will likely turn the rooms that house these games into the new-age / granola hippie stores that make up about 80% of Manitou’s current merchant clientele. Worse than that, it’s only going for a fraction of what it’s worth.

As soon as I heard about this, some friends and I got into a conversation about the death of the arcade in addition to waxing nostalgic. As a child of the 80’s and early 90’s, I fondly remember the days where there were arcades on practically every corner of my hometown, at every 7-11, bowling alley, or gimmicky pizza place with scary animatronics animals that catered to my generation. I played my first arcade game at 3 years old, my dad of all people introduced me to my lifelong passion. When I was in the 4^th grade, my parents would drop me off at the local arcade where I could play all day for a very enticing $3.50. Yes, the arcade was my babysitter for a good part of my childhood. When I got into middle school, almost every kid in my grade would congregate at the local 7-11 after school where we used out unspent lunch money competing for bragging rights in Street Fighter II. Hell, now in my adulthood I own five arcade machines that take up what should be my dining room. That’s right, instead of eating at a table, I eat on the couch thanks to my gaming habit. Arcades have been an integral part of my life. The arcade to me seemed more social than Xbox Live will ever be. Competing for bragging rights while defeating all comers who called their place in line by placing quarters on the machine. It was an environment that can only be rivaled by equally social geek activities such as LAN parties. To live those days again…

Now we have consoles that push more power and truly bring arcade experiences home. Admittedly, I’m a huge fan of Xbox Live Arcade and I salivate for every classic game that is released there; but it’ll never compare to the sights, sounds, and smells of the arcade. As we all know, the arcade isn’t actually dying, but it’s about as sick as an overweight 84-year old paraplegic that washes himself daily with a rag on a stick. The arcade has become a cess pool of shooting games sporting gimmicky and elaborate firearm mockups and DDR machines galore, including any and all clones and spoofs. Don’t even get me started on the hundreds of lame redemption games that never really want to put out. The arcade has changed from a showcase of the truly cutting edge to an unintentionally funny caricature of itself. Of course, these elaborate gimmick games come at a much larger price than the normal black monoliths that could easily be traded out and converted in the 80’s. Your typical Silent Scope or DDR clone can easily go for $10,000 US with little-to-no chance of the operator breaking even. It’s a trend that is slowly tightening the noose around the industries’ neck and the trap door below it is bound to open at any second. Pretty soon, arcades will go the way of Monchichis, 8-tracks, and betamax.

Lately, the gaming industry is constantly being compared to the movie industry and it’s always brought to our attention that the game industry turns significantly more profit from it. Allow me to play a game called “what if?” with you. What if the game industry took a cue from the movie industry for once? Developers and publishers could use the arcade to release their newest shooters and action games, thus turning them into the video game equivalent of movie theaters to highlight the latest releases and newest technology. Of course, not all games would be able to transition to the arcades, but action games, shooters, and fighting games could all take part. To look at it another way, people watch movies at home by themselves or with friends…but you can never talk through them. People can get their pasty white asses to the local arcade, play the newest shooter, and actually socialize.

In the meantime, developers and publishers would prepare the home releases of these games with the usual assortment of extras similar to a DVD release. Now I’m no economist, but at least part of this makes enough sense to actually work. Modern arcade cabinets in Korea and Japan are modular and can easily be converted into the new flavor of the month with little-to-no effort. Operators would save a butt-ton of money and can turn profit while developers reap the rewards and let the buzz build. Just think of bringing your favorite arcade game home with a bevy of new extras. Maybe the game could be compatible with your PS3 XD card and you’ll unlock new features just by playing the arcade game. With this new model, the arcade may become a prominent entity again where gamers can get together, pwn each other, and talk smack all in person all while home consoles can prosper.

The arcade doesn’t have to die as much as it needs a rebranding. Not only will it get gamers to go outside and become social, but it’ll also allow a nice alternative from the anonymity that results in childish behavior that we all know and love from Xbox Live. Gamers can have a proving ground to test their mad skill and dole out their smack talk in person. Could you imagine if the Wii hardware could have been demoed in an arcade release just a couple of months before it launched? It would have piqued the gaming communities’ curiosity much like other motion-sensing games like Police 911 and MoCap Boxing received back when they were released. What about an arcade game that showcased the insanely expensive PS3 hardware? Maybe people would actually buy into it more had Motorstorm been an arcade release. Sure, there are development costs to think about, release dates to worry about, and man hours to invest, but the arcade is an important part of gaming culture. Maybe I’m just a stodgy old guy trying to cling to the old ways, but the arcade industry needs to live. Now if you don’t mind, I’ve got a business loan to apply for…

- Brad Hicks