An arcade video game takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. All arcade video games are coin-operated or accept other means of payment, housed in an arcade cabinet, and located in amusement arcades alongside other kinds of arcade games. Until the early 2000s, arcade video games were the largest[1] and most technologically advanced[2][3] segment of the video game industry.
Early prototypical entries Galaxy Game and Computer Space in 1971 established the principle operations for arcade games, and Atari's Pong in 1972 is recognized as the first successful commercial arcade video game. Improvements in computer technology and gameplay design led to a golden age of arcade video games, the exact dates of which are debated but range from the late 1970s to mid-1980s. This golden age includes Space Invaders, Pac-Man, and Donkey Kong. The arcade industry had a resurgence from the early 1990s to mid-2000s, including Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, and Dance Dance Revolution, but ultimately declined in the Western world as competing home video game consoles such as the SonyPlayStation and MicrosoftXbox increased in their graphics and gameplay capability and decreased in cost. Nevertheless, Japan, China, and South Korea retain a strong arcade industry in the present day.[4][citation needed]
Pong is the first commercially successful arcade video game
Games of skill were popular amusement-park midway attractions from the 19th century on. With the introduction of electricity and coin-operated machines, they facilitated a viable business. When pinball machines with electric lights and displays were introduced in 1933 (but without the user-controller flippers which would not be invented until 1947) these machines were seen as games of luck. Numerous states and cities treated them as amoral playthings for rebellious young people, and banned them into the 1960s and 1970s.[5]
Electro-mechanical games (EM games) appeared in arcades in the mid-20th century. Following Sega's EM game Periscope (1966), the arcade industry experienced a "technological renaissance" driven by "audio-visual" EM novelty games, establishing the arcades as a suitable environment for the introduction of commercial video games in the early 1970s.[6] In the late 1960s, college student Nolan Bushnell had a part-time job at an arcade where he became familiar with EM games such as Chicago Coin's racing gameSpeedway (1969), watching customers play and helping to maintain the machinery, while learning the game business.[7]
The early mainframe game Spacewar! (1962) inspired the first commercial arcade video game, Computer Space (1971), created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney and released by Nutting Associates.[8] It was demonstrated at the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) show in October 1971.[9] Another Spacewar-inspired coin-operated video game, Galaxy Game, was demonstrated at Stanford University in November 1971. Bushnell and Dabney followed their Computer Space success to create - with the help of Allan Alcorn - a table-tennis game, Pong, released in 1972. Pong became a commercial success, leading numerous other coin-op manufacturers to enter the market.[8]
The video game industry transitioned from discrete integrated circuitry to programmable microprocessors in the mid-1970s, starting with Gun Fight in 1975. The arcade industry entered a "Golden Age" in 1978 with the release of Taito's Space Invaders, which introduced many novel gameplay features - including a scoreboard. From 1978 to 1982, several other major arcade-games from Namco, Atari, Williams Electronics, Stern Electronics, and Nintendo were all considered blockbusters, particularly Namco's Pac-Man (1980), which became a fixture in popular culture. Across North America and Japan, dedicated video-game arcades appeared and arcade-game cabinets appeared in many smaller storefronts. By 1981, the arcade video-game industry was worth US$8 billion in the US.[10]
The novelty of arcade games waned sharply after 1982 due to several factors, including market saturation of arcades and arcade games, a moral panic over video games (similar to fears raised over pinball machines in the decades prior), and the 1983 video game crash as the home-console market impacted arcades. The arcade market had recovered by 1986, with the help of software-conversion kits, the arrival of popular beat 'em up games (such as Kung-Fu Master (1984) and Renegade (1986-1987)), and advanced motion simulator games (such as Sega's "taikan" games including Hang-On (1985), Space Harrier (1985), and Out Run (1986)). However, the growth of home video-game systems such as the Nintendo Entertainment System led to another brief arcade decline toward the end of the 1980s.[11]
Arcade games continued to improve with the development of technology and of gameplay. In the early 1990s, the release of Capcom's Street Fighter II established the modern style of fighting games and led to a number of similar games such as Mortal Kombat, Fatal Fury, Killer Instinct, Virtua Fighter, and Tekken, creating a new renaissance in the arcades.[12][13] Another factor was realism,[14] including the "3D Revolution" from 2D and pseudo-3D graphics to "true" real-time3D polygon graphics.[15][16] This was largely driven by a technological arms-race between Sega and Namco.[17] During the early 1990s games such as Sega's Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter popularized 3D-polygon technology in arcades. 3D graphics later became popular in console and computer games by the mid-1990s,[18] though arcade systems such as the Sega Model 3 remained considerably more advanced than home systems in the late 1990s.[2][3] Until about 1996, arcade video-games had remained the largest segment of the global video-game industry. Arcades declined in the late 1990s, surpassed by the console market for the first time around 1997–1998.[1]
Since the 2000s, arcade games have taken different routes globally. In the United States, arcades have become niche markets as they compete with the home-console market, and they have adapted other business models, such as providing other entertainment options or adding prize redemptions.[19] In Japan and China,[citation needed] where arcades continue to flourish, games like Dance Dance Revolution and The House of the Dead aim to deliver tailored experiences that players cannot easily have at home.[20]
Technology
The inside of a Neo Geo
Virtually all modern arcade games (other than the very traditional fair midway) make extensive use of solid state electronics, integrated circuits, and monitor screens, all installed inside an arcade cabinet.
With the exception of Galaxy Game and Computer Space, which were built around small form-factor mainframe computers, the first arcade games are based on combinations of multiple discrete logic chips, such as transistor–transistor logic (TTL) chips. Designing an arcade game was more about the combination of these TTL chips and other electronic components to achieve the desired effect on screen. More complex gameplay required significantly more TTL components to achieve this result. By the mid-1970s, the first inexpensive programmable microprocessors had arrived on the market. The first microprocessor-based video game is Midway's Gun Fight in 1975 (a conversion of Taito's Western Gun), and with the advent of Space Invaders and the golden era, microprocessor-based games became typical.[21]:64 Early arcade games were also designed around raster graphics displayed on a cathode-ray tube (CRT) display. Many games of the late 1970s and early 1980s use special displays that rendered vector graphics, though these waned by the mid-1980s as display technology on CRTs improved.[22] Prior to the availability of color CRT or vector displays, some arcade cabinets have a combination of angled monitor positioning, one-way mirrors, and clear overlays to simulate colors and other graphics onto the gameplay field.[23]
Coin-operated arcade video games from the 1990s to the 2000s generally use custom hardware often with multiple CPUs, highly specialized sound and graphics chips, and the latest in expensive computer graphics display technology. This allows more complex graphics and sound than contemporary video game consoles or personal computers. Many arcade games since the 2000s run on modified video game console hardware (such as the Sega NAOMI or Triforce) or gaming PC components (such as the Taito Type X). Many arcade games have more immersive and realistic game controls than PC or console games. This includes specialized ambiance or control accessories such as fully enclosed dynamic cabinets with force feedback controls, dedicated lightguns, rear-projection displays, reproductions of automobile or airplane cockpits, motorcycle or horse-shaped controllers, or highly dedicated controllers such as dancing mats and fishing rods. These accessories are usually too bulky, expensive, and specialized to be used with typical home PCs and consoles. Arcade makers experiment with virtual reality technology. Arcades have progressed from using coins as credits to smart cards that hold the virtual currency of credits.
Modern arcade cabinets use flat panel displays instead of cathode-ray tubes. Internet services such as ALL.Net, NESiCAxLive, e-Amusement and NESYS, allow the cabinets to download updates or new games, do online multiplayer gameplay, save progress, unlock content, or earn credits.
Genres
Sega Rally arcade racing games at the Veljekset Keskinen department store in Tuuri, Alavus, Finland in 2017
Many arcade games have short levels, simple and intuitive control schemes, and rapidly increasing difficulty. The classic formula for a successful arcade video game is "easy to learn, difficult to master"[24] along with a "multiple life, progressively difficult level" paradigm.[25] This is due to the environment of the arcade, where the player is essentially renting the game for as long as their in-game avatar can stay alive or until they run out of tokens. Games on consoles or PCs can be referred to as "arcade games" if they share these qualities, or are direct ports of arcade games.[citation needed]
Arcade racing games often have sophisticated motion simulatorarcade cabinets,[26][27] a simplified physics engine, and short learning time when compared with more realistic racing simulations. Cars can turn sharply without braking or understeer, and the AI rivals are sometimes programmed so they are always near the player with a rubberband effect. Other types of arcade-style games include music games (particularly rhythm games), and mobile and casual games with intuitive controls and short sessions.[citation needed]
Action
The term "arcade game" can refer to an action video game designed to play similarly to an arcade game with frantic, addictive gameplay.[28] The focus of arcade action games is on the user's reflexes, and many feature very little puzzle-solving, complex thinking, or strategy skills.[citation needed] These include fighting games often played with an arcade controller, beat 'em up games including fast-paced hack and slash games, and light gun rail shooters and "bullet hell" shooters with intuitive controls and rapidly increasing difficulty.[citation needed]
Many arcade combat flight simulation games have sophisticated hydraulic motion simulator cabinets,[26][27] and simplified physics and handling. Arcade flight games are meant to have an easy learning curve, in order to preserve their action component. Increasing numbers of console flight video games, such as Crimson Skies, Ace Combat, and Secret Weapons Over Normandy indicate the falling of manual-heavy flight sim popularity in favor of instant arcade flight action.[29]
A modern subgenre of action games called "hack and slash" or "character action games" represent an evolution of traditional arcade action games, and are sometimes considered a subgenre of beat 'em up brawlers. This subgenre of games was largely defined by Hideki Kamiya, creator of the Devil May Cry and Bayonetta franchises.[30]
Industry
Arcade games are found in restaurants, bowling alleys, college campuses, video rental shops, dormitories, laundromats, movie theaters, supermarkets, shopping malls, airports, and other retail environments. They are popular in public places where people are likely to have free time.[31]
Their profitability is expanded by the popularity of conversions of arcade games for home-based platforms. In 1997, WMS Industries (parent company of Midway Games) reported that if more than 5,000 arcade units are sold, at least 100,000 home version units will be sold.[32]
The American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA) is a trade association established in 1981[33] that represents the American coin-operated amusement machine industry,[34] including 120 arcade game distributors and manufacturers.[35] The Japan Amusement Machine and Marketing Association (JAMMA) represents the Japanese arcade industry. Arcade machines may have standardized connectors or interfaces such as JAMMA, or JVS, that help with quick replacement of game systems or boards in arcade cabinets. The game boards or arcade boards may themselves allow for games to be replaced via game cartridges or discs.
Conversions, emulators, and recreations
Prior to the 2000s, successful video games were often converted to a home video game console or home computer. Many of the initial Atari VCS games, for example, were conversions of Atari's success arcade games. Arcade game manufacturers that were not in the home console or computer business found licensing of their games to console manufacturers to be a successful business model, as console manufacturer competitors would vie for rights to more popular games. Coleco famously bested Atari to secure the rights to convert Nintendo's Donkey Kong, which it subsequently included as a pack-in game for the ColecoVision to challenge the VCS.[36]
Arcade conversions typically had to make concessions for the lower computational power and capabilities of the home console, such as limited graphics or alterations in gameplay. Such conversions had mixed results. The Atari VCS conversion of Space Invaders was considered the VCS's killer application, helping to quadruple the VCS sales in 1980.[37] In contrast, the VCS conversion of Pac-Man in 1982 was highly criticized for technical flaws due to VCS limitations such as flickering ghosts and simplified gameplay. Though Pac-Man was the best-selling game on the VCS, it eroded consumer confidence in Atari's games and partially contributed to the 1983 crash.[38]
The need for arcade conversions began to wane as arcade game manufacturers like Nintendo, Sega, and SNK entered the home console market and used similar technology within their home consoles as found at the arcade, negating the need to simplify the game. Concessions still may be made for a home release; notably, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System conversion of Mortal Kombat removed much of the gore from the arcade version to meet Nintendo's quality control standards.[39]
Using emulation, companies like Arcade1Up have produced at-scale or reduced-scale recreations of arcade cabinets using modern technology, such as LCD monitors and lightweight construction. These cabinets are typically designed to resemble the original arcade game cabinets, but may also support multiple related games. These cabinets can be offered in diverse and miniaturized styles, such as table-mounted and wall-mounted versions.[42]
Highest-grossing
For arcade games, success is usually judged by either the number of arcade hardware units sold to operators, or the amount of revenue generated. The revenue can include the coin drop earnings from coins (such as quarters, dollars, or 100 yen coins) inserted into machines,[43] and/or the earnings from hardware sales with each unit costing thousands of dollars. Most of the revenue figures listed below are incomplete as they only include hardware sales revenue, due to a lack of available data for coin drop earnings which typically account for the majority of a hit arcade game's gross revenue. This list only includes arcade games that either sold more than 10,000 hardware units or generated a revenue of more than $10 million. Most of the games listed were released between the golden age of arcade video games (1978–1984) and the 1990s.
These are the combined hardware sales of at least two or more arcade games that are part of the same franchise. This list only includes franchises that have sold at least 5,000 hardware units or grossed at least $10 million revenues.
Franchise
Original release year
Total hardware units sold
Estimated gross revenue (US$ without inflation)
Estimated gross revenue (US$ with 2019 inflation)[44]
StarHorse2: New Generation – 7,819 units from April 2005 to June 2006 (6,020 units in fiscal year ended March 2006,[72] and 1,799 units during April–June 2006)[73]
StarHorse2: Second Fusion – 10,260 units from April 2006 to March 2007 (8,105 conversion kits during April–December 2006,[74] and 2,155 body and satellite units in fiscal year ending March 2007)[75]
From April 2007 to March 2008: 10,275 units (756 body and satellite units of StarHorse2: Second Fusion during April–September 2007,[76] and 9,519 conversion kits in fiscal year ended March 2008)[77]
From April 2009 to December 2009: 10,657 units of StarHorse2: Fifth Expansion[78]
↑ 5.05.1World Club Champion Football: Intercontinental Clubs
World Club Champion Football: Intercontinental Clubs 2006–2007 – 831 units from June 2008 to March 2009[132]
World Club Champion Football: Intercontinental Clubs 2008–2009 – 858 units from April 2009 to December 2009[78]
↑ 6.06.1World Club Champion Football series, unit sales:
World Club Champion Football: European Clubs 2004–2005 – 514 units in fiscal year ending March 2006[72]
World Club Champion Football: European Clubs 2004–2005 Ver. 2 – 276 units during April–September 2006 (240 satellite units during April–June 2006,[92] and 36 body units during April–September 2006)[73]
World Club Champion Football: Intercontinental Clubs 2008–2009 – 1,689 units from June 2008 to December 2009[n 5]
↑ 7.07.17.2World Club Champion Football: Intercontinental Clubs
480 million player cards sold. Prices could range from ¥300 for a single card from an arcade machine to ¥1000 for a starter pack.[93] A¥1000 starter pack consists of 11 player cards, equivalent to ¥90.91 each.[94] Total revenues from player card sales thus range from ¥43.64 billion (at ¥90.91 per card) to ¥144 billion (at ¥300 per card). In US dollars, this is equivalent to a range of $552.3 million to $1.82244 billion.[81] The lowest value of $552.3 million will be assumed.
World Club Champion Football: Intercontinental Clubs revenues from April 2009 to June 2012 – $150.1 million[n 7]
↑Smith, Alexander (November 27, 2019). They Create Worlds: The Story of the People and Companies That Shaped the Video Game Industry. 1: 1971 – 1982. CRC Press. pp. 129–135. ISBN978-1-138-38990-8.
↑Williams, Andrew (16 March 2017). History of Digital Games: Developments in Art, Design and Interaction. CRC Press. pp. 143–6, 152–4. ISBN978-1-317-50381-1.
↑Gains, Raiford (November 2015). "Beyond the Bezel: Coin-Op Arcade Video Game Cabinets as Design History". Journal of Design History28 (4): epv036. doi:10.1093/jdh/epv036.
↑Wolf, Mark J. P. (2008). The video game explosion: a history from PONG to Playstation and beyond. ABC-CLIO. p. 275. ISBN978-0-313-33868-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=XiM0ntMybNwC&pg=PA275. Retrieved 18 February 2016. "What are the best-selling video games? There are a number of factors to consider when attempting to answer this question. First, there are several different types of video games, which makes comparisons difficult, or perhaps unfair. Arcade games are played for a quarter a play (although some are 50 cents, or even more), while home games are bought outright, and their systems must be purchased as well."
↑ 48.048.1Hansen, Dusty (2016). Game On! Video Game History From Pong and Pac-Man to Mario, Minecraft and More. MacMillan Publishing Group, LLC. p. 11. ISBN978-1-250-08095-0.
↑Ste Curran (2004). Game plan: great designs that changed the face of computer gaming. Rotovision. p. 38. ISBN2-88046-696-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=TXcWlWkIZ0AC&pg=PA38. Retrieved 18 February 2016. "When Street Fighter II′ (pronounced street fighter two dash) was released just a short time later, it sold around 140,000 units, at ¥160.000 (c. US$1300 / £820) each. The figures were beyond massive – they were simply unheard of. Capcom's Titanic wasn't sinking. Anything but. The game was a runaway success in its territory of choice, bringing Western gamers as much joy as it had in the East."
↑Ashcraft, Brian; Snow, Jean (2008). Arcade Mania: The Turbo-charged World of Japan's Game Centers (1st ed.). Tokyo: Kodansha. ISBN978-4-7700-3078-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=wX8kAQAAIAAJ. Retrieved 12 May 2020. "Jumpman hopped over barrels, climbed ladders, and jumped from suspended platform to suspended platform as he tried to rescue a damsel from his pissed-off pet gorilla. The game was a smash, and sixty-five thousand cabinets were sold in Japan, propping up the then-struggling Nintendo and laying the groundwork for Nintendo and Donkey Kong creator Shigeru Miyamoto to dominate gaming throughout the 1980s and beyond."
↑ 61.061.1Steve L. Kent (2001). The ultimate history of video games: from Pong to Pokémon and beyond : the story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world. Prima. p. 132. ISBN0-7615-3643-4. "Atari sold more than 70,000 Asteroids machines in the United States. The game did not do as well in Europe and Asia, however. Only about 30,000 units were sold overseas."
Brian Ashcraft; with Jean Snow; forewords by Kevin Williams; Crecente, Brian (2008). "sixty-five+thousand" Arcade Mania: The Turbo-charged World of Japan's Game Centers (1st ed.). Tokyo: Kodansha. ISBN978-4-7700-3078-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=wX8kAQAAIAAJ&q="sixty-five+thousand". "Jumpman hopped over barrels, climbed ladders, and jumped from suspended platform to suspended platform as he tried to rescue a damsel from his pissed-off pet gorilla. The game was a smash, and sixty-five thousand cabinets were sold in Japan, propping up the then-struggling Nintendo and laying the groundwork for Nintendo and Donkey Kong creator Shigeru Miyamoto to dominate gaming throughout the 1980s and beyond."
↑ 85.085.1Steve L. Kent (2001). The ultimate history of video games: from Pong to Pokémon and beyond : the story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world. Prima. p. 352. ISBN0-7615-3643-4. "In 1982, Universal Sales made arcade history with a game called Mr Do! Instead of selling dedicated Mr Do! machines, Universal sold the game as a kit. The kit came with a customized control panel, a computer board with Mr Do! read-only memory (ROM) chips, stickers that could be placed on the side of stand-up arcade machines for art, and a plastic marquee. It was the first game ever sold as a conversion only. According to former Universal Sales western regional sales manager Joe Morici, the company sold approximately 30,000 copies of the game in the United States alone."
↑Horowitz, Ken (22 June 2018). "OutRun (September 1986)". The Sega Arcade Revolution: A History in 62 Games. McFarland & Company. pp. 112–114 (114). ISBN978-1-4766-7225-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=xT1jDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA114. Retrieved 1 March 2021. "Both versions went on to produce terrific numbers for Sega, bringing in total worldwide sales of over $100 million and adding another memorable franchise to Sega's stable of hits."
480 million player cards sold. Prices could range from ¥300 for a single card from an arcade machine to ¥1000 for a starter pack.[93] A¥1000 starter pack consists of 11 player cards, equivalent to ¥90.91 each.[94] Total revenues from player card sales thus range from ¥43.64 billion (at ¥90.91 per card) to ¥144 billion (at ¥300 per card). In US dollars, this is equivalent to a range of $552.3 million to $1.82244 billion.[81] The lowest value of $552.3 million will be assumed.
World Club Champion Football: Intercontinental Clubs revenues from April 2009 to June 2012 – $150.1 million[n 7]
↑ 112.0112.1Steve L. Kent (2001). The ultimate history of video games: from Pong to Pokémon and beyond : the story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world. Prima. p. 225. ISBN0-7615-3643-4. "Cinematronics sold more than 16,000 Dragon's Lair machines in 1983, for an average price of $4300. Coleco purchased the home rights to the game, giving Cinematronics an additional $2 million."
↑"Patent, Trademark & Copyright Series". Patent, Trademark & Copyright Series (Bureau of National Affairs) 13 (503–4): 423–4. 1989. https://books.google.com/books?id=KzI2AQAAIAAJ. Retrieved 20 July 2021. "Taito sold over 10,000 Double Dragon dedicated games in the United States, and over 80% of U.S. video game operators bought at least one Double Dragon".
↑ 144.0144.1Ashley S. Lipson; Robert D. Brain (2009). Computer and Video Game Law: Cases and Materials. Carolina Academic Press. p. 9. ISBN978-1-59460-488-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=IxNDAQAAIAAJ. Retrieved 18 February 2016. "Atari eventually sold more than 19,000 Pong machines, giving rise to many imitations. Pong made its first appearance in 1972 at "Andy Capp's," a small bar in Sunnyvale, California, where the video game was literally "overplayed" as eager customers tried to cram quarters into an already heavily overloaded coin slot."