[game_preservation] Fwd: [Media] Article

[Benj Edwards]

Devin,

     I feel fairly confident in saying that the shift away from arcade 
video gaming in the US circa 1982-1992 was almost entirely due to 
cultural factors rather than economic or technological ones. The primary 
cultural factor stemmed from innovation in game design practiced by 
Nintendo on its home Famicom (1983) and NES (1985) consoles that 
emphasized deeper gameplay and narrative stories that lasted between 
play sessions.

The peak and decline of American arcades in 1982 roughly coincided with 
general fatigue toward arcade-style game design.  That design emphasized 
playing to a high score, punishing difficulty, and ephemeral game 
experiences.  The over-reliance on that game design style contributed to 
the home console crash the following year.

Consoles before the NES, even when they advanced in technical quality 
like the Colecovision, failed to precipitate the decline of the arcade 
or even renew the console business because the companies behind them 
relied heavily on arcade style gameplay and direct arcade ports -- the 
same game styles that had vastly oversaturated the market prior to the 
introduction of the NES.  The culture was stagnant until Nintendo shook 
it up.

So home console games did kill the arcade, but not simply by the virtue 
of them existing.  Rather, it was the innovation in gameplay they 
(specifically NES games) brought that pushed video game culture forward 
beyond any experience that could be offered in an arcade environment.

So if I had to summarize in one trite sentence, I'd say this:  The 
Legend of Zelda killed the American arcade.  You can't play Zelda in an 
arcade.  It just doesn't work.  After Super Mario Bros. and Zelda led 
the way, it was time to move on, and popular video game culture grew 
beyond its arcade-saddled infancy.

Feel free to print this out and teach it.

Kind Regards,
Benj


On 2/4/2013 5:33 PM, Devin Monnens wrote:

> -Competition from home consoles (probably not true)

>

>             Usually cited as an answer (but how much sense does it 

> make logically?)

>

>             Argument goes that players would buy the home console 

> version and thus not go to the arcades; however, the arcade version 

> would usually come out first and was cheaper than buying a $50 cartridge

>

>

>

> On Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 4:11 PM, Martin Goldberg <wgungfu at gmail.com 

> <mailto:wgungfu at gmail.com>> wrote:

>

>     Keep in mind though, the coin-op industry is separate from the

>     consumer industry. Different market, different clientele,

>     different model, different resources, etc. The famous "videogame

>     crash" was a consumer industry crash, there was no single "video

>     game industry" back then. Coin was just bottoming on it's own

>     industry crash when consumer's started and was on it's way back up

>     when consumer was approaching it's worst.

>

>

>     On Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 12:30 PM, Devin Monnens <dmonnens at gmail.com

>     <mailto:dmonnens at gmail.com>> wrote:

>

>         I've got some knowledge of it since we teach the videogame

>         crash. However, I think it's mostly information that everyone

>         here would probably know (at least if they've looked in detail

>         at Steve Kent's and Tristan Donovan's books).

>

>         Pretty sure there's some guys from the arcade museum on here -

>         they would be perfect for the interview.

>

>

>         On Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 1:31 AM, Frank Cifaldi

>         <fcifaldi at gmail.com <mailto:fcifaldi at gmail.com>> wrote:

>

>             I'll take it if no one else wants to.

>

>

>             On Sun, Feb 3, 2013 at 8:30 PM, Henry E Lowood

>             <lowood at stanford.edu <mailto:lowood at stanford.edu>> wrote:

>

>

>                 Guys, I am laid out with a nasty bug, so would

>                 somebody else in the group like to respond to this

>                 information request.  It was sent to IGDA central.

>                 Henry

>

>                 ----- Forwarded Message -----

>                 From: "Kate Edwards (IGDA)" <kate at igda.org

>                 <mailto:kate at igda.org>>

>                 To: lowood at stanford.edu <mailto:lowood at stanford.edu>

>                 Cc: "James Baldwin" <ops at igda.org <mailto:ops at igda.org>>

>                 Sent: Sunday, February 3, 2013 2:03:22 PM

>                 Subject: Fwd: [Media] Article

>

>                 Hi Henry,

>

>                 We received this query from the IGDA website; would

>                 you or a colleague in the preservation SIG like to

>                 respond to this request?

>

>                 Thank you,

>

>                 Kate

>

>

>                 ---------- Forwarded message ----------

>                 From: < colinctpaulette at gmail.com

>                 <mailto:colinctpaulette at gmail.com> >

>                 Date: Sun, Feb 3, 2013 at 12:13 PM

>                 Subject: [Media] Article

>                 To: kate at igda.org <mailto:kate at igda.org> ,

>                 ops at igda.org <mailto:ops at igda.org>

>

>

>                 Colin Côté-Paulette sent a message using the contact

>                 form at http://www.igda.org/contact . Hi, I am a

>                 student in journalism and i'm doing a story on the

>                 decline of arcades. It is for the Montreal Campus

>                 http://montrealcampus.ca/ . It is a francophone

>                 journal so i will translate the interview. I think

>                 that a member of your organisation can be a useful and

>                 relevant speaker in my article. Thanks a lot!

>

>

>                 --

>

>

>                 Kate Edwards

>

>                 Executive Director

>

>

>                 International Game Developers Association

>                 Email: kate at igda.org <mailto:kate at igda.org>  | Skype:

>                 IGDA_ED | Website: igda.org <http://igda.org>

>                 Office: +1 856 423 2990 <tel:%2B1%20856%20423%202990>

>                 |  Mobile: +1 206 849 0103 <tel:%2B1%20206%20849%200103>

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>

>

>

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>

>

>

>         -- 

>         Devin Monnens

>         www.deserthat.com <http://www.deserthat.com>

>

>         The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

>

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>

>

>

>

>     -- 

>     Marty

>

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>

>

>

>

> -- 

> Devin Monnens

> www.deserthat.com <http://www.deserthat.com>

>

> The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

>

>

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-- 
Freelance Writer / Editor in Chief VC&G
http://www.benjedwards.com
http://www.vintagecomputing.com

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