What exactly was it like? This was obviously long before the internet (outside of the military and some colleges), and during a time where console games were dogshit, but arcade games had endless classics release all the time.

To those who grew up during this time, what was it like? How often did you go to arcades, instead of playing on your Atari 2600, Intellivision, Colecovision, or whatever computer you had? How exactly did you know which games were worth playing, other than word of mouth? Did you just play arcade video games, or did you also play pinball?

We have only heard of second-hand accounts, or simply played decades-old arcade machines that have seen better days (for those that aren't remade for modern day).

>>716059842 (OP)
Extremely expensive

>>716059965
Was it due to a quarter being the equivalent to a dollar or more today?

>>716059842 (OP)
Imagine everytime you opened your steam library they charged you a dollar to play your game. That's arcade culture. Home systems in the late 80s early 90s were also very pricey but at the time were a top tier source of entertainment. If we're being honest the "golden age" of gaming is now. Instant access to any game you want on pc, instant access to old games via emulator, and even piracy with no effort. Shit I remember my mom buying me stolen blockbuster games off niggers on the corners of streets. Now you can just get shit for free with 2 minutes of work.

>>716060685
Microsoft wanted to do just that with Game Room

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Room

And as a result, nobody used it or wanted anything to do with it.

>>716061057
Iirc they might have even had a token model before this. I remember using the free tokens and then leaving the game open for days so I could finish it before making a new account and repeating.

>>716061342
This will be what gaming will be like in the future. In order to play a game you bought, you still need to pay extra just to access it once.

>>716059842 (OP)
MORTAL KOMBAAAAAAT!!!!

>>716059842 (OP)
>How exactly did you know which games were worth playing, other than word of mouth?

in the arcade , nobody was stoping you from watching other people play. It was very social in that way. So everyone preaty much knew if a game was good from the first night.

>be me , early teens
>hanging out in the local beachbar
>it had arcade room
>Ace of Base is playing in the background
>new machine is being pluged in by the crew
>Street Fighter 2? wth is that?
girls in 90s bikinis couldn't compete , that summer was doomed to nerdom and virginhood

>>716060685
>If we're being honest the "golden age" of gaming is now. Instant access to any game you want on pc, instant access to old games via emulator, and even piracy with no effort.
Midwit take

>>716063267
>emulation and free, easy access to most games ever made is… le bad!
how does it feel to be such a massive faggot?

You buy a game, take it home and play it instantly. When you're done, you lend it to friends for games you dont have.
>>716063450
Games are at their best right now, huh? So what games are you looking forward to?

>>716063450
As always it's riding off the coattails of games made many decades ago. Modern gaming can't stand on its own and has to be propped up by the accessibility and cheapness of games from yesteryear. Less excitement for new games unlike back then.

>>716063803
By that anons standards, we are now also living in the golden age of movies, music and literature because we have unlimited access to all the classics that came out before he was born 15 years ago. Absolute retarded take from yet another confident midwit

In the 90's, fighting games were the rage in arcades. If you threw a coin and there was a large queue, you had to keep tabs on your turn, or someone would eat it and lose your turn. If you wanted to get better, then you had to practice in arcade or a console, and this is was before internet was a thing, so you had to discover for yourself or buy specialized magazines imported from Asia.

Here in Mexico, it was normal to see arcade cabinets in mom-and-pop stores, and they were everywhere. If you wanted to play Street Fighter 2, I could go to my store a block away, or if I wanted to play Mortal Kombat, then a couple of blocks away. The evenings were full because all the kids were free at that time, so better be good if you wanted that coin to last.

>>716063675
>>716063803
>>716063879
We ARE living in “le golden age” you nostalgiafagging retards. How is shoving quarters into a machine you don’t own better than being able to play whatever you want, whenever you want, for free?
And even modern gaming still manages to produce some good titles, in the same way that your idea of a “golden age” produced 20 shitty beat em ups for every 1 fun game.

>>716059842 (OP)
oldfag monkey reporting in
back in the day the idea of an age restricted bar was novel at best, so it wasn't weird at all have parents take their kids to the bar to see their friends and taking the kids with them
a couple arcades and pinball machines, and you get a pretty social environment
through 4th up to 6th gen having rentals setting up consoles and charging by the hour was pretty common too, and also a pretty busy social activity, with rivalries between kids from different streets rising and whatnot
all powered by piracy

>>716064547
well i couldn't be more redundant if i tried
anyway

>>716064507
You're an idiot.

>>716064507
The Golden Age of Gaming is from 1978 (with the release of Space Invaders) until 1983 (with the gaming crash).

>>716059842 (OP)
Do you realize arcade games were designed to take as much money as possible for you? Those were the equivalent of gacha today, you owned nothing and had to add money every few minutes because they made games unfairly hard just so you lost and paid again. Golden age was probably PS1 era when everything was owned and piracy was easy

>>716064507
This nigga is right. ily my nigga

>>716065841
At least Namco had their games be reasonable. You can be a complete noob, and still play a long time in Pac Man, Galaga, Dig Dug, Mappy, and whatnot.

They were the most revered and elite company when it came to early arcade games for a reason.

>>716065058
He probably thinks all of the bullshit "statistics" that there are "more gamer women than men", solely because they played Wordle on their phones once.

>>716064507
The difference is that those good old games back then were new. There was something to look forward to. The only thing people look forward to these days are games to bomb and studios to shutter.

>>716070780
First of all, thats /v/.
Second, the real reason people act like this is because if you like more then 1 genre, there's a good game coming out each week. It just doesnt feel special anymore because being good just doesnt cut it.
Most "omfg" games from the past where OMFG because they became more like what we see as modern.

>>716059842 (OP)
Legit old fag here. It was awesome. It sucks to be young nowadays. Also, fuck you.