Category:Arcade

Arcade
Manufacturer	Various
Released	1971
Total Games	1938 (1,592 present)
← (none)	(none) →

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Arcade

Arcade games are coin-operated video game systems, usually placed in public locations. The first commercial arcade game was Computer Space, released in November, 1971 by Nutting Associates.

In addition to restaurants and video arcades, arcade games are also found in bowling alleys, college campuses, dormitories, laundromats, movie theatres, supermarkets, shopping malls, airports, truck stops, bar/pubs, hotels, and even bakeries. In short, arcade games are popular in places open to the public where people are likely to be waiting on something.

Arcade games often have very short levels, simple and intuitive control schemes, and rapidly increasing difficulty. 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 an "arcade game" if it shares these qualities, or if it's a direct port of an arcade title. Many independent developers are now producing games in the arcade genre that are designed specifically for use on the Internet. These games are usually designed with Flash/Java/DHTML and run directly in web-browsers.

Arcade racing games are those which have a simplified physics engine and do not require much learning time, in opposition to racing simulators. Cars can turn sharply without losing speed or overdrifting, and the AI rivals are sometimes programmed so they are always near the player (rubberband effect).

Arcade flight games also use simplified physics and controls in comparison to flight simulators.

Artwork[edit]

Flyer[edit]

Ms. Pac-Man Flyer

Flyers are advertisements or trade announcements meant to entice arcade operators in to buying the latest game that a company has produced. They typically feature large amounts of artwork and a number of screenshots, along with some marketing slogan meant to hype the game. You can download flyerpacks from The Arcade Flyer Archive.

Marquee[edit]

Donkey Kong Marquee

Marquees were the hard plastic backlit signs that adorned the tops of upright arcade cabinets. The marquee was your first indication as to what games were present.

Title screen[edit]

Donkey Kong Jr. title screen

Title Screens are screenshots of each game's opening screen, showing its name. MAME Title Screens are currently available at the MAME Titles site. (Note that this site relies on Bit Torrent to distribute most of images; however, it usually includes links to other sites offering direct downloads.) Download the Title Screen packs and extract them to your MAME folder's "titles" subfolder.

Cabinet[edit]

Several arcade cabinet photographs are available for download at the MAMEUI Home Page.

Control panel[edit]

Q*Bert control panel

As with cabinets and marquees, control panels serve as the final image that make up the a complete arcade visual. They clarify exactly what sort of input you should expect to use, or the layout of particularly placed buttons. The home for control panel images has bounced around, but user known as Mr. Do has adopted them and made them available on his control panel page. Incidentally, Mr. Do has also provides alternative high quality arcade cabinet pictures on his Cabinet Pics project page.