Arcade game
A coin-operated entertainment machine found in public venues; includes pinball, video and redemption games. Popular for short-play sessions, social play, and prize-based or high-score competition.
Overview
An arcade game is a public, often coin-operated entertainment machine designed for short, self-contained play sessions. Traditional machines accept coins or tokens via a slot or mechanism—see coin-operated systems—while modern venues may use cards or free play. Arcade games are typically installed in locations such as restaurants, pubs, amusement arcades and family entertainment centers where casual players gather.
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Types and components
Arcade games cover a wide range of formats. Two prominent categories are pinball machines, which are mechanical-electromechanical devices focused on ball play and flippers, and electronic video games, which use screens, joysticks, buttons and custom hardware. Other common formats include redemption games that award tickets or prizes, crane/claw machines, driving and racing cabinets, and skee-ball.
Despite variety, most arcade cabinets share basic parts: an outer cabinet, control panel, display, internal electronics or mechanical systems, a coin or credit mechanism, and speakers. Maintenance and parts replacement are key concerns for operators because public use accelerates wear.
History and development
The arcade concept evolved from earlier coin-operated amusements and mechanical games into electronic video games during the 1970s and 1980s, a period often called the "golden age" of arcades. Innovations in microprocessors, graphics, and game design enabled diverse gameplay styles and competitive scorekeeping, helping arcades become social hubs for players.
Where they are found and how they are used
Arcades historically relied on a pay-per-play model, but many modern locations use cards, memberships or unlimited-play passes. Machines serve multiple roles: casual entertainment, skill-testing competitions, and prize redemption. The mobile and digital marketplace has adopted the term "arcade" as a genre label; for example, some app stores categorize fast-action mobile titles as "Arcade," and independent titles such as Tiny Wings have appeared in that grouping.
Significance and distinctions
Arcade games remain notable for social interaction, spectator appeal and short-session gameplay that contrasts with longer home console experiences. Collectors, restoration hobbyists and "barcade" venues preserve classic cabinets, while emulation and digital re-releases keep many titles playable. Important distinctions involve whether a game is skill-based or chance-based (affecting regulation), whether it awards prizes, and the physical format—electromechanical pinball versus electronic video cabinet.
- Typical features: short sessions, scoreboards, coin/credit operation
- Formats: pinball, video, redemption, crane, driving simulators
- Modern trends: card-based credits, barcades, digital emulation
For more on specific machine types, maintenance practices and cultural history, consult specialized resources or venue guides that detail local arcade offerings and preservation efforts.
Typical features of arcade games
The point of arcade games is to bring in money. The average playing time is therefore often relatively short. The game principle is easy and quickly transparent, a possible tutorial is kept very short. The difficulty of the game is also adapted to the intention of the machine:
- The first rounds or levels are often still relatively easy to complete successfully. This should give the player the impression that he has mastered the game.
- In the following rounds, the difficulty level increases noticeably, beginners already have to accept setbacks and quickly receive a "Game over". However, in most arcade games you can buy another try by throwing money in again (Continue).
- The renewed insertion of money is "rewarded" by some arcade games (invisible) with a short-term lowered difficulty level again. This is to give the player the impression that he has become better or simply had bad luck on the first try.
In addition, the machine manufacturer can usually adjust the difficulty level by means of one or more DIP switches, so that the games are not equally difficult everywhere.
Chronicle
Before arcade "video" games, mechanical and electro-mechanical arcade games, one-armed bandits and pinball machines were particularly common in amusement arcades, as were games of skill and sports games.
Early chronicle
(selection)
- 1971: First commercial arcade game Computer Space by Nolan Bushnell (Nutting Associates)
- 1972: Pong (Atari) first successful game
- 1974: Quadra Pong (for 4 players)
- 1974: Gran Trak 10 (Atari) first racing simulation, already with steering wheel, first with ROMs
- 1974: Tank (Kee Games/Atari) first game with ROM memory for graphics
- 1974: Touch-Me (Atari) predecessor of Senso
- 1975: Gun Fight (Bally Midway) first game with microprocessor
- 1976: Breakout
- 1976: Heavyweight Champ (Sega) Japan's first commercial video game
- 1976: Night Driver (Atari) first 3D racing simulation
- 1977: Circus
- 1977: Space Wars (Cinematronics) first vector arcade game
Starting around 1978, the golden era of arcade games begins.
Chronicle 1978-1984
- 1978: Space Invaders (ushered in the era)
- 1978: Football (Atari, first game with trackball)
- 1979: Asteroids
- 1979: Galaxian (first game with real color graphics)
- 1979: Lunar Lander
- 1979: Subs (Atari, first game with 2 monitors)
- 1980: Battlezone (3D tank simulation)
- 1980: Berzerk
- 1980: Centipede
- 1980: Defender (first with scrolling)
- 1980: Pac-Man (first game with commercial character)
- 1980: Phoenix
- 1980: King and Balloon (Namco, first with voice-over)
- 1980: Missile Command
- 1980: DECO Cassette System (Data East) first standard platform
- 1980: Space Panic (first platform game)
- 1980: Star Castle
- 1980: Tempest
- 1980: Warlords
- 1980: Wizard of Wor
- 1981: Donkey Kong (first Jump `n` Run)
- 1981: Frogger
- 1981: Lady Bug
- 1981: Galaga
- 1981: Peat
- 1981: Ms. Pac-Man
- 1981: Qix
- 1981: Scramble
- 1981: Vanguard
- 1982: Burger Time
- 1982: Dig Dug
- 1982: Donkey Kong Jr.
- 1982: Joust
- 1982: Jungle Hunt
- 1982: Kangaroo
- 1982: Moon Patrol
- 1982: Pengo
- 1982: Pole Position (one of the most popular racing games of all time)
- 1982: Popeye
- 1982: Q*Bert
- 1982: Robotron: 2084
- 1982: Time Pilot
- 1982: Tron
- 1982: Xevious
- 1982: Zaxxon (the first game with isometric display)
- 1983: Crystal Castles
- 1983: Dragon's Lair (first with laserdisc)
- 1983: Gyruss
- 1983: Mappy
- 1983: Mario Bros.
- 1983: Elevator Action
- 1983: Nibbler
- 1983: I, Robot (first commercial game with 3-D polygons)
- 1983: Spy Hunter
- 1983: Star Wars
- 1983: Tapper
- 1984: TX-1 (first game with 3 monitors for 1 person, see Buggy Boy)
- 1984: Bomb Jack
- 1984: Paperboy
Milestones after the 1984 crash
- 1985: Marble Madness
- 1985: Commando
- 1985: 1942
- 1985: Ghosts 'n Goblins
- 1985: Choplifter
- 1985: Gauntlet (Atari, 4-player adventure game)
- 1986: Arkanoid
- 1986: Bubble Bobble
- 1986: Rolling Thunder
- 1986: Out Run (Sega, first force feedback car race)
- 1987: Rainbow Islands
- 1987: Yōkai Dōchūki (Namco, first game with 16-bit graphics)
- 1988: Tetris
- 1989: Exterminator (first with fully digitized graphics)
- 1991: Street Fighter II
- 1991: Terminator II
- 1991: Time Traveler (Sega, first hologram game)
- 1992: Mortal Kombat (Part 1)
- 1992: Virtua Racing (Sega, multi-player racing with polygons)
- 1992: Virtua Fighter (Sega, first polygon beat-'em-up)
- 1993: Mortal Kombat II (best sound system, with MP3 compression)
- 1993: Daytona USA (Sega, first polygon based racing game with texture mapping and bilinear texture filtering/perspective correction)
- 1994: Virtua Fighter 2
- 1995: Sega Rally
- 1997: Super GT (Sega, 64-bit)
- 1998: Dance Dance Revolution (with dance mat)
- 1999: Crazy Taxi
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AlegsaOnline.com Arcade game Leandro Alegsa
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