Arcade Adventures

Having studied Arcades this entire week, the group decided to take a field trip to Gameworks and submerge ourselves in that very arcade-like atmosphere to recreate the experience discussed in class, as it had been quite a while since any of us had been to an arcade. The atmosphere of Gameworks had drastically changed from its original modest layout to a full fledged pool area, restaurant, reeption table, and an entire hall reserved for parties and events. This new version of an arcade was short of a country club in the day and after 9:00pm, it was short of a full fledged bar as all children under 21 had to leave the arcade. That very policy guided me to the thought that arcades are no longer for only children as they have generations to enertain. The players of today wait in line with their parents so that both can play the arcade games, as I saw everyone from middle school kids to a senior citizens. This generational inclusion of gaps and thereby removing those gaps is a direct result of arcade culture. Almost every line I was in, there were younger and much older adults and while playing, all seemed to coexist as players surpassing the issues of age. The games had changed but many of the older games were still there and since accessability was there for both generations, there was a sense of familiarity for all players allowing them to bond in a shared experience. Strangers reacted to the scores of people they didn't know and stood behind looking over the shoulders of other players. There was a shared experience made commercial at the arcades and it was evident through the addiction of consecutively swiping cards with points, that players craved that group experience on that larger scale and were willing to continue at any cost. Although, one drawback to the gaming experience was the commercialization of the games which I must note, can only extist in a large group caught in the moment of the game, for the higher level of obstacles and impossibiliy of the games for beginners is remarkably high and the quality of the controls and their lack of precision play a key role in requiring more swipes as well. This I noticed because there were many players, such as Dan and Ryan, who despite their success at these games at home, had much difficulty at Gameworks. I thought I'd use them as relaible references as my gaming skills would not be very telling of the level of difficulty in any of the games as expereince is a prerequisite for succeeding in arcade games. Yes, one thing I learned from this trip is that Arcade games are different than games played at home because, though the same characters and titles, they are more difficult and their accessories of guns and triggers alter the gaming experience entirely. Thus, I motion that arcades belong in their own genre when discussing the sociological context of games as they are a specific location whose sole purpose is to make money via the shared expereince of players.