Game Machine Types 36.1
Unit 36
Arcade
An arcade game is a monitor that is boxed in some kind of unit, usually made of wood or plastic. They are usually kept in pubs or arcades and have been manufactured so that there is a system in which you have to pay a certain amount to play the actual game, meaning that they work as a way of Pubs etc. getting another source of income in trade of giving customers entertainment.
The games played on this game type are things such as Pacman - which is when you are a small yellow circle who has to attempt to eat all the small white dots whilst avoiding the ghosts as if these kill you and you have to restart the level. Other games played are Donkey Kong which is when you are a small character called Mario and you have to try and jump over barrels that are being thrown at you by a gorilla whilst you are trying to reach the top by climbing ladders in order to reach the top level to save the princess who is being held hostage. A game called Frogger is also popular on arcade monitors and this is when you are a frog which has to try and cross a busy road whilst avoiding the vehicles, you then have to try and cross a river by jumping on logs without falling in the water. Examples of these games are shown in Figures 1 and 2.
The game operates with the use of a joy stick which is usually used for navigation, an example of this is on the game mentioned before Frogger, as you use the joy stick to move around to avoid the vehicles, and also however has various buttons that will control different things. For example the Red button is usually used to jump or to select something. The controls that are used can be seen on figure 3 below.
As mentioned before this game machine is used in locations such as Pubs, because this is a business this usually means that they are most commonly rented out to the business rather than sold, the business rents the machine for a year with guaranteed help if the machine breaks, and then when the year is up they are then given the choice to either rent it for another year, or trade it for a different arcade machine.
These days, a lot of auctions also sell the older arcade machine as antiques, and these are usually bought by those who collect arcade machines or by people who would like to have a ‘vintage’ theme in their home – these can be very expensive though.
The machine itself usually only has one game, however some have a selection of games and the newer editions of the machines have a ‘game shop’ where you can download other games for a fee or sometimes for free too.
T
he Machine has definitely developed over time. The unit where the monitor was held was in a wooden cabinet typed box, although now it is more common for them to be in a plastic or metal cabinet meaning that they will last longer as there is less chance of the wood splintering. Another way arcade games have been developed is by the range of games that you can get on the machine – you used to only be able to get games that were made by Sega such as Sonic (this is because these are the people who made Arcade game machine) though now you can get a lot more different games such as a copy of the TV show Deal or No deal, or Who wants to be a millionaire (you can download most types of games via the game shop). Plus these days the monitor is normally touch screen, meaning that it does not have the key features of a normal arcade machine such as the joystick or buttons. The difference between an old and new arcade game machine is shown in figures 4 and 5.Limitations of this are that because the machine is very large, it is often difficult for people to try and fit it in a room, another limitation is that they cost alot meaning that most people could not afford the machine. Finally another limitation is that the graphics, although they have improved, are still not that great and still only use basic colours and not much detail.