Old School Arcade Titles On Consoles

Porting classic arcade games into consoles has become the latest rage in the gaming industry. The trend clearly affirms the fact that arcade games are not dead.
The gamers are not an elderly bunch of people who grew up on these titles. Kids are also addicted to it. The games have been revamped graphically but never shed the addictive game play which, of course, is the part and parcel of every game.

Arcade games have not been graphically interesting, but this move successfully negates the fact that the popularity of a game largely depends on its game play and not seemingly awe-inspiring graphics.

This phenomenon has also triggered a resurrection of arcade games and made it popular among online gamers. Arcade games are also being ported into handheld consoles like PSP.
This clearly indicates the popularity of arcade gaming.

Some of the ported titles are:

Geometry Wars – The game was a classic when it was released back in 80’s. The upgrade features high end particle physics, digital sound, new special effects, a new scrolling area and high end graphics.
It is set in the far reaches of the galaxy where you battle hordes of vile, neon blazoned aliens. It also lets you choose between the old version and the updated version.

Pac-man – The all time classic has been upgraded with high definition graphics. The game still retains the original game play and the charming retro look.
The newer version features 250 levels of pure action packed fun. The game retains the original music and sound score that the fans remember so well.
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Online Arcade Gaming Community

The success of online arcade gaming can be attributed to the huge number of dedicated online communities that support arcade games.

These games have stood their ground at a time when technological advances have paved way for hardcore graphic systems capable of rendering movie like graphics.

The online community regularly conducts tourneys for arcade games with huge prize money at stake.

Xbox Live conducted a Pac-man championship in New York in May of 2007.

Nine finalists from around the world fought each other for a one of a kind Pac-man inspired Xbox 360 console, 100,000 Microsoft points, and a Pac-Man Live Arcade Trophy.

Finalists were selected based on scores of Xbox LIVE Arcade leader box from Japan, USA, Europe, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Canada and Mexico.

The primary reason for a spurt in the online arcade community is the rise of a huge number of multiplayer arcade games.

Arcade games are from another era that is hard pressed to survive an intense competition. This is the primary reason for the close knit nature of arcade gaming communities.

The resurgence of arcade titles on consoles and handhelds is another reason for the growing arcade communities. The online arcade communities have made sure that arcade games are here to stay.

Arcade games have shown an immense resilience surviving everything from consoles to the Internet. The arcade communities have played a huge part in seeing the genre through the hardest of times.

With the advent of internet, these communities saw a massive rise in numbers. These communities are closely knitted and work as a single entity when it comes to competing game genres.
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Evolution of Arcade Games

Arcade games started from a humble title, Pong, and then went on to become a rage. The games primarily evolved around a simplistic design and raw game play.

The newer arcade games made the use of immense leaps in the graphic technology. The arcade games were designed to be played with a group of friends in pubs, malls and restaurants.

These days arcade games are more than isolated gaming sessions. Arcade games have numerous communities and clans committed to keeping the tradition.

The arcade games later appeared on home consoles. They started out as redemption games, pinball machines and video games.

The popularity suffered as the arcades were labeled as seedy, unsafe places. They saw resurgence with the advent of the “two players fighting each other” games such as Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter and Killer Instinct.

But, then, again the game consoles and PC’s with 3d accelerator cards successfully dwarfed the advantage arcade games enjoyed. The success of arcade games over the previous generation of home computer was the ability to customize and use the newest graphics and sound cards.
The steep decline ensured that they could no longer fund their technologies.

By late 90’s the internet made matters worse for the arcades. The human to human competition was taken to a newer level.

Since then, the arcade games have been ported to other consoles and emulated on PC’s. Today the online arcade games have a huge fan following with thousands of tournaments being held online every year.

The online arcade games are evolving at a fast pace and the arcade world visualizes an altogether different future for the industry. Read more...