Question to the editors: What do you prefer to do in an arcade hall?

Next week, after several years, it will be possible for the GameQuarter editors to meet again to reflect on the past year. This is my first time, so I don’t know exactly how it will go. What I do know is that we’re going to an arcade. Since I’ve never been to a gamer fairground like this, I thought it would be nice to know what the editors like to do. So hence my question: what do you prefer to do in an arcade hall?

Peter

I’ve never been to an arcade, so I don’t know exactly what they have. I think the average modern arcade hall has at least one Air Hockey table. Air Hockey is a plastic disc on a kind of table where a constant stream of air comes out of the blade from all kinds of small holes. As a result, this disc floats a little above the table. With a plastic tray you knock the disc to the other side and you have to score by getting it into the opponent’s goal. Nice aimless and useless pastime that I love.

Stefan

I actually never go into an arcade hall myself. The times I go there it’s because the kids like it. I have the idea that they especially like it for the prizes they can win. I used to come here once on vacation. Then I mainly went for the racing games, because that remains something that I really enjoy. However, the arcade hall – certainly in the present day – has little to offer me, since I now have various consoles at home and these give me more pleasure than the arcade hall. But… who knows, maybe our upcoming crew outing will change that.

Sander

You won’t find in me a nostalgic gamer who scours arcades looking for the most valuable arcade games to play. That gamer who gets tears in his eyes at an old gaming machine that he thought was long gone. I see an evening at an arcade as a night out with friends. It’s not just about winning, it’s about having fun. Cheering each other on high scores. It all stays nice and low-threshold and certainly not too often.

Sil

To answer this question, it is important to break it down. Because the answer is very dependent on what kind of arcade I visit. If you’re talking about the classic arcades full of gaming machines, you’ll find me at beat ’em ups, fighters and lightgun games. But unfortunately you rarely see them anymore. In modern arcades you will find things that are more like a funfair. And just like at a fair, you usually see me at the coin slides.

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