Quick definition:A venue, or the type of coin-operated machine found there, where people pay to play video games, usually fast and simple games designed for short sessions and high scores.
Meaning
An arcade is a place filled with coin-operated games, though the word is also used for the machines themselves, known as arcade cabinets. Players pay for each turn, and the game ends quickly unless they play well, which keeps the experience short and the queue moving.
Arcade games tend to be easy to understand but hard to master. They use bright graphics, loud sound and simple controls such as a joystick and a few buttons, and they often reward skill with extra lives or longer play. Competition for the top score was a central attraction.
The business declined as home consoles and computers became capable of similar graphics and as online play grew. Arcades survive in many countries as social venues, often featuring rhythm, racing and prize games, while the name is also used for modern games that echo the fast, score-driven style of the era.
Origin:The word comes from the covered passages lined with shops that were called arcades, and later from amusement halls with mechanical games. When coin-operated video machines appeared in the 1970s, they filled these halls and took the name. Arcades were a major part of gaming culture in the 1980s, before home consoles became powerful.
Example:On a Saturday afternoon in the early 1990s, a group of friends crowds around a cabinet in a seaside amusement hall. Each has a handful of coins and takes turns on a fighting game, while onlookers wait their turn by watching. The loser steps aside, and the winner stays on to face the next challenger. Did you know?Arcade games were designed to take money, so many were built to be hard and short, ending a turn in a few minutes. Their influence is still visible in the idea of lives, continues and high score tables, which later spread into home games. 