rcades are running low on playing time.
Like the drive-in, the electronic glow of coin-operated games is fading to black.
The number of pure play arcades in the United States has dropped to 7,900, from a peak of 23,000 in the early 1980s, according to a recent survey conducted by industry magazine Play Meter.
"Business is not too good," said Mike Yosha of Arcade Service Unlimited in Indianapolis. "What are the coin-op manufacturers going to compete with, themselves? They're making the same products for the home that they are for the arcade."
Graphics and elaborate play and story lines on such home systems as the Xbox and Gamecube, coupled with big screen televisions, have given gamers less reason to cash in their allowances for quarters and tokens at the neighborhood arcade. According to one local operator, Muncie was once home to seven arcades. That number has since dropped to two.
Once a gathering place to check out the latest technology, arcades thrived in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s when the best home systems offered little more than stick figures and dots against a two-color background. Armed with joysticks and firing buttons the stand-up coin-op machines led a revolution of the fingertips.
Business soured as the primary audience grew older and marketing languished. Anti-smoking laws, controversies over violent games and the advent of the 64-bit processor in the mid-1990s further eroded the market.
"Things went down after everyone and their brother got into the business," said Bonnie Theard, managing editor of Play Meter magazine.
"It seems that the games are a lot more violent now then when I was a kid," said Anissa Likens of Frankton, who was watching over her kids at the Superfun Arcade in Anderson.
Distributors also suffered from the manufacturers themselves. Nintendo, Midway and Taito were once top arcade suppliers but are now increasingly focusing their efforts on products for the home market.
"Our strategy is going to depend on what the manufacturers bring out," said Tim Dwier, branch manager at Atlas Amusements in Indianapolis. "And we're depending on the manufacturer to bring out something that is not going to be used on a home system or a computer."
Today many video game operators rely on the small batches of machines in restaurants and grocery stores, the type of diversion to keep kids amused while parents wait in the check out line. Bars have also proven a suitable habitat for such games as PGA Golf and the Golden Tee series, which sit alongside touchscreen versions of solitaire.
But weekly grosses average $90 per game, down from $103 in 1999, according to the Play Meter survey.
Redemption games, which offer tickets that can be redeemed for prizes have become more common.
"People like to get something for the money they're putting into the machines," said Michelle Ridgway, general manager at Escapades. "Our most popular games are the high payout Cyclone and Wonderwheel where you can get up to 75 or 100 tickets."
Nostalgia over the old style games has recently surfaced with gamers wanting to buy the stand-up systems for their homes.
"We do a lot of the home market," Yosha said. "We still have a route but we sell mainly to the homeowner now."
"A lot of us grew up on those games and we want one for our own," Dwier said.
In recent years arcades have also tried to compete with larger more elaborate virtual experiences that put players behind the wheel of a racecar, or skiing down a snowy hill. One popular system, the DVR Max dancing machine features flashing tiles that players try to move their feet in sync with.
"It's really tiring, but it's also pretty fun," said Jamie Crockett, 14, who was dancing on the DVX at the Superfun Arcade. "I like the physical aspect of it. It's a lot better than what we have at home."
Ultimately operators hope the deluxe systems will help them stay afloat.
a"The diversity of the product helps the industry compete against other entertainment venues," Theard said. "So you have the larger machines, the simulators that have moving seats and motion platforms that deliver a total immersive experience."
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