We are? There are games like this in any modern "arcade" like Dave & Buster's.
If you mean why aren't we building highly specialized hardware like this any more, I'd say it's because most of that complexity has moved into software running on general-purpose hardware, which is infinitely more flexible and maintainable.
Large environmental arcade installations were always pretty rare. The structure makes it more expensive to build and move and harder to find a space to exhibit.
That said, giant space invaders and pac man are showing up a lot lately. I saw a 4 player Halo environmental recently (although it's out of production) [1]. I've got a 2-player environmental fron 1994 that's linkable up to 6 players (the spouse says absolutely not, but I did play a 6-player setup once! and I have two extra system boards, maybe one day I can smoosh them into uprights and link it all. I think two player, but linkable makes a lot more sense for sales; but then it's hard to find an arcade that's got more than one of the units. Some of the modern racers are single player but linkable; you often see them in pairs, but sometimes singles or quads; and very occasionally more.
Of course, modern arcade systems are just PCs, but then so are the high performance home consoles.
Basically, because a modern game console and TV has equally good graphics.
Sony is fooling around with location-based entertainment again.[1] Might work.
There are some one-offs in Dubai and China. But nothing seems to scale.
The Void [2] did some nice location-based VR systems around 2018. A group of people in VR goggles are in a big room, and can move around. The tracking system keeps the virtual and real worlds in sync. There are props you see in VR and touch in the real world. Seems to be inactive now.
Disney tried that Star Wars themed hotel experience LARP. Cost more than a cruise on a real ship. Had to be dumbed down to theme park customer level. Huge flop.
The military has the best immmersive themed experiences. The US Navy has Battle Stations 21, with a convincingly real looking full sized ship in a big building near Chicago.[3] It's the final exam for new recruits, with fires to fight and flooding to plug.
Probably not a lot given the bill of materials and development (although most of the boards seem based on existing boards). These kinds of larger-than-life "event/ride" sort of games were a trend for a while. Sega made quite a few, probably because they owned and operated a chain of large amusement centers in Japan at the time.
The idea was that these would attract more players due to the strong 'curb-appeal' of the size/concept and unique game play, while encouraging groups of friends to play together. Of course, each play was usually double or more the cost of a regular game. At the time, large arcade centers were competing with smaller hole-in-the-wall neighborhood arcades which could pop-up in any empty retail storefront as well as convenience stores who could easily add a handful of arcade cabinets in a back corner. While major amusement centers obviously offered a wider selection of games in one place, having a few of these unique big games differentiated them.
However, these games also had several downsides. Of course, they were extremely expensive for arcade owners to purchase compared to a normal cabinet but they also took up more floor space and often required more maintenance. Ultimately, arcade owners measure value on revenue per square foot vs the total operating cost, including purchase price amortized over the time period a game continues to draw earnings. Since these games remained somewhat unusual, the calculus was clearly a close thing - probably not much different than a carnival calculating the relative value of adding a "big" Ferris wheel or roller coaster. The cost is high and, perhaps, only partly offset by direct earnings but increasing overall traffic through curb-appeal and differentiation are also important factors.
A lot, I imagine, even as a loss leader. It was something like two bucks a play, far more than I could then afford (that would be about $5 now with inflation!) the one time I saw it in person. And consider too, the kind of flagship place that can devote the space and power a setup like this needs, is exactly the one to benefit most from something like this that, as I can attest, drew kids' attention like no magnet ever invented - and even we who had not enough quarters for that game, mostly still had enough for others.
Namco being maybe one of two or at most three leading arcade marques, I think it would work about the same for them in marketing terms.
Comments
Amazing. Why aren't we building things like this anymore?
We are? There are games like this in any modern "arcade" like Dave & Buster's.
If you mean why aren't we building highly specialized hardware like this any more, I'd say it's because most of that complexity has moved into software running on general-purpose hardware, which is infinitely more flexible and maintainable.
Large environmental arcade installations were always pretty rare. The structure makes it more expensive to build and move and harder to find a space to exhibit.
That said, giant space invaders and pac man are showing up a lot lately. I saw a 4 player Halo environmental recently (although it's out of production) [1]. I've got a 2-player environmental fron 1994 that's linkable up to 6 players (the spouse says absolutely not, but I did play a 6-player setup once! and I have two extra system boards, maybe one day I can smoosh them into uprights and link it all. I think two player, but linkable makes a lot more sense for sales; but then it's hard to find an arcade that's got more than one of the units. Some of the modern racers are single player but linkable; you often see them in pairs, but sometimes singles or quads; and very occasionally more.
Of course, modern arcade systems are just PCs, but then so are the high performance home consoles.
[1] https://rawthrills.com/games/halo-fireteam-raven/
Basically, because a modern game console and TV has equally good graphics.
Sony is fooling around with location-based entertainment again.[1] Might work. There are some one-offs in Dubai and China. But nothing seems to scale.
The Void [2] did some nice location-based VR systems around 2018. A group of people in VR goggles are in a big room, and can move around. The tracking system keeps the virtual and real worlds in sync. There are props you see in VR and touch in the real world. Seems to be inactive now.
Disney tried that Star Wars themed hotel experience LARP. Cost more than a cruise on a real ship. Had to be dumbed down to theme park customer level. Huge flop.
The military has the best immmersive themed experiences. The US Navy has Battle Stations 21, with a convincingly real looking full sized ship in a big building near Chicago.[3] It's the final exam for new recruits, with fires to fight and flooding to plug.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLnxV8w1Fq8
[2] https://www.thevoid.com/
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vAkqLY0uvU
It got hard to compete with home gaming setups.
It looks extremely expensive piece of hardware. I have to wonder how much profit this made for Namco or the arcades.
Probably not a lot given the bill of materials and development (although most of the boards seem based on existing boards). These kinds of larger-than-life "event/ride" sort of games were a trend for a while. Sega made quite a few, probably because they owned and operated a chain of large amusement centers in Japan at the time.
The idea was that these would attract more players due to the strong 'curb-appeal' of the size/concept and unique game play, while encouraging groups of friends to play together. Of course, each play was usually double or more the cost of a regular game. At the time, large arcade centers were competing with smaller hole-in-the-wall neighborhood arcades which could pop-up in any empty retail storefront as well as convenience stores who could easily add a handful of arcade cabinets in a back corner. While major amusement centers obviously offered a wider selection of games in one place, having a few of these unique big games differentiated them.
However, these games also had several downsides. Of course, they were extremely expensive for arcade owners to purchase compared to a normal cabinet but they also took up more floor space and often required more maintenance. Ultimately, arcade owners measure value on revenue per square foot vs the total operating cost, including purchase price amortized over the time period a game continues to draw earnings. Since these games remained somewhat unusual, the calculus was clearly a close thing - probably not much different than a carnival calculating the relative value of adding a "big" Ferris wheel or roller coaster. The cost is high and, perhaps, only partly offset by direct earnings but increasing overall traffic through curb-appeal and differentiation are also important factors.
A lot, I imagine, even as a loss leader. It was something like two bucks a play, far more than I could then afford (that would be about $5 now with inflation!) the one time I saw it in person. And consider too, the kind of flagship place that can devote the space and power a setup like this needs, is exactly the one to benefit most from something like this that, as I can attest, drew kids' attention like no magnet ever invented - and even we who had not enough quarters for that game, mostly still had enough for others.
Namco being maybe one of two or at most three leading arcade marques, I think it would work about the same for them in marketing terms.