I was born in the arcade era; which is to say I was too young to really hang out in them while they were around, but did get to briefly enjoy them at their height and towards the end of their run. I remember running into the very early arcade machines like the Journey cabinet, Joust, and PacMan (which was everywhere). I remember with more clarity when Street Fighter came out, which I was able to play more of since I was a little older. Then the adjacent fighters like Mortal Kombat and Killer Instinct hit at the same time and changed the landscape. Over-the-top machines like Marvel vs Capcom and DDR seemed like the last hurrah of the arcade as an entertainment destination.

Do arcades still exist? Sure, but not in the same capacity as they did back then. Even Dave & Brusters feels like a shadow of what you'd find in those smaller buildings with the arcades stacked side to side. There were no tickets or prizes, just a pocket of quarters to burn and some hours to sink into the latest challenge. I'm not sure what happened. I suppose overhead became too much for these businesses as rents went up, the cost of machine upkeep increased with age, and incoming new units slowed down as consoles began to compete with arcades on a more even keel. I guess you could say it was Time. Time happened to them; just like it did to me.

The town I've chosen as home does in fact have an arcade. It's also an ice-cream parlor and so very, very small. It only has 5 cabinets at most; barely worthy of being called an arcade. They say you can't go back...they are right.

Art is by Vetrina Nichole! ( https://vetrinanicoleart.com/ )
Aerth is my character.