Thread:Stormlilly/@comment-3417255-20131108092627/@comment-3417255-20131114223100

It's cool. I was kinda isolated as well, though my love of games was one of those things that just wouldn't die.

As for arcades back in the day, it's a little hard to capture due to how unique each arcade really was. While some were back rooms at a truck stop with a few games, others were dimly lit places filled with the sounds of beeps and static noises. Pizza places would install game rooms for customers to pass time while their order was being prepared, and shopping malls would have a few for people to pass time while others shopped. While not all arcades were the same, some of them did share a number of unwritten connections between them.

Now a days, they're nothing more than additions to a family fun center, or a part of an amusement park. The ones that survive now a days often work with a sense of community, often due to having become part of the community they're located in. Sadly, it's an old and dying business model. One that caters towards youth and the nostalgic, and is very much hit and miss.

Still, that doesn't change a lot of things in arcade and gaming history. For example, the connection between pizza and gaming is one that a number of people don't give much thought to. After all, kids love pizza, gamers love pizza, kids love games... yeah, I could go on forever. However, it was in the late 70's when Atari went into the pie making business. Opening a chain of restaurants, each location also served as a showcase of various arcade games and machines, while also offering entertainment from an animatronic band, The Rock-afire Explosion. Originally named "Pizza Time Theater", the chain would undergo a large number of changes, eventually becoming what's known today as Chuck E. Cheese's.

Yes, Atari had a hand in the creation of bad pizza paired with robot bands. It was about the only thing that hasn't changed in those places.