Do you think 80’s arcades were dark rooms with colorful carpets and neon lights? That was hardly the truth. This video does a fantastic job covering the diverse aesthetics of several chains of amusement centers as they tried to distance themselves from the seedy establishments where teenagers would skip school.
We call that type of arcade “redemption hell”. Good arcades still exist, though! See if any of your local arcades specialize in retro games or Japanese games. They’ll have the good stuff, even if the atmosphere isn’t what it used to be.
Yes! We do have several within a 20 min drive from us. They are normally pay by the hour, which is nice. I really wish for newer games as well, but I’m not sure if they just don’t exist or they are too expensive that these places don’t buy or rent them.
If you’re in the US, Round 1 is a Japanese chain that expanded into the States a while back, and they brought a lot of imported stuff with them. Still a lot of gambling too, but keep walking until you find the section where they keep the good stuff.
You can also check Zenius-i-vanisher, a community-maintained database of what games are at what arcades. If you’re looking for a specific game, they may know a place. Just note that info on there may not always be up to date, double check when an arcade’s entry was last updated.