The End of the Arcade Parlor?

Are you a Konami fan? If you are, you are probably one of the few reasons why arcades get any business at all. Sadly, this is becoming very true.

When was the last time any of you stepped in an arcade? Has it been a while? Well, if you have, you've probably noticed a couple of things. One, the games with the biggest draw are the Konami fitness titles (such as Dance Dance Revolution, Para Para Paradise, Guitar Freaks, and many others)... which have people not only playing techno dance tracks almost nonstop, but also have people "ghosting" behind the actual player, whilst singing along with the song. Two... not much else is touched. Sure, you might find a person or two playing a fighting game here and there, but once that game is ported over to a console system, chances of there being a huge gang by a fighting title are slim to none.

We've come to a point where the hardware it takes to be able to put on the types of productions you can find at your local arcade, you can also find atop your television set. Consoles have become marginally better than arcade games, due to longevity, secrets, save ability, amid other details which I can't seem to think of right now. Oh yeah! CONTROL! So many folks have become accustomed to using hand controllers, that using a stick and finger buttons seems archaic, almost.

I wonder if anyone has any ideas as to what could be done to revive the arcade market? Can it be revived to its former greatness? I mean, places have opened up (like Wizards of the Coast, among others) that allow for LAN connections where people hang out religiously... can something similar (and cost effective) be done, and let the major gaming companies come out with new arcade adventures?

Just... please... not another dance title. We need not saturate the market further.

What do you think? Feel free to post your responses in the Consolevision Forums.