Im probably in the very very small minority of people who still love and go to arcades. Its such a great place to meet like minded nerds. We are lucky to have 2 really awesome ones in town, one of which has a lot of good old machines, and they repair them too. They have some new ones that are OK too.
Anyway, I dont like that they changed to the dumb card thing. I get it (efficiency, capitalism, it was bound to happen) but it removes another visceral experience in society that was so fun.
Anyway, my old man rant!
As much as I hate tokens, I hate cards even more.
I hated tokens because it abstracts the cost. Some places - 1 token = 1 quarter. Fair. Others, 10 tokens for $4. What the hell? (Cards do this too)
I also just hate coins in general. Too many times I put a token into a machine for it to not register. Or I have to play the eject & pray method.
There’s a lot of arcades where I live. And I only go to the ones where it charges you real money using a credit card, or is unlimited play.
I’m with you, I love arcades but I just wish I didn’t have to buy SpaceBucks (tokens, credits, chips) in order to play. Oh, Capitalism, is there nothing you can’t enshittify?