Does anybody think that online networking could have helped the arcade scene?
Every time my XBOX 360 connects to XBLA or I log into the PSN for a game of Tekken Dark Resurrection Online ... I wonder, would online-networking have helped keep the arcade scene alive?
If you've never thought about it before ... stop and think for a minute, imagine if during the biggest down-swing in arcade popularity, say, 1997-2003 (which was mainly contributed to the increased quality of the home console experience and the growth of online gaming on PCs and home consoles), if you could walk into an arcade, pony up your fifty cents in a Marvel Vs. Capcom machine and instead of starting a game against the computer or a live opponent on the 2nd player stick, you entered your online ID and connected to an XBL style interface that searched all the other "connected" machines around the world.
Of course there would be minor impracticalities to deal with in a system like that ... but, with creative game design anything is possible.
Imagine an arcade where the most popular multiplayer games (DDR, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, King of the Fighters, etc.) were not only available to play against a live opponent in person, but against somebody halfway across the world.
Sure, arcades were always about "live" competition, but, at one point, so were home consoles. Even Sega Net and the Playstation 2 network adapter were gambles for Sega and Sony at first ... and who knew then if online multiplayer would EVER take off on consoles like it has ...
... I think that maybe, just maybe, that same formula could have easily applied to arcades in some fashion, and potentially added a new element to going out to arcades to maintain your global rank, etc.
Were there ever any arcade cabinets that were online networked for play in Japan?
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