In 1990, many malls still had a video arcade in them, but by 2000, they were pretty much gone, and other places (laundromats, even doctor's offices) gradually ditched their machines, particularly by the time the Internet took off. Despite this, there were still some great made-for-arcade games produced, especially before 1996 when 3D games were only really found at arcades. Pinball machines also got nice modern displays replacing the Alphanumeric displays of the '80s. Skill games that gave out tickets for prizes at places such as Chuck E. Cheese's were perhaps more popular than ever, but the fun seemed to end somewhere at the dawn of a new season. What may have caused this?

  New and more advanced home systems, I would guess.  More advanced PCs coupled with the internet explosion...

  More advanced gaming systems, more advanced home computers, world wide web, better televisions, cable TV, dish TV and, during the economic bubble of the 1990s, the money to purchase it.  These advances in entertainment/technology began keeping people at home.  In the 1980s, I HAD to go to the arcade to get my game on if I wanted something a bit more flashy than pong.  No need to do that anymore.  I can do it at home, whenever I want, and save a roll of quarters...

They still have Arcades down here, but I did notice that aren't any of them in Malls(except for one here in Tampa).  Most Arcade places are near club strips(around Ybor City).

  There are arcades around here, as well, in movie theaters...

  I think yelimsexa is talking about the decline in the 1990s...

We have near Mississauga, called the Playdium, and it's actually not bad.

I remember there being arcade machines all over the place when I was a kid, but they were disappearing by the time I was about 11 I think. now they're only in movie theaters.

I guess they became less profitable as home video game systems became more powerful.

I used to go to them a lot as a child, it used to seem cool. They still exist today but the novelty has been dead for several years.

I remember seeing some video arcades in shopping malls in the 90's...including one called "Time Out", in the West Covina Fashion Plaza mall. I went there usu. on weekends and played some of the same games (such as the Skee-Ball, some pinball games, and the Simpsons). By mid-1996 they closed, and some sports memorabilia shop went in its place.

The decline could very much have lots to do with the PC/internet explosion and advanced video games systems, as others have mentioned above.

I miss going to the mall and playing games.


Me too.