Virtual(ly) Non Existent

The second arcade didn’t really pan out.

Well, I would first have had to find it. And for that to have happened, it would have had to have had the name that I found in google. Google doesn’t list that many arcade centers for Qatar. And I think this on may have set the template for the next couple.

What I was looking for was ” GoV للقيادة الإفتراضية ” (GoVitual Game Center) but what I found was:

In the center of the ground floor of a suburban shopping mall was two small kiosks on either side of an escalator.

Consisting of 11 screens with optional VR headsets, 360 Play was nothing more than almost a dozen PlayStation4 systems and some cozy seats. I guess, the large new games that we see in arcades these days are little more than the same thing. That realization seems to have broken my heart just a little.

What this did remind me of was the old World of Nintendo kiosks that existed in malls across America in the 80s and 90s. Much in the same way, the kiosks housed a dozen televisions support by the Nintendo M82. A legendary piece of hardware that I couldn’t possibly have comprehended at an early age but was a 12 cartridge changer for the NES.

Laid out side by side and behind a custom faceplate for what felt like the width of the interior mall hallway, they were used to showcase new and current games so you could try before you by. What a wonderful way to hook consumers but also to find out what game was going to worth that money in a time when the internet simply didn’t exist on a consumer level. Sure there were commercials on television and ads in magazines but that simply doesn’t give you the real feel of the game.

I have now spent way to long looking up information on the m82 and looking for pictures of the full mall kiosks. Nostalgia.

While looking around the mall, I did stumble upon another place that I found very interesting. Funderdome: Two children enter, one child… wait… where’s Jimmy?

This is the second large play area that I’ve found inside a shopping mall. And not just a padded floor and fiberglass ferry boat. But full on McDonald’s play area, padded cage activities, ticket games, a claw game full of Twix (yes please). Though the first one did look a little sad, both are extremely well cared for. True, I think I’ve only seen both during weekdays. But they are obviously making enough money to survive in a shopping mall. Amazing.

There’s a place called the 360 Gaming Center and another called LFS. We’ll see if those produce any better results in the next day or so.

For now, I’ll just take a look around the mall here. Might be some interesting stores.

Thanks Replayers,
Erik

NOTE: SO this was created and posted from my phone, which is a way different format than that from my laptop. I don’t think I’m going to do a full post like that again. There are some formatting issues that I don’t like and it didn’t give me as many options as I like/want when cross posting. What do you think?