Who Ruled the Arcades back in the Day?

I disagree. Sega made a lot of arcade games throughout the 80s and 90s, and yes, they weren't all fantastic - but I would argue that even their worst games were still better than what most other developers were doing. Today, things are very different. But at that time Sega was awesome, and the passage of time hasn't changed that much.

 

Atari and Namco ruled arcades during the heyday of arcades of 1986 and before. Nintendo also had some fantastic machines. Sega had some great machines and Taito but nothing on the level of atari and namco.

 

Did Atari or Namco cause Yen coin shortages?

I think Pac Man did right?

 

I would rank up Irem much higher, quite a few milestone hits they made...why to team it up it with jaleco anyway? two completely different companies with completely different styles, and irem sure did much more valuable efforts for the arcade posse!!

 

Irem should be it's own rank based on R-Type and Kung Fu alone

 

They also did GunForce and In the Hunt. Many of the people who worked on those games went on to develop Metal Slug.

 

Unfortunately i didn't experienced Irem arcades that often around here. Apart Vigilante, R-Type, In The Hunt, can't remember any others i actually played on a real arcade machine.

Believe me Jaleco was quite more of a common sight, with games like Cisco Heat, Grand Prix Star, Grand Prix Star II, F1 Super Battle, Big Run,... Still, Irem must be on a list like that. So i put it next to Jaleco. I could have put it aside Data East, but they had more games during that time.

Anyway,that is just my opinion. That's from what i experienced from the 80's and 90's on arcades in Brazil.

 

It's really a Shame Gunforce 2 never got a console port. Gunforce was ehhhhhhhhhhhhh but Gunforce 2 was pretty much Metal Slug Zero.

 

How far back? and where? In the US, in my generation (this was post space invaders & pac man), before Street Fighter II, I'd say Sega. After Street Fighter II, I'd go Capcom, then in the late 90s - aughts when arcade operators were importing bemani games, it was Konami, but when that died down it was Capcom again.

Sega's dedicated cabs always brought in big fun & lots of money. Every game had an arcade stick, but it was awesome getting to sit "in a car" or "on a motorcycle" for an arcade game - no, that was an experience.

Of course the fighting game craze came and never really left, but DDR seriously challenged it.

MAYBE in the mid 90s when Midway had both NBA Jam and Mortal Kombat out they could have ruled the arcades... Capcom had more staying power though.

 

I'm from the Philippines, so things are a little different. I was also born in 1983, my earliest knowledge is in the late eighties as well.

US made arcade games are rare. So Atari, but you can find some stuff like the original Race Drivin on a 40 inch screen and the Interactive Laserdisc games. But compared to Japanese made arcades they are rare. So if you find a US made Arcade Cabinet, that is a High End arcade. Pinball Machines are virtually nonexistant in arcades in the Philippines.

Street Fighter 2 defined arcades in the early nineties. It's just about impossible to find an arcade that didn't have SF2 on it. A Konami or Sega game is in every arcade. And an arcade without a Neo Geo is also near impossible to find.

So for me, Capcom, Konami and Sega.

 

The are very few "culturally significant" arcade games and most of them are from the so called Golden Age (1978-1986).
Stuff like Pong, Space Invader, Pac Man, Donkey Kong are recognized even by my sister that never really played videogames (Frogger is a minor hit compared to them).

As already said Sega prominence in the arcades didn't start until mid '80 with Space Harrier and Outrun, and it relied heavily on technological advancements.

The problem with the OP question I feel is that "back in the day" encompasses a span of more then 2 decades that in videogame term is a very long period during which many things changed.

That tale is related to Space Invader-

 

I remember when VF3 hit the arcades locally - that Model 3 cab caused weak knees at its awesome sight. I'd spent hours on VF2 on the Saturn and was able to funnel that into VF3. I was terrible at it, but good enough to get somewhere locally. But this was Australia, so take it with a grain of salt. I played some VF5:FS when we visited Japan in 2012 and got torn apart. Humbling, but amazing fun.

I'm a fanboy, so I'd say Sega ruled the arcades. Namco kept them on their toes, and Capcom and SNK tore it up in the arcades where fighters drew competition.

 

I'm aware, but I swear something Namco made also caused shortages.

That said, The other day I started watching the 100 Yen, documentary...that was who I thought it was right?

But yeah it was a subtitless version, so I'm going to nab it off PSN. What I could make out was interesting but it seemed to leave alot out.

Edit- I was right Pac Man Also caused Yen shortages
http://www.ign.com/articles/2010/05/21/pac-man-turns-30

 

Who ruled the arcades? The guy with the big bunch of keys and (in my experience) the sour looking face on him. I mean, who wants to babysit a bunch of machines AND a bunch of kids?

 

in Warwick RI Mortal Kombat II Ruled the roost but when SSF II hit there were crowds around it huge ones but then they all went back to MK