Robert asked:


n game was once the staple of the American arcade. Unfortunately the genre took many dips and turns as the sands of time passed. They've gotten more and more complex while simpler games are thrown to the wayside. I would never forsake the great advances that have been made with modern video games, but I feel as though many people have forgotten the simple joy of a good old fashioned action game. The retail market may have lost its appreciation for simplicity, but the online world hasn't forgotten its simple beginning. The games of yesterday are carried on in the spirit of the Internet arcade.

New action games are constantly being released for quick play on online arcades everywhere. These follow many of the old standbys of an arcade game. They offer quick enjoyment without much strategy or planning. You run along with a few words composing the full story. The enemies are all bad and you're usually on your own. You can just have fun and shoot aliens and *****. Can you really ask for more?

I guess I should really look at why you'd want to play these games when more advanced versions are available in the mainstream market. I think it all sums up to one simple reason. You can relive all the good things about an old arcade without any of the bad. Simple action games are what made the arcade era famous. Side-scrolling shooters and early FPS shooters gave the era's its strong footing. Why was that? They were fun and they were short. A good retail video game these days will require at least a 15 hour commitment to get to the end. You can beat these games with about a half hours worth of time. They are made for quick and casual play. They're made to help you kill some time. They may not have top-of-the-line graphics but you can at least kill some bad guys and save somebody. That's good enough for me.

The best part is that they don't require a constant stream of quarters. Online arcades are free now. Game over means that you click a button and start again. There is no money changing hands and you don't really have anything in it. You can just select your choice and play. If you are tired of it after a few minutes you can quit and try another one. You have a full selection of fun games at no cost. Programmers have even ported at lot of the old classics into the arcade. You can find everything from Sonic to Contra in a good online arcade. They're all free and available for your full enjoyment. You can now relive your childhood in your spare time.

The arcades in America are disappearing at an alarming rate, but the spirit of the penny arcade is still alive online. If you just want a cool action game that will help you waste a little time, then you're doing something right if you check for online options.

Robert asked:


ormer built up what we now know as gaming. It gave us classics like Frogger and Donkey Kong, but those seem to have fallen into the same pit as the penny arcade. New games have become dependent on flashy graphics and high price tags. The good news is that you can still have a little return to your old days of arcade bliss. This is possible through the use of one of many online arcades. These little websites let you have some classic fun for no cost, but this isn't the only reason you should use them.

The first is that there is a great simplicity to them. You can log onto an arcade site and have a lot of fun in a few seconds. It just takes a few clicks to land on a game's page.

You can take five seconds to skim through the instructions and you'll be ready to go. If you want to play a game on a mainstream console, you will have to devote a lot more of your time. You'll need to drive to a store, argue with a clerk (well I do), sell your soul to pay for it, drive home, read the big manual, read the inserts summarizing the main points of the manual, fire up the console, insert the disc, punch through a few loading screens, etc. The point is that you're going to have to do a lot more than just enter a website. There are going to be times when you just want to waste 15 spare minutes on a video game. You will appreciate the grand simplicity of an online arcade in these situations.

Another great bonus is that you can play some of these old classics in newer forms. Games from your childhood have made the transition into the Internet age. Donkey Kong has new levels and new styles. Frogger has been taken to new lands with new designs. Sonic has even stepped up to the plate by whirling through new lands. These classics charmed you in their first incarnation and they should still have the power to charm you now. In fact they should do a better job. Their flash versions have updated graphics and quicker loading times. They are better, faster, and stronger than their former lives.

The best part of this porting is the simple fact that they're free. When you were younger you had to pour all of your hard-earned allowance into feeding the ever hungry machines. You're free from this burden now. The games are free too. They are available for endless plays. You don't have to worry about dying fifty times. You can just restart and play again. You can stop and start at will. You can really enjoy yourself without sacrificing your poor quarters to your second job at the arcade.

You should remember the old joy of the arcade. It can be brought back to life with the joy of the online arcade. Take a few minutes and indulge your gaming dreams in a format that is considerably cheaper.