i'm into fighting games myself... i'm also pretty sure there'd be more people interested around the acme area if they had stuff like MvC2, SvC2, tekken... stuff like that. but acme got rid of the only 2 fighting games they had which was SC2 (which some people have seem to have lost interest in awhile ago) and some neogeo game which had samurai showdown characters (i think)

although it'd be cool having something like MvC2 that's maintained by bill, because of all those people who mash, the buttons seem to go bad every so often. oh well

I'd play if they got a 3rd Strike or MvC2 at Acme. Tekken is cool, but the home versions are good.

i don't like fighting games.

The fighting game at the UW Hub is the busiest thing down there. Every time I go down to the usually unoccupied DDR machine there are at least 3 people playing whatever fighting game it is. (Marvel vs Capcom 2 I think)

Yeah, I'd go regularly if they got KOF XI or 3rd strike. I just don't quite have enough of a reason to go yet :<

I don't like fighting games that much either, but you have to admit there's a good reason why there aren't many fighting games.  These days, arcade games pretty much have to have a controller that's not easily duplicable (or prohibitively expensive) at home, whether it be a dance pad, a gun, a wheel and pedals, or a decently-sized touch-screen.  If it has buttons, it's easily reproduced at home and people would play it there.  Home technology specs have caught up to arcade technology, so the only possible gimmick for arcade games is a specialized controller.  That's why basically every arcade game these days is a music game, driving game, or rail shooter.

If youre into variety as opposed to a genre specific arcade, go to Gameworks. I hate Gameworks personally, but even I understand it is the most varied arcade we got.......by a WHOLE LOT!

and they have a shit ton of fighting games.

No they don't.  They have Marvel, 3rd Strike, and Tekken.  There's also Samurai Shodown and SvC.  That's only 2 2D fighting games and 2 cabs of the same game (which NEEDS to be DR, seriously).  On a decent night, it'll take about 10 minutes to be able to play Third Strike; same goes for Marvel.  So you pretty much have a bunch of guys standing around.

Shit ton of fighting games would be more like 5 different cabs of games that people actually play.  US arcades can rarely support duplicates, though that'd be the ideal scenario.

The Marvel and Third Strike scene in the Seattle/Western Area pretty much agrees that Gameworks needs to get some more fighting game material (and rhythm game material).

oh my bad. i just saw that had like that row of games upstairs and it looked like a lot.

My friends went to gameworks and met some Seattle bemani-er's

They would have been a cute asian chick and her brother who's decent at DDR (worse than me, but can clear 9's and a couple 10's)

She (the female, obviously), mentioned some of the names, and a couple sounded familiar from here.  Anybody see anyone last weekend who fit the above description?

um... lol? You obviously haven't been to many arcades.  I'm not even going to get into how many other people in this thread need to open their eyes.
Next point:
 The social/ random opponent aspect is great in fighting games, btw. bemani you can't affect the other's play. i dunno two random thoughts.

Know's what he's talking about.

The thing about arcade fighting games is that the arcade is where you prove your skills. It's your token on the line versus some other guy. This is what led to the massive popularity of Street Fighter II in 1991, and the fighting game genre in general. Yes, you can play them at home with your buddies or against the CPU, but some people prefer the head-to-head competition against anyone that only arcades can deliver.

There are still people who enjoy this competition and that's why they want to play fighting games in arcades. But sadly, it becomes harder and harder to find arcades that actually throw these people a bone and have a decent selection of games to play. In the Portland area, Tilt is pretty much the only place to go if you want any sort of human competition in a fighting game.

I have to admit I haven't noticed any fighting games at ACME, and even I like Street Fighter 3rd Strike now and then (even though I suck).  But honestly I can't say I would play it competitively or in any constant manner; about the only games I play other than bemani are shooters, and ACME has TimeCrisis4 which rocks =D.  

It'd be nice to have a friendly competitive community atmosphere around some fighting games there, but honestly I don't have the knowledge of the popularity of arcade fighting in this region to say whether or not it would work.  I would assume if it was a valid venture than Bill might look into it if you ask him about it (maybe in the Western WA/ACME thread).

Amen brother.

With Bill's supply of games I'm sure he has one somewhere that, if placed near the front of Acme, would attract enough business to warrant it being there.

I totally agree with what BBH said, and I think it applies to more than just fighting games. If none of us liked competition and the social aspect, why would we go to the arcade? We could easy blow $400 on a Blueshark and never have to see the light of day. However, no one does this. One of the main aspects of AC bemani is the arcade.

Personally, putting a popular fighting game or two in the Acme arcade would be a terrible idea.  No problem with fighting games (don't really play them, but they can be fun), it's just that the space Acme gives to Bill is way too small for games that generate any sort of crowd.  It's bad enough when there's a large group checking out the selection or watching Bemani players; a stagnant group (like a huge line) would make it impossible to move around.  Its kind of sad that it works out like this, but it's been fairly clear from the start that Acme really only put aside a games room because almost all bowling alleys have arcades or at least a few machines against a wall somewhere.  Which explains both the horrible room dimensions (way too narrow) and lack of sufficient AC for a room filled with electronics.

I also have a feeling that if Bill thought fighting games were going to increase income or even just bring in a bunch of people, there'd be a better selection of them.  I mean, look at Stock Car Challenge, we've all been complaining about what a waste of space that thing is and I never see anyone play it, but it's supposedly one of the most profitable machines at Acme, hence Bill not removing it after almost a year and a half.

Also, the only time I've seen any appreciable line for a fighting game is the 5-8 person line (any time of day) for MvC2 in the Hub.  But then again, I tend to hang out in Bemani-filled arcades.

It's a different kind of competition. It's a psychological war between two players. You can't compare the competitive aspect of DDR with say 3s. Bemani games are still pretty much 1p games in spirit, even if there is another standing/ playing next to you.
ITG 2 is rarely ever played in portland in comparison to other games. I think fighting games are more universally accepted / played than Bemani. I'm not trying to say how to run an arcade, just giving my 2 cents / throwing ideas around.

Well, some of us do actually, but that's besides the point.

I would love nothing more than to see arcades prosper again.  There's just that social aspect to them that makes them so enjoyable.  From my first post here, I was never anti-arcade.  But the thing is, ever since the mid-90s, home technology has caught up to arcade technology and arcades have been failing.

Yeah, but you have to actually go a large distance to hit an arcade.

I've never been to Acme, so I cannot comment on the situation with games.  I can say that I've NEVER been to an arcade I would consider "healthy" by any means.  Gameworks is the biggest I've seen, but it's largely a casual gamers paradise; competition or serious gaming just isn't there.

Most arcades I've been to are loaded with old machines that are of no interest and are often ill maintained.  That's pretty much every arcade in America.