Welcome to our new series of features: “Go, go out and play! “ .
Many people’s game enlightenment is the Internet cafes or arcade halls that used to be cramped and full of smoke. Now that everyone is sitting at home and playing the games that are at their fingertips , perhaps occasionally a thought flashes in their hearts: Are those game venues outside the house still there, and what have they become?
After recording a series of old online games last time, this time we set our sights on these places that once carried the memories of countless players. Video game shops, arcade halls, and Internet cafes, we’ll document what they look like in this new era in a series of features. They may have changed, but they are still carrying the current entertainment life of players.
July and August are probably the hottest times of the year. Humans who are accustomed to seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages will consciously avoid the hot summer days, and passers-by who go out shopping often flock to large shopping malls with full air-conditioning to seek peace.
In order to retain them, these large public places usually prepare a wide variety of entertainment facilities for people to experience. Today, as console games are increasingly accepted by the public, the emerging product of “shared console” has also begun to take root and spread into major shopping malls middle.
Unlike traditional game arcades, shared hosts are generally placed in the corner of crowded shopping malls, with no ornate store fronts and no dedicated staff to take care of them. Pick up the handle on the table, scan the code to pay, and enjoy a moment of game time.
Before me, the shared hosting store, which I thought would not be too busy, already had a few customers. Like them, I took a seat, turned on the machine, and spent the whole day in this shared hosting store without a clerk.
“What’s the difference between this thing and the game room when I was a kid?”
Beijing, Hualian Wanliu Shopping Center, a large five-storey shopping mall, there are three completely different shared host stores.
“Number One Play Plus”, “Playco Playco” and “W Future Shared Hosting”, three competitors located on the same track, are set up on three floors with different traffic. The leisurely entrance of the cinema hall, the noisy entertainment center, and the 30-inch large screen playing various popular games in a loop. The game sound effects complement the environment where people come and go. The shared host that appears here is a novelty, but it is definitely counted. Not in violation.
Shared hosting next to the figurine shop
Scan the code to pay, pick up the controller, and select the game. These devices simplify the preparations before the game starts to the extreme: for users who have not touched the controller, there will be hands-on operation teaching on the screen; for customers who don’t know much about the game, this type of shared host also organizes all games into categories , and even built-in introduction text, and strive to make it easy for Blue Ocean users to get started.
I don’t understand what “Bubble Bobble” has to do with “Girlfriend’s Favorite”
Only when it comes to the payment link, the high price is no longer close to the people: 30 yuan for 30 minutes, 50 yuan for 60 minutes… Although the longer the game time purchased here, the more cost-effective the price, but compared with ordinary Internet cafes and other video game facilities, the shared host The price/performance ratio is still a bit tragic, and I am afraid it will persuade a large number of visitors to watch the fun.
The price in the picture is relatively cheap.
Although named “shared host”, these devices actually have nothing to do with the host you imagine. Open the setting interface of “Gears of War 5”, the game nakedly shows the true colors of these machines: the so-called console is just a skinned PC, which is still different from the real console game store, and naturally has no chance with the exclusive games of each console. span
The GTX1650 graphics card may struggle to cope with today’s masterpieces, but there are not many works with high configuration requirements.
At the same time, these skinned mainframes are not just superficial, all machines are deeply customized. There is no way to return to the computer desktop, nor does it provide any extra operating space. Some machines have even managed to modify the game content by magic. The operation instructions of each game are built into the game, and they are still doing their best to reduce the playability of these games. threshold.
Some manufacturers have also modified the handle. In the picture, the watermelon key of the xbox360 handle has been magically changed to the corresponding Logo.
As for the most critical game lineup, as everyone thinks, the most here is of course the two-player game. From the recent hit “Two Players”, to the pixel game “Shovel Knight” that Blue Ocean users will not pay attention to, as long as there is a two-player mode, they can all have a place in the game list of shared consoles. Although the quality of the game is uneven, when playing games with peers, the important thing is not the game itself.
Travel For Two has almost become the default must-play game, always number one
Of course, for customers like me who don’t have friends to travel with, these shared hosts also have some built-in single-player masterpieces. The “Devil May Cry 5” with gorgeous combat special effects and this year’s “Ayrden Circle”, which is well-known outside the circle, can often attract passers-by to stop and watch. In the process of playing “Sekiro”, the eyes behind me became more and more burning. Before long, the attendance rate around me has exceeded my expectations, and the new thing of shared hosting may be much more popular than you and I thought.
Friends, Couples and Parents
Even though every shared host explicitly prohibits minors from playing, their mainstream user group is still this group of curious children.
Children are the most sensitive group to this type of gaming device. In the summer time, children who are on the go, accompanied by their parents, go out to play, and these devices placed in the mall can just hold their eyes firmly.
Some machines require real-name authentication to pay
Almost all the children took their parents to sit with their interests, some simply settled the bill, and some parents finally poured out their money under the soft and hard bubbles. Here, the dominance is held in the hands of children, changing a game in ten minutes, and playing whatever is pleasing to the eye, which is probably a bit like the arcade hall in our childhood. Only this time, they were sitting next to their parents who were not supposed to be here.
The mother here is a typical representative of “never touched the game”. What they enjoy is the quality time spent with their children, and although some younger mothers are curious about these new things, they only stop there and will not study further.
But the father is another matter. I don’t know if I should criticize these irresponsible fathers. They forget that the original intention of coming here is to amuse their children. They slumped on the sofa and engrossed themselves in the game. On top of that, the percentage of such fathers is unusually high.
I got in touch with a father and son who were playing Cuphead. The child is probably less than ten years old, and his manipulation and reflexes are far less than that of an adult. He is clumsy and will die on time within a minute of every level. On the other hand, the father restarted the game again and again, and it could be seen that the difficulty of the game aroused his determination to win, and made him forget to consider the feelings of his children personally.
The father told me that he rarely touches games on weekdays, but he did love it decades ago. He reported to me a few arcade games that I didn’t know much about, and the retro style of “Cup Head” and the horizontal board game play instantly brought him back to that era and rekindled his fighting spirit.
Later, they also changed several games, such as “Pro Evolution Soccer 2021” and “Jump Super Smash Bros.”, which are probably all the father’s game tastes, but the children who suffer from the misery are always shriveled and keep shouting to change the game.
Communication between people is the theme here, and games are the bridge between them. I witnessed an elderly grandmother and her grandson playing “The King of Fighters”, and the smiles of the two were pure and beautiful; I also saw a young couple who was furious because “NBA2K” did not play well. If there are conflicts, venting emotions through games is also an option; there is also a pair of good brothers who are somewhat ambiguous. I didn’t ask more about them, and I don’t know if there is any special story between them.
Almost all of them discovered these magical machines while shopping with the people around them for the purpose of “trying early adopters”. There are no prior reservations here, and there are not a few regulars here. More people just take it as part of their happy routine. You can clearly feel that the cheerful air that pervades all around is full of contagion.
Play Together With Strangers
In this bustling city, it is rare to see a lone ranger like me-rare means not nothing, fortunately, I really found a lonely figure.
He was a young man in his twenties, carrying a large bag and a few figurines he had just bought in his hand. He was playing Devil May Cry 5 by himself when I noticed him. Judging from the way he frequently lowered his head and fiddled with the controller, it was probably the first time he played a game with this thing.
I tentatively taught him the basic operation of the controller, and watched him change several games in succession. When he got tired of getting up and going, I stopped him.
He is a college student living in Heilongjiang, and he made a special trip to Beijing for summer vacation. This trip has no goals, I just want to come to the big city to wander around, and the reason I met him here is just because there is his favorite model figure nearby. After shopping and shopping, I have nothing to do and take a seat. power on.
He is a typical blue ocean player. He has only played the mobile game version of “Cross Fire” before, and has never been exposed to other games. For him, the games on the big screen in front of him had only been seen on video sites, and although all of them could be named, he had never played any of them.
I gave him full control and let him pick the games he likes. We tried “Jump”, “Human Falls”, and finally stopped on “Two of Two”.
“Two People” itself does not support random matching. I don’t know how many people will add friends and team up with netizens who have never met each other specifically for this game, but offline and a stranger pick up the handle and pass the level together. , I’m afraid not many people have experienced it.
The bathhouse master is probably the profession that plays the most “Two Together” with strangers
There is a unique magic in “Going For Two”, which can make people who don’t know much about the game feel the purest charm of this type of carrier.
This passer-by friend of mine didn’t know how to operate it from picking up the handle, and it took only half an hour to take risks in this world with ease. He is full of primitive curiosity about this unfamiliar world, and likes to dig out every possible path and every possible interactive object, although to me who is used to playing games, it is just useless in game design. The scenes stack up, but I’m still used to him letting him explore as he pleases.
Sometimes tricky, sometimes stupid, he let go of the defenses of strangers and became very close to me. Soon, we integrated into this environment together. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of the surrounding atmosphere. An uncle was sleeping on the sofa, a mother and son were playing “Fucking Kitchen”, and two girls were fighting each other in “Human Fallout”. I think we and these people are probably No difference.
When the billing time came to an end, his expression was visibly unfinished. I still had something to do that day, and I refused the invitation to renew the fee, but we exchanged contact information and agreed to play again next time.
Over the weekend, he has not left Beijing. We got together again for another two hours of laughter and laughter. He wasn’t particularly cheerful outside the game, but when he was playing, he laughed loudly.
Epilogue
It is true that console games are indeed not suitable for experience in the store plaza, with fragmented time mixed with fragmented immersion, and trying to hear the voice of the game broadcast in the noisy crowd is a big problem, let alone in this kind of game. Dedicated to a particular game in an environment.
At the same time, the playing environment here is not very good. For example, the equipment located in the aisle of the shopping mall is not blessed with air-conditioning, the shiny handle on the table is obviously not well maintained, and the performance configuration of the machine cannot even run 60 frames of “Sekiro” three years ago. By the way, the games on these machines are actually pirated copies.
But you probably won’t believe that such expensive and poor experience shared hosting has blossomed all over the country. Shanghai, Hangzhou, Tianjin, Lanzhou… Netizens from all over the country have mentioned the popularity of this industry in their cities. degree.
Image source Weibo user @平成女HeiseiSyojyo
Except for those parents who use the shared hosting store as a nursery and go shopping by themselves, more customers who choose this place are actually very simple. Just like the friend who played “Two Players” with me above, they don’t have any high pursuit of the quality of the game, and the frame rate of the picture is even more “useable”. When they get tired of playing, they immediately change to the next game. , having fun is the most important thing.
I asked several ordinary customers who didn’t know about games, and their knowledge of the industry only stayed at “heard of Steam, Xbox, PS and Switch”. XGP is a good deal? Is the Epic discount good? They have no concept and no plans to purchase consoles and game equipment in the future.
As for the reason why they spend dozens of dollars just to buy one hour of happiness, you and I are well aware of it. The game is so fun in the first place, and it is enough to play with the person closest to you and gain double the happiness.
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