What kill the video game arcade in Hong Kong?

Back in the 1980-early 2000, computer and internet wasn’t the popular and necessary tool to the people, it was kind of luxury stuff to the family especially you did have the PC and 28k speed modem for accessing the internet.

I still remember how much did the other jealous on me when I told them that I had got the Nintendo FC console in early 1990, it felt like I am the super star within the class when considering most of them didn’t have any (hey, it’s not because how rich was my family but the other mates in the class wasn’t allow to get any, they parents needed them focus on the study).

I was super busy to entertain my classmate to my home, playing the FC console together backward. With more and more TV commercial broadcasting in Hong Kong starting at 1993, more and more classmate got their own video console, probably it was the SFC, the next generation of the video console by Nintendo.

My dad spoiled me a lot when I was a child, he bought me the SFC as well, but I didn’t as busy as I did to entertain my classmate because they no longer need to come my home to play, they can enjoy the video game anytime as long as they had completed the homework and done for the revision of the class book.

Then, I started becoming alone to play the video console at home but I still enjoy to discuss how to play the specific game and share the status of the game, most likely I shared how many achievement I have unlocked.

The video arcade came to my attention since I was primary 6, I was about 12 backward, but I was not allowed to enter the arcade as the regulation makes it very clear that people who under 16 is not allowed to enter all the video game arcade.

However, I was too addicted to the KOF game series especially the KOF 97, I tried to sneak into the canter many time, of course I was being escorted when the staff spotted I was there. Been waiting for another 4 years, finally I could go the arcade legally.
Meanwhile the computer and internet started showing up in many people home, but it didn’t give too much impact to the game arcade still. We always made a phone call to the other asking them to go play some nice games in the center, the time was so fabulous.

Can’t really tell when such video arcades being dumped by the people of Hong Kong, there were too many video arcades closed in the past 10 years. And the arcades that still surviving nowadays doesn’t the arcade that I familiar with, all the machine there is the gambling related stuff, the slot machine, the horse racing, only little racing machine and the KOF 98 still there, oh yeah, 26 years is passed, still displaying the KOF 98 machine there. How sad is it.

Doesn’t the computer online game from 2000-2010 and the mobile apps game starting from 2011 to present kill the traditional arcade? No idea, but when I saw other people’s blog in Japan, there are still many new game in the arcade there, the games rules, the structures of the games, all similar to the old game that I play from 1990-2000’s, how come the arcade in Hong Kong doesn’t purchase such machine showing in the center?

Probably they don’t want to invest new money on the machine anymore, such business can’t really make quick money especially the cryptocurrenty came out, even though they don’t invest on the cryptocurrency, it was a good chance for them to make quick money by running the pharmacy at Hong Kong from 2007 till 2020, before the outbreak of the pandemic because many visitors from mainland China loved to purchase the medicine stuff at Hong Kong pharmacy.

It’s sad to seeing one traditional game business in Hong Kong is dead (well I am working in the toy and board game manufacturer in Hong Kong, head office based in Hong Kong and factory based in mainland China, the industry is dying as well).

In Chinese we got an old saying, literally in English is “the old stuff doesn’t go, the new stuff doesn’t come”, not sure is it a direct translation from English to Cantonese, please comment to let me know if you are familiar with the stuff in Hong Kong meanwhile you are the native English speaker.