Arcade games kick started the gaming industry in the 1970s, bringing an ever-expanding variety of titles tobars, restaurants, and bowling alleys around the world. Over the next two decades, they introduced millions of people to video games for the first time and allowed children to spend countless hours on arcade cabinets where they could spend small fortunes of quarters and dimes. Yet, despite the enjoyment they brought to so many people, the abiding memory of them is that old arcade games were insanely difficult.
While many people might think that this is because games were simply harder back in the good old days, the truth is that they were made that way for very specific reasons. After all, the ultimate goal of any developer was to get as much money from players as possible.
So if you have ever wondered why arcade games from the '80s were impossible to beat, sit back and read on to find out the design secrets that were made to steal all your quarters.
