I really don't know what to think of arcades at the moment.
The arcade scene in my area is more or less monopolized by Namco affilliates.
For those not in the know, that puts the arcade looking something like this:
-1-2 Capcom fighters, depending on the arcade
-2-3 Tekken Machines, including Tag, Four, and Three
-Several racing games, including aroudn two Sega racers (Star Wars or Crazi Taxi, but rarely both), a Ridge Racer, and a Midway racer.
-A Soul Calibur 1 or 2 machine, or sometimes both.
-A Galaga/Galaxian/Pac-Man or Class of 1981 machine, depending on the age of the Namco arcade. Cabinet varies from original Namco to Midway liscensed.
-At least one Dance Machine
-One or two prize redemption machines.
-The "Cyclone" (Ticket game)
-Slight chance of a Gauntlet game.
-2-3 Token changers.
So far, I've never seen any SNK game in an Namco arcade...I'm not sure why, other than they may have been playing favorites for Capcom or consider the hardware so out of date that they don't feel they want to deal with it.
If it's not a Namco affilliate, it's usually a rink-a-dink arcade in a Truck Stop or pizza place. It'll have an old Midway sports cabinet (Usually any '99 sport title), one racer, a class of '81 machine, and as many shooters as they can cram in the joint.
Folks in my area just seem to shy away from fighters....with the exception of most rednecks who rush out for the latest "wrastlin'" title. Other than that, I've lost faith in em', and have to side with Big Bear that for those people who enjoyed the old-school games, you're better off with your home console--as it's easier to find. If only the X-arcade stick weren't so expensive.....it'd be much easier to try and get that in-arcade experience at home. (Pending you don't have arcade cabinets in your home. If you do...than you have your own arcade, why should you care what's found in town?)
...just short of filling your game room with cigarette smoke, hot wings, little debbies, and loud music of your choice.
--KagerouSama