Can Arcades make a Comeback?

Arcades have slowly but surely been dying out in the western world. The Big question is why? When arcades around asia continue to grow and video games as a whole have become the largest entertainment industry in the world, why have we allowed the very origins of true video gaming to fall through the cracks.

Video Games are huge, its now a multi-billion dollar industry spanning the entire globe and catering to every age/race/gender/interest/genre imaginable. Consumers are willing to pay more and more for the latest blockbuster and sales of consoles continue to roll in thus showing that it is unlikely to be the expenditure that is a turn-off. I have spoken before about the future of video games, increased emphasis on digital media and the like but one area of video gaming and culture in general has been slowly disappearing from our shores. That is ofcourse the plight of the arcade, those havens of nerds, dark rooms filled with spotty individuals hunched over sticky controls with the light from the bright screen being the only illumination. At least thats what my parents believe arcades are, but you go to any arcade over in Japan or Korea or a number of other asian countries and all you see is rows and rows of people of all shapes and sizes in bright multi-coloured rooms playing at well maintained clean machines. Arcades in asia are as much a social hub as they are a place of gaming, they are essentially western-style coffee shops with games in them (essentially the video gaming equivalent of Starbucks).

Now as a gamer one of my dreams is to own a Donkey Kong arcade cabinet, even to play on one would be heaven  because having grown up on a tiny Island (Jersey, Channel Islands) in the 90's i grew up without the original and had instead to settle with NES and SNES versions which while brilliant did not "Feel" the same. No amount of Hi-Def graphics or fancy motion controls can beat the original thrill of playing a real arcade cabinet, whether its guiding a plumber over barrels, guiding a yellow circle away from ghosts, collecting taxi fares or playing Street-fighter the experience of the original arcade cabinets and controls cannot be reproduced. And this is why its so saddening that the popularity and success of vidoe games in general in the west has not lead to a similar rise in the popularity of gaming arcades.

Let me know your views, do you think arcades still have a place in current gaming culture, if not then why are they still so popular in other parts of the world. Any favorite games or arcade moments?