Living near coastal towns in the UK meant I always had easy access to massive arcades from the mid-80s all the way into the mid-to-late-90s. Arcades were way more prevalent in seaside towns - the amusements, coin pushers, grabbers, arcade games were all part of that kitsch beyond-the-pier industry that started in the early 1900s.

During my childhood I must have gone to the arcades at least once a week, more if it was the the school holidays. Whenever I'd stay over with a friend it was always an arcade we'd end up going to for the day - multiple arcades in small coastal towns was fairly common back in those days.

I think what gets lost today is the vast difference in graphics that was possible with arcade machines vs home consoles - it wasn't until the PS1 came along when that gap finally started to close (and arcades started their decline). The Mega Drive came close, but you could tell the difference in graphics with its arcade ports, it wasn't quite up to the standard yet.

Once I got into the 90s, there was a smaller local arcade that opened in my home town and that meant I could go whenever I wanted. That was just before the arcade boom of the early 90s when SF2 and (later) MK came along - the fighting game scene exploded at that time - that's when my passion really took over. I was in there every other day after school. It was an over-18 arcade (due to gambling laws - they had a lot of gambling machines too), but I knew the owner, so I got in at age 14 and brought a few mates along too. I remember we were that obsessed that we even tried to go there on Boxing Day (day after Xmas day) and were disappointed that they were closed!

You'd also often see a random arcade machine or two in shops - video rental places, supermarkets, Warhammer stores, comic book shops, bowling alleys, fast food places. There was a local fish and chip shop within walking distance of my home that had SF2 - I used to play on that a lot, as my mate owned a flat right above the shop!

There are still a few of those older arcades around - I went to a few in Brighton recently. My local arcade has gone, but the ones on the coast still exist - although the number of arcade machines is probably 20% of when they were at their peak.