From arcade machines to PlayStation: Into the gaming world of the capital

The year is 2513. On the East Coast, a gang known as the Black Marketeers suddenly start hunting dinosaurs for reasons unknown. The result is catastrophic. Innocent villagers find themselves facing the wrath of these dinosaurs. To investigate the incident, four individuals stepped forward: Jack Tenrek, Hannah Dandy, Mustapha Cairo, and Mess O'Bradovich. Thus began the story of the Cadillacs and Dinosaurs game.

During the 1990s, the popularity of Cadillac and Dinosaurs games was so immense in Bangladesh that the third character from the game Mustapha became synonymous with arcade gaming. It was a challenge for children and teenagers in Dhaka's red-curtained arcade gaming shops to defeat the game's main antagonist, Dr Simon Fessenden, aka "Dinosaur Boss", in one go.

The lifeblood of the arcade gaming shops may have been Mustapha, but games like Metal Slug and King of Fighters also provided a substantial rush of adrenaline to the children and teenagers who skipped school to come and play.

Sabah bin Hossain, who frequented the arcade gaming shop in Khilgaon at the turn of the century, said, "Just as Cristiano Ronaldo's Siuuu celebration is popular now, back then, everyone used to mimic white-haired Orochi's celebration from King of Fighters after winning a game."

A lot of time has passed since then. Technology has also affected arcade gaming shops. By the end of the first decade of the century, the prestige of arcade shops began to decline. Cyber cafes took that place.

Reshad Shahriar Rihad, a civil engineering student at Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, said, "Cyber cafes started to become the new hub for gaming around 2010. Back then, games like Need for Speed Most Wanted, GTA (Grand Theft Auto), IGI, or Call of Duty were played."

It did not take long for the technology to catch on. As smartphones and the Internet became cheaper, cyber cafes also began to lose business.

However, a shop of arcade gaming machines can still be seen in the Member House Mosque area of Mirpur 14. Inside the shop named Robi Store, one can find the screens of old arcade machines flickering badly. But that is not an issue for Md Rabiul, a class five student.

"On holidays or after finishing school or coaching, I come here to play in the evening occasionally. Most of the time, I end up playing Free Fire on mobile in the other section of the shop. However, when I don't have any money, I play here (on the arcade machine)," he said.

Md Rasel, the store's employee, said the main business of the shop is renting out smartphones. When children return home in the evening, after school coaching, they get the opportunity to play games on their smartphones for half an hour in exchange for Tk20. Most of them prefer to play Free Fire during this time.

"Ten years ago, you could get one arcade machine token for Tk1. Now, the price has increased slightly, and you can get two tokens in exchange for Tk5," he said.

Rasel asked, "Free Fire or PUBG are more exciting to children than arcade games. So why would they choose arcade games?"

The answer is readily found standing in front of one of Dhaka's last arcade gaming shops in a state of disrepair.

In the world of PlayStation 

In the middle of a long corridor, there are two shops on either side. In the air-conditioned rooms, there are no empty sofas. Everyone is staring intently at PlayStation-connected monitors with a gamepad in their hands. Most of the monitors display FIFA 23 gameplay, while on some, one can see scenes from GTA V or Mortal Kombat.

The second floor of Khilgaon's Taltola City Supermarket has been transformed into a haven for gamers. The shop, named Zero Game Zone, remains open every day from 9 in the morning until 11 at night, without fail.

Photo: Courtesy

The shop owner, Mehedi Hasan Al-Amin who has grown up in this very area of Khilgaon, shared the history of his shop.

Zero Game Zone was launched in 2014. In the beginning, it was like traditional cyber cafes, but soon he changed the business a little with multiplayer games on the computer through a LAN connection. He began to focus on organising various tournaments with attractive prize money for the winners, most of which comes from the registration fees paid by participating teams.

Within the past few years, Al-Amin has shifted his focus from PCs to gaming consoles. The shop now has a total of 21 PlayStation consoles. Each can connect two players using a gamepad, and they can play for half an hour at a cost of Tk40. If a single player wants to play on one console, the cost will be Tk30. As time goes on, the amount of money will increase at the same rate.

Tahsin Patwari, a second-year student at Ideal College who comes to play here regularly, said no one comes here to play alone; rather, the purpose is to spend quality time with friends.

He said, "Even though I have a gaming console at home, I come here to play because it provides an opportunity to have fun with friends together."

The same goes for Hamza Sultan Ismail, a Senegalese student majoring in Electrical and Telecommunication Engineering at UITS in Baridhara, who regularly visits the area with his friends, spending several hours there each time.

But the question is why aren't we seeing similar gaming zones in other parts of the city?

One potential reason could be the cost associated with gaming. In the current market, a new gaming console, such as a PlayStation 5 (PS5), costs around Tk55,000. Additionally, the price of physical game discs is relatively high. 

According to Al-Amin, it costs approximately Tk7,000 to 12,000 to install a single game on each console. Furthermore, the prices of newly released games tend to be considerably higher. Overall, the financial investment required for gaming is substantial.

As a form of entertainment, video games have surged ahead of music, movies, and books. According to statistics from 2021, the global revenue of the video game industry is $192.7 billion. In addition, e-sports has established itself as a fully-fledged profession, akin to other sports, where competition prizes can range up to several million dollars.

Accompanying this trend is the world of live game streaming. According to Newzoo, in 2021, the audience for e-sports reached a total of 557 million, with 307 million being regular viewers and the remaining 250 million being occasional ones. 

Even in Bangladesh, many gamers engage in live game streaming. However, most of them do it as a hobby, and the official esports market is not yet suitable for Bangladesh.

This immense video game market is expected to grow several folds in the coming years, as individuals involved in the industry anticipate. The impact this will have on Bangladesh can easily be predicted. Perhaps the next e-gaming sensation will get its start from a gaming store like Zero Game Zone.