Editing Amusement arcade (section)

{{Short description|Venue where people play arcade games}}
[[File:Daiichhisega.jpg|thumb|''GiGO'', a former large 6 floor [[Sega]] game center on Chuo Dori, in front of the LAOX Aso-Bit-City in [[Akihabara]], Tokyo, Japan]]
An '''amusement arcade''', also known as a '''video arcade''', '''amusements''', '''arcade''', or '''penny arcade''' (an older term), is a venue where people play [[arcade game]]s, including [[arcade video game]]s, [[pinball]] machines, [[electro-mechanical games]], [[redemption game]]s, [[merchandisers]] (such as [[claw machine]]s), or coin-operated [[billiards]] or [[air hockey]] tables. In some countries, some types of arcades are also legally permitted to provide [[gambling]] machines such as [[slot machine]]s or [[pachinko|''pachinko'' machines]]. Games are usually housed in cabinets.<ref name=Nasaw>{{cite book|pages = 154|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=P0eySLn7b6EC&pg=PA154|title = Going out: the rise and fall of public amusements|isbn = 9780674356221|access-date = 2013-05-30|quote = First use of the term [...] between 1905 and 1910|last1 = Nasaw|first1 = David|date = 15 April 1999| publisher=Harvard University Press |archive-date = 2014-07-04|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140704115912/http://books.google.com/books?id=P0eySLn7b6EC&pg=PA154|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Penny arcade definition and meaning | website=Collins English Dictionary | date=17 February 2023 | url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/penny-arcade | access-date=17 February 2023}}</ref>

Video games were introduced in amusement arcades in the late 1970s and were most popular during the [[golden age of arcade video games]], the early 1980s.