I remember growing up in the suburb of Lagos state specifically mushin local government during the mid 90's it was football and table tennis that was the inn thing and only bad boyz played snooker but suddenly shops started opening and primary and secondary school children started seeing funny like creature one could control and we paid #5 to play a set of Mario popularly called ee bo lo ma kusi..
we thought that was where it will stop but we where wrong Sega and Nintendo game came out almost together and I saw my school grade drop to earth. some of my friends had to steal their parent money just to get the thrill of playing these games.
Gambling became the order of Game houses when Play station 1 became the inn thing and game houses became naira bet one could bet on anything, first corner, first to score, first to get a yellow card . Now we have PS 2 and PS 3 and so many other games instead of seeing game houses around my neighborhood what am seeing now are sign post of naira bet and surebet.. what I Dont understand is where did all the game houses go??

I guess the new consoles are too expensive to buy in bulk and heat up easier than older versions. Gaming is not profitable if the console goes off after four hours of extended play.

I know a game house around my secondary school which closed shop once the PS3 came out. The owner kept saving face saying he was loyal to the PlayStation 2 brand but we both knew it was a situation of him not making enough money to upgrade his systems. Today the place is a shadow of its former self with PS2s littering everywhere but no one to play them.

charix:
I guess the new consoles are too expensive to buy in bulk and heat up easier than older versions. Gaming is not profitable if the console goes off after four hours of extended play.

I know a game house around my secondary school which closed shop once the PS3 came out. The owner kept saving face saying he was loyal to the PlayStation 2 brand but we both knew it was a situation of him not making enough money to upgrade his systems. Today the place is a shadow of its former self with PS2s littering everywhere but no one to play them.

I just realise that almost all game house shop in my area have become either nairabet houses or catering shops.. I just wonder what teenagers of today do for recreation its not as if table tennis and snooker are returning

Gpdwise:

I just realise that almost all game house shop in my area have become either nairabet houses or catering shops.. I just wonder what teenagers of today do for recreation its not as if table tennis and snooker are returning

Majority of parents nowadays have two - four children at most; a number easy to cater for so most of them have the luxury of owning their personal gaming console(s). The Internet is also at a boom in this country so I imagine teenagers spending more time online watching and learning things. Smartphones've also helped this phenomenon take place at a rapid pace. All the time we spend online means more time staying indoors.
Street kids on the other hand are more interested in making money so they patronize the bet shops or are also busy indoors practicing yahoo yahoo. Nowadays everybody is more introverted than past years.

Game houses can no longer function because people buy thier personal gaming consoles; even PS-3 games can be downloaded and played on peoples systems.

Yeah, remember those good old days when we frequented the game house to play Super Mario or Mortal Kombat on Nintendo and Sega

The reigning thing now is bet houses.

It's because the current gen consoles are expensive.
I remember then when PS1 was N10, PS2= N20 for 5 mins soccer game. When ps3 came to limelight, few game houses has what it takes to step up the game cos of the expenses, it was expensive to acquire, no pirated games, Dual shock 3 cost... playing it for N50 per game isn't economical cos most Apple still derives the fun in PS2.
Most pple has to settle for a system which the joystick is cheaper & there' are cracked copies..