Short answers, pulled from the story.
The term penny arcade emerged in 1905 to describe venues filled with coin-operated devices that offered everything from fortune-telling machines to early forms of non-electrical pinball. These early establishments were social hubs where communities gathered to witness the marvels of mechanical ingenuity. The machines themselves ranged from bagatelles to Mutoscopes that displayed moving pictures through a simple crank.
The number of video game arcades in North America reached a peak of 13,000 video game arcades across the region between 1980 and 1982. This unprecedented boom began in 1980 with the release of Pac-Man, Centipede, and Space Invaders driving a cultural phenomenon that swept across North America and Western Europe. These venues appeared in supermarkets, restaurants, liquor stores, and filling stations to seek extra income through the simple act of inserting a coin.
On the 30th of November 1982, Jerry Parker the Mayor of Ottumwa Iowa declared his city the Video Game Capital of the World. The city hosted the first video-game-themed parade on the 8th of January 1983 and the first video game world championship on the 8th of January 1983. On the 12th of July 1983 scientists conducted the first study of the brain waves of video-game champions and on the 16th of January 1984 the first billion-point video-game performance occurred.
The main reason for the decline was the increasing competition from console ports which had become highly accurate and were released shortly after arcade versions. In the second quarter of 1996 video game factories reported 90,000 arcade cabinets sold a stark contrast to the 150,000 cabinets sold in 1990. The gap between arcade releases and home console ports had closed making it difficult for arcade owners to justify their existence.
A bar opened in the new Crown Casino complex in Melbourne Australia named Barcode in the late 1990s which combined the latest arcade games with the ability to consume alcohol. This innovative approach proved so popular that other bars followed suit with a Barcode opening in Times Square New York in May 2000. The concept of combining arcade gaming with social drinking environments gained traction leading to the opening of similar venues in King Street and at the shopping center Melbourne Central.
The UK is home to the largest arcade in Europe called Arcade Club located in Bury Greater Manchester. This venue houses over 400 original arcade machines and is recognized as the largest collection in Europe. The UK also saw the closure of classic arcades such as Casino and Trocadero both located in London while new venues like Heart of Gaming opened in North Acton.