Any Retro Arcades in Southern Cali?

[opt2not]

I'm going to be visiting family soon in the OC and LA area, and was thinking about cutting-out for a day to go on an arcade hunt.

I'm looking for retro-game arcades, perhaps something like Barcade in NY. Somewhere that has the classics, more-so than the DDR or all fighting game arcades that you normally see. Also, I'm not interested in the D&B's or Gameworks venues. I'm looking for a place that has older games.

Does anyone know of any that exist in the Southern California area?  I don't mind driving, so if it's near LA or San Diego, or in-between -- call 'em out!

Thanks for your help. 

[Elerium-115]

Miss T's is the only one that I know of, but it might be out of business now.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/miss-ts-barcade-los-angeles

[quarterstringer]

I don't know how many classics they have left in their arcade, but next month I'm planning to check out the Golf n Stuff in Norwalk which was featured in the original Karate Kid movie.

http://www.golfnstuff.com/location/norwalk/index.htm

[jasonbar]

Not many options around here...  =(

- Dave & Buster's in Arcadia is your typical D&B, w/ a couple of "reunion/retro" games.  No pinballs.

- Golf 'n' Stuff in Ventura (1.5hrs north of LA) has become an absolute pathetic dump--very sad.

- Disneyland's Starcade is decent--nothing old, their Pirates of the Caribbean pinball was flaky

- Video West arcade in Glendale is pretty dumpy but has some charm & some oldies--pinballs are beat to heck, games aren't pretty, either

- If you want to go to what is supposedly the biggest console store in the universe (per their web page), go to Game Dude in North Hollywood.  Amazing selection of almost every console.  Try to find older staff (well, not *older*, so much as less young) if you want anything older than an XBox...  Prices aren't great, but selection is huge

- PJ's Pinball in Culver City has about 40 EM pinballs, a couple of EM "video games", & a DMD pin or two.  It's a repair/sales shop, not an arcade, but PJ sometimes opens up shop to the public on Friday eves.  Pretty sweet venue!  http://pjspinballmuseum.com/

- A list of pinballs in LA & OC.  Probably outdated, but it might lead to some good arcade info: http://ocpinball.com/

- I've heard good things about Family Arcade, though I've never been.  http://www.yelp.com/biz/family-amusement-corp-los-angeles


That's all that comes to mind.  I'll write more if I thin of any.  When's your visit?

-Jason

[opt2not]

Thanks for the info!
I found 2 arcades online, but it doesn't look like they have many retro games. Mostly fighters.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/arcade-infinity-rowland-heights

http://losangeles.citysearch.com/profile/45058/los_angeles_ca/westwood_arcade.html#profileTab-reviews

That's all that comes to mind.  I'll write more if I thin of any.  When's your visit?

Thanks Jason, I have a few days of research left before I head down there.  I'm sticking around here for the Canada Day partying, then we're on our way to Cali for the 4th of July week. I'm hoping I can have at least one or two sober days in all of this.

[jasonbar]

Haven't been to those 2 places--if you go, please report what you find.  Why do you want to have one or two sober days!??!?!   

-Jason

[HaRuMaN]

If you go the next state over you can visit Castles & Coasters in Phoenix...  Lots of classics and pins, as well as some modern stuff.

[opt2not]

Haven't been to those 2 places--if you go, please report what you find.  Why do you want to have one or two sober days!??!?!   

Yeah you're right, sobriety is overated.

If you go the next state over you can visit Castles & Coasters in Phoenix...  Lots of classics and pins, as well as some modern stuff.

Ha ha, then I can visit you! But alas, that's a bit far for me to drive...

[jasonbar]

More importantly, swing by Pasadena & buy more joystick parts from me!   

-Jason

[HaRuMaN]

C&C



Hope this image link works

[opt2not]

C&C looks rad!
If I ever go to Phoenix, I'm hitting that place up for sure!

[HaRuMaN]

C&C looks rad!
If I ever go to Phoenix, I'm hitting that place up for sure!

You should.  2 stories of gaming goodness.   

[DrumAnBass]

Not sure if it is still there but there was "Playland" a retro-arcade on the Santa Monica pier.
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2975859-playland_arcade_santa_monica-i

Also another on the Redondo Beach Pier - Fun Factory: http://www.redondo.com/rff/

Also a couple in Downtown LA:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/japan-arcade-los-angeles

http://www.yelp.com/biz/sassony-arcade-los-angeles

Haven't been to any of them in probably 10 years so call first to see if they are still in business...!

Have fun!

[shateredsoul]

Sassony Arcade




It's been there since I was a kid and even then I never wanted to go in because I thought it was creepy. Not sure if it's still open, but it was a year or two ago... BEWARE!

[DrumAnBass]

Yah downtown LA can be fairly scary in places; not a place you want to get lost in that is for sure.

Here is a video of Japan Arcade:

[gonzo90017]

Nah. Downtown LA isn't scary at all.  I lived around the area since I was a kid. It used to be dangerous 15 years ago. Not anymore.  The sad thing about that picture is that the arcade used to be a lot bigger. But it's slowly being reduced because of lack of customers.

[ark_ader]

Shame.

There was crap load back in the day of Sega Centers, Electronic Corral and Timeout.

Last time I looked at Golf n Stuff in Norwalk, it was all redemption machines and a beat up Ms Pacman.

With MAME out - it is a wonder why anyone would bother having an arcade business today. 

[shateredsoul]

Nah. Downtown LA isn't scary at all.  I lived around the area since I was a kid. It used to be dangerous 15 years ago. Not anymore.  The sad thing about that picture is that the arcade used to be a lot bigger. But it's slowly being reduced because of lack of customers.

Yeah I know, you still wouldn't want to be there alone at night or near skidrow.  The arcade was bigger, it used to take up that for lease side as well, right?  I also remember UCLA used to have a pretty big arcade when I was a student there.. they still have one but it's not as big and they got rid of most of the old machines.

[92greenyj]

If you come down San Diego way there is Nickel City in Carmel Mountain area, though I've never been. then of course theres the arcade I run. The Gamers Garage at the Corvette Diner in Liberty Station, San Diego, California. we have a 5,000 sq ft. arcade with 50 games. While most are new I do have some retro pieces and I am working on getting more old school games. Curently I have a Ms. Pac/Galaga 25th anniversary, a Corvette Pin, Gilligans Island Pin, and Diner Pin. Also Air Hockey, Skee Balls, various driving and shooting games, redemption games, cranes, guitar hero, Pump It Up, etc

[jasonbar]

I went to that Nickel City last year (had time to kill between a wedding & a reception).  Big disappointment.  Teeming with screaming kids.  Machines all beat up.  Few old machines.  It was cheap, but I got what I paid for...

-Jason

[shateredsoul]

If you come down San Diego way there is Nickel City in Carmel Mountain area, though I've never been. then of course theres the arcade I run. The Gamers Garage at the Corvette Diner in Liberty Station, San Diego, California. we have a 5,000 sq ft. arcade with 50 games. While most are new I do have some retro pieces and I am working on getting more old school games. Curently I have a Ms. Pac/Galaga 25th anniversary, a Corvette Pin, Gilligans Island Pin, and Diner Pin. Also Air Hockey, Skee Balls, various driving and shooting games, redemption games, cranes, guitar hero, Pump It Up, etc

My brother lives in SD, maybe i'll stop by sometime when I visit. Do you have pics of the arcade?

[92greenyj]

if you go thru the photos section on the Yelp page for us there are some there that I've posted.

http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/vgp414WNbbsQ156stPxJWQ?select=o8kgy9zO9iojTLpA7PdmTw

I've been here since day 1. I actually assembled, installed, and placed all of our games. And I've bought a fair few new additions since we opened a little over a year ago. Like Dave & Busters, we use the Sacoa Debit card system to run our games, unlike D&B however we are on all electronic ticketing for our redemption games. Not a paper ticket in the building. 5,000 square feet, 50 games, a full redemption center with well over 200 prizes for the kids and the big kids (I also order the prizes, I run the entire thing.)

We have:
5 cranes (candy, double up, acme, Jewlery, and Bling King, also a Stacker)
7 Alley bowlers (2 Ice Balls, 2 Skee Ball Xtremes, 1 Scat Cats, 1 Dunk N Alien, 1 Basket Fever)
3 basketball games (2 NBA Hoops, Lakers and Kings, 1 Little Hoops)
2 Air Hockey Tables (1 standard and a Double or 4 player table)
A Photo Booth
7 Driving/boat/flight games (Fast and the Furious Bikes, 2 Sega Rally 3s, 2 Nicktoons Nitros, Blazing Angels, and H2Overdrive)
Guitar Hero
Pump It Up DX
3 shooting games (Big Buck Safari, Primeval Hunt, and Paradise Lost)
3 Pinballs (Corvette, Diner, and Gilligan's Island)
Ms. pacman/Galaga 25th Anniversary
Smokin Token
Price Is Right Plink Coin pusher
15 Redemption Games (Sea Wolf, Blast Off, Deal Or No Deal, Slam A Winner, Jumpin Jackpot, Wheel Deal, Dog Pounder, Bee Bee Boppin, Cyclone, Operation, Hammerhead, crazy Clownz, Colorama 2, Spin N Win, and Red Hot)

I try to get new games as often as I can and I try to trade out my less popular games as often as I can too. I will tell you for sure it is the nicest and cleanest arcade in the area. I try to keep all of our games in tip top shape and working order and my staff is constantly cleaning and sanitizing everything in the place.

[gonzo90017]

Yeah I know, you still wouldn't want to be there alone at night or near skidrow.  The arcade was bigger, it used to take up that for lease side as well, right?  I also remember UCLA used to have a pretty big arcade when I was a student there.. they still have one but it's not as big and they got rid of most of the old machines.

Yeah it used to be double the size! There were also 2 other arcades on Broadway. They were both called GamePalace.
But sadly they closed down close to 20 years ago =(

[I/O]

That Japan Arcade is pretty big. A lot of nice candys.

[DrumAnBass]

Wow, very cool - looks like a fun place! I will definitely check it out the next time I make a trip down south!

How is business these days?

I've been here since day 1. I actually assembled, installed, and placed all of our games. And I've bought a fair few new additions since we opened a little over a year ago. Like Dave & Busters, we use the Sacoa Debit card system to run our games, unlike D&B however we are on all electronic ticketing for our redemption games. Not a paper ticket in the building. 5,000 square feet, 50 games, a full redemption center with well over 200 prizes for the kids and the big kids (I also order the prizes, I run the entire thing.)

[shateredsoul]

This place seems cool.. too bad it's closed =(

http://www.yelp.com/biz/miss-ts-barcade-los-angeles

[gibbous]

I just went to Family Arcade last weekend.  Not bad.  Not a whole lot of classics that I noticed.  I think I saw a Ms. pac.  I went mostly for the pins and I got in a couple of games of SFIV in person for the first time.  Lots of fighters and some shmups, mostly games from 90's and on.  So for 90's games, I think they're good.  Besides SFIV they also had MvC2 and TvC if you're into the new fighters.  Pin lineup was IJ4, RCT, RBION, T2, T3, WPT, and a couple others.

I just hit the Starcade at Disneyland the weekend before.  All newer stuff and it looks like the prices went up.  POTC is now dollar a play where it used to be 50 cents.  There's a baby neo geo, and then a bunch of newer LCD based games.  I really hope the re-do they are planning in conjunction with the new Tron will be awesome.  The Indy in the gift shop across from the ride was out of order.  Big bummer because I'd never played that and I was looking forward to it.

I walked through the tiny room they call an "Arcade" at Universal Studios.  Never once thought about reaching for the quarters in my pocket.  Nothing that looked at all interesting to me, and no pins.  It was about the size of my garage.  Really disappointing.  You would think with all the movie tie-ins you'd see some pins.

If you're looking for pinball, check out this google map:

http://tinyurl.com/yzex4ou

[92greenyj]

Wow, very cool - looks like a fun place! I will definitely check it out the next time I make a trip down south!

How is business these days?

I've been here since day 1. I actually assembled, installed, and placed all of our games. And I've bought a fair few new additions since we opened a little over a year ago. Like Dave & Busters, we use the Sacoa Debit card system to run our games, unlike D&B however we are on all electronic ticketing for our redemption games. Not a paper ticket in the building. 5,000 square feet, 50 games, a full redemption center with well over 200 prizes for the kids and the big kids (I also order the prizes, I run the entire thing.)

Business has been really good. We are in full summer swing now. Friday and Saturday nights have been completely packed and our sales look great! Good enough I recently got a raise and a pretty fat bonus

[opt2not]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I ended up going to only 3 arcades while I was down there (time permitted).

1. Sassony Arcade in downtown L.A.
This arcade was bigger than I was expecting. Its mostly a 90's arcade, with a bunch of street fighter 2s, Neo Geo games, gun games like Confidential Mission, House of the Dead, etc...on top of that they had a few new-console stations set up with Madden and Fifa. 
Though it appears that they make their money on the pool tables, more-so than the vids.

In terms of retro, they only had 2 cabinets that were of the classic era. One was a galaga/ms.pacman reunion cabinet, which was turned up a bit too loud to comfortably play. I'm not a fan of these new cabinets, the monitors are too big for that cabinet shape, and the buttons and joys are micro-switches....the other was a hidden-away Jr. Pac-Man, which was in an area of the arcade that was hard to get to -- hard to see too!
This 'cade wasn't a total bust though, my buddy and I ended up playing a bit of those two and some Raiden in the 2 hours we were there.

btw, downtown LA is just like any other city's downtown core...dirty urine smelling streets, homeless folks, and dirty magazine stands. If you live in a city, this isn't any more "dangerous" than most city's downtown.

2. Denjin Arcade in Simi Valley
This was surprisingly very nice arcade.
It was kept really clean, had a ton of candy cabs playing shooters, bust-a-moves, and Street Fighters. They have a separate room for the DDR type games, which is good, since those can get really annoying to listen to.
In terms of retro, unfortunately all they have is an original Pac-man cabinet, which was in much needed restoration. The cabinet wood was in nice shape, but the paint was flaked off, and the joystick leaf-switches needed some maintenance. it was still playable, but not at 100%. Other than this cabinet, there wasn't any other older game. Most of my time there was spent on repeatably owning the kids at SF4, till I was short on time and had to leave. But I really enjoyed this arcade, the atmosphere was pretty chill, it wasn't too loud in there, and it looked like it was a fairly popular hangout. I'd go back there for sure!

3. The arcade at Space Mountain - Disney Land
I was fairly disappointed with this arcade. There were a lot of newer beat games, and a few 90's games. But again, an arcade with a Galaga/Ms. Pac-man reunion cabinet, which I was surprised to see out of the 4 people in the arcade at that time, 1 person was playing this. The only other retro-like interest was their Mini-Neo Geo cabinet that had Bust-a-Move on it. That was cool to see, since I never stood next to a mini-neo-geo before...
But other than that, it was all filled with games I couldn't care less to even look at. As did a lot of people I'm assuming, since it was fairly sparse in there.


I'm going to Chicago next month, and am going to see what they have to offer in terms of classic gaming. I'm assuming (hopefully) much more than what LA can offer.
Thanks again all for the suggestions, my quest for a retro arcade experience continues...

[Ginsu Victim]

3. The arcade at Space Mountain - Disney Land

I went in 1998 and it wasn't impressive then, either. Plus, why hang out in a crappy arcade when you can just ride Space Mountain again!

[Mikezilla]

Man, too bad I didnt see this thread, or you could have came down to the last arcade I know of in SD (since I live here) called the Boardwalk in El Cajon. They have some old games, simpsons, T@, a bunch of fighters, driving games, all the old classics,  pacman, galaga, glaxxian etc. They even had a new terminator salvation game that looked pretty cool. I even played dragons lair for a bit when I was there last week cause I was looking for stuff to buy. There used to be a place called Wonderland that was like Nickel City, but they closed it down.  I dont know what happened to their machines, I think they shipped em all to the east coast. I was bummed about that.

Hey green, did Corvette Diner move outta hillcrest? Wasnt it there? Youre telling me there is an arcade in there? Where the hell is liberty station!? lol

[opt2not]

Darn, I would have made the trip down there if I knew. Oh well, next trip, the in-laws aren't going anywhere.

[Mikezilla]

Rock on. The place has been there forever, its right next door to a bowling alley, I doubt it going anywhere. I have lived here my whole life, and its still there (Im 28 now) so no worries. Haha the in-laws NEVER go anywhere...trust me lol. 

[92greenyj]

Man, too bad I didnt see this thread, or you could have came down to the last arcade I know of in SD (since I live here) called the Boardwalk in El Cajon. They have some old games, simpsons, T@, a bunch of fighters, driving games, all the old classics,  pacman, galaga, glaxxian etc. They even had a new terminator salvation game that looked pretty cool. I even played dragons lair for a bit when I was there last week cause I was looking for stuff to buy. There used to be a place called Wonderland that was like Nickel City, but they closed it down.  I dont know what happened to their machines, I think they shipped em all to the east coast. I was bummed about that.

Hey green, did Corvette Diner move outta hillcrest? Wasnt it there? Youre telling me there is an arcade in there? Where the hell is liberty station!? lol

Yes. The Hillcrest location closed a little over a year ago and we relocated to new, MUCH bigger digs in Liberty Station. Liberty station used to be the old naval training station by the airport. where the USS never sail is (the destroyer set in concrete off harbor drive). And yes, we now have a 5,000 square foot arcade that I am in charge of.

[DrumAnBass]

Thanks for the tip on Denjin Arcade; that is fairly close to where I live - I will have to check it out!

Found some pix of it here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sklathill/3722732486/#

2. Denjin Arcade in Simi Valley
This was surprisingly very nice arcade.
It was kept really clean, had a ton of candy cabs playing shooters, bust-a-moves, and Street Fighters. They have a separate room for the DDR type games, which is good, since those can get really annoying to listen to.
In terms of retro, unfortunately all they have is an original Pac-man cabinet, which was in much needed restoration. The cabinet wood was in nice shape, but the paint was flaked off, and the joystick leaf-switches needed some maintenance. it was still playable, but not at 100%. Other than this cabinet, there wasn't any other older game. Most of my time there was spent on repeatably owning the kids at SF4, till I was short on time and had to leave. But I really enjoyed this arcade, the atmosphere was pretty chill, it wasn't too loud in there, and it looked like it was a fairly popular hangout. I'd go back there for sure!

[shateredsoul]

I'm going to be back in LA for a week in August, I think I'll check out Denjin.. and revisit the downtown LA arcade.

Another side story:  I remember once I went to Little Tokyo to a game shop there and asked them if they had R4 cards.  The guy very loudly said, "Sorry Sir! We do not have pirated games here! We only sell originals!"

lol

[Mikezilla]

Yes. The Hillcrest location closed a little over a year ago and we relocated to new, MUCH bigger digs in Liberty Station. Liberty station used to be the old naval training station by the airport. where the USS never sail is (the destroyer set in concrete off harbor drive). And yes, we now have a 5,000 square foot arcade that I am in charge of.

Oh wow. Thats awesome. I didnt know thats what they were calling that area now a days...Thats a lot of feet! Ill have to take the GF down there and meet ya! That would be cool. Meeting a BYOAC guy in real life! 

[92greenyj]

Yes. The Hillcrest location closed a little over a year ago and we relocated to new, MUCH bigger digs in Liberty Station. Liberty station used to be the old naval training station by the airport. where the USS never sail is (the destroyer set in concrete off harbor drive). And yes, we now have a 5,000 square foot arcade that I am in charge of.

Oh wow. Thats awesome. I didnt know thats what they were calling that area now a days...Thats a lot of feet! Ill have to take the GF down there and meet ya! That would be cool. Meeting a BYOAC guy in real life! 

yeah, you can see our current game list in my post above. Though I am in the process of getting a few more at te moment. Trying to get a Namco cab that has Donkey Kong, Mario Brothers, and DK Jr. On it. Crazy Clownz is my worst game and it just turned up with a bad monitor so I am going to try to trade that in for something else, Leaning towards a used Soul Caliber 2 from my distributor in LA for that. And I am trying to get set up as a test store for Namco and their new 4 player Pac Man Battle Royale which is set to come out in about 2 months.

[kronic24601]

Anyone been to the Arcade on the Santa Monica Pier? It's probably the same issue as every other gaming area?

But for those visiting the SM Pier is a cool place to visit in-of itself.

[92greenyj]

since we're posting about arcade locations I thought i'd share the links to these 2 arcade listing sites. Might be of future use to somebody

http://arcadefly.heroku.com/

http://www.aurcade.com/default.aspx