Your Old Arcade Spot - Then and Now

[Vulgar Soul]

Name your favorite old arcade spot growing up - the one you went to with your friends, family, alone whatever all the time - and say what it is today.

Doesn't have to be only a Video Arcade, can include theaters, bars, pool halls. Any place you got your arcade fix back in the day.

Any personal stories about when it began closing down or changing or anything is appreciated.


I grew up in the 90s. Missed out on the real arcade wave of the 80s, but there were still a few places left growin up.

So here in the Bronx there was only one REAL Arcade spot I remember goin to all the time, it was called Fun World. One on Fordham Rd. which was upstairs to a Sbarro, and one on Bruckner Blvd. within a large plaza. I believe there was either also a Sbarro in that one or some generic pizza/hot dog stand. It was a general amusement spot. Today: both Fun Worlds (and the Sbarro, surprisingly) are closed. Last I checked the spaces are still empty and abandoned.

When I was real young, pops use to bring me to an indoor amusement chain called Discovery Zone also on Fordham. Use to run around in the mazes and stuff as a lil ragamuffin, but also remember the arcades. Today: Closed. Now a Dr. Jay's, an urban clothing store.

Use to help my mother out with the laundry a lot as a kid and we always went to this local dry cleaning spot on Arthur Ave. What stood out to me was that the stores owner was real big on his small arcade selection. He use to have maybe 2 or 3 cabinets set up that he would alternate every month or two. He NEVER got rid of his one Ms. Pac-Man cabinet, but would switch up the other two with Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, a Neo Geo, and sometimes even a classic (at the time) like Pole Position. It was always fun to check out what new games he had every other month. It was also right across the street from me and my friends local public park so sometimes we ran in just to play a game. Today: Dry cleaning spot is still open, however I believe the original owner has passed away. It no longer has arcade machines. The space is now just another counter for folding clothes.

New Roc City is a relatively recent multiplex built in New Rochelle, not too far from the Bronx. I'm sure I'm not the only New Yorker on BYOAC who has seen a movie and played arcades here since it opened maybe ten years ago. Includes a Movie Theater, restaurants, pool hall, bowling alley, plaza, parking, ice skating rink, go cart rally, and of course an Arcade. Basically a big hang out spot. Today: Still well open, though a little more restrictive for kids now because of all the fights that would go down. However, when it first opened I remember the arcade was more "old school" style, today it's dominated by huge, modern deluxe cabs and redemption machines with a few traditional cabinets lying around here and there. Last time I went I pretty much only played Raiden and a Ms. Pacman/Galaga cabinet that was set to free play (no joke).

[lilshawn]

when I was a kid about 8 years old I lived down the street from a "Chinese" store. they used to have a game tucked away in the dark back corner.

(a kind of dark only obtained by bad lighting and way over stocked shelves as the way only a Chinese man can do it.)

the machine I remembered the most was moon patrol but i remember maybe 1 or 2 others had been there before. Frequenting the store gave me a friendly repertoire with the owner/operator. He used to mark quarters with a big black "X" and give me a handful to go play the game with. I would assume now, so that he would know how much was customer money and how much was his. I did become quite proficient in moon patrol to the point that even adults where in disbelief.

last I seen the tiny corner store was bulldozered into a mini mall parking lot. 

[mgb]

As younger kids, we played mostly whatever was in the local store.

There was a corner store by my house that we always hung out at. They usually had one or two machines at a time. Some of the games I happily remember playing there include Berzerk, Dig Dug, Pole Position and I remember being extremely excited for a good week or so when they had Crazy Kong (not sure why they had it, I read that it was licensed for non-US markets, and I'm in the US)..... That store closed in 1986

We also used to play in the local pizza place. I remember first playing Phoenix there. The pizza place is more

As a teenager we had Fun Factory in the mall. That was a great old dark typical kind of arcade.  Its gone now

I also remember the first time seeing and playing Neo-Geo at local fast food place. The fast food place is still there and everytime I go by, for some reason I'm reminded of that Neo-Geo (my wife thinks I'm sick)

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

We had an Aladdins' Castle in the mall. Played there throughout my childhood. Had birthday parties there. Stood in crowds for hours watching Mk2 tournaments.

In college me and a friend drove home one weekend and decided we needed a few rounds of MvC2. We drove to the mall ready to drop some quarters. It was all gone. Emptied out, doors shut and locked. Shadows beyond the glass windows. It remains this way to this day.

Last weekend my 3yo rode some little quarter operated car in the walkway infront of where it used to be... I could almost still hear attract music and laughter among the din of the mall.

[Osirus23]

Small town arcade that was a hotspot back in the 80s is now just a smoky, dirty bar with a couple of beat up cabs a few video lottery machines.

Still has the same owner, who has a couple of hundred cabs in storage somewhere.

[Rando]

Hmm,
It was the mid 80's, arcade owned by a copy in Hillsdale NJ, can't remember the name for the life of me.  Something like "GameStop" but obviously not that.  Friend and I would ride bikes and play games.  Lots of Joust, Tron, maybe some Journey.  Was never very good at any of them, but awesome stuff.  ~ Edit - forgot to say what it is now.  Last I saw, it was a lawnmower repair place.  Still looks the same, small square brick building, but various engines inside instead of games.

That and the boardwalk in Wildwood NJ.  Hit arcade after arcade with my brothers and Cousins, playing lots and lots of Spy Hunter.

Awesome.

[yotsuya]

When I was a kid, we'd mostly play games at convenience stores (mainly Circle K's), laundry mats (how I miss those Sundays at the Corral Cleaners), pizza places (Peter Piper Pizza in Maryvale was the best), small mall arcades (like the Gold Mine) and grocery stores. The crown jewel of the arcade scene was Castles N' Coasters, your typical family amusement center with a huge selection of games, all located inside a large mideval-style structure. I'm happy to say it's still going strong after all these years!

[wonderalex]

While I was growing up in the 80's in 90's there were three arcades - each for different stages of my life.

The first was Amusement 2000 - a dump next to the local grocery store where I would go (without permission) and spend my meager allowance.  It was an 80's den, where kids' bikes were routinely stolen (I lost 2).  Yet I still have memories of going there with my bro (days when we were actually nice to each other) playing the classics - Robotron, Galaga, PacMan, TRON et cetera. It closed during the 86-87 recession.

The second was Pinnochio, located in a mall across the street from my high school (convenient). Every lunch hour we'd eat our lunch while walking to the arcade (rain or shine) to play Guantlet, Gauntlet 2, Jackal and many more - risking detention for getting back to class late. Raymond (i think that was his name) owned the place - nice old man who gave us tokens. On Saturdays you could pay 20 dollars and play all day, as long as you wanted. He'd just walk over open the coin door and load you up with credits.  He passed away not long after I graduated, it continued for a while, but the mall was in decline and it and the mall were demolished in the 90's - it's just empty now. I miss this place the most.

The third was Amusements 222 or just Two-Twenty-Two (Deux-Vingt-Deux for you francophones) where I spend most of my time while I was in CEGEP (17 to 20) - it was a pool hall - pinball mecca and arcade all in one spot. That when's Virtua Fighter (2,3,and 4) ruled my arcade time, I'd play pinball while waiting for my girlfriend and buddies to arrive to drink beer and play pool. It's gone now too - closed up shop a not too long ago I hear - another casualty of "home" entertainment. I had hoped it was still around - wanted to bring my son to see.

My university years were spent in front of computers, history books, art classes and social "gatherings" - arcades weren't a big part of my life then - just somewhere to kill time between classes or parties.

Thank you for starting this thread Mozil - it helped me figure out what to call my cabinet:  Pinnochio Dreams 2222, just sketched the marquee on a napkin.

WonderAlex

[Vulgar Soul]

Thank you for starting this thread Mozil - it helped me figure out what to call my cabinet:  Pinnochio Dreams 2222, just sketched the marquee on a napkin.

WonderAlex

Ha ha, no doubt. Nice name! And always nice to read ole "comin of age" arcade stories.

[Smeghead]

The only place you could even play arcade games when I was growing up other than the travelling funfair was THE MOST seediest, smokiest, most 'take your life in your hands if you enter' dive just off Oxford Street in London.
I was just a kid or I might not have gotten out of there sometimes.

There was actually a proper one in Oxford Street itself but you had to be 18

[HanoiBoi]

Here's a previous thread with the same idea, with good shared memories.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=93067.0

Here's my story (direct copy & paste from the other thread):


"Malibu Grand Prix" in Mt Laurel NJ.  This was apparently a chain.  I even remember a Saturday morning 'game show' of sorts filmed at a California Malibu Grand Prix location.  If it were still there, I could walk you, blindfolded, directly to your game of choice.  I remember seeing many games for the first time there...Donkey Kong, Asteroids, Space Duel, Q*Bert, Joust, Robotron, Jungle King, Elevator Action, Tron, Cliffhanger, Space Ace, etc.

They had lots of video games and pinballs, but also go carts; Roadrunners for the younger kids, Virage Racers for the older folks.  Sometime in the mid 80's they decided to add pizza.  The problem was that they took away half the arcade for seating area.  It really wasn't the same from that moment on.  It was always well lit too with windows on 2 sides.  They placed the games well though as it never interfered with game play.  The games were always in good condition and had a mechanic there all the time.  You'd tell him the issue and he'd be opening the machine in a minute to fix it up.  Their machines also never had cigarette burns, which was nice.

In my 'early' years, my Dad would take me and my brother just about every Friday night after dinner.  My brother and I would play arcade games while my Dad played pinball.  When we (the boys) were out of tokens from playing games like Zaxxon, Food Fight, Xevious, Time Pilot, Asteroids and Bezerk we'd play some pinball with my Dad.  We'd play Genie, Gorgar, Firepower, Eightball Deluxe, etc.  Then we'd get home in time to catch the Dukes Of Hazzard...while finishing our 7-11 Slurpees and opening our ET Trading Cards.   Smiley  Sunday Nights was for listening to Dr Demento.

I once rode my bike to Malibu (about 11 miles) on a Sunday morning to get there when they opened so that I'd have enough time to get the high score on Joust.  Played for something like 6 hours on a quarter.  I'd let onlookers give it a shot when I needed to use the restroom.  Smiley  I had all 40 top scores at one time.  No, I'm not necessarily proud of that...

Another fun story...I was there on a Sunday night playing Donkey Kong with a friend that I met there several times.  I again was on my bike and I wanted to get home in time to record Van Halen's Women and Children First that a local rock station was playing in it's entirety.  We played a little longer than I'd hoped and was afraid I'd be late for recording.  Luckily(?), my friend had a small motorcycle.  Long story short, I held the back of his motorcycle for a quick ride home.  Unfortunately, my tire caught a rock, the front wheel started wobbling uncontrollably until it hit the curb.     I did end up making it home in time.  Nothing broken, but lots of ripped clothes and blood.   Cry

Malibu had a lot of games come through, but there was another arcade in Cherry Hill, NJ "Bally's Great Escape" that had a good amount of games that Malibu didn't have and that I really didn't see anywhere else (besides the Jersey Shore); Sinistar, Krull, Gyruss, Joust 2, Bagman, etc.  The vibe here wasn't as friendly and was real dark.

I've also been to Playland at Penn State.  What impressed me was that they had a lot of pinballs, even when people really didn't have pinballs anymore.  I got to beat up on Riverboat Gambler, Whitewater and of course Funhouse.  First time I saw the Pinball 2000 machines was there too.  The place did not have a good vibe. A big arcade open at 3am might sound pretty cool, but there's nothing like an empty arcade that always, always smelled like a locker room.  The old guy and really most employees were grumpy and rude. Tongue

One last thing...I had heard that an unidentified body was found when Malibu was demolished.  Glad it wasn't mine. Embarrassed

[Malenko]

Champions arcade in the Christiana mall; was THE arcade spot. After it closed it became part of the foodcourt, they remodeled the mall a bit and now its part of a forever21. The other spots were Mars electronics in Elkton, MD they actually had a TON of machines, all for sale at prices I couldnt afford when I was a kid its a pawn shop now; and Vince's batting cages which is still there with a pretty good sized arcade.

[yotsuya]

Here's a previous thread with the same idea, with good shared memories.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=93067.0

Here's my story (direct copy & paste from the other thread):


"Malibu Grand Prix" in Mt Laurel NJ.  This was apparently a chain.

We had one of these here in Phoenix when I was a kid, but my parents never took me. 

[Epyx]

Then:

I had posted in the other thread but didn't really provide an in depth answer.  

I grew up in Surrey, BC (Canada). The first arcade that introduced me to gaming was across from a high school. It was called "3 Bears Drive in". It was a burger and fries joint that had about 20 games in it.  I would walk by the place in grade 3 and hear noises coming from inside, cool noises.  I finally got the courage to walk in as it was usually occupied with gigantic teen agers.  The source of the noise, Battlezone and Galaxians.  Battlezone was just released and always surrounded by a crowd of teens.  This was in 1980.

The next arcade I frequented was in a place called Guildford Shopping Mall and it was called "Circuit Circus". This arcade lasted until around 1983 but introduced me to most of the golden age games in the 3 years I frequented.  In 1983 Surrey passed a bylaw that required adult memberships for arcades due to "concerned parents". Luckily my parents were able to co-sign but this bylaw was replaced 6 months later and arcades were banned from Surrey.
 
Luckily arcades were still around in other cities (Vancouver downtown had 3 at that time). Locally you could still have arcade games but you were limited to 4 arcade games per store before you were considered an "arcade" so Subways and corner stores usually carried 1 to 4 arcade games. My friends and I plotted each store in about 10sq kilometers and would ride our bmx bikes in a circuit every weekend to get our arcade game fix.  The good thing? It kept me in shape all that cycling

Now:

All the arcades are gone in all cities except downtown Vancouver which has ONE arcade left called "Movie Land". It had about 50+ machines (+ pins) but also smells and has what we call pervo booths in the back that play adult movies. So it really isn't a place to take kids...sigh...

Thankfully we have our hobby and "WE" keep it alive even if it is more of a museum collection now

[Donkbaca]

Mine was a place called Regency game palace, you could go there and get a hot dog for a quarter and something like 50 tokens for 5 bucks.  My junior high let out early every thursday and we would take the bus over there and play for hours.  We would mostly play Street Fighter against everyone, they had like 3 street fighter machines, and then when funds would get low we would play Final Fight since we could beat it in 3 credits.  It lost its lease and closed down and became a blockbuster, which also closed, now its empty.

I miss those days, you know, when kids would huddle at the 7-11 after school and play street fighter.  You would put your quarter on the CP to save your place and watch your competition while sipping on a slurpy.   YEah you have x-box live and what not, but its different going mano y mano with someone at a machine than it is to play some random japanese pre-teen that mops the floor with you...

[mgb]

Oh,
I love the old "Quarter up" to show you had next game.
Those were great times before consoles ruined it all.

For complete authentic game play now, I go to Funspot every year around my birthday.

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

You would put your quarter on the CP to save your place and watch your competition...

+1

[Spock]

I was born in 1980, so I got the full gamut of the transition to home consoles from the really old school arcades (missile command, robotron, etc).  I lived in Springfield, MO at the time, so the place to go for arcades was definitely Aladdin's Castle at the Battlefield Mall.  It was tucked in at the food court (as is usually the case).  However, this one had some serious floorspace as well as a few party rooms.  Any nerd of decent stature HAD to have his/her birthday party there.  The owner was great, buying the newest games quickly as they came out.  I remember being perplexed at Dragon's Lair.  I remember also that I was about 12 when I first saw a Fatality.  It was the most awesome moment ever  .  Since I sucked at it, I gladly put quarters in to play against superior opponents just to see more fatalities.  Another notable game was Afterburner, complete with full moving cockpit (speaking of which, has anybody reconstructed one of those?  How cool would it be for a full barrel roll version of that.  You probably would have to plastic coat the interior  .)  I vividly remember actually winning the Tekken 4 Tournament (or was it 3), feeling very proud of myself that I beat the last guy that was wussing out and picking the laser beam "Devil" character (here's to those who beat cheap b#tches with real characters !!!).

Well, as is the case with everyone else, it was shut down and turned into a Chinese restaurant, a Chick-Fil-A, and some other relatively worthless waste of space.  To this day I still wish we had them like they were, as I HATE having the card swipe BS at places like D&Bs.  That and most of the games are driving, shooting, etc.  And that's why I'm building a MAME cabinet and naming it Aladdin's Castle, after my childhood hangout.  Call it my "Rosebud," I'm sure it is for many of us.

[lilshawn]

You would put your quarter on the CP to save your place and watch your competition...

+1

+1 but people always stole my quarter... and my spot...    oh well. 

[yotsuya]

I love 'Circuit Circus' as a name. Would be a good project title!

The best place to play games was this barbecue chicken called 'Turks'. Not only was the food deliciously bad for you, but they had a side room that was a mini-arcade. We pretty much ate there every Friday night, and sometimes I'd go with my dad to pick up the phone order. That little room is where I first played games like Joust, Atari Football, and this little gem of a game called Star Wars.

Alas, "Turk's" changed owners, and the food was never the same. And that little game room ended up getting converted to a beauty supply store.

[leapinlew]

I was born in 1980, so I got the full gamut of the transition to home consoles from the really old school arcades (missile command, robotron, etc).  I lived in Springfield, MO at the time, so the place to go for arcades was definitely Aladdin's Castle at the Battlefield Mall.  It was tucked in at the food court (as is usually the case).  However, this one had some serious floorspace as well as a few party rooms.  Any nerd of decent stature HAD to have his/her birthday party there.  The owner was great, buying the newest games quickly as they came out.  I remember being perplexed at Dragon's Lair.  I remember also that I was about 12 when I first saw a Fatality.  It was the most awesome moment ever  .  Since I sucked at it, I gladly put quarters in to play against superior opponents just to see more fatalities.  Another notable game was Afterburner, complete with full moving cockpit (speaking of which, has anybody reconstructed one of those?  How cool would it be for a full barrel roll version of that.  You probably would have to plastic coat the interior  .)  I vividly remember actually winning the Tekken 4 Tournament (or was it 3), feeling very proud of myself that I beat the last guy that was wussing out and picking the laser beam "Devil" character (here's to those who beat cheap b#tches with real characters !!!).

Well, as is the case with everyone else, it was shut down and turned into a Chinese restaurant, a Chick-Fil-A, and some other relatively worthless waste of space.  To this day I still wish we had them like they were, as I HATE having the card swipe BS at places like D&Bs.  That and most of the games are driving, shooting, etc.  And that's why I'm building a MAME cabinet and naming it Aladdin's Castle, after my childhood hangout.  Call it my "Rosebud," I'm sure it is for many of us.

Springfield Mo has 1984 now, so... thats pretty good.

[Vulgar Soul]

I love 'Circuit Circus' as a name. Would be a good project title!

The best place to play games was this barbecue chicken called 'Turks'. Not only was the food deliciously bad for you, but they had a side room that was a mini-arcade. We pretty much ate there every Friday night, and sometimes I'd go with my dad to pick up the phone order. That little room is where I first played games like Joust, Atari Football, and this little gem of a game called Star Wars.

Alas, "Turk's" changed owners, and the food was never the same. And that little game room ended up getting converted to a beauty supply store.

They got the hair store right inside a crack chicken spot?

Lol damn, talk about the dirty south.

[Bootay]

I grew up in Michigan and the 3 arcades that I went to a lot throughout my childhood was called Galaxy Arcade, Space Shuttle Arcade, and Spanky's Arcade.

Spanky's was within walking distance so I went there most..it was kind of small though had maybe 10-15 games tops and it was also an ice cream shop. Now it is a hair saloon.

Space Shuttle was cool and it was huge...had at least 50+ games in it. The place was painted black with blacklight paint on the walls. All paintings were space related and they kept the lights off and the only lighting was blacklights. This was the first place I ever seen Jungle King before Taito had to change it to Jungle Hunt, and also the first time I ever seen or played a lot of classics like Donkey Kong Jr.. Now it is a Chaplin's Comedy Club.

Galaxy was just a little bit smaller than Space Shuttle and is the only one to survive. They closed down about 4 years ago though due to a fire. Now it is a jewelry store.

[THE POKER BRAT]

All i can say is,..WOW!..Im already drunk from looking at the great looking bar!,..wheres the topless barmaid?? lol
anyway,...i live 10 minutes by train to CONEY ISLAND,..ahh,..the memories!,..i loved " FABERS FACINATION ARCADE" back in the 80's on surf avenue,..that arcade housed at its peak time ,..NO-JOKE,..OVER 150 MACHINES!!!!.. i included a sad vid from that once famous arcade,..heres the video...
<iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-veZ9fd5-HQ" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe>



 
 


note the place now is much smaller than what it used to be,..they sold floorspace to other vendors over the years,..the arcade used to take up 90% of the building floor,..now its only at 10 % and then today closed forever,..sigh!,..    Lucky me,..i was there in the 80's were the best times for me as a kid,..nowadays,.. coney island amusement park is nothing but a toilet!..thanks to>>>>"THOR EQUITIES REAL ESTATE' <<(i hate them    

And whatever you do,..if anyone comes to visit NATHANS,..dont eat there!,...food tastes like crap!,..trust me ,..im in coney ever spring/summer,..ive tried out all the food in the nieghborhood ,.though its nice to stroll on the boardwalk to the baseball stadium,..(BROOKLYN CYCLONES)
And the aquarium,.and to play some handball and poker that im a champion at,..across from the famous asser levy park, which gives outdoor concerts every summer,..seen some great shows there,...aint like what it used to be!..anyway,..im just blabbin!..        

[Spock]

Springfield Mo has 1984 now, so... thats pretty good.

Awesome, I'll definitely check it out when I get back home.  Thanks!

[Rusty Shackelford]

The only place you could even play arcade games when I was growing up other than the travelling funfair was THE MOST seediest, smokiest, most 'take your life in your hands if you enter' dive just off Oxford Street in London.
I was just a kid or I might not have gotten out of there sometimes.

There was actually a proper one in Oxford Street itself but you had to be 18

I think I might have been there in the summer of around 93! I went on a school 'residential' trip to London and can remember playing Punisher there. I also remeber never having seen arcade machines with ashtrays (overflowing) on them before and random guys asking to lend 50p!

If I remeber correctly it had very heavy wooded doors with large glass panels in them?

[Bootay]

I grew up in Michigan and the 3 arcades that I went to a lot throughout my childhood was called Galaxy Arcade, Space Shuttle Arcade, and Spanky's Arcade.

Spanky's was within walking distance so I went there most..it was kind of small though had maybe 10-15 games tops and it was also an ice cream shop. Now it is a hair saloon.

Space Shuttle was cool and it was huge...had at least 50+ games in it. The place was painted black with blacklight paint on the walls. All paintings were space related and they kept the lights off and the only lighting was blacklights. This was the first place I ever seen Jungle King before Taito had to change it to Jungle Hunt, and also the first time I ever seen or played a lot of classics like Donkey Kong Jr.. Now it is a Chaplin's Comedy Club.

Galaxy was just a little bit smaller than Space Shuttle and is the only one to survive. They closed down about 4 years ago though due to a fire. Now it is a jewelry store.

Oops! I have to make a revision. It wasn't called Spanky's it was called Ronnie's Ice Cream Parlor, Spanky's was a different arcade where all of the drug dealers and gang members hung out. hehe I wasn't allowed in there as a kid.

[Vulgar Soul]

I grew up in Michigan and the 3 arcades that I went to a lot throughout my childhood was called Galaxy Arcade, Space Shuttle Arcade, and Spanky's Arcade.

Spanky's was within walking distance so I went there most..it was kind of small though had maybe 10-15 games tops and it was also an ice cream shop. Now it is a hair saloon.

Space Shuttle was cool and it was huge...had at least 50+ games in it. The place was painted black with blacklight paint on the walls. All paintings were space related and they kept the lights off and the only lighting was blacklights. This was the first place I ever seen Jungle King before Taito had to change it to Jungle Hunt, and also the first time I ever seen or played a lot of classics like Donkey Kong Jr.. Now it is a Chaplin's Comedy Club.

Galaxy was just a little bit smaller than Space Shuttle and is the only one to survive. They closed down about 4 years ago though due to a fire. Now it is a jewelry store.

Oops! I have to make a revision. It wasn't called Spanky's it was called Ronnie's Ice Cream Parlor, Spanky's was a different arcade where all of the drug dealers and gang members hung out. hehe I wasn't allowed in there as a kid.

I'm guessin Spanky's is still well in business lol.

[Bootay]

Nope...they went under in the early 90s. The building was abandoned for a few years and then it became a pool hall called Miss-Q...then after a few years it closed down and it has been abandoned ever since. I tried to buy the building last year to turn it into a concert hall but the city said no so still it sits.

[Mikezilla]

Man this thread makes me sad lol.

Well, I had a few places we liked to hang out as a kid. One was the local 7-11 down the street that had a few neo geo cabs. My friend and I would wash our parents cars and they would give us 10 bucks and we would run down to the 7-11 and blow it all on candy and games. My favorite was King of the Monsters, just a button masher, but still fun. Bad dudes was there too, and an altered beast. The 7-11 is still there, but they took the cabs out and changed it around, so the coffee station is where the cabs used to be, you cant even tell they were ever there... I was born in 82 so that was probably around 91-92.There was also a place called The Boardwalk, which is still there, but they got rid of most of the arcades, its more like an indoor amusement park for kids, with a jungle gym and all that stuff. That was the first place I saw a fatality in Mortal Kombat. Blew my mind. They had all the big showcases with the fighting games and everything. Then, the final place, was a place called Wonderland, where you had to pay to get in, but the games ran on nickels. You could bring your own. That was where I first played Marvel vs Capcom and man was I hooked. Beat a ton of games there, Captain America and the Avengers, Battletoads (which was hard as hell) T-Mek, Cybersled, and ton others. Man, I miss those days.

And I couldnt agree more on the consoles ruining the fun of beating the crap out of some random kid that you could actually interact with. Stupid online crap. I was bigger than most kids too, and I always used to crowed the CP so they had to play all cramped haha. Man.... The only one thats still around is Boardwalk. By the time I have kids, it probably wont even be there...

[milhouse]

Nathan's Arcade on Central Ave. in Yonkers, NY. A fairly large arcade attached to a giant Nathan's that was walking distance from my house and my grandparent's house. It wasn't always the safest place in the world at night, but they had probably 100 or so cabs and 50 or so pins.  Maybe more.  As a kid I can remember standing on milk crates to play Pac Man, Defender (which I still suck at), Depthcharge (easy for a 4 year old), Star Wars (sit-down), 720, Battlezone, Hang-On, Sprint, Atari Football and tons of others.  They also had a bunch of shooting games that I think were run off a projector. Late 70s stuff.

The local movie theatres had a good selection (Toobin, Thunderblade) as did the Ground Round where we had way too many birthday parties.

My wife was more of a jersey shore girl, but stuck to skee-ball.  Which is probably why we have a mame cab and a skee-ball in the house, though she is dying to get a pinball machine.

Happy to say Nathan's is still up and running, though its game selection is much more limited.  Now it has lots of big games and no pinballs.  About a year ago they announced they were shutting it down so I went back with my little brothers and set the No. 1 score in centipede, one of the few remaining classic cabs.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/nathans-famous-of-yonkers-inc-yonkers

[bleargh]

Old arcade spot?  Which one...

When I was really young (~4-6yrs), my babysitter used to take me to the local pool hall (across from the McDonalds) in Thornhill, Ontario.  During the day the place was totally dead quiet, and they had a pair of pinball machines that he'd let me play.  Guys who ran the place kept a milk crate in the back so I could stand on it and play.  Building's still there, but its now a Flooring and Rug store.

A few years later, we moved to Richmond Hill and lived behind Hillcrest Mall, which had an arcade.  Maybe 20 arcade games there, don't remember any pinballs.  In the middle of the arcade they had three machines set up back-to-back, one of which was Gauntlet.  Always a crowd around that machine.  Arcade didn't last too long in the mall, though; ISTR it being closed down after a few years.  No idea what's in there now.

In high school, we'd all go hang out at "The Sting", which was only a block down the road.  Three pool tables in the back, ~30 arcade machines, and a handful of pinballs.  Black Knight was a favourite, if you could ever get close enough to play.  More often than not you'd put your quarter down and your lunch hour would run out before your turn came up.  Was totally the after school hang-out place; once school let out you almost couldn't get another body into the arcade.  Back then, smoking was still allowed in the arcade, and opening the front door generally meant a wafting cloud of smoke billowing out into the parking lot.  Arcade changed hands several times over the years, curiously enough always managing to be owned by someone named "John".  Fondest memories of the place are actually after I left high school, as this Chinese fellow (also named John) took over the place and was very friendly.  Me and my buddies easily spent 4-6hrs in there every day/night, and he appreciated that when we were there he got less riff-raff and had less troubles to deal with.  In return he'd occasionally pump the juke box full of songs for us, or set us up with some free pool.  Great guy.  Was still an arcade when I moved out of Richmond Hill, but its now an Adult Store (no idea what its been in the ~20yrs since I last hung out there though).

Other cool hang-out we had was the comic book store I worked at, "Shooting Star Comics".  Needless to say, comic book stores are cool to begin with, but Jim (the owner) also always had a few games tucked away in a back room at his stores.  On Saturday nights he'd let us run a local gamers club (D&D or Warhammer 40k), and we'd frequently still be there playing away on something when he came to open the store on Sunday mornings.  Between rounds of 40k everyone would pile upstairs for a few rounds of whatever he had in the back room.  Looking at Google Street View today, I see that the old stores are now (1) an M3 Flooring Shop, (2) a Medical Shop, and (3) some new condo building.

Sigh... arcades.  Those were the days.  Sucks to say, but I can't think of a good arcade I've walked into in almost 20 years.

[ids]

Been scratching my head for days trying to remember the names of the places - since they are all long gone.

In Toronto, there was a nice one on Bathurst, just under the 401 somewhere.  Great selection of games.  They had a section where u could grab food and sit down, but my quarters were too valuable to be used on food.  (They actually used tokens iirc)  As the years wore on, the selection started to stagnate, and the end finally came.

There were also all the really classic (read "dive") arcades along Yonge St, cigarette burns everywhere, etc

There was also a pool hall in St. Catharines called Pot Black, which had several machines (pac man, popeye, asteroids, etc).  Since it was just up the road from the high school, it made for a good hangout.  That's where I found a galaga without the fix, and missed an afternoon of school getting the high-score.

When I was younger, I recall camping at one of those trailer/camp site places; the arcade there had awesomely cool stuff like Boot Hill, Night Driver, etc.  Lots of quarters gone on that trip.

And one apartment we lived in opened one up: ah they joy of Lunar Lander, Space Invaders, Warlords, Space Zap...

Then the mall opened one; Donkey Kong Jr, Battle Zone, Centipede, Missile Command, Temptest, Crazy Climber, Star Castle....

The local convenience store was the first place I saw Dragons Lair - WOW!

I really miss those days, when games were everywhere.  A mame cab just isn't the same experience as walking into...almost anywhere, pizza joint, department store, arcade... and wondering what new and magical game you might find.  And if not new, the same ol' was good as new anyway, as long as you had a quarter.

sheesh, this thread just made me really sad  


Edit:  There is currently the Playdium, has a few good games, lots of stupid redemption crap, but the closest (only?) thing to an arcade I am aware of today.

[bleargh]

The local convenience store was the first place I saw Dragons Lair - WOW!

Wow... my first time seeing Dragon's Lair... I'd forgotten that moment.

Crazily enough... the arcade that I first saw Dragon's Lair in happened to be in the spot that would later turn into the comic book store I worked at.  Somewhere between "arcade" and "comic book store" I remember the place being a waterbed shop.

Arcade was packed, and they had a second screen attached to the top of the cabinet so everyone in the place could see how the player was doing.  Was the first game I ever saw that was "a whole dollar" to play.  I didn't even go near it (even with dad's pocket of change funding my afternoon); I couldn't imagine putting a whole dollar in that thing to play it no matter how awesome it looked... that was like... four whole games of something else.  Oh right... they had a Battlezone too!

And then when the comic book store moved in we had a sit-down Star Wars.  Many late nights were spent staying late in the store playing Star Wars.

The more I remember this stuff, the more I think "my basement just isn't big enough". 

[Bootay]

The local convenience store was the first place I saw Dragons Lair - WOW!

Wow... my first time seeing Dragon's Lair... I'd forgotten that moment.

Crazily enough... the arcade that I first saw Dragon's Lair in happened to be in the spot that would later turn into the comic book store I worked at.  Somewhere between "arcade" and "comic book store" I remember the place being a waterbed shop.

Arcade was packed, and they had a second screen attached to the top of the cabinet so everyone in the place could see how the player was doing.  Was the first game I ever saw that was "a whole dollar" to play.  I didn't even go near it (even with dad's pocket of change funding my afternoon); I couldn't imagine putting a whole dollar in that thing to play it no matter how awesome it looked... that was like... four whole games of something else.  Oh right... they had a Battlezone too!

And then when the comic book store moved in we had a sit-down Star Wars.  Many late nights were spent staying late in the store playing Star Wars.

The more I remember this stuff, the more I think "my basement just isn't big enough". 

Yep. First time I seen Dragon's Lair was Space Shuttle and they also had a 2nd screen attached to the top so everyone could see what the player was doing because it was so crowded around the machine that no one could ever see the screen.

[mgb]

Yep. First time I seen Dragon's Lair was Space Shuttle and they also had a 2nd screen attached to the top so everyone could see what the player was doing because it was so crowded around the machine that no one could ever see the screen.

That's exactly how I remember seeing it at the Fun Factory in Milford Ct.
They had the extra monitor up top so everyone could watch. I was a bit younger than the many teens there and I couldn't near the machine. I would say there more people around that machine than even SF2 in its heyday.

[kagaden]

Camelot Castle (Now Camelot Golfland)

Which is... awesomely, still there:
http://www.golfland.com/anaheim/

[EVEGames]

"Just Games" in the Harlem Foster plaza in Chicago, IL.  Not far from the Harlem Irving Plaza mall, a.k.a. "The HIP", in Norridge, IL.
Early 80's.  Loooong gone. 
I wish I could find even one reference to it on the internet with pictures from back in the day... I was there so often that there's a good chance I'd be in any random picture of it 
Simple layout, it was just a long, rectangular room with arcade games lining every inch of wall.  Kinda dimly lit, with pop music playing in the background.  Tuesdays they would set the token machine to give out 5 tokens for a dollar, so I would always stock up for the week.  These were the days of Michael Jackson and "the Glove", so I would occasionally wear one glove to the arcade, thinking that was pretty cool.  I dream about riding my bike to Just Games all the time.
The strip mall has changed many times since then, but if I picture where it approximately was, I think now it's where a chinese buffet stands.

They also had a Chuck E Cheese two doors down, which had some good games.

The HIP had a great arcade too, Aladdin's Castle.

Then in the 90's my arcade was "Just For Fun" in the Town & Country Mall in Arlington Heights, IL.  These were the days when Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat reigned.

And now, I just took my 8-year old son to the new Galloping Ghost arcade in Brookfield, IL for the first time, and we both fell in love with it.  Highly reccomended for anyone in the area.

[telengard]

My old arcade hangouts then and now...

Dream Machine, Methuen Mall, MA  -> The Loop, strip mall and movie theatre after tearing mall down
Alladin's Castle, Liberty Tree Mall, MA -> Mall is still there, no idea what it is now if anything

~telengard

[HaRuMaN]

When I was a teenager, I like to hang out at Putt-Putt Golf & Games, I think it was Va Bch, VA.  It's not there anymore...  they had a lot of the current fighters, I used to drop a ton of money in there on Samurai Showdown 4...

There was also a placed called Funspot in Chesapeake, VA that had 18 holes of indoor miniature golf, movie theaters, food court, and 2 floors of arcade games.  It was in an old converted warehouse, or something.  It got shut down later due to gang activity, lol.

[DefJam]

Memories.......

I grew up in Montgomerville, PA...and enjoyed the arcade boom..

Fond memories of quite a few arcades....listed in decending order of favorites....

1. Space Port - Montgomerville Mall - It was great for many reasons.... place looked great, they always seemed to have great games... new stuff constantly coming in and going out...  I still remember a radio station promotion where they had like 20 sega star trek vector machines there...  Anyhow, if you for some reason havent seen the training video on youtube you MUST go watch that video... google spaceport training video.  The pictures from the filmstrip were all taken at the montgomeryville mall spaceport from what i can tell and I received many quarters from the guys in that film.  the mall is still there, the arcade is not..... it was a time out arcade for a bit (which I think is the same owner as spaceport, but not sure).  First place I saw many machines including Quantom.

2.  Saturn V -  in a strip mall next to the lansdale bowling alley.....  GREAT place.... basically pitch black inside except really cool planets /space stuff on the wallls.  it was the first place I ever played Donkey Kong and Space Fury.  Arcade skewed a bit older.

3.  Odyssey Land - on Rt. 309.  It was open til at least midnight from what I recall.....   had some cool games.  I think there is a verizon store there now.

4.  Supercade - Plymoth Meeting Mall - great arcade as it was BIG, lots of games... sot they tended to have  a nice blend of the old and new....

5.  Hatfield arcade:  Maybe 10 games, great guy watching the store who would play chess with me.... usually let me go to the bank to get him change as well....  best man ever for me on Donkey Kong was there....  got to the 3rd elevators, and then lost everyone one of my men....  Easy to bike to so I was there often.

6. Honorable mentions....  7 eleven, laundramats, restaurants, etc...  also I would like to say that the Jersey shore had some incredible arcades on and off the boardwalks...I just have no idea what the name of them is anymore.... there was one in wildwood that i found a few blocks from the beach that was just incredible cause it was so big and had so much of the older stuff... i.e. that machine shaped like jaws, the look through the scope and shoot the submarine games, etc...

But SpacePort will always be #1.  Just too many memories in that place (and spent even more quarters)

[robertsig]

Mine was a placed called Mitsukoshi in Hawaii on Oahu.  They had everything on an entire floor.  I think it's all shops now, but I no longer live in Hawaii.

[stu33]

I had the greatest setup ever as a kid.  I grew up in a tiny tiny place in Northern New York.  My little town might have had 150 people, tops, but during the summer, being right on Lake Ontario, the place went crazy with tourists (and made for great summers in my teens...the rich touristy teenage girls looking for a summer fling...good times).  On the main street of the little town (Three Mile Bay, and I'd be surprised if anyone recognized that name) my grandfather owned two houses next door to one another.  One he lived in, the other one went through various incarnations.  Antique store, my family's house, antique store again...and then...VIDEO ARCADE.  My uncle ran it.  It had Atari Football, Battlezone, Burgertime (my favorite), a pin that I can't remember what it was, I think it had a motorcycle motif, a juke, Asteroids and Omega Race.  I'd go in, he'd give me as many quarters as I could handle, and I would kill hours there.  Battlezone and Burgertime were my games, although I did play quite a bit of Omega Race too.

Man, that was awesome.  Since then it's been torn down and single-wide trailer is there, I think.

I'd bug with my uncle or grandfather, they'd give me a ton of quarters, I'd go fire up Electric Avenue on the juke, and play.  I was encouraged to bring all the friends I could, as long as I didn't give them any of the quarters!

[boardjunkie]

Aaahhhhh the gool ol' days. My favorite place back in 1981 was in a small town (Durand, Mi) called the Nickelodeon. It was a pizza/ice cream shop up front and had a fairly large (and dark) gameroom in the back. Games all around the outside perimeter, and an inner "square" row. Played alotta Pacman, space invaders, battlezone, defender, galaxian, etc. I remember Qix had just hit the streets and I didn't know what to make of it. Older college age kids played it, it didn't look interesting to me. I missed out.....shoulda gave it a try. Anyway.....that place ruled. Always had the latest and greatest games, and Sundays was 12 tokens for 1$.

There was the Galaxy arcade in Owosso, mi. That place was more the seedy hangout and I never spent much time there.

Another place was set up in a former laundromat, I forget what they called it (if anything). Lotsa games (it was pretty big), but they often had problems which I felt compelled to report. I think at that time the seed was planted in my head to get into the game servicing racket.....

The local "Giantway" store (early incarnation of the wally world type place with grocery store in one half and depratment store in the other) always had 3 or so games in the lobby area. Remember play'n Asteroids, Vanguard, and Phoenix there frequently as it was just a few miles away and I could ride my bike there. I befreinded the guy who ran the record department there (hi Mitch wherever you are ) and remember going there to get a copy of Rush's "Moving Pictures" the day it came out. They had Electronic Games mag on the shelf there, so I always made sure to pick up the latest issue of that while I was there. Next door to that was a drugstore where I played Berzerk and Kickman alot.

Good times.....back in the "boom years" you couldn't go anywhere without finding at least one game....

[Silas (son of Silas)]

I don't know what happened to my most regular haunts, but I could take a wild guess. I haven't been back to anywhere in the US where I spent time as a kid for about 7-10 years.

The arcade I played most as a kid was in the Florida Mall. I used to pump every damn penny I had into that place.

The arcade related places I think about most are from a road trip I took back in '96. I drove an RV in a big zigzag across the US from San Francisco to Orlando over 3 months. For me all the little middle of nowhere RV parks that had frozen in time. That was the last time I ever played on a real Ms. Pacman, Joust, Pole Position, Double Dragon to name but a few. I always wonder what the names of those little nowhere towns were and whatever happened to all those machines still earning their keep after so many years.