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Your Old Arcade Spot - Then and Now
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Rusty Shackelford:

--- Quote from: Smeghead on January 26, 2011, 12:16:27 am ---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

--- End quote ---

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:

--- Quote from: Bootay on January 26, 2011, 02:08:17 pm ---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.


--- End quote ---

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:

--- Quote from: Bootay on January 26, 2011, 04:35:53 pm ---
--- Quote from: Bootay on January 26, 2011, 02:08:17 pm ---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.


--- End quote ---

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.

--- End quote ---

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... :'(
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