First time at arcade in years

[honkey]

I just went to an arcade for the first time in probably 10 years. Luckily, the first machine I went to had a defective joystick, so I got a bunch of free credits even though I didn't think it was a big deal. Here are a few observations:
-Showcase cabinets are taking over. While Soul Caliber 2 was fun on a 32 inch monitor, I do not think I would complain about standing closer to the screen and playing it on a 25" screen.
-The new monitors are great... They do not feel right though for how I think of arcade monitors. I guess I never noticed before, but I like scanlines.
-The joysticks on these Tekken 5 machines were crap. They were really loose and the ball tops felt like those plastic fishing bobbers. Is this common now? These were the newest machines in the arcade I hope that companies are not skimping out on joysticks.
-Time Crisis 4 is an incredible game... I am also incredibly bad at it.
-It would have been nice if there was a Galaga/Ms. Pacman machine. There were no classics at all in this arcade. I suppose that is not too surprising, but disappointing nonetheless.

What do you guys notice different about the arcades now days than what you remember as a kid?

[methodical]

I see people on this board all the time saying that they're nowhere near an arcade and they're all gone... I guess I take living in NJ for granted. There are easily over 100 here.

There's even a pinball museum with playable pinball machines from 1931-2005.

[lordnacho]

I see people on this board all the time saying that they're nowhere near an arcade and they're all gone... I guess I take living in NJ for granted. There are easily over 100 here.

There's even a pinball museum with playable pinball machines from 1931-2005.

Where?  My in-laws live in Freehold, where's the nearest?

[methodical]

I live in Freehold :-)

Point Pleasant, NJ is about 20-25 minutes away... boardwalk with 4 or 5 arcades. The boardwalk games and places to eat are closed this time of year but I believe the arcades are open all year.

[lordnacho]

I live in Freehold :-)

Point Pleasant, NJ is about 20-25 minutes away... boardwalk with 4 or 5 arcades. The boardwalk games and places to eat are closed this time of year but I believe the arcades are open all year.

Sorry, I stalked your profile page first, that's why I mentioned Freehold.

Ah, was hoping for something I could sneak out to when we are visiting

[methodical]

Oh, and there's an indoor 'amusement park' opening in Freehold on Friday, 11/11/11. It states that it has an arcade, though I'm not sure what's in it. I'll report back after this weekend though. On their site, www.iplayamerica.com, they have a map of the place... arcade looks to be a good size.

Edit:
Says it will have over 200 traditional and cutting edge games.

[lordnacho]

Awesome.

To the OP: generally any "arcade" I've been to is far from what I remember as a kid.  As a kid(and this was in north NJ), it was wall to wall cabinets with wall to wall kids, had to wait for everything.  Now typical mall arcades are lots of DDR type games, way too much open space, too much light.  Sigh

[Vulgar Soul]

I see people on this board all the time saying that they're nowhere near an arcade and they're all gone... I guess I take living in NJ for granted. There are easily over 100 here.

There's even a pinball museum with playable pinball machines from 1931-2005.

I think it depends on where you live. Coin-op, gaming, or pub culture is historically big in places like Jersey (Atlantic City), Illinois, Nevada, Arizona, or Texas, so I'm not too surprised when posters from these areas are still gaming, and visiting functioning arcades and gaming/entertainment venues.

I was actually down in Jersey at Palisades Mall a month or two. First time in years since I was in high school. I was shocked when I saw the mall has not one, note two, but THREE arcade areas in the mall. Granted they were mostly dominated by "modern" games, but it was great. As a matter of fact the entrance of the Dave & Busters there has a Centipede/Millipede/Missile Command cabinet and Space Invaders/Qix SET TO FREE. And even better (or sad), NOBODY NOTICED OR WANTED TO PLAY! Man, it almost felt like robbery. I was there for a hot minute playin Centipede alone lol.

Here in the big apple there are almost NO traditional arcades left at all. Unless you count a Dave & Busters on Time Square crowded with tourists and BS "games" in their "arcade." Other than that the closest you'll find to arcades close by here in NY is a leased Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga or Area 51 cabinet sitting in a laundromat. Every once in a while you'll run into a laundromat or pizza shop that has a different game. Maybe a Neo Geo or Capcom fighter. I'm lucky enough to live by a nice pizza shop (and might I add the best damn pizza in NYC) that still rents video game and pinball cabinets. I gotta check out Barcade in Brooklyn. I go to school in BK but I live far from there. I'm still beggin one of my college buddy's to check it out with me some time! Also "New Roc City" in New Rochelle, not far from the Bronx, has an extensive arcade. And of course a couple Chuck E. Cheese's here and there.


The biggest difference I notice between arcades now from when I was younger is that there are no longer any dedicated video arcades. Places for just gaming and maybe some eating are very rare. Any convincing arcade nowadays are an extension of some large multiplex with a movie theatre, pool hall, bar, restaurants, and other things included.  

- The arcades today are now flashier and bigger and dominated by intuitive Deluxe Cabinets. Usually huge widescreen displays, surround sound and bass, and of course engaging controls. Maybe a seat, steering wheel, large gun with recoil, dancing pad, even motion controls. You may see one classic game or pinball with traditional controls between the dozens of big deluxe games. They may even be set to free.

- Selection of games arent like how they use to be for me. I always knew I would more or less enjoy any game I drop a quarter into. Every game was creative, unique and plain fun in some way. Now the value of games vary. Sega, Namco, and Konami are still in the business and still make some great arcade games to this day. Miss Capcom, Midway, Atari, SNK, and so many other companies though. Then you have Raw Thrills or GlobalVR who make lots of generic, run of the mill, licensed based deluxe games I can't even be bothered to play, but they seem okay. Then you got some ish I don't even wanna talk about. Deal or No Deal? Yeah, no deal.  

- Arcades today are EXPENSIVE! Remember when you can walk into an arcade with 5 bucks and game for a whole night? Forget the good ole days of droppin 25-50 cents on a game. Now the standard price is 1 buck per game. Some even up to 2 bucks! And for crap like Deal or No Deal! What kinda shi is that!? Every game I wanna play is cheap anyway.


Also honkey, I think the Tekken cabs use Sanwa sticks. They're suppose to be some of the best out there for fighters. But who knows, maybe the cab you played had some cheap knock offs.

[Vulgar Soul]

Oh, and there's an indoor 'amusement park' opening in Freehold on Friday, 11/11/11. It states that it has an arcade, though I'm not sure what's in it. I'll report back after this weekend though. On their site, www.iplayamerica.com, they have a map of the place... arcade looks to be a good size.

Edit:
Says it will have over 200 traditional and cutting edge games.

Damn that is nice! I wish I lived in Jersey, or at least had a DAMN CAR! lol

[methodical]

Yeah, they just opened a Barcade in Red Bank, NJ too... been meaning to go check it out.

[wp34]

I just hit the Barcade in Philly a few weeks ago.  Had a great time and played a lot of games I had not even seen in 20 years.

Also hit the Pinball Museum in Asbury Park.  That was a blast and I highly recommend it to anyone in the area.

[honkey]

I see people on this board all the time saying that they're nowhere near an arcade and they're all gone... I guess I take living in NJ for granted. There are easily over 100 here.

There's even a pinball museum with playable pinball machines from 1931-2005.

I think it depends on where you live. Coin-op, gaming, or pub culture is historically big in places like Jersey (Atlantic City), Illinois, Nevada, Arizona, or Texas, so I'm not too surprised when posters from these areas are still gaming, and visiting functioning arcades and gaming/entertainment venues.

I was actually down in Jersey at Palisades Mall a month or two. First time in years since I was in high school. I was shocked when I saw the mall has not one, note two, but THREE arcade areas in the mall. Granted they were mostly dominated by "modern" games, but it was great. As a matter of fact the entrance of the Dave & Busters there has a Centipede/Millipede/Missile Command cabinet and Space Invaders/Qix SET TO FREE. And even better (or sad), NOBODY NOTICED OR WANTED TO PLAY! Man, it almost felt like robbery. I was there for a hot minute playin Centipede alone lol.

Here in the big apple there are almost NO traditional arcades left at all. Unless you count a Dave & Busters on Time Square crowded with tourists and BS "games" in their "arcade." Other than that the closest you'll find to arcades close by here in NY is a leased Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga or Area 51 cabinet sitting in a laundromat. Every once in a while you'll run into a laundromat or pizza shop that has a different game. Maybe a Neo Geo or Capcom fighter. I'm lucky enough to live by a nice pizza shop (and might I add the best damn pizza in NYC) that still rents video game and pinball cabinets. I gotta check out Barcade in Brooklyn. I go to school in BK but I live far from there. I'm still beggin one of my college buddy's to check it out with me some time! Also "New Roc City" in New Rochelle, not far from the Bronx, has an extensive arcade. And of course a couple Chuck E. Cheese's here and there.


The biggest difference I notice between arcades now from when I was younger is that there are no longer any dedicated video arcades. Places for just gaming and maybe some eating are very rare. Any convincing arcade nowadays are an extension of some large multiplex with a movie theatre, pool hall, bar, restaurants, and other things included.  

- The arcades today are now flashier and bigger and dominated by intuitive Deluxe Cabinets. Usually huge widescreen displays, surround sound and bass, and of course engaging controls. Maybe a seat, steering wheel, large gun with recoil, dancing pad, even motion controls. You may see one classic game or pinball with traditional controls between the dozens of big deluxe games. They may even be set to free.

- Selection of games arent like how they use to be for me. I always knew I would more or less enjoy any game I drop a quarter into. Every game was creative, unique and plain fun in some way. Now the value of games vary. Sega, Namco, and Konami are still in the business and still make some great arcade games to this day. Miss Capcom, Midway, Atari, SNK, and so many other companies though. Then you have Raw Thrills or GlobalVR who make lots of generic, run of the mill, licensed based deluxe games I can't even be bothered to play, but they seem okay. Then you got some ish I don't even wanna talk about. Deal or No Deal? Yeah, no deal.  

- Arcades today are EXPENSIVE! Remember when you can walk into an arcade with 5 bucks and game for a whole night? Forget the good ole days of droppin 25-50 cents on a game. Now the standard price is 1 buck per game. Some even up to 2 bucks! And for crap like Deal or No Deal! What kinda shi is that!? Every game I wanna play is cheap anyway.


Also honkey, I think the Tekken cabs use Sanwa sticks. They're suppose to be some of the best out there for fighters. But who knows, maybe the cab you played had some cheap knock offs.

There is a Wings to Go down the street from me and every once in a while I will drop in just to play a game of Galaga... I am a big fan of the classics. That said, a few of the shooter games I played today were a lot of fun. Paradise Lost was a surprisingly fun game, but very difficult. The guy working gave me 30 free credits in Time Crisis 4, 12 credits in Paradise Lost, and 10 credits in Tekken 5. Of the games, I felt like Time Crisis 4 was the most impressive because it had the same feel that the 90's shooters did, but it took the experience to the next level as compared to Tekken 5 seemed like pretty much the same thing as the original Tekken, but flashier and not so gameplay oriented as the older games were. I just recently started getting into fighting games though, so maybe I am just behind the curve on what is cool with fighters. I think the oldest game in the arcade was a broken Gauntlet Legends. The other thing that was noticeably missing was a good shoot 'em up. I feel like having any of the Metal Slug games in an arcade is a must. I suppose not too many people develop games like that anymore though.
That is good to know though that the joysticks are not usually this way.

[RyoriNoTetsujin]

Also hit the Pinball Museum in Asbury Park.  That was a blast and I highly recommend it to anyone in the area.

+1 on the Silver Ball Pinball Museum on the Asbury Park boardwalk.  Some friends of mine have a beach house at Bradley Beach, and we make a point of hitting the Silver Ball every time we're there.  Not much in the way of video cabs there (though, interestingly enough they have an Ultracade...) but the sheer number of pins more than makes up for it.

I pestered the owners for months until they finally got a Medieval Madness.    Love that game.

[GregD]

There are no real arcades left in the Boston area.  All of the arcades are filled with those machines that dispense tickets.  I spend $30 within 30 minutes with the two kids and they accumulate enough tickets to get a plastic spider ring and cheap whoopie cushion.

[codefenix]

A couple of you guys mentioned NJ, but didn't mention Ocean City!  The board walk has an arcade roughly every 50 yards or so.  Just take a walk and you can't miss them.  Most are very well run and the games are mostly in great shape.

Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH has at least two arcades: one on the right side of the main strip not far from the park entrance, and another tucked away somewhere in the frontier area.  When I went this summer there were tons of old classic cabinets, although the condition of most were poor to average.  A Centipede's Y axis didn't work.  A Donkey Kong had some flickering and burn-in.  Most of the pinball machines lining the back were out of order.  I saw a widescreen podium-style Marvel Vs Capcom that worked fairly well, even though the screen didn't seem to want to contain the entire screen (if that makes sense).

Geneva On the Lake in Geneva, OH has four arcades within a 1 mile stretch: Woody's World, Sport Center, PJ's, and simply "Arcade".  The latter of which is probably the best, as it has the nicest quality cabinets, pinball machines, air hockey, and pool.  Woody's Word and Sport Center have mostly skee ball, prize machines, and hunting/shooting cabinets.  You can find DDR in any of these.  Unfortunately there aren't many classics in any of these, save maybe a Frogger and a MsPacMan but that's it.

My experience and feelings on arcades overall... The least attention is paid to classic cabinets and pinballs.  As a result, they're not profitable and are often left out of order or only partially operational.  But if the owners can still squeeze 25 cents per play from these from the occasional clueless player, they will, and that's good enough.  It's a shame.

I agree that a dollar seems to be the going rate for the better kept, more recent titles.  Yes, showcase cabinets seem to be the soup of the day.  But most of these aren't games I want to play.  I just don't understand the appeal, but that's just me.  I'd rather be playing Street Fighter II or something other than these glimmering behemoths.

[vanrose72]

Where?  My in-laws live in Freehold, where's the nearest?

Everyone probably already knows about this site, but I like to use www.arcadelocations.net to find particular machines in particular locations. 

[yotsuya]

Reposted for everyone's convenience:

http://www.castlesncoasters.com/arcade.html

[wp34]

I pestered the owners for months until they finally got a Medieval Madness.    Love that game.

Thanks for that!  I was real happy to see MM machine there.  I wasn't sure they really existed.   

[DCsegaDH]

Reposted for everyone's convenience:

http://www.castlesncoasters.com/arcade.html

I need to go there again! I live in Arizona, but I don't have any free time lately, but I definitely will go back sometime this year. 

[Gray_Area]

Thanks for that!  I was real happy to see MM machine there.  I wasn't sure they really existed.  

There's one in excellent shape, here:

Reposted for everyone's convenience:

http://www.castlesncoasters.com/arcade.html

Everyone probably already knows about this site, but I like to use www.arcadelocations.net to find particular machines in particular locations.  

Here's another one, and includes pinball:

http://aurcade.com/


I'm mostly interested in Golden Age games. They're hard to find in numbers.

With pinball, I prefer late 80s/early 90s. Tables in the last ten years are pretty good, too. All the theatre arcades will one or more of Lord of the Rings, Spider-Man, The Dark Knight, Big Buck Hunter (decent table), etc. Laundromats can be a good place to find older tables - for example, there's a Twilight Zone a half mile from me.