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How Many Different Places Did You Play Arcade Games?
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seanp:
I grew up in a town of about 60k - not a small town, not a city.  The first games I played were at the roller skating rink.  I still remember my very first game of Pac-Man when I was ~4 or 5 years old.  I was hooked instantly.  The skating rink had a handfull of games - PacMan, DigDug, Galaga, Donkey Kong, BumpNJump, and Crash! (one of the really old black and white games).  These are all still favorites of mine. 

Later, a pizza place opened that had a pretty sizeable arcade, and they'd give a family 10 tokens with the order of a pizza.  My sister and I would split these whenever we went out to eat (which was about once every other month - we grew up without a lot of money).  Over the years this is where I saw most of the games of my childhood.  Shinobi, Karate Champ, Off-Road, Blasteroids, Elevator Action, Centipede, Star Wars, Road Blasters, Pole Position, Arch Rivals.  They also always had a pinball machine or two.  This is the first place I ever saw Dragon's Lair.  I never played it there - you couldn't convince me to spend TWO of my tokens on one video game!  But I would stand and watch people play in awe of the game.

Then there was Putt-Putt - I had a birthday party here in elementary school that got rained out halfway through our game, and the manager brought all the kids inside and gave us all enough tokens to keep us happy for two hours (presumably so my parents wouldn't ask for any type of rain-check or refund).  That's one of my best birthday parties ever!  They had Sinistar, Zoo Keeper (the loudest and most obnoxious sounding game I've ever heard), Joust, Crystal Castles (one of the main reasons I added a trackball to my cabinet),  vs Baseball...

Riding my bike around my neighborhood I often saw one garage with a few arcade machines in it in various stages of repair.  I always drooled at the thought of my own arcade machine, and it is these memories that have driven me to build my own cabinet today.
97thruhiker:
Let me see, the two best arcades that I can remember were ones I only visited once or twice a year.  First, for those of you in the Washington D.C. / Richmond area I'm sure you remember the arcade they had at Kings Dominion.  It was great.  I think they built a water park on the old site (just up from the Rebel Yell Rollercoaster).  Second, the arcade was at Wiers Beach in New Hampshire (my father's side of the family is from Laconia).  It's still there but not sure if its under the same ownership.

Beyond these two places I frequented this pizza place in St Charles Maryland (in the little town square they had in the middle of the neighborhood), the bar up the street from my house (went in during the day, had a Star Castle in the back), bowling alley, Springville Mall, and local 7/11's.
leapinlew:

--- Quote from: seanp on February 24, 2006, 03:54:44 pm ---(which was about once every other month - we grew up without a lot of money). 
--- End quote ---

Ditto...

Which makes the memories extra valuable. When you realize it's not the money, it's the memories. I went to the bowling alley with kids who would ask their folks anytime they needed money, and much to my surprise they would get more quarters! My mom made a rule where she would give me $1 and I wasn't supposed to bother her all night.

It forces you to value your quarters. I love pressing a button and getting credits, but there is something about the thrill of dropping in your last quarter for the evening and trying to do well on the game and make it last.
neuromancer:
The place where I spent the most time was easily the un-named arcade in the East Halls Dining Commons at Penn State.

They had Gauntlet, which to this day is my favorite game. A small group (maybe 8) of us used to be there almost every day, learning the levels, devising strategy, trying new plans of attack. I had the high score on the Warrior for several years.

I also spent a fair amount of time in the two arcades in State Collge: Playland, and Campus Casino.

Bob
Paul Olson:
Looking back on it, I was really lucky growing up.  I live in Reno, NV, and just about every casino had an arcade, and a lot of them were pretty good.  We also had all the other places too, bowling alleys, pizza joints, skating rinks, and the convenience stores with 1 or 2 games. 

Probably my best memory of playing video games here in Reno was at King's Skate Country.  I scored over 250,000 on Donkey Kong, on skates.  That was a lot of fun.

I used to go to Santa Cruz once a year, and that arcade was incredible!  I was there a couple of months ago, and the arcade is still huge, but it has lost the feel that it used to have.  It is mostly new driving games like every other arcade these days, still fun though.

PoDunkMoFo - I have friends in Gustine.  I was down there for Christmas, and I might be stopping by later this month.  And yes, I have played video games in your little home town.  :D  We ate at one of the pizza places and played some games.  It really is a small world!!!
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