A walk down memory lane at CEC

[Havok]

So, I went to Chuck E Cheese's tonight, and here's my "score." Pretty cool I got years 2005 - 2008, and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the year on the dirty one: 1982!!! I'm throwing these in with my BYOAC pile...

[Ginsu Victim]

wow, so they've kept them in circulation this long?!? That's awesome.

[mhermann]

Pretty cool. Speaking of CEC. is it me or are there alot fewer video games there then there use to be? I mean I know due to consoles, kids wouldn't really play classics as much, but when I went there as a kid a remeber tons of games now that I have gone back with my kids, not so much. I guess it is just a sign of the times.

I would think a Dave and Busters type place with more classic games would do well in some city. Make it a quarter to play and  supply plenty of beer and I think it would do well.

[Ummon]

Pretty cool. Speaking of CEC. is it me or are there alot fewer video games there then there use to be? I mean I know due to consoles, kids wouldn't really play classics as much, but when I went there as a kid a remeber tons of games now that I have gone back with my kids, not so much. I guess it is just a sign of the times.

I think it's due to games being so large now, only the really mega games like SW whatever being hot to the kiddies, that it's mostly young kids and their families (whereas when I was a kid, you'd have some adults coming to play vids, eat pizza, and drink beer), and those kids especially the tots want to play redemption games and playground-like stuff. Nothing wrong with the last - I thought DZ was pretty cool, as they'd let adults go in, too - but far as I can tell vids just aren't where it's at with Chuckee's.

[Timstuff]

I remember back in the day, you could walk into a Chuck E Cheese and play Mortal Kombat... But then, Jack Thompson wrote a book.

Last time I went to CEC, I was pretty underwhelmed. Most of the games were gimmick machines, and the only real good games were stuff like Star Wars and a few other games. When I want to re live my arcade memories, I go to Smiles Game Center. It's become kind of run down in the last year or two (at least half of the games either eat change or have at least one broken input), but at least they have a huge selection of games I actually want to play.

[Ummon]

We didn't even have a Chuckees in town by the late 80s. So, for a little while, we went to Peter Piper - which is where I encountered 720 and Hyperdyne Sidearms - but eventually we got pizza'd out.

[Donkey_Kong]

I love that 1982 token!

[TheShanMan]

Yeah, I remember the "In Pizza We Trust" logo from when I was a kid.

[Ummon]

By the way, do you remember your first Chuck-ee Cheese's experience?

I do. I was eight, and we were there for some school or cub scout thing (I think the latter), and the first thing I noticed as we walked in the door was a little room with a window, no door, and brown leather-covered padded walls. I immediately made a note in my mind that once we were set loose in the place, I was grabbing a couple other kids and heading for that room. What for? Well, to mosh, of course. Never mind that we had no music and that I had no idea what moshing was till some seven or eight years later.

[RichSorr]

They have actually been adding more video games to stores as of late. some are pretty cheesy, but there are some cool racing and sim games around. I've seen a few that still have classics like centipede, galaga and ms.pac man.

[Timstuff]

More cheesy games, huh? Then I'll bet that the arcade I go to got their Propcycle machine second hand from the CEC up the road...



That game is so absurd, everyone should play it at least once. It could have only happened in Japan, which makes me marvel at how it ever ended up here...

[ArtsNFartsNCrafts]

I've not been to our local Chuck E. Cheese's...I've always been a little hesitant to go in there as an adult, because I don't want to come off as some sort of child predator, haha.  But when I was younger, we didn't have a CEC...we had 'Showbiz Pizza' in foothills mall, and I celebrated many a birthday there.

There was also Take Ten Arcade in the same mall, which was pretty sweet because they gave away free tokens for kids with good grades...which was awesome until I became a C student, 

Now the only place nearby (to my knowledge) that has any decent games is Beef O'Brady's.  They've got an original Ms. Pac Man (on whose scoreboard I put my name at the top yesterday) in there, and they just recently put in an original centipede cabaret that is in great condition.

[scottp]

I hate to admit this... but I bought a PropCycle when the local CEC went out of business and auctioned off all their arcade stuff.  It is still sitting in my barn, it gets plugged in every once in a while and played.  It is a ridiculous game for sure... but fun when you are not needing to pump quarters in it.  One unique thing, is it has a variable fan in it, so when you peddle faster the fan blows in your face harder. 

I had great plans to put it in the basement, but it is GIANT, I don't know what I was thinking, I just got caught up in the auction and I will probably never sell it due to the size and the game itself....

Scott

[Turnarcades]

Be thankful you guys in the States had such entertainment centres. CEC was developed as a showcase by Bushnell for video games so arcades grew fast in the States. Over here in Britain you only got to see arcade machines if you lived in a seaside town or if you had a sports/bowling centre or something nearby. 9 out of 10 times they were not original cabinets and we never really had dedicated amusement arcades in-land.

Seems ridiculous really when we were probably the 3rd biggest market for video games at the time, after  Japan and America.

[Timstuff]

I hate to admit this... but I bought a PropCycle when the local CEC went out of business and auctioned off all their arcade stuff.  It is still sitting in my barn, it gets plugged in every once in a while and played.  It is a ridiculous game for sure... but fun when you are not needing to pump quarters in it.  One unique thing, is it has a variable fan in it, so when you peddle faster the fan blows in your face harder. 

I had great plans to put it in the basement, but it is GIANT, I don't know what I was thinking, I just got caught up in the auction and I will probably never sell it due to the size and the game itself....

Scott

Yeah, Propcycle is a cool game, and I probably should have described it as "delightfully absurd." You're very lucky to have gotten your hands on one, because as far as "gimmick games" go, it's a pretty good one overall. It's too bad you don't have room for it ATM, but hey, it'd sure beat having a treadmill or exercicle, no?

[Ummon]

I've not been to our local Chuck E. Cheese's...I've always been a little hesitant to go in there as an adult, because I don't want to come off as some sort of child predator, haha.  But when I was younger, we didn't have a CEC...we had 'Showbiz Pizza' in foothills mall, and I celebrated many a birthday there.

They've got an original Ms. Pac Man (on whose scoreboard I put my name at the top yesterday) in there, and they just recently put in an original centipede cabaret that is in great condition.

Showbiz was the east coast version of Chuck-ees. And if it was original, there is no 'scoreboard' on Ms Pac. You have the high score or you don't.

Be thankful you guys in the States had such entertainment centres. CEC was developed as a showcase by Bushnell for video games so arcades grew fast in the States. Over here in Britain you only got to see arcade machines if you lived in a seaside town or if you had a sports/bowling centre or something nearby. 9 out of 10 times they were not original cabinets and we never really had dedicated amusement arcades in-land.

Seems ridiculous really when we were probably the 3rd biggest market for video games at the time, after  Japan and America.

Well, it all started here. And the American economic model allowed it.

[ArtsNFartsNCrafts]

Showbiz was the east coast version of Chuck-ees. And if it was original, there is no 'scoreboard' on Ms Pac. You have the high score or you don't.

Yeah, that's what I meant.  I had it up at the top of the screen, rather.

[protokatie]

Showbiz was the east coast version of Chuck-ees.

Odd. I have never seen a showbiz in my life, but New England has plenty of CECs... Or did you mean west coast??? 

[CheeseSndwch]

Showbiz Pizza was the place to go for birthdays when I was growing up. There was a CEC right across the street but for some reason it wasn’t up to par with Showbiz Pizza. Then one day they changed my Showbiz Pizza to CEC and it all went downhill. Luckily I discovered a new place to have my birthday parties…Aladdin’s Castle!

[Ummon]

Well, I may be wrong. I remember seeing Showbiz commericals on channel WGN chicago (this was on cable, of course, as I lived in the southwest), and thinking it might've been related to Chuck-ees because of the animatronics. Also, since I've gotten into Mame, I thought I read somewhere that Showbiz was the eastern (maybe not east coast) version. Or maybe it was someone else who purchased the animatronics from Bushnell, and made their own cast, but it was then bought by Bushnell? I dunno.

[mhermann]

I am right outside Philadelphia and have never heard of Showbiz until these boards.

[Havok]

Yeah, I've never heard of Showbiz either - nothing around in upstate New York at least...

[protokatie]

Too bad us East-side-of-USA-ers dont seem to have showbiz pizza. Sounds a lot better than what CEC has become. I am starting to wonder about the whole thing tho (IE CEC SBP Dave and Buster's etc), as the economy is drying up and the "arcade thing" is pretty much dead, I don't know how much I see a future for specialised "entertainment center" style businesses. (Atleast as a business model alone).

[arzoo]

I was watching a comedy show last week and one of the comedians had a joke something like this...

My wife wants to have kids and I was all for it until I went to a birthday party for a friend's child at a Chuck-E-Cheese. Then I spent the next hour trying to win enough tokens for a vasectomy!

[nipsmg]

Plenty of CEC, no Showbiz in CT either... not that I've heard of at least.

[Ummon]

Well Chicago is Illinois, but it's east. Remember, this was 25 years ago.


Kinda funny that, arzoo.