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What Was The Name Of Your Arcade Growing Up? Describe it.
Dazz:
--- Quote from: Zeppo on June 11, 2009, 09:51:02 am ---
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--- Quote from: NickG on June 07, 2009, 01:12:01 am ---
--- Quote from: Dazz on June 06, 2009, 09:11:57 pm ---The Gold Mine at Six Flags Mall - Arlington, Texas
Dark, Cold and Loud. Ahh, it was the perfect 80's arcade.
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Was that the one which had the full size carousel inside? I used to get helium balloons with clown faces there (I was still a bit too young to play the games)
Edit: Nevermind, I remember now - that one was at Forum 303 Mall a few minutes south. I've forgotten its name.
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Yeah, the Forum was the one that had the full sized carousel... I think that one was called either Goodtimes or Saturdays. I'm not really sure, but yes that was an excellent arcade.
Speaking of that arcade... Growing up I recall them having this Bozo the Clown bucket toss ticket redemption game. This game is now located in one of the areas haunted houses, Chaos Haunted Houses at Texas Scaregrounds. I do haunted house reviews during Halloween season and every time I go into that haunt and pass that game memories of my childhood come rushing back.
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That was called Yesterday's in Forum 303 Mall.
Or at least that was the name when I worked there.
I was the assistant manager in late 94 through mid 95.
That Bozo game was a pain to fix sometimes, but usually it was just a loose switch in one of the buckets.
We had to crawl all under and inside the carousel in the spring and grease all the inner parts.
Boy, that was fun.
I really liked that place and almost cried when they turned it into a Fiesta Mall thingy which is basically an indoor Flea Market.
Last I heard they were about to tear the whole mall down for some reason.
:'(
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Yesterday's! That's it. Saturday's was the name of store/restaurant that had really good soft serve ice cream.
Oh, the mall is long gone now... Was torn down about a year 1/2 ago and an industrial complex has already gone up.
ultrageek:
I spent a lot of time in a mall arcade called Aladdin's Castle. The tokens were octagonal, not round and it was 5 tokens for $1.
Also, there was a "Nickels and Dimes" arcade not too far from my house growing up. It was the only arcade outside of a shopping mall that I think I remember growing up. 8 / $1 and on the weekends, they would put all the games on free-play and you just had to pay $10 to get in. (random memory) I broke the Warrior's stick on Gauntlet out of frustration.
At some point later, I discovered the "Penny Arcade" in Manitou Springs, CO. So many 1/5/10 cent games and pins, it was amazing.
I hereby renounce my adulthood. Mom!! Can I have some money?
RetroACTIVE:
Funspot and Weirs Beach boardwalk/pier as I grew up in NH.
Funspot is still alive and well but when I was a kid it was only the small area that is now the restaurant and the section which has the redemption center. It has expanded a lot since then, classic arcade museum is upstairs ... most of you have heard of this place im sure ;)
Weirs Beach had 3 main arcades 2 off of street and one on the pier. They are all still there as well. Not as many classics as when I was a kid but just as fun... and again... its still there! ;)
I usually make a yearly trip in the summer around the 4th of July... but not this year... slow economy has forced our company to do a shutdown...which took my week of vacation... :'( But I'm still employed so I'm ok with it... I'll have to make the trip another day :)
dedos:
All in New Jersey: (Sadly, All Closed Down)
Time Out: Still know the guy who ran the machines
Silver Ball: They closed it and made it into a Korean Vegetable Store
Big Mouth: Awesome Pizza. I was introduced to the token here. Still have a few.
Good Times: located in a mall. Took a blind date there once, she didn't really appreciate that. I made her take the bus.
Local Deli's along Bergen Line avenue (3 mile stretch) : Great for summer walks.
-Dedos
jholman76:
Sioux Falls, SD may not have had much for arcades, but here are a few that influenced me over the years.
Aladdins Castle: Empire mall
I fell in love with SFII and Time Crisis here.
Played the crap out of that game (SFII). There was always a kid just waiting to kick your butt though. There was nothing like getting a huge piece of NY style pizza and playing games for hours on end. This was where to go to show off the skills you had. MKII was popular and had one hell of a line all the time.
Electric Rainbow: Western Mall (walker/dirt mall)
I fell in love with Time Killers and MKII here.
Nothing else in this mall besides a army surplus store (cool swords) and a movie theater, well, unless you liked fabric stores or Army recruiters. This one was where you went to hone your skills. Not as good of a selection, but they had the big names. Not many lines, so you had plenty of time to practice. Lucky Krusiers Casino was next door so I think this was a “baby sitter” arcade. I still remember copying all of the MKII finishing moves down from a sheet taped to the cabinet. They sure hated it when we reset the cabinet trying to get the elusive “free play” code to work. It never worked...
Piccadilly Circus / Gigglebees: Minnesota Avenue
I fell in love with Double Dragon, Kageki, and Rastan here.
This was a Mecca for kids in the 80s. Like a Chuck-E-Cheese before they were invented. They had pizza, ice cream, a talking coyote on a tricycle, and the most video games in the state in one place. They actually just shut down last year. We went there the last day. It was great to see it before it was gone, but alas, the memories were much grander. The entrance to me as a child seemed to be a long, glass corridor. It really was a 7 foot walkway with windows. A friend and I stuck to the SFII machine while my wife conquered skee ball.
They added Laser Tag after I grew out of the arcade stages of my life. It was really popular at the time, so I can see why it was added. We watched a game the last night we were there... wow, nothing like a sweaty, stinky basement with asbestos insulation for a laser tag arena...
I kept a few tokens for good measure. The next week the games were auctioned and the place was gutted. The City had re-zoned the land and forced them out.
I heard the "franchise" rights were for sale with the pizza recipe. I hope it lives somewhere else. I never heard if it was purchased.
I missed the auction, but they didnt have any "classic" cabinets I would want. Only the SFII made me interested. Everything else was mediocre and run-down.
Canton Bowling Alley: Canton, SD
I fell in love with Mat Mania and Time Soldiers here.
Not really an arcade, more of a few cabinets to keep kids busy when mom and dad bowl. My oldest brother would take me there and I would watch him play Time Soldiers. Man, that game was futuristic and cool. I never really got to play, but it was sure fun to watch. I wanted to buy a rotary controller for this game, but it’s just too much for one game.
Mat Mania was another huge influence on my time there. I can still hear the ref’s pin count being echoed through the alleys… 1…2………3!!!!! Damn that Coco Savage…
I can also still smell the fried food and cigarette smoke... accompany that with some pins crashing in the background and you have home for me.
Wow, this is a great thread. Thanks everyone for taking me back… I haven’t thought of some of these places for years… now to call my brother and tell him I’m going to kick his butt at Mat Mania….