What Was The Name Of Your Arcade Growing Up? Describe it.

[Dazz]

The Gold Mine at Six Flags Mall - Arlington, Texas
Dark, Cold and Loud.  Ahh, it was the perfect 80's arcade.

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.

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.

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.
   

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….

[drventure]

@Dazz and Zeppo

Forum 303?  I used to work in that mall. The arcade there was a big hangout for me (I used to play Targ and Spectar way in the back),. Good times. What was that? Late 80's?

Yeah, last time I drove through there, it was a big empty concrete farm

[drventure]

As for my arcade growing up. I used to hang out at Wizards (Bowen and Division).

A total dive, but definitely an old school arcade (I don't believe they even had a skeeball). Dark, purple carpet, tinted windows. I think it's now a biker bar

[chrisdfw]

It was the Aladin's Castle at Monmouth Mall in New Jersey.

I distinctly remember the darkend room with the Dragon's Lair in the middle facing you just as you walked in with Venture, Zaxxon, Wizard of War and many others on the right side, DK and Crazy Climber in the middle near DL, and Warrior, Lunar Lander, Space Wars and a few others on the left side.

I thought the coolest thing about it was the 5 tokens for a dollar.

If I was there alone I would probably play the Lunar Lander, Asteroids, or the Venture game.

I always tried to make sure a friend came along, because my favorite games were Space Wars, Armor Attack, Rip Off, Space Duel and Wizard of War.  I even remember playing Warrior, but it was just too slow so didn't get played very often.

I was a huge fan of the vector games.

It wasn't until a couple years later that I moved to Atlanta and found a dedicated Major Havoc that I became addicted to.  I must have spend hundreds on that game.

[FrizzleFried]

Family Fun Center, Montclair CA - Your typical miniature golf/bumper boats/arcade type place.  Think Karate Kid and you get the drift.  The arcade portion was HUGE...I'd guess in excess of 100 games.   But it was brightly lit unfortunately.   There was also a mix of non-vids... a couple air-hockey games,  a row of Skeeball games, etc... plus a Pinball row.   This is where I'd play the newest games to come out.  They always had them first.... and they usually had at least 2 or 3 of the new titles.   This is where I played Star Wars cockpit,  EDOT,  and other "rare" games.

James Games, Upland CA - This was the local "teen" arcade.  Basically,  I didn't visit much as I was only 10ish or so during the hey-day of arcades and this arcade,  situated next to Upland High School,  was always filled with bigger kids willing to kick the ass of little kids if they felt like it.   I must have been to James Games 50 times and saw at least a dozen fights there.  It was the "seedy" arcade of the area.   My understanding is that it's actually STILL THERE?!

Sega Time Out, Montclair, CA - Time Out was in the Montclair Plaza mall.  It was small compared to Family Fun Center...actually,  it was smaller than even James Games.   It was wide enough to have games run down each side and a row in the middle facing each direction.   There was a little "L" shaped area at furthest inside where the change guy was and most of the classics where.   They only had a pin or two and the rest were vids.   It was  small,  cramped,  and the change guy was always an ---uvula---.   I got hooked on Hard Driving there though when i was 16 and working at the B. Dalton Bookseller in the same mall.

Aside from those "arcades",  I'd also play games at a lot of local places... like the local Chevron gas station had 2 or 3 games... Yum Yum Donuts had a game (cocktail Ms Pac)... Charlies Liquor always had 3-4 games... Stu's Liquor had 3-4 games... Ace Hardware always had 3-4 games and 1-2 pins... even the local Chinese takeout place had an Omega Race.

[SG Jaycurl]

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.

That was our main arcade in Wausau, Wisconon, too. I actually had a birthday party there once, and I remember blowing a huge wad of money on Rampage. I also spent a lot of time playing Altered Beast, NARC, and Two Crude Dudes - a somewhat humorous ripoff of Bad Dudes.

For a short time, we also had an arcade called "Yang Youfou's" (I might be off on the spelling there). It was started as a hangout mainly for the Southeast Asian community (the youths, at least), but they were originally welcoming to folks of all races. This is where the bulk of my arcade time on Street Fighter 2 was spent. However, after a number of months, it became known as a hangout for gang members, and the populace got significantly less tolerant of folks of other races hanging out there, so that halted my patronage of that place. Still have some good memories of it, though.

[jholman76]

I am working at a hospital now and there is a Pediatric Oncologist here that has a Mrs. Pacman coctail cabinet in his waiting room. Someday during lunch I'm going to go up there and visit 

[drventure]

  That doctor with the Pacman made me think....

Anyone think the White House will ever have an arcade down in the basement with the bowling alley?

[u_rebelscum]

There weren't many full blown arcades within biking or public transit distance to me. 

I can't remember the name of the one on the second story, one block off of UC Berkeley campus, but I remember it having Street Fighter (one) with the two huge buttons per player.  Never got to play it though, as it always had a long line if it wasn't broken.  Not a huge arcade, but able to fit quite a few cabs.  It probably was an old bar; I didn't think it at the time, but now that I'd been in a few bars, it had the "old bar feel" with old wood floor, dark walls (except for the one big window), and a bar like place the worker watched from.  It had quite a few great games of the day.  It was always packed with college students, except the last time I went one summer.  It closed some time soon after that (1990?).  

The other true arcades I went to more than a few times included a Malibu Castle / Grand Prix two building / two parking lot neighboring "duplex" in Oakland, and Fun Factory near my grandparents old house in Hawaii.  Of these three arcades, only the one in Hawaii is still open (I think it's still open), but it was mostly redemption type games the last time I checked, years and years ago now.

As a kid, I wanted to live near Pearlridge shopping mall in Hawaii, as it had, and apparently still has, two arcades: Tilt and Fun Factory.  I think I got to play there once, but having both really stuck in my memory.


Anyway, most often I went to the local 7-eleven story only a five minute walk from home on my short legs, and much quicker on my bike.  It had only one or two cabs at a time, tucked in one corner.  There I learned to not like street fighter ii (due to the sf2 jerks players, probably); I still prefer co-op over head-to-head today.  The other regulars were a couple pizza joints, and two bowling alleys: The Underground in Berkeley and Albany bowl.  Of these, Cybel's pizza was in the basement in the building next to the arcade I mentioned above, had one very long wall of cabs and pins, and was the best reachable place after the arcade closed, with The Underground a close second.  However, Albany bowl probably is the only one still hosting arcade games at the same spots; again I haven't checked Albany Bowl in a while.

[dislecksea]

Growing up on the north west side of Atlanta in the early 80s there were two main arcades that I would hit.  First was Gold Mine in Cumberland Mall.  The entrance looked like, well, a gold mine, and it had quite a few vids there.  That was the place that had a kind of air of ill repute to my young mind - the older kids went there to smoke and gamble.  But I still spent some time there since they had Cliff Hanger and Spy Hunter.

Then I remember when 2001 opened across the street in the Galleria Mall.  The Galleria wasn't much of a mall - just a few stores that sold niche items - but it did have a great movie theater and 2001 right across the hall.  That arcade was all futuristic - the front doors slid open like something from Star Trek - and you could not only play arcade games, you could rent time to use those new fangled ... wait for it ... home computers!  That is right, you could rent an hour on an brand spankin' new Apple II+ for about five dollars.  I think that you could also rent time on a Commodore 64 or a TRS 80, but the Apple is where I spent some of my time.  Good old 2001 is where I mis-spent my youth eating cheap nachos from the snack bar and playing Dragons' Lair (I sucked) and EDOT (I ruled).  Great place to hang out right before or after seeing Back to the Future.

[mwong168]

I'm from Toronto, Canada and I use to go to Funland all the time which was down by Eaton Centre.






I use to always see this guy playing Pacman everytime I was there.

Funland Arcade pulled the plug on July 24, 2008 after 46 years in business 

[Ummon]

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.

Nah. Just before they came there or you saw them. They started I think in '79, and one opened up in Tucson right around then. Had another on the east side within the next year or so.

[SodaPopinksi]

While there were other places in cities close to me, my main arcade was luckily right in the town that I lived. In Mystic, CT I believe it was just called "The Mystic Arcade" and they had a great little selection of games. Some games would come and go but Pac Man, Zaxxon, Joust, Moon Patrol, Kung Fu, Karate, Star Wars, Mario Bros, Donkey Kong, Galaxian, Dragon's Lair, Crossbow, Punch Out and Gauntlet were mainstays. It was great that Sunrise Farms was two stores down, it was a convenience/general store with cards, soda, candy, comics, nudie mags etc. Then Bee Bee Dairy was right across the street where my parents would hang out and have coffee with the locals. When I ran out of quarters I could run across the street and beg for more. My uncle would go in and play Crossbow, Donkey Kong and Mario Bros, it was cool having someone 50 yrs old kind of "legitimize" the games as more than child's play hehe. The place attracted lots of burnouts and guys with faded ripped Black Sabbath t shirts which was ok, but the rich well-to-do locals hated it as they were dubbed "riff-raff" no doubt. I could walk right down there every single day, it was great.

Another place was Mystic Pizza up the road a bit from it, Mystic Pizza wasn't as famous from the movie back then so it was smaller and next to a laundrymat. They had Pole Position and a Donkey Kong cocktail, I think Golden Axe came after Pole Position. The jukebox always played the Rolling Stone's Angie and Aerosmith's Dream On ad nauseum. I still remember the smell of molten mozzarella and downy softener intertwined as I took the shortcut to the arcade in back of that building.

[nelthemasochist]

the skating rink, till they took out my #1 hiscore tekken 3 machine and replaced it with one of those ---smurfy--- crane machines. the one at the mall till it closed. then i moved and discovered that there was an arcade near bo's food sto' (unfortunately it closed the day before i discovered it. sucks to be me. yeah my fav games were tekken 3 MK 1,2, and 3 and galaga well, i gotta go. see ya.

[billpa]

Playland - Penn State University

Sadly, it was closed and all the games were auctioned off in 2003.  This was by far my favorite arcade and not just because I went to school there.  It had a great mix of machines...retro, new releases, linked car drivers, a couple dozen pins, air hockey, foosball, etc. etc.

The best part was you could walk in at 3am and play games...It was open til 4am every night! Was also great to stop by and kill time between classes.

Here is a youtube video of some student film about PlayLand

[Billy_Goatfeet]

I'm from Toronto, Canada and I use to go to Funland all the time which was down by Eaton Centre.






I use to always see this guy playing Pacman everytime I was there.

Funland Arcade pulled the plug on July 24, 2008 after 46 years in business 

  Yes, I've played at this arcade many times over the years.  It's too bad it is gone, it was the last true arcade that I know of left in Toronto.  It was always a little dangerous too.  There used to be a big one at the Scarborough Town Center called the Wizards Castle.  It was one of the best in the early 80s, I think it became a chinese restaurant in the late 90's.  Anyone know of any arcades left in Toronto?

[Dazz]

@Dazz and Zeppo

Forum 303?  I used to work in that mall. The arcade there was a big hangout for me (I used to play Targ and Spectar way in the back),. Good times. What was that? Late 80's?

Yeah, last time I drove through there, it was a big empty concrete farm

Yeah, ye old Forum 303.  It was completely demolished and a new industrial park jumped up.  Just a bunch of warehouses now.

As for my arcade growing up. I used to hang out at Wizards (Bowen and Division).

A total dive, but definitely an old school arcade (I don't believe they even had a skeeball). Dark, purple carpet, tinted windows. I think it's now a biker bar

I do recall Wizards!  That was a pretty cool place, but a definitely a dive.

[Ummon]

Playland - Penn State University

HM. Not often you find a dude that old that into vids. Funny when said Pac-Man didn't do that well there.

[chiLLbiLLy]

Ahhhhh, the arcades of Arlington, Texas....really good times, if you were going during the late 70's to late 80's.

I don't really remember the arcade at the Forum mall being called "Yesterday's", but it could have changed to that in the mid to late 80's.  When I went there, it was called "Forum Fair" and had quite the great selection of games in the really early 80's, along with a really nice pinball section across from the skeeball area.  Lunar Lander, Amidar, Robotron, The End...I can't believe I can still remember specific games from there, yet I can't remember what I did last Tuesday.  Unfortunately, that whole mall and area went downhill somewhat in the later 80's, which probably explains why I quit going out there.

And then Wizards (or the Wizard, as I remember it) was definitely one of my favorite hangouts in the earliest days of arcades.  Yeah, I guess it was a bit of a dive, but in the early 80's, as a young lad, I wouldn't really know what that meant.  First saw Pac-Man, Gorf, Astro Blaster, Bosconian, Sinistar, 007, Hyperball, Caveman...so many more.  Right around the corner was a 7-Eleven, which is where I fell in love with Crazy Climber.  You're right, though, the Wizard is now a country bar or biker bar.

Then, there was another short-lived arcade just down Division Street a little ways towards the east, right under the shadow of the Fielder overpass, across from Lisa's Fried Chicken.  It was called Challengers and it too, had a nice selection of games, like Turbo, Q-Bert, Venture and eventually the first Galaga I ever saw and played.  Just another building in a strip shopping center, I don't remember this place lasting more than a couple of years.  It's now like a medical clinic or something.

But, if you knew Arlington, you had to go to the original Putt-Putt, also on Division, just much further down.  That place always had an awesome selection of games, from the early 80's to the 90's.  First time I ever saw Donkey Kong and man, did that game always have a long backup of people, ready to play.  Too many other great games (& pinball) to mention, but it was the only place I ever found an I-Robot...love that game.  Sadly, they just closed this Putt-Putt and auctioned off all of their inventory, primarily thanks to Jerry Jones and the new Cowboy stadium.

Then, during my high school years, the place to hang out during off campus lunch was The Electric Horseman, on Cooper Street.  Lots of good stuff there, including the first Dragon's Lair I ever saw, which had the extra monitor mounted up top, to allow the crowds to watch you play.  Last time I drove by here, it was a Middle Eastern restaurant or something.

And in the really, really early days, Six Flags actually had some cool arcades, which I think were over in the Boomtown area.  This was back in the Night Driver, Stunt Cycle, Sprint 2 days, but I think they carried over with stuff like Asteroids, Bezerk, etc.   I think they are still "arcades", in the same locations, today, but I'm very hesitant to actually call them arcades, with the sorry state of coin-op offerings these days.

By now, it's pretty obvious I spent a lot of time in arcades back in the day...a LOT of time.  I'm not even mentioning the other Putt-Putt location in Arlington, that came along in the mid 80's, plus all the fringe places I frequented, like the arcade at North East Mall in Fort Worth, the Putt-Putt in Fort Worth on 820 and the dozens of small, 1-3 machine locations, scattered throughout Arlington.

Holy crap!  Sorry, I just went into full-on, melt-down, retro-nostalgia mode there for a few minutes, as I ooze just a bit of drool out of the side of my mouth.

[emerica]

The arcade machines were all over town at various locals but the bowling alleys and laundromats always had the good games. When we were older, my friends and I used to play at an arcade called "Electric Avenue" at a Green Acres Mall in valley stream NY. It was dark, loud, and the attendant seemed high all the time. We used to spend all day playing 720 and Star Wars.

I was always in awe of the arcade in Penn Station (can't remember the name). I remember it being huge with just about any game you wanted to play. They also had some game that would rotate 360 while you were playing. A day in the city always required a stop at the arcade.

[rEd86]

There was an Aladdin’s Castle next to where I worked at Citadel Mall in Charleston, SC.  Pretty standard mall arcade - A horseshoe layout with machines down each side with a row down the middle. I got to be pretty good friends with the guy that worked there most of the time and we'd play games for free well after closing time.  I made the mistake of dropping in one time to play a quick game before going to work and got busted by the truancy officer.   

There was also a Chuckie Cheese in the area that we'd hit every so often, and a Godfather's Pizza a few doors down that had some games when they first came out.  (Journey, etc.)

Student Union @ Clemson took a lot of money over my college the years.

--Ed

[MaximRecoil]

Perkin's Laundromat - 3 arcade machines and 2 pinball machines on rotation. Games I played and/or remember being there include: Karate Champ, Punch-Out, Super Dodge Ball, Vs. Excitebike, Pole Position II, Dig Dug, Track & Field, Double Dribble, and Ikari Warriors.

Fossa's General Store - 3 to 5 arcade machines on rotation. Games I played and/or remember being there include: Super Punch-Out, Double Dragon, Rampage, Spy Hunter, Legendary Wings, Paperboy, 720 Degrees, and Battlezone.

Also Defender and Missile Command were there, but that was before I was going there to play games (my brother and his friends across the road talked about playing those two games there). Battlezone was there before I was going there to play games too, but it was so distinctive looking that I remember it just from going in the store for reasons other than playing games. I went up to it once and looked through the "periscope" too (had to stand on a stool because I was only 5 or 6 at the time; 1980 or 1981).

I went to Space Port in Bangor too, but not often, because it was 45 miles away. That had too many games to list. It did have the only Nintendo Arm Wrestling machine I ever saw in real life. When I got my license in the early 90s I went there a lot to play Street Fighter II against good competition.

[Dr Zero]

First arcade so to speak was the airport arcade in Jacksonville Fl spent many a night playing sea wolf up there!

Next would be the boardwalk in Daytona beach tons of games from skee ball to rolling balls to get a good poker hand to the X rated games where you would shoot the veils off of the stripper to catch a glimpse  

Aladins castle at normandy mall jacksonville Fl basic arcade

The Omni in Miami FL theme park in a like a highrise

Unknown at mall in Augusta Ga very cool arcade with the largest pinball machine the balls were the size of cue balls!

Showbiz pizza in Augusta Ga great place to hang out in the 80's!

Unknown at mall in Waycross Ga maybe 10-20 games at any given time pretty cool place but didnt last long

The gold mine in Atlanta Ga great arcade with a cool theme

Fantasy forum?? Regency mall in jacksonville Fl was a staple growing up had a carousel them but no ride I can remember

Unknown arcade in crystal city arlington, va very dark and kinda small but cool with black lights and the back wall was all mirrored. Oh and the whole mall is underground!!! very very cool!

Tilt in jacksonville Fl Regency mall There was Sam the red head and the other fellow they were some really cool people and we spent many a night up there after close in the 90's

Tilt in jacksonville Fl at the landing SUCKED!

Tilt at Avenues mall in Jacksonville Fl Benji! another very cool employee that became a good friend

As you can see I traveled alot up and down the east coast growing up LOL

Honorable mention

2 machines in the bottom of this pizza place in a house only open like on wed in Helen Ga

Zoltar machine and a couple of odd balls in 2nd story storage of a strip mall in St. Augustine Fl and yes it worked and gave you the little cards!!!

[Epyx]

Surrey, BC Canada

Circuit Circus in Guildford Mall
3 Bears Drive in Arcade across from North Surrey High School

And several other arcades whose names escape me right now...but those were the "informative" ones for me that captured my imagination.

[jeremymtc]

Pasadena, CA, ~1981 to ~ 1994

In the early days, it was the StarCruiser Arcade on Colorado Boulevard. Great atmosphere. Sawdust on the floors, glow-in-the-dark planets and stars on the ceiling and walls, blacklights, laid out like a (small) maze. Cool place, still haunts my dreams.

Later on, the hot place was the famous Pak-Mann Arcade, also on Colorado, closer to PCC. About 6000 square feet, and packed to the gills every weekend. Huge selection of games, everything you could imagine - pinball, classics, and contemporary games. Huge fighter and driving game culture. Smoky, grimy, stinky; stabbings and drug deals in the parking lot. It was home.

There was also Western Arcade, a little further west down Colorado, right across the street from PCC. Much smaller joint, but also better maintained than Pak-Mann. Not as broad a selection of games, but they did occasionally get new stuff before anyone else. Spent a lot of time there, and got to know the operators well enough that they'd let me park in their lot to attend my PCC classes - that was a big bonus.

There was another really bizarre arcade on East Colorado, right near San Gabriel Bl. in a little corner plaza. Can't remember its name, if it had one. It was good size, maybe 2000 square feet, and had lots of classics and really old stuff. Really run-down, lots of the games were in poor repair or out of service completely. It was still worth a visit every now and then anyway. Any other locals remember this place?

Edit- forgot the ubiquitous Tilt in the Pasadena Mall. Standard mall-arcade fare, though they did get the cool laser-disc games before the others.

[Invincer]

Ah, the good ole days. I could never forget. My first job at age 16, changing quarters for tokens back in the eighties at the Star Castle....... also the first job I was fired from for playing games making cutomers wait for their change. Had a game of... forget the name, it's an old wrestling game in MAME now, but anyways lasted almost 2 hours on 1 token, had a line of peeople waiting... most were enjoying the show but one too many got irate I guess...  heh heh. The Star Castle here in Savannah is still here, bigger building, but turned into mostly a skating rink (another thing that mostly was left in the eighties).

There was also a long gone mall arcade called Gold Mine here too. Rememer it best for a cockpit Space Harrier game that jerked and spun all about as you moved the joystick firing, was a whopping dollar to play... and a trackball X's and O's football game that always got fights started...

[SophT]

Tilt

It was in a mall.

Full of skaters & potheads playing Rush, Killer Instinct, Time Traveler, Bride of Pinbot & etc.

I loved it, fit right in 

Sounds like Tilt that was at my mall too.  But add STUNRunner.  Tilt was overpriced and the guys that worked there were jerks.

The other arcade was across the street from the mall

Hi-Voltage, but we just called it 'the nickel arcade'.  They always had this huge screen 2p cab that had to be custom - it was basically a 40" big screen TV., and they always had the latest fighter on it.  I remember when Marvel Vs. Capcom first came out there was a line out the door to try and beat the guys that worked at the arcade.  While I slunk away to play Bust-A-Move...

I think the next Mame Cab I make is gonna be called Hi-Voltage...

[nukedawg]

In the early 80's I remember this small laundromat that was converted to an arcade in my hometown back in East Texas. It was there that sparked my interesting playing games like Space War, Sprint, Head On, Astro Blaster, Night Driver and Space Invaders.

In the late 80's it was Aladdin's Castle in the mall (man they had those everywhere it seems!)

But the best place was not in my hometown but located on the upper floor of the Circus Circus Casino in Vegas. Dad and I went on vacation there almost each summer. Man was that place sweet in the mid to late 80's, cold and Huge!. They had multiple units of the latest and hottest games out at the time and plenty of classics. 

That arcade was the first time ever seeing games like Major Havoc, Tac/Scan, Thunder Blade, I Robot, Mad Planets, Time Pilot '84, Sinistar, Stocker, Vindicators, Two Tigers and Twin Eagle: Joe's Revenge. The pinball section had at least about 15 machines or more...man what times what times!

pinballwizard79 it was interesting you mentioned Time Traveler, you mean the holo game? I remember seeing everyone huddled around one of these cabs once, and then shocked when I saw the game.....was freakin too cool, wasted a few bucks lol

[Beretta]

well i reckon im a bit younger then most here, so i missed the early 80's arcades..

there was lots of arcades around my area in the mid 80's to early 90's

3 that i primary went to was.

mid-late 80's: a bowling ally called linkin lanes (may not be correct spelling)
anyway it was huge and my dad bowled on a league so every Saturday night i'd go with him.
man i love that bowling ally lot of great early memories, it had every thing, a restaurant, a bar (never got to go in but looked like fun )
a DJ booth for later at night "rock 'n bowl" they'ed change the lane lights to neon and put up a disco ball, turn the lights down low.

they had a small theater for the kids.. i remember seeing never ending story although the real fun was it's arcade, it had games strung out from one end to the other and it had all the games i played and loved from the 80's

rastan, robocop, baddudes, double dragon, rampage, shinobi, etc

i'd get hopped up on those cherry flavored chewy candy and hit my dad up for some quarters was great.

but.. it came to an end, bowlers are'nt the gentle giants you might think. i remember several fights.. eventually they kicked the leagues out.. which was bad business move cause they went under about 6 months later.

it's now a flea market rofl.. still makes me a little sad to go there. it' was a magical place for a young kid.



after that late 80's to mid/late 90's there was 2 arcades i went to.

an aladdens castle in the mall (seems a popular arcade back then)

i did'nt go there very often, only when i was in the mall or going to the movies.

it was kinda small.. kinda dumpy.. they had a decent selection of games you would'nt normally see, but most of their games was conversions, seemed like one of them was always down for repairs etc.. they had games like APB, and pit fighter.. games you could'nt find anywhere else, yes i actually liked pit fighter.

at this same time my usual arcade was called putt-putt.

they had this thing called super saturday, you had to be there early.. which for a kid sucks.. cause it was like 10am-noon, also me personally i think arcades should be dark and seedy. (the night time is the right time) it was always well lit.

for 5 bucks you could get like 10 dollars worth of tokens a drink, hotdog (or maybe it was 2 cant remember), and unlimited rounds of mini golf (till noon) (they had 2 courses)

for a kid 5 bucks was easy to beg for and could stretch it out for hours by playing the golf first.

anyway it was a very nice arcade as far as arcades go, early on they had booths with consoles you could rent.. never really played those although sometimes they would let you play for free, they ended up taking them out.

they had a few pinballs.. mostly cabs.. and unlike other arcades in the area, they ALMOST always was brand new dedicated cabinets.. fighters, racers, and side scrollers was the primary make up, but they always had a couple of just about everything.

i remember when mortal kombat came out they had not one but two of them.. and they must have earned a lot of money because there was still lines for them.

they always had the newest street fighter, the newest racer, they kept it very up to date, about every 2 weeks you could expect to see something new.

most of their games was 50 cents, they gave 5 tokens for a dollar (i still have about 5 bucks worth of tokens from them) although some games was 25 scents.. like the neogeo 4 game cab, & tekken.. they also had redemption games.. couple skee ball, and a coin pusher.

when mk3 came out they had a show case cab, and also a very large "show case" like machine with a rear projection big screen they put in them.. the big screen had some burn in from super street fighter 2 turbo.

the one problem with the arcade was it's games updates so quickly that classics rarely stuck around.

although they did have a ms pacman that was a permanent fixture.

they also had some unique games you would'nt find else where, time traveler, i only played it once or twice i could'nt figure it out although it was cool as all sin to watch.

and blood storm.. yes i know most people hated this game me i loved it & was quite impressed with it's dismemberment, taunting, mid match stage fatalties, and password feature, you could also play the secret guys by pressing start on the 2nd player.
after i had my fill of mk2 i played it.. not many others did.. sadly it was one of those few games that the arcade DID convert to something else (it was in an original cab) but i can't remember what, i wanna say wrestlemania.

it was a great arcade, it was always packed and it always had very savvy players to play with and against.

i remember once particular guy who knew how to glitch the mk3 for free play.
i was young and this was over 10 years ago, but i'll describe it best i can.. i tried looking on google but was unable to find the exact glitch.

i do know what version this works on.. i do remember this was mk3 though, not ultimate.

it started out by unplugging the machine.
then you start a new game, pick cyrax (im unsure if this is necessary or if it is just easiest to play with cyrax)
go thought the game 3 times.

then the game glitches and switches to free play.. again i seen this preformed but was not the one preforming it so if anyone knows the EXACT method let me know.

anyway after it was done a bunch of us played all night on it.

there was another guy who knew how to get to the battlezone game on nba jam, im not sure what version this works on, but did it my self after i was told and it DOES work.

this may work on 2 player cabs but i only tested it on 4 player.

hold all buttons down, and all joy sticks in down position.

there may perhaps only need to be select buttons held but this method DOES WORK.

keep holding for about a min.. suddenly a battlezone'ish game will start and you can play, this requires no credits to play, it's difficult to do this by your self 2 people can spread them selves out and cover all 4 players pretty well though.

anyway arcade really started to decline by mid 90's i'd say by 97 it was pretty much all down hill around here.. aladdins castle closed up around 95/96.. putt-putt spent a bunch of money tearing up 1 course and putting in batting cages, they went under about 6months later, and thats when arcade was officially dead for me.

i'd say playstation, and n64 killed the arcade.

[Jimmy Jingles]

Growing up on the north west side of Atlanta in the early 80s there were two main arcades that I would hit.  First was Gold Mine in Cumberland Mall.  The entrance looked like, well, a gold mine, and it had quite a few vids there.  That was the place that had a kind of air of ill repute to my young mind - the older kids went there to smoke and gamble.  But I still spent some time there since they had Cliff Hanger and Spy Hunter.

Then I remember when 2001 opened across the street in the Galleria Mall.  The Galleria wasn't much of a mall - just a few stores that sold niche items - but it did have a great movie theater and 2001 right across the hall.  That arcade was all futuristic - the front doors slid open like something from Star Trek - and you could not only play arcade games, you could rent time to use those new fangled ... wait for it ... home computers!  That is right, you could rent an hour on an brand spankin' new Apple II+ for about five dollars.  I think that you could also rent time on a Commodore 64 or a TRS 80, but the Apple is where I spent some of my time.  Good old 2001 is where I mis-spent my youth eating cheap nachos from the snack bar and playing Dragons' Lair (I sucked) and EDOT (I ruled).  Great place to hang out right before or after seeing Back to the Future.

Dude...you have taken the words right out of my mouth!!!

I really remember the Gold Mine at Cumberland. My older bro would take me there. We would easily spend all day in that place. I can even still remember the smell! To this day, whenever I go to Cumberland Mall, I try to locate where the Goldmine used to be. I cannot remember what it is now. Man what an awesome arcade.

2001 was really spectacular. I even worked there for a short time in 1991, right before they closed down. God I miss that place. The doors no longer opened "Star-Trek" style when I worked there, but it was still cool as hell.

Thanks for the memories!

[Dr Zero]

When I was a kid and I went to a new arcade I tried to save one token from each place granted it didnt always work out LOL

I did save a few and just found them the other day!

What I found was

Flippers in Washington DC with a pinball flipper on one side and the capital on the back says in Flippers we trust

Bumpers Junction old steam train on front head on and caboose on the back leaving (looked this one up and it was in Decatur Ga)

Forum Fair with a carousel logo on one side (Regency Square Mall Jacksonville Fl)

Alladins castle token with a castle on the back and like a genie or sultan on the front that are like octagon shape

Also some with Goldmine, Electronic America, Tilt and looks like xaumlus (sp)

crazy the things we save as kids

[Candiman]

Vancouver International Airport.

I grew up in a small town called White Rock in BC Canada.
We didn`t have an actual arcade until the mid 90`s by that time it was probably the least safe place in town. A couple of my friends were stabbed and one girl got hit by a train. 
There were actual arcades in other towns but I didn`t spend much time in them.

However my dad would go on a lot of business trips and most of my family lived in other cities which meant we spent a lot of time shuttling people back and forth to the airport which is where Rampage, Super Sprint, APB, Spy Hunter and P.O.W. left a strong impression.

Now I play games in my apartment! We love you MAME!

However there are still lots of arcades where I live now (Osaka Japan) and it is very common for girls to enjoy a round or 2 of various games after taking those tiny stamp photos. I can`t say I mind a date that starts with a round of Street Fighter 4.

[geomartin]

7/11 right down the street had an Asteroids machine that I played on the way to school and on the way home.  The closet full blown arcade was the Time Zone arcade at Oakridge Mall in San Jose (later became an Aladdin's Castle) and across the street from the mall was Golfland Arcade.  Between Golfland and Time Zone you could play just about anything that was hot at the time.

[HanoiBoi]

"Malibu Grand Prix" in Mt Laurel NJ.  This was apparently a chain.  I even remember a Saturday morning 'game show' of sorts filmed at a California Malibu Grand Prix location.  If it were still there, I could walk you, blindfolded, directly to your game of choice.  I remember seeing many games for the first time there...Donkey Kong, Asteroids, Space Duel, Q*Bert, Joust, Robotron, Jungle King, Elevator Action, Tron, Cliffhanger, Space Ace, etc.

They had lots of video games and pinballs, but also go carts; Roadrunners for the younger kids, Virage Racers for the older folks.  Sometime in the mid 80's they decided to add pizza.  The problem was that they took away half the arcade for seating area.  It really wasn't the same from that moment on.  It was always well lit too with windows on 2 sides.  They placed the games well though as it never interfered with game play.  The games were always in good condition and had a mechanic there all the time.  You'd tell him the issue and he'd be opening the machine in a minute to fix it up.  Their machines also never had cigarette burns, which was nice.

In my 'early' years, my Dad would take me and my brother just about every Friday night after dinner.  My brother and I would play arcade games while my Dad played pinball.  When we (the boys) were out of tokens from playing games like Zaxxon, Food Fight, Xevious, Time Pilot, Asteroids and Bezerk we'd play some pinball with my Dad.  We'd play Genie, Gorgar, Firepower, Eightball Deluxe, etc.  Then we'd get home in time to catch the Dukes Of Hazzard...while finishing our 7-11 Slurpees and opening our ET Trading Cards.    Sunday Nights was for listening to Dr Demento.

I once rode my bike to Malibu (about 11 miles) on a Sunday morning to get there when they opened so that I'd have enough time to get the high score on Joust.  Played for something like 6 hours on a quarter.  I'd let onlookers give it a shot when I needed to use the restroom.    I had all 40 top scores at one time.  No, I'm not necessarily proud of that...

Another fun story...I was there on a Sunday night playing Donkey Kong with a friend that I met there several times.  I again was on my bike and I wanted to get home in time to record Van Halen's Women and Children First that a local rock station was playing in it's entirety.  We played a little longer than I'd hoped and was afraid I'd be late for recording.  Luckily(?), my friend had a small motorcycle.  Long story short, I held the back of his motorcycle for a quick ride home.  Unfortunately, my tire caught a rock, the front wheel started wobbling uncontrollably until it hit the curb.    I did end up making it home in time.  Nothing broken, but lots of ripped clothes and blood.  

Malibu had a lot of games come through, but there was another arcade in Cherry Hill, NJ "Bally's Great Escape" that had a good amount of games that Malibu didn't have and that I really didn't see anywhere else (besides the Jersey Shore); Sinistar, Krull, Gyruss, Joust 2, Bagman, etc.  The vibe here wasn't as friendly and was real dark.

I've also been to Playland at Penn State.  What impressed me was that they had a lot of pinballs, even when people really didn't have pinballs anymore.  I got to beat up on Riverboat Gambler, Whitewater and of course Funhouse.  First time I saw the Pinball 2000 machines was there too.  The place did not have a good vibe. A big arcade open at 3am might sound pretty cool, but there's nothing like an empty arcade that always, always smelled like a locker room.  The old guy and really most employees were grumpy and rude.

One last thing...I had heard that an unidentified body was found when Malibu was demolished.  Glad it wasn't mine.
 

[numbnutz48]

GALAXY OF GAMES It was located in Marysville, WA. Dark joint that i remember only a little bit about, because once i walked in, it was straight to TEMPEST.

Just black walls, with white paint speckled on the wall to look like stars. and dark carpet, horrible lighting. I think it is a Cafe these days. It's been long gone for the better part of 25 years now.

[Alpha17X]

I had no 'official arcade' near me when growing up.   When I was growing up in 80's to late 90's my parents were seperated due to my fathers work being located out of province (canadian here), no marital issues, just the need to work where the work was at.

We moved many times to try to get the family all together and finally managed to pull it off eventually.  I remember that one thing remained constant during those days.  We always lived in an apartment, and there was always a bowling alley near those apartments.  And in those bowling alleys was always a very sizable arcade.  I grew up in a time where a lot of people consider it the 'twilight' of the arcade era.  Kids were starting to get nintendos and master systems. That should have been my interest by exposure alone but a few times every week my mom would go bowling and take me and my siblings with her and take a lane right near the arcade machines, and we'd play.

I can barely recall the games that were present. I know there were a variety of side scrolling beat-em-ups, racing games and ariel combat games, most often star-wars based, be they direct liscensed or clones. A lot of parents in that area brought their kids with them so while in other arcades you would have people in their late teens to mid 20's and some in their mid 30's, in the bowling alleys there was always an abundance of kids standing on chairs, milk crates, or other kids backs, taking turns playing the games.

A few months ago, after being away from that area for 16 years I found myself in the area on business, and decided to see if the old bowling alley across the street was still there.  I was happy to see it still was, even had some of the same games from so long ago. I stepped up to play a few and was thuroughly 'owned' by a 7 year old standing on a milk crate.