Arcade Reviews
Got an arcade near your house? Tell us about it!
Post the name of the arcade, the city and the address if you can find it. Tell us what kinds of games they have there.
What? You don't know all that info off the top of your head? I guess you'll just have to get off yer butt and visit the local arcades sometime soon! Take plenty of quarters and something to write on!
God that page is horrible. Great idea, but seriously lacking in information and fun!Originally Posted by chadtower
Here's one I was going to write up.
CACTUS JACK'S
NW10th and Council in OKLAHOMA CITY
Cactus Jack's is all about the essentials. There's no carpet below, no lights above, and what windows are left have been either painted over or covered up. Amenities, no, but videogames ... YES! Despite being one of the oldest arcades around these parts, Cactus Jack's has plenty of videogames both old and new that keep people coming back.
Cactus Jack's patrons enter the arcade through the ticket redemption area. To the right are big glass cases, home to huge stuffed animals that have been there since I started going to Cactus Jack's 20 years ago. The northern side is filled wall-to-wall with skee-ball machines; the west wall contains basketball shooting games. The middle of the floor has several different coin-op rides and ticket redemption games. This is the only part of Cactus Jack's that has overhead lights on, and probably the only place you'll see employees.
Cactus Jack's is shaped like a long, narrow hallway, with games down both sides and clusters in the middle. Heading south, you'll see a small cluster of pinball tables (CJ's used to have a dozen or two; now they have four). This area also has several DDR and other physical-style games. Past them you will find games, games, games! Everything from shooting games and newer fighting games to Robotron and Pac-Man. Cactus Jack's keeps a nice balance between new and old. There are close to 100 games to choose from. Most classic games are a quarter and newer ones are 50 cents. Further south past the games are the dozen or so pool tables, with a few games on the south wall, a couple of vending machines, and restrooms.
If you go to Cactus Jack's Friday or Saturday night, or during one of their pool or DDR tournaments, expect the place to be overrun with teenagers. However, on off times (like Sunday afternoons) you can pretty much have run of the place yourself. The last time I went there were less than ten people in the entire arcade, including the three employees.
I actually think that's a good site. It has the necessary info without having enough that everything is going to be out of date as the places change. These places are small independent businesses. They're going to pop up, go out of business, revamp, change machines... all with low profile and no notice. Trying to keep anything more detailed than location, approximate number of machines, and the notable cabs probably is asking for a site full of out of date info.
BALLY'S LE MANS
Crossroads Mall, I-35 and I-240, OKLAHOMA CITY
Bally's Le Mans in Crossroads Mall is divided up into four sections. The front section of the arcade is the arcade's latest games. There are several sit down games, brand new games, and sometimes even a VR Roller Coaster set up to attract people passing by.
The rear of the arcade is divided up into three levels. The left, lower level consists of a few arcade games and a lot of ticket redemption games. This is where the skee-ball, batting cages, and birthday party section are. In the rear corner of the room is one of those huge environmental Galaga shooters.
The middle level of the arcade houses the newer games. There are lots of games with 50" monitors here, like the new Star Wars, Alpine Racer, and other similar games. Back towards the front are all the shooting games, fighting games, and pinball tables. Like most arcades, Bally's pinball table section has dropped dramatically.
The upper level to the right is the "classic" area. Road Runner, Ms. Pac-Man, Krull and KLAX were all there the last time I went. There are also a couple of air hockey tables and a wall projection clay pigeon game.
Bally's is a "new style" arcade. The carpet and lights remind me of modern casinos. There are always employees strolling around. It's a fun and safe place to take kids, and the adults will probably find something to play too.
Trix Bar et Billard
Place Alexis-Nihon
1500 Atwater St., Local S-18
Montreal, Quebec
(514) 934-2434
This arcade was known as Lanjeu until last year. It is actually part of a bar of the same name, although the arcade is in a separate location (you now have to pass through the bar to go in; before the change of ownership, you could access the arcade from a mall-side door).
It is a fairly small place with about 20 games or so, plus a few pool and foosball tables. There used to be a couple of pinball machines and a DDR cabinet, but they're long gone. The most notable games currently at Trix are the racing games Crusin' Exotica and Daytona USA (an oldie but a goody).
For retrogamers, there's an ultracade cabinet with the basic Capcom set of games that it ships with (I wish I could get one of those Ultracade w/ the new Midway set, which includes Defender, Stargate, Asteroids, Tapper and Robotron 2084!).
It's a nice, clean arcade, although it's on the small side and has a limited selection. Due to the sole access through the bar (the former mall-side door is now used as an emergency exit only), the patrons are all adults. The games use tokens (available via a token automatic distributor).
Hrm, for a short while I lived not too far from there on Rue Catherine...
On Ste-Catherine Street? Which part? On the Westmount side, or going east?
Erm... not so sure, but it was up in the district with all of the strip clubs, just down the street from Super-Sexe.
I just want to post the stats of my favorite arcade. Even though it will be closing permanently in 2 months.
Technostalgia
Inside COSI Columbus
333 W. Broad Street
Columbus, Ohio
Technostalgia really has the feeling of a classic arcade: bad lighting and all the great sounds of the old arcades.
Game selection isn't the best: about 20 machines. 3 of them are emulated, although the cabinet art (I believe) is original on all machines.
The theme of the arcade is to show the evolution of the video game from it's earliest beginnings to more modern games. It used to encompass 2 floors, with over 80 games. Sadly, the arcade was not a popular attraction (as it cost extra money), so the newer games were removed, and all the classics were set into one area, on permanent free play.
Games include: Computer Space, Tank, Pong, Le Mans, Atari Football (cocktail), Pac-Man, Defender, Joust, Centipede, Space Invaders, Tempest, Battlezone, Space Harrier, Galaxian, Asteroids, Night Driver (sit down), 2 person Virtua Racing (sit down), Turbo Outrun (sit down), Gauntlet...I believe there are a couple more...I know there is a Star Wars cabinet floating around the building as well.
Also interspersed between the games are stations where you can hear the developers of some of these games talking about how they came up with the games, secrets / tips / cheats, and other neat aspects of the games.
Sadly, more budget issues have hit, and by September, Technostalgia will close permanently, and the current Space exhibit will move into that location. Currently the fate of the games is unknown, possibly a few will remain in the hallways between exhibits. Some may be sold off.
If I have a chance, I will get pictures...
and a couple cabinets
Wow...my arcade at work is gone. It was supposed to be 2 months...it was only 2 days. Completely empty. Don't know what happened to the cabs...I'm still hoping they are going to be sold off, but I have a bad feeling that all those things are going to be long gone to other higher ups
That really sucks.
I've updated my posting above, although it's still not too detailed, at least I found the name of that darned Ultracade cabinet; although I didn't have time to really go there in the past few days, at least I had the time to count the cabs and see that I was off (the number being closer to 20 than 15).
Still no new DDR cab in there, which is too bad (maybe it was attracting too many kids? Or maybe there was an accident involving too much alcohol on the DDR pad?)... On the other hand, there seems to be a Guitar Freaks cab (or some other Bemani cab).
I've seen no fewer than 5 REALLY GOOD arcades near me close over the past 3 years or so
Looks like they are auctioning them off to team members over the next week. Opening bids are $50...a bunch of them seem to have monitor issues...not to mention the emulated games. I'm still going to try and get one or two...my dream is to get either Computer Space, Pong or Defender... maybe Gauntlet...of course, my doctor bill today won't help things...Good luck in finding out if you can get your hands on some cabinet!
I figure I don't have a realistic shot at them...I don't have any money at all, but I'm trying to keep hope alive
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