Any 'older' Arcades still alive in your area?

[JesterDev]

The only arcade that has been around here since I was a kid is the Gold Mine. It's not called that anymore though. It's now called Tilt and it's turned into one of those Ticket Dispensing places.. 20+ ticked games, and a handful of light gun/fighting games. And of course a DDR type thing.

When I was a kid it wasn't the hottest place in town, but if you where at the mall it was a nice place to hide out. The only reason I go there these days is to buy old machines and parts from the owner. She seems to have an endless supply in her warehouse.

Other then that the 'Big' arcade around here was converted from a sonic. After it closed it was converted back to a sonic, then torn down to make way for a car wash and the old car wash was torn down to make way for the new sonic. :eek 2:

[Flack]

Define "older". If you mean just ones with arcade games and not ticket games, yeah, there are quite a few. If you mean ones with only classic games, I'm afraid not. Each time I go to one I see fewer and fewer old school games.

[Graham Mitchell]

Up until last year, Seattle had a few. There used to be a moderately famous one called High Score that literally focused on classic machines and pinball. They had nothing newer than Arkanoid in there, and it was great. That closed down in around 2002, and then another arcade opened up in the same neighborhood, called Playland, and it was great! Almost all classic machines. (My faves were the cocktail Crystal Castles, Tron, and Burgertime). I moved to Chicago in the summer of 2003, and when I came back in October of the same year, Playland had gotten rid of all their classic machines and had all these early- to mid-90's cabinets like Air Buster and Galaga '89 (which would have been cool but the board wasn't connected in the machine correctly, so it looked like a dusty NES with all the messed up character sets). I came back again at Christmas and Playland was gone.

There was one in the mall in the suburb that, in it's last days also had some great cabs like Rolling Thunder and Strider; but when I came back in July, that arcade too was closed.

My question is, where did all the games go from all these places, and why have they disappeared from the scene? I highly doubt they all got sold to collectors. They're probably just sitting in a warehouse somewhere, which makes me sad. :(

[SuperGunGuru]

There's a pretty good one in my area. It's called Funn City and they have a good selection of classic games and it's mostly upright video games. Not a single DDR to be found. The classic lineup includes Tempest (wasn't working last I was there), Super Pac, Donkey Kong, Asteroids, Stargage, Frogger, Crystal Castles, Galaga, Tron, Gorf, Space Invaders. They used to have a Pacman and Ms Pacman at one time. Not sure what happend to them though.

[Flack]

My question is, where did all the games go from all these places, and why have they disappeared from the scene? I highly doubt they all got sold to collectors. They're probably just sitting in a warehouse somewhere, which makes me sad. :(

Many of the games at SuperAuctions are just that, vendors' old games. They sell off their old games and buy different ones, rotating their stock. I'm sure some games got moved back to people's warehouses for parts, but I'm not even sure how much of the old stuff can be used on the new games. Buttons and joysticks maybe, but the old monitors and cabinets and stuff have either been trickled out or trashed.

[Vigilante]

Out of the 3 places in my area when I was a kid, only 1 is still in business. It is not a ticket for prizes place. I think they tried doing tickets and prizes once, but it didn't work out. They are strictly arcade games, pinball, and air hockey. The place is attached to the biggest mall in the area so I think that's what kept them going.

[Jred]

Ack.. I just moved to Seattle.. apparently about 2 years too late :( My old town in Texas had a great little arcade in the mall, but about 2 years before I moved it changed to all shooting/fighting/racing games that cost around a dollar a play. They even got rid of all their quarter pinball :roll:

[Cryomancer]

Oddly enough, East Peoria Illinois has a NEW place. No redemption games, they have three pinball tables (terminator, whodunnit?, and a harley one) MK II, a police training game, hydro thunder i think, two pool tables, a few others I can't recall, and a karaoke machine. It's also oddly enough a magic shop. The place used to be a landromat / icecream shop until recently, now it's an arcade/icecreamshop/magicshop. Weirdass, but damn if I didn't go back and throw in a few quarters as soon as I had the chance. I hope they do well, the only other places in the greater peoria area are the mall arcade (DDR and shooting games) and the bigass bar/resurant/arcade place Inplay (Pump it up, shooting, a couple pinball in the bars, tons of redemption games, and several "gimmick" / overprice games like 4 player full car daytona and that flight sim bubble thing). It was nice to see a small personally-owned place again, I really do hope they stay around as I don't live there anymore and ope I can go again.

[Graham Mitchell]

My question is, where did all the games go from all these places, and why have they disappeared from the scene? I highly doubt they all got sold to collectors. They're probably just sitting in a warehouse somewhere, which makes me sad. :(

Many of the games at SuperAuctions are just that, vendors' old games. They sell off their old games and buy different ones, rotating their stock. I'm sure some games got moved back to people's warehouses for parts, but I'm not even sure how much of the old stuff can be used on the new games. Buttons and joysticks maybe, but the old monitors and cabinets and stuff have either been trickled out or trashed.

I hope to buy an upright of something someday when I get a) money and b) a place to put it. I hope that this doesn't mean that these simply won't exist anymore by the time I get out of school, because it's something I've looked forward to for a long time.

[Flack]

My question is, where did all the games go from all these places, and why have they disappeared from the scene? I highly doubt they all got sold to collectors. They're probably just sitting in a warehouse somewhere, which makes me sad. :(

Many of the games at SuperAuctions are just that, vendors' old games. They sell off their old games and buy different ones, rotating their stock. I'm sure some games got moved back to people's warehouses for parts, but I'm not even sure how much of the old stuff can be used on the new games. Buttons and joysticks maybe, but the old monitors and cabinets and stuff have either been trickled out or trashed.

I hope to buy an upright of something someday when I get a) money and b) a place to put it. I hope that this doesn't mean that these simply won't exist anymore by the time I get out of school, because it's something I've looked forward to for a long time.

Nope, they'll still be around -- there are plenty of people (like me and many of the others here) who keep buying them. :)

[k8track]

I'd do anything just to step into a circa-1982-1983 arcade again, to hear that great combination of sounds (I really need to get those Arcade Ambience CDs from Good Deal Games! Anyone get them yet?), to smell the smells, just to experience everything again like I used to. I visited Flack this summer, and he had told me that there was a local place there that still had a bunch of old games. We were both pretty dismayed when we went there and they were all but gone (he hadn't been there for a few months himself). I am more than willing to make a pilgramage to some far part of the country just to experience that again (CGE 2K5 and California Extreme, here I come!).

One thing that I am absolutely sick of is seeing Ms. Pac Man and Galaga in every single place. I mean, everywhere! If you go into an arcade, those are the only two "retro" games you'll be guaranteed to find. They're like the Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt of the arcade scene. It's like history is being rewritten and those are the only two games that existed back then. Give me the obscure stuff any day.

My favorite arcade as a kid was called George's Quick Mart, in Booneville, AR. I went down to Arkansas every summer to visit my dad, and those hot summer days were spent gaming hard. I'd play my dad's C64 and my Atari VCS that I'd brought with me, then I'd hop on my bike and ride to George's, which had a HUGE gaming room full of arcade games and pool tables. There must have been about 20-25 games there. I specifically remember Amidar (my absolute favorite), Strategy X, Turtles, Jump Bug, Star Castle, and a cocktail Berzerk.

Actually, George's Quick Mart was technically my second favorite. My very favorite was a temporary arcade tent that they had at the Fulton County Fair for a couple of years (1982-3). Only lasted a week each time, but man, it was the best.

[Retsudo]

No arcade here anymore. I have no way to play Tekken 5. :( Well until it hits home.

[TheSmirk]

I just had a very depressing (well not really) trip back home to NJ this past weekend, I had alot of time to kill so I figured I'd hit some of my old haunts, end result being 3 arcades are now gone...and the only one that I was able to visit was good ol' 8 on the Break (http://www.thebreak.net/) in Dunellen, and the one in Menlo Park Mall is still there, but the holiday wekend shopping traffic was not worth it. x_x The break mainly has fighters and bemani games (and a nice collection of pinball) since they run alot of tourneys/leagues, they also have ms.pac, mr. do ,moon patrol, Super Puzzle Fighter and some other odds and ends, and if you are ever in the area, leave the front of the break ,turn left, walk two blocks and stop at J&G Texas Weiners for the best death dogs around! :D

[slip81]

There is one near me in Seekonk Mass that has been around a while, though I don't think it's from the golden era of arcades, and it doesn't really have any "classic" games anymore. There is also a new one near me that has older games from the early 90's, probably not because it wants to be retro, but because they couldn't afford anything newer. And there is also supposed to be a place called Tilt I think in Warwick R.I on Route 2, but I can't seem to find it. If anyone knows where it is let me know :)

[youngamer]

There is one arcade near my grandmothers house that is called "Take Five". Its one of those arcades that an amusements company buys the place in the mall and puts games in there. good selection. The last time I was there, there was RoadBlasters, Out Run, Popeye and the Simpsons.

[Jared_Vibelicious]

the only arcade that i know of that we have ever had here (richmond, va) is Putt Putt. I remember it used to be packed with games and even had a huge big screen on the main level that would play a new arcade game every month (i remember playing golden axe II on that). They had 3 levels (lower, middle, and upper) that was all games, pinball, classics, and newer. I went back there a few months back and sadly it's become ticket game city. the lower level is basically all that's left for games, the middle level is all tickets, and the upper level has been reduced to a balcony with classics (cocktail tables of pac-man and galaga) they converted the rest into some office space.

[Cleatis]

Cactus Jacks has been around since I was a kid in Oklahoma. The last time I was back there, they had a wall of retro games. Galaga, Pac Man, Joust, Kung Fu, Defender. It was a decent place but I havent been there in a few years. I am pretty sure its still there though. (Flack?)

[Flack]

Cactus Jacks has been around since I was a kid in Oklahoma. The last time I was back there, they had a wall of retro games. Galaga, Pac Man, Joust, Kung Fu, Defender. It was a decent place but I havent been there in a few years. I am pretty sure its still there though. (Flack?)

It is still there, but the retro area keeps shrinking. The last time I was there there were about six retro games. And by retro I mean games with less than 40" screens.

[Stingray]

Don't let Flack fool you. The reason all of the classics keep disappearing in Oklahoma is because he keeps buying them. I've seen his collection, it's pretty mind-blowing. 8-)

-S

[Kroogah]

Nickel World in Rockford has a niiiiice selection of golden oldies, most of them on Free Play. I can recall Gyruss, Mappy, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., The Simpsons, and Moon Patrol off the top of my head.

There's a few nice classics up in West Bend WI at 6th Avenue Cards & Comics, most of that stuff is newer though, including Metal Slug 5, a version of Puyo Puyo, and the ever-important Bemani games.

[chadtower]

Salem Willows in Salem, MA still has a very sizeable arcade. Last time I was there, about a year ago, they still had many classics. Man I love Battlezone.

[chadtower]

Salem Willows in Salem, MA still has a very sizeable arcade. Last time I was there, about a year ago, they still had many classics. Man I love Battlezone.

[vulcanjedi]

Joy o Joys

The community center where my kids do a before / after school program has been getting arcade machines recently. I was not thrilled by Sega GT or NFL Blitz or even Ms. Pacman. Love the attack from Mars pinball though.

But when I walked in there yesterday to pick them up, lo and behold an Arkanoid

For the first time in months it was "C'mon Dad we wanna go home" instead of "C'mon kids lets get moving!"

:)

VJ