Holy Crap, Dude! Arcades Suck!

[Chuplayer]

I just copied and pasted this from my post at classicgaming.com. Sue me. Anyway, before you read this, you should know a few things. I live in New Jersey. There's this place called Seaside Park that has arcades and rides and other stuff. And a beach. I only ever go for the arcades and other stuff, but this time, there was no other stuff worth doing, so it was just the arcades and pizza. (I sort of explain the other stuff at the end, but there's not much to explain.) Why don't I go on rides? I find video games more exciting than roller coasters. Anyway, here's my rant.

I went to Seaside for the first time in nearly two years today, and the arcades there suck now. They got rid of most of their games and filled them up with those stupid crane things. What the fuck? Who the fuck takes arcade games out of an arcade? All my old favorites were missing. The Neo Geo systems, Crapcom fighters, Virtua Fighter, etc. They were all replaced by shitty crane scam machines. But the most depressing thing was how there were so few fighting games. It was unbelievable. There was one Marvel Vs. Capcom, a bunch of old Street Fighter 2 variations on an Ultracade, and a Tekken 4. No Virtua Fighter. No Street Fighter Alpha. No Marvel Vs. Capcom 2. No Mortal Kombat. It was like a whole different place. A completely shitty place.

But the big kick to the balls was this last gaming omission: NO CRAZY TAXI. What the fuck? Crazy Taxi kicks ass. It's the best arcade game ever. Crazy Taxi PWNS. But it's gone now. Bastards.

There were very few new games. There was that shitty Fast and the Furious game. http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=13294
OMG that game sucks balls. It's so lame. I played it about a month or two ago, and it was stupid. The only new thing to bitch about when it comes to that game is how it's EVERYWHERE. Every arcade has to have the same shitty game. It's pathetic. It's like Time Crisis 3 was when it came out. Except TC3 kicks ass. Still, it stole the spotlight from Virtua Cop 3, which I still have yet to see anywhere.

And there was this shitty new racing game from Taito called Battle Gear 3. http://ps2.ign.com/objects/662/662409.html (Home version link, not on KLOV yet.) That game was SLOW AS FUCKING MOLASSES. I'm driving along in my Civic, and I'm wondering why I'm going two miles per hour and yet still leading the race. It was pathetic. What happened to you, Taito? What happened to games that don't suck? What happened to games like Bubble Bobble and Bust a Move?

There was Lethal Enforcers 3, but it was depressing enough to watch somebody else play it. I didn't even want to taint my memories of Lethal Enforcers 2 by playing this shitty sequel. http://www.zax.com.au/lethalenforcers3.html It was slow, lethargic, and ran at about 3.5 frames per second. Shitty as hell.

The only good new game was Ghost Squad http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=13248 It's by SEGA, and it shows, because it kicks ass and takes names. It wasn't working 100% properly, but it was kickass anyway. Somebody joined in on the game I was playing, and we got so far into the game. It was awesome. The game's about shooting terrorists and stuff and there are some cool innovative things to do and it's just plain kickass. There's even a switch on the side of the gun that allows you to change your rate of fire. Single shot, three shot burst, and full automatic. It's amazing. The only thing it needs is a Time Crisis sort of ducking pedal. Seriously. Time Crisis made taking cover standard in light gun games. But Ghost Squad kicks enough ass on its own. It appears to be running on the bawks-based Chihiro board because it doesn't look all shitty System 246 PS2-ish.

Still, Carousel Arcade didn't disappoint. Good old Carousel Arcade. How I love thee, with all your old games and stuff. Unfortunately, my reason for existing, three-screen Speed Buggy, wasn't working. But there was still so much else to do. I got to play Atari Star Wars, Vs. Super Mario Bros., and loads of other 80s games. I also got to play that bigger-than-my-cock Hercules pinball machine. And you know what kicks ass? Playing Robotron 2084 on a big fucking screen Ultracade cabinet. If I had a vagina, I certainly would've been moister than a horny hentai schoolgirl. And I set the high score on Donkey Kong. I kick ass.

As for the rest of the goings-on at Seaside, the stands with prizes suck harder than ever, a lot of arcades turned into bars, and I only saw one half-decent pair of tits. Still, Three Brothers Pizza kicked ass, as usual. Well, that's about it. Shittiness. Except for Three Brothers, Carousel Arcade, and Ghost Squad. They kicked ass. And Daytona USA, which always kicks ass.

Oh, and there was this one girl I saw there that was something else entirely. I saw her at Three Brothers. She looked semi-goth, but she wasn't goth. She dressed in all black, but she didn't have that "I hate the world nobody understands me" attitude. In fact, she seemed rather nice. She was wearing this beautiful dress. You don't see that on many girls today. Most of them are all "look at me I'm a slut," but she wasn't like that at all. Anyway, I only saw her for about 10 seconds. Then I left Three Brothers and went back to shooting terrorists.

[Graham Mitchell]

The arcade business has been tanking for awhile. Even the best arcades now are nothing like those of 5 years ago. The power of the modern consoles has put a huge dent in the market. I wish more people would enjoy going to play a game STANDING UP, in a beautiful dedicated cabinet, but they don't, so don't expect things to get too much better anytime soon.

[boatofcar]

The only future arcades have lies in immersion, like thhe skateboarding/snowboarding games where you actually stand on a board. Gameplay/graphics-wise, there's nothing there that can't be done on modern console hardware. However, the extra hardware, like boards, motorcycle bodies, etc. can still entice gamers because of their unavailability in the consumer marketplace.

[Videogamerdaryll]

What I posted here on Sun Jun 12, 2005 2:25 am

Seaside Heights- N.J. Shore ..(perfect day,not too hot and not cold)
First off we Hit the Great!! "Flashback" Retrogame Arcade there.....No,Neo Geo MVS but they had SNK Mechanized Attack that I played.
The Arcade is Filled with Old retro Machines.
We spend so much time in this Arcade going from one machine to the other..I got pretty far in Mr.Do,Spy Hunter and Star Wars,Sit in =Turbo.

Throughout all my searching of the boardwalk Arcades they only had one Puzzle Bobble/Bust A Move Neo Geo Converted machine..

I spent a good amount of time playing F 355 Challenge..Man,do I like that game...And Crashing my friend Ron off the road in a Nascar Game..

We came home with more damn stuff animals,candy and DVDs then anything.. x_x

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_172836AA.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_173620AA.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_173220AA.jpg

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_173043AA.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_192401AA.jpg
Nope:Didn't win any.. :/[/quote]

[Chuplayer]

Yeah, Flashbacks, Carousel Arcade, it's the best place on the boardwalk.


Throughout all my searching of the boardwalk Arcades they only had one Puzzle Bobble/Bust A Move Neo Geo Converted machine..

Yeah. That was in the first arcade. I think it was Stevie D's. There's also a "gold" 2-slot with BaM and Baseball Stars in Barnacle Bill's


I spent a good amount of time playing F 355 Challenge..Man,do I like that game

WHAT THE FUCK??? WHERE IN THE HELL WAS THAT? I haven't seen that since 2000! I think it was in the Coin Castle. I haven't seen that in five years! Please tell me! I've got to know! Also, it was the three-screen version, right? Please let it be three-screen!

You just made me piss myself. If it's there, I might just trek back there tomorrow and play the shit out of it.


We came home with more damn stuff animals,candy and DVDs then anything.. x_x

Yeah. The "other stuff." I usually play for the sports plaques, but they didn't have much of anything today.

[Richter Belmount]

by the way chu player thats like the best avatar ever >.>

[Poofta!]

dude, all i can say to you is: youre right. im from nyc, and aside from the chinatown game fair, there is NO PLACE TO PLAY arcades. the pizzeria near my dorm has 4 arcades, THAT SHITTY fast n furiouse arcade, marvel vs capcom 2 (yay) house of dead 3 (crap) and some pinball machine.

arcades have been a dying breed for a while now, but this is ridiculous, where are they all going. i cant wait till i have a house and buy a machine for the basement.

[Moon Patrol]

Arcades really are starting to become obsolete. Consoles are now as powerful as the machines/cabinets are themselves, and you can play multiple games on them, rather than just one. As others have said in this thread, their only hope lies in some sort of physical immersion like that old skating game or the skiing/wave race type games.

[Snapple]

Arcades aren't obsolete.

There hasn't been a home conversion of DDR that even comes *close* to the monster arcade version.

boatofcar was spot on in saying that immersion is the biggest moneymaker anymore. People realize they can play equal or better quality button mashers at home. But with games that make you sweat, the arcade can't be beat. I'm convinced that there would be probably only half as many arcades today if DDR didn't exist, if not much less.

[GizmoGC]

Seaside Park...isnt that where they filmed a bit of the movie Dogma?

[SoulBlazer]

I happen to like my local D&B....but I go there for food and to drink and play pool as well as play games. They have some great games that never got home releases, such as Sega's Derby Horse Racing game and Star Wars Triliogy Arcade. And yes, they have Crazy Taxi. ;)

[Tron 2.0]

What I posted here on Sun Jun 12, 2005 2:25 am

Seaside Heights- N.J. Shore ..(perfect day,not too hot and not cold)
First off we Hit the Great!! "Flashback" Retrogame Arcade there.....No,Neo Geo MVS but they had SNK Mechanized Attack that I played.
The Arcade is Filled with Old retro Machines.
We spend so much time in this Arcade going from one machine to the other..I got pretty far in Mr.Do,Spy Hunter and Star Wars,Sit in =Turbo.

Throughout all my searching of the boardwalk Arcades they only had one Puzzle Bobble/Bust A Move Neo Geo Converted machine..

I spent a good amount of time playing F 355 Challenge..Man,do I like that game...And Crashing my friend Ron off the road in a Nascar Game..

We came home with more damn stuff animals,candy and DVDs then anything.. x_x

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_172836AA.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_173620AA.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_173220AA.jpg

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_173043AA.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_192401AA.jpg
Nope:Didn't win any.. :/
How i miss those days :puppydogeyes:

Arcades have been dead to me ever since 97.

These days the arcade is at the, home now either useing a Supergun,Mame or just buying the cab itself.

[Videogamerdaryll]

Yeah, Flashbacks, Carousel Arcade, it's the best place on the boardwalk.


Throughout all my searching of the boardwalk Arcades they only had one Puzzle Bobble/Bust A Move Neo Geo Converted machine..


Yeah. That was in the first arcade. I think it was Stevie D's. There's also a "gold" 2-slot with BaM and Baseball Stars in Barnacle Bill's

Man,I missed it... :( .I'd love to see it..


I spent a good amount of time playing F 355 Challenge..Man,do I like that game


WHAT THE FUCK??? WHERE IN THE HELL WAS THAT? I haven't seen that since 2000! I think it was in the Coin Castle. I haven't seen that in five years! Please tell me! I've got to know! Also, it was the three-screen version, right? Please let it be three-screen!

Yes,it's the three-screen version..(I have a pic/goes to find it)
It's in one of the main Arcades on the boardwalk.(towards the middle /maybe further right going to the opposite end as Flasbacksis at the other)..The Arcade has an open side door from the street too..With some sort of food stand connected to it in the front..

The machine was sort of hidden in the back right corner next to a large two seater Nascar machine and near it is a Sopranos Pin Ball machine.
I have to loo through the rest of the pictures took to maybe get an Idea of where it is.
There's also a Sit in Globe type Beachead /Crimson Skies dual game machine in this arcade next to the open side door...and this Roller Coaster video Sit in machine.


You just made me piss myself. If it's there, I might just trek back there tomorrow and play the shit out of it.
LMK if you do..have fun.....I'll be going back down there soon..

We came home with more damn stuff animals,candy and DVDs then anything.. x_x [/quote]


Yeah. The "other stuff." I usually play for the sports plaques, but they didn't have much of anything today.

The main thing my buddy Ron was going for was the sports plaques..but woundup getting other stuff instead.

The most fun we has was in the Hauted House as the guy inside kept scaring the shit out of Ron..I was laughing my ass off at this..(good times..

[Videogamerdaryll]

Yeah, Flashbacks, Carousel Arcade, it's the best place on the boardwalk.


Throughout all my searching of the boardwalk Arcades they only had one Puzzle Bobble/Bust A Move Neo Geo Converted machine..

Yeah. That was in the first arcade. I think it was Stevie D's. There's also a "gold" 2-slot with BaM and Baseball Stars in Barnacle Bill's


I spent a good amount of time playing F 355 Challenge..Man,do I like that game

WHAT THE FUCK??? WHERE IN THE HELL WAS THAT? I haven't seen that since 2000! I think it was in the Coin Castle. I haven't seen that in five years! Please tell me! I've got to know! Also, it was the three-screen version, right? Please let it be three-screen!

You just made me piss myself. If it's there, I might just trek back there tomorrow and play the shit out of it.

We came home with more damn stuff animals,candy and DVDs then anything.. x_x [/quote]

Yeah. The "other stuff." I usually play for the sports plaques, but they didn't have much of anything today.[/quote]

I was walking to this end so I think it's near here..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_191919AA.jpg


This DDR machine might be in the same arcade.(My Son had created a Crowd) :D
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_193029AA.jpg

It's next to this machine..on it's left.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_195514AA.jpg
This one..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_201125AA.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_200722AA.jpg

[RJ]

Somewhat unrelated but my workplace finally got rid of the Ms PacMan/Galaga hybrid machine (been there as long as I can recall) & put in a Donkey Kong/Dk Jr/Mario Bros machine- THREE games in one! As soon as I discovered it I borrowed a coupla bucks from some co-workers (.50/ play).

The first time I ever saw Mario Bros was at a Rainbow Foods grocery store when they first opened in the Twin Cities Metro area. They had it & Popeye (which I was already pretty good at IIRC) & when I saw MB I thought to myself "I WILL beat that machine." So every time my parents went grocery shopping there, I came along to hone my skills.

Fast forward to a summer family vacation sometime after that- we'd usually rent a lake cabin for a week somewhere in central MN. The lodge/grocery/gameroom had pool, a jukebox, Gyruss (first time I ever saw THAT one) &...Mario Bros! Needless to say, I, along w/ my cousin, were up there every day that week playing- we mustve put $100 in that machine between the 2 of us.

As you may guess, I'm pretty good at it now- consecutively getting the high score every time I play & usually reaching the "icicle" levels. After a few warm-up attempts, I managed to beat the previous high score, w/ 30K more pts for good measure. It should still be on there when I go back to work...

[Zadoc]

Yap, dude.

[nate1749]

I went to Seaside for the first time in nearly two years today,

Who the fuck takes arcade games out of an arcade?

Someone who is appealing customers who visit more often than once every other year.

Nate

[Mr.FoodMonster]

I'm sorry, but I cant read something that long from someone who says that Crazy Taxi is the best arcade game of all time. Its good, but come on.

[Chuplayer]

Man,I missed it... :( .I'd love to see it.. [baseball stars/BaM]

Barnacle Bill's isn't on the boardwalk. I think it's at Ortley Beach. It's a few minutes down the road. They've got a medium-sized arcade with a bunch of old games and an awesome mini golf course. There's even a giant 30 foot tall statue of Barnacle Bill standing over one of the holes. It's great. They renewed the course in 2000, so it's starting to show signs of wear and tear now, but it's still much better than it was in the late 90s.



It's in one of the main Arcades on the boardwalk.(towards the middle /maybe further right going to the opposite end as Flasbacksis at the other)..The Arcade has an open side door from the street too..With some sort of food stand connected to it in the front..

The machine was sort of hidden in the back right corner next to a large two seater Nascar machine and near it is a Sopranos Pin Ball machine.
I have to loo through the rest of the pictures took to maybe get an Idea of where it is.
There's also a Sit in Globe type Beachead /Crimson Skies dual game machine in this arcade next to the open side door...and this Roller Coaster video Sit in machine.


This sounds totally unreal. I missed this arcade. How did this happen? Not only that, but it seems like I've been missing this arcade for years! WTF? So it's sort of behind a food place? I'll have to keep an eye out next time I go there. I DO NOT want to miss F355 again.

The only thing I sort of recognize out of those indoor pictures is the DDR cabinet with the kid because the window to the right looks like the window on the air-conditioned arcade somewhere between Carousel and Stevie D's. I think it was called Royal Arcade. That arcade used to kick ass. Now they got rid of most of their games in favor of a giant crane prize game. I don't remember if there was still a DDR in that one, but I don't think that pic was taken in the same arcade that had F355.

Also, that NASCAR game looks like NASCAR Rubbin' Racing. Stupid name, but I saw it in a magazine many years ago, and that cabinet looks like it. I've never seen it in real life, but I never really cared. I had Daytona to play.

And I never saw any Sopranos pinball either.


The main thing my buddy Ron was going for was the sports plaques..but woundup getting other stuff instead.

He's got good taste. Have you guys ever heard the story of when this new plaque stand opened up and this kid won the first game ever played there? That kid was me :)

You know what I miss? There was this big sports stand on a corner that closed in 2000 or 2001. I got so many autographed baseballs there.

[WanganRunner]

I hate all those retarded "win shit" games. I don't want to win shit, I want to play videogames. If I wanted to win shit, I'd play the lottery, so I can win money to buy videogames.

All I really play at arcades anymore is VC3 and F355 Challenge. I'll play through Star Wars Trilogy arcade once in awhile too. My local Dave & Busters has all 3. w00t.

[Chuplayer]

I hate all those retarded "win shit" games. I don't want to win shit, I want to play videogames. If I wanted to win shit, I'd play the lottery, so I can win money to buy videogames.

Yeah. One time I played a "win shit" crane game. It had lots of stuffed Spider-Mans. I had no chance at all of getting one. All of them were stuffed down so tight the claws wouldn't grip onto anything.


All I really play at arcades anymore is VC3 and F355 Challenge. I'll play through Star Wars Trilogy arcade once in awhile too. My local Dave & Busters has all 3. w00t.

Huh? All three? Wasn't that SEGA game all in one cabinet? Or are you talking about the Atari games?

[Sylentwulf]

Fuckin shit.

[Slimedog]

I don't think arcades are dead, they are just morphing into something we wouldn't particularly like. I've seen 5 arcades pop up in my area in the last year, but they don't really do so much video games. They target older folks, not kids and the whole concept is a psuedo-casino based around redemtion games. Slot machines, video poker, that sort of thing and they kick out tickets. You use the tickets to get Ipods and vaugely upscale gizmos, but the amout you spend far outweighs the cost of the items, unless you hit the jackpot on a slot. Some of them have a pay by the hour but most use a magnetic card to keep track of how much you owe. They might have a pac-man/galaga machine, or a bar top system, but thats it for traditional games. I can't be the only person to have seen lots of these places poping up lately?

[Ackman]

as long as the controls are working I'll frequent almost any arcade, but nobody cares anymore :(

[Videogamerdaryll]

Man,I missed it... :( .I'd love to see it..


Barnacle Bill's isn't on the boardwalk. I think it's at Ortley Beach. It's a few minutes down the road. They've got a medium-sized arcade with a bunch of old games and an awesome mini golf course. There's even a giant 30 foot tall statue of Barnacle Bill standing over one of the holes. It's great. They renewed the course in 2000, so it's starting to show signs of wear and tear now, but it's still much better than it was in the late 90s.

Ohhh yeaaa I know the place....Thanks..




[quote]This sounds totally unreal. I missed this arcade. How did this happen? Not only that, but it seems like I've been missing this arcade for years! WTF? So it's sort of behind a food place? I'll have to keep an eye out next time I go there. I DO NOT want to miss F355 again.

It's some sort of small food stand connected to it in the front..There are like 3 picnic tables outside.
It's small like a hot dog or Ice Cream, place/I forget.
Reason is.. Ron was recording my Son/nephew on the Roller Coaster type Arcade Machine when I noticed he was turned around looking in awe at the girl who was making up a sign for that food place and she was putting on a show IMO because she was fkn Gorgeous..Yea,I was looking too.. :D ..She knew guys were checking her out so she kept lifting her hair and just overly acting sexy..
She knew we were checking her out and after she was done with the Sign that she took very long to do she came into the arcade through the side door gave us a smile and walked out the front door..(yea WTF!! that was deliberate)







And I never saw any Sopranos pinball either.
I think Simpson Pinball is right next to it...I have a picture somewhere.


The main thing my buddy Ron was going for was the sports plaques..but woundup getting other stuff instead.


He's got good taste. [b]Have you guys ever heard the story of when this new plaque stand opened up and this kid won the first game ever played there? That kid was me :)

Awesome...!!!

Yea,he's begging me to go back as he/we really had a good time..Actually I think he's going there tomorrow or Sunday with our friend Rich..I wonder if he'll win any plaques

.

.....................................




Thinking about it last night....That F 355 machine is in the Arcade with Cranes all lined up on the Left Side.
One of the Cranes nearest to the front door had the Pac Man plush dolls in it....A few Mario/DK type next to it..
None of that stuff was moved when I came back a second time(later on)..The Cranes would not grab anything.

I know I was walking this way:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_184906AA.jpg

Saw this..Ron knocked the sign down by mistake. LOL
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_201802AA.jpg

This is the Far Right side of the Boardwalk/Near the Go Carts
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_171139AA.jpg

I took a TON of pictures..

These carts were SLOW!
Whatever happened to the Speed Carts that were in one small Oval..Or is that Wildwood.?..My favorites are the Carts in Keansburg.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_170901AA.jpg

Ron:..Both these machines had Monitor Problems/Bad interference.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_213301AA.jpg

I'm Crazy but I will not go on this....I like Coasters.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_203225AA.jpg

Ron took his Camcorder on this and recorded going up/coming down getting the whole boardwalk at night.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_225227AA.jpg

A week before I took this picture there..I needed to compare my KLAX monitor colors to something and the Ultracade was the only thing I could find with Klax on it..
I like this machine..I want to buy one of these someday..at least the Kit.
Thing is:..I totally missed or didn't see it when we went there that next week.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0519_173614AA.jpg

This Cab was in the Garbage a week before opening..Tekken 4(broken) Showcase Cab.Long story:that I hate reflecting on....One worker outside said it was garbage and I heard broken in his sentence..another worker seemed like he was scooting me away.giving me various stories as I figured he was taking it...I took a few picks,but I have no clue if it was complete.(insides)
I most likely could of took it if I asked the owner(offered money) but I had no way to get it home..
I didn't see it the next week in the Arcade and several friends who've been down there either.
Who knows...It sickened me having to leave it behind...(there was more Garbage opposite to it)
:puke:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0519_181054AA.jpg

Ron is so damn good at this Frog game..I had to tell him to Stop as I couldn't get no more Plush Animals in my Car
He then started hitting it Hard,making it go across the other side/splashing people. LOL ..People were laughing about it..he's a real character..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_204007AA.jpg

Memories of this place as this was one of the first places I played Miniature Golf with my wife.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_191504AA.jpg

This Place was a Blast.(Haunted Manor).I don't get scared of Haunted Houses or Graveyards,but the way the guy would come flying out of hidden spots/doors just kept catching us off guard...It was a Blast!!!
It was so much better then what we were expecting.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/2005_0611_171803AA.jpg

To Bad Long Branch Haunted Mansion is no longer there..
http://www.darkinthepark.com/Haunted%20Mansion/History/lbhistory.htm
The Haunted Castle Dracula is gone in Wildwood that I still have pictures from..(I took them the year before it was gone)
http://www.elvision.com/tunneloflaffs/castledrac/cdindex.html
And Brigantine Castle is gone too..
http://www.darkinthepark.com/Brigantine/Lives/lives.htm

[Aswald]

Sadly, the title of your post has said it all for some time now.

Arcades now seem to have only one thing going for them- a chance to hang out with one's friends, away from home. At least, that was one reason back in my day; is it still true now?

[Haoie]

Man, I should copy you and use the arcades as places to pick up the honeys. Chingly ching ching pow pow.

Was I being sarcastic? Not sure.

[Rogmeister]

I stopped briefly at my local arcade at the mall after taking in a movie. I played one game, Marvel Vs. Capcom, just so I can say I've played an actual arcade game this decade. I'm not sure I could say that yesterday. There are many games there outside of video games...I saw a father and son playing air hockey, there's the basketball toss and other such games. Of the actual video games, there were few that interested me, only a few fighting games really.

[Chuplayer]

Sadly, the title of your post has said it all for some time now.

Arcades now seem to have only one thing going for them- a chance to hang out with one's friends, away from home. At least, that was one reason back in my day; is it still true now?

I never go with or hang out with anybody at arcades. Doing so just tends to complicate things.

[tim333]

There's a pretty awesome arcade near me. It has lots of fighters and shooters and several rhythm action games, among other things. Personally, I go to the arcade to play DDR. The arcade will never be dead for me because the arcade DDR experience really can't be matched by other versions.

[lendelin]

Chuplayer, your original post would be a much better read without the numerous 'fuck,' 'suck,' 'balls,' 'shit' and 'ass.'

...and please don't reply with 'fuck off' or 'kiss my ass' or their variations. :)

[japancollector]

In the netherlands things got worse a long time ago witch arcade.

there was a stopid law that removed all the arcadecabs from the bars and snackbars.And instead there was a photoshop machines.Some boring touch screen machine.I remember when i was 6 playing sunset riders in a bar.And there was a lot of arcades

there are only now 2 places where there is a arcadehalls in the netherlands.In scheveningen and in valkenburg.Outrun 2 in valkenburg cost 2 euro for 1 credit.So its exspensive .Its better to cross the border to germany .Here you have the newest arcade games for extreem low price.For 1 euro you get 4 credits.

in winter 2002 i was in japan on holiday for 2 weeks.The newest arcade game was house of the dead 3 .It costed 400 yen for 1 credit .Its about 3 euro.When i visite german a half year later .I get 12 credits for the same money.Same is later witch ghost squed and virtua striker 4

[cyberfluxor]

Fun topic to bring back up. :)

Although I remember there being more arcades back when I was younger, there has been a constant decline. Matter of fact I went to a mall in the city near by and they just closed an arcade in their food court that was open for a little of a year. It didn't have that much but had a few good games in there. It's sad to see another mall arcade close shop though.

Today is Sunday so it's beach day. Nearly every Sunday I grab some friends and we venture down to the beach front, grab some $5 pizza at Chicho's, watching sports and news networks in there. It's a great environment with few people even during tourist season. Anyways, after pizza we venture a dozen blocks down the road and on Atlantic Ave there's Flipper McCoys.
An old list of a very few amount of games they have still today:
http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~locations/PlaceSearch.php3?code=vavirfli
Their official site (That kinda sucks because there's no photos):
http://emporium.turnpike.net/~ntravel/vabeach/flippers.htm

They have a good 60 games I'm sure and they are really great. I'm sure they are in business this long because they are at the ocean front and get lots of traffic all the time. I do hate though how a ton of high school kids hang out infront and don't go in playing. It just aggravates me to not see younger people play, rather act like it's just a hang-out place. The least they can do is spend 25 cents on 1 game.

But anyhow, there's only 2 really good arcades around here, the other is at water front in downtown Norfolk which I rarely go to due to parking costs. As for the consules taking over, that's so correct. Nearly everyday I see another Gamestop poping up as often as 7eleven which is nuts!

[CYRiX]

Arcades aren't obsolete.

There hasn't been a home conversion of DDR that even comes *close* to the monster arcade version.

That is not true at all.

[Rockman Neo]

Arcades aren't obsolete.

There hasn't been a home conversion of DDR that even comes *close* to the monster arcade version.

That is not true at all.

It doesn't really matter. The "Pump It Up!" games are way better.

[kedawa]

Arcades always kinda sucked where I live.
They were basically just places to hang out, buy/sell drugs, and maybe play a game of SFII, and hope you get the side with the two broken buttons instead of the one with the broken stick.
Of course, there were the overpriced mall arcades, but I could never stand the crotchety old hags who run those joints. They always bitched at us for 'loitering' while waiting for our turn a whatever fighting game we were into at the time.
Stupid cunts couldn't understand that that's how those games make money.

There were a few okay places when I was very young, where my friends and I would go to spend whatever change we could scrape together, and the arcade in my hometown was a good scene for about three years during the SFII craze.
Beyond that, though, the only decent arcade games that I could find were either in lobbies or convenience stores.

Nowadays I'd rather just play MAME with my friends.
I used to have a some old cabs, but they just took up too much space. I wouldn't mind picking up a more modern cabinet, or building my own, but all I really care about are the games and the friends I play them with.
I really don't miss the arcade cabs or atmosphere at all.

[smork]

Arcades are still alive and well here in Asia. I've probably got 10 decent arcades within a 15 minute walk of my apartment. And by decent, I mean chock full of nice shooters, fighters, etc.

It's easy to find a decent arcade both here in Malaysia and in Singapore. In Thailand they have these "console aracdes" -- it's an arcade, but they have coin-op timers attached to PS2 hardware on a decent sized screen. It's nice for the 90% of locals who can't afford to buy an actual console, and they tend to have some pretty decent games in them.

The mall near my friend's house in Northern Thailand has a nice arcade as well, all Neo Geo hardware and good classic gaming. I should quit being such a lazy ass and take some pictures one of these days...

[MarkMan]

Luckily we have a great arcade here in San Diego. Mission Valley Tilt.

Among the games there we have:

Tekken 5
Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection
Tekken Tag Tournament
Virtua Fighter 4
Capcom vs SNK 2
Marvel vs Capcom 2
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Guilty Gear XX
Soul Calibur II
House of the Dead 4
Initial D
Time Crisis 3
Dance Dance Revolution
Keyboardmania
Drumania
And a whole slew of other Bemani games...

and the usual suspects for racing/driving/lightgun games...

Not all arcades are bad... but sadly, most of them are :( !

[christhegamer]

Hmm... that's strange. At my arcade (It's one of those namco ones), we have about seven-or-so hardcore fighters. sure, theres still the lame-@ss kitty crap like the cranes and ticket booths, but it's still an all-around arcade lovers paradise. Heck, I even think they have an Initial D championship every year!


by the way chu player thats like the best avatar ever >.>

Agreed! Go hormones! :roll:

[Aswald]

My single biggest problem with arcades in recent years was the overall lack of variety. Even with the comparitively lesser technology of the early 1980s, they managed to give us considerable variety.

You had racing games of all sorts (Night Driver, Rally-X, Monaco GP, Turbo, Pole Position, the earlier ones from the 1970s).

You had maze games. Too many to even list here...Pac Man, Mr. Do!, Marvin's Maze, Crystal Castles, Amidar...

First-person games of all sorts, the better-known including Star Fire, Battlezone, Star Ship, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back,etc.)

Space-Invader games. Because of the limited technology, they had to come up with weird stuff to make up for it. Hence, Astro Invader, Satan's Hollow, THE END, Centipede, Redclash, Kickman, etc.

There were gun games. Who could forget Witch Hunt, for example?

Scrolling games? How about Sky Raider, Scramble/Super Cobra, Space Odyssey, Moon Patrol, Jump Bug (weird!), and Snap Jack (WEIRD!!)?

Sports games? Of course, including Atari Football. Long live the X's and O's.

Donkey Kong, Defender, TEMPEST, Major Havoc, Faxanadu, Super Breakout, Pulsar*, Zaxxon, Crazy Climber, etc.

And there was more.


* Loved this game.

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=P&game_id=9150

[yok-dfa]

there was a stopid law that removed all the arcadecabs from the bars and snackbars.
Actually that's not true. The law said that all gambling machines had to be removed from (snack)bars not arcade or pinball machines. The 'problem' is that those photoplay machines usually take less space than a conventional game, are cheaper to buy and can be upgraded with new software easily. So all the patrons switched to those.

BTW the last time i was at the Scheveningen arcade it sucked pretty badly. It used to be good, but nowadays the majority of games were photoplays and gambling machines. Not too many 'real' arcade games.

[EnzoSangiorgio]

I'm also from NJ, but much further north.
We have fun n games up here, which is half way passable, with Outrun2, Lethal Enforcers 3 (which RULES, and is way better than the originals, whether or not they have anything in common), a couple of full size Daytona USA cabs (the kind with the full moving car seat thing) and some other crap.
It's too expensive though, and the shittiest people hang out there.

[Chuplayer]

Videogamerdaryll, I finally got back to Seaside. F355 is gone from that arcade. I went there, and it's gone. That arcade was actually farther than I usually go. Thanks for bringing this to my attention last year because I found a couple more arcades.

Big Top Arcade (I think) now has a Time Crisis 4 machine. It still looks new. It's such an awesome game. Unfortunately, the guys you play as are bishier than ever, but at least you don't have to look at them too much while you're playing. I really like the extra speaker that's positioned closer to you. Perhaps this could be implemented in a Wii port :)

I finally got to play Initial D Version 3 in one of those arcades that I usually never went to. I've got to say I'm disappointed. A single race took far too long to set up, you only get to race against one car, and the car I raced against was totally easy.

[Videogamerdaryll]

Videogamerdaryll, I finally got back to Seaside. F355 is gone from that arcade. I went there, and it's gone. That arcade was actually farther than I usually go. Thanks for bringing this to my attention last year because I found a couple more arcades.

Big Top Arcade (I think) now has a Time Crisis 4 machine. It still looks new. It's such an awesome game. Unfortunately, the guys you play as are bishier than ever, but at least you don't have to look at them too much while you're playing. I really like the extra speaker that's positioned closer to you. Perhaps this could be implemented in a Wii port :)

I finally got to play Initial D Version 3 in one of those arcades that I usually never went to. I've got to say I'm disappointed. A single race took far too long to set up, you only get to race against one car, and the car I raced against was totally easy.



Awesome...

I was just down there recently myself..(took a lot of pics).
F355 is gone..(I loved playing that game..

The three screen Speed Buggy wasn't working,Atari Star Wars was off..The place was super hot with no air and biting flies.

I played every Pinball machine,Tomcat F 14 was missing flipper rubber bands.
While playing The Adams Family Pinball machine I got bit by a fly and caught him on my leg..Killed him but the pin-ball went down the drain..Damn it paying flies to make quarters :D )
I can't believe they don't have a fire in that place with all those machines running in that hot place. .You come out sweating..
An Arcade near flashbacks has a Neo Geo MVS converted cab with Bust a Move in it..

I played that same Initial D Version 3 too..

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/?action=view&current=Jul19_0012.flv

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/SeasideHieghts07-18-06021.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Chris1/SeasideHieghts07-18-06049.jpg

[Borman]

I posted pictures of the Time Crisis 4 cabinet from when I was in Seaside last week :P

http://www.aborman.com/albums/TimeCrisis4/100200436_319781989_0.jpeg
http://www.aborman.com/albums/TimeCrisis4/100200642_319782700_0.jpeg
http://www.aborman.com/albums/TimeCrisis4/100200799_319783223_0.jpeg
http://www.aborman.com/albums/TimeCrisis4/100200973_319783811_0.jpeg

Not my favorite place in the world though heh.

[Push Upstairs]

If I had a vagina, I certainly would've been moister than a horny hentai schoolgirl.

This still makes me LOL


There aren't any arcades near me that are worth a damn. Sure the one closest has some older machines (Gauntlet: Dark Legacy, some SF2 games..i dunno which) but most arcades i pop into are inundated with shooter/scope games, DDR, and not very interesting driving games.

[Chuplayer]

Here's my yearly update on Seaside.

There was even less stuff than before. Royal Arcade was a joke. I almost missed the few games they had in the dark corner in the back. They had a lot of those prize redemption machines. Every arcade was like that, actually, except for Carousel arcade with Flashbacks. They brought back Daytona USA four-player, but there was no more Indy 500. Can't complain, though. It's Daytona. One of the Silent Scopes was there, but there was no sound. It's so annoying to play that game without sound. Speed Buggy is gone. It's not at Carousel Arcade anymore. It's such a weird feeling to not see it there. It was always there, whether it worked or not, and now it's gone. Anyway, Atari Star Wars was off, too :( At least they were actively working on the Ultracade cabinet when I saw it.

The only new real game I saw was this Family Guy pinball machine. At first it's annoying because you've got a small area to shoot the ball, but then you realize how masterful the playfield is. Part of the reason the playfield's so small is because there's a second mini pinball machine in the upper right hand corner called Stewie Pinball. Anyway, it's a blast with all the Family Guy sounds. It even had the "If you fart in the woods, and nobody's around to smell it, does it still wreak?" joke.

There was one more, an arcade port(?) of Guitar Hero 2 360, but it was 2 bucks a play, and there was no way I was going to blow two bucks on a chance to make a fool out of myself by playing Freebird in front of the entire world.

I saw a Spider-Man pinball machine, but I don't know if it's new or I just never saw it before. It didn't say Spider-Man 3, so I don't have an idea when it came out.

Time Crisis 4 is beginning to proliferate just like Time Crisis 3 did. I played quite a bit more of TC4 this time, and it's awesome. I love the part where you man a machine gun on a helicopter, but I absolutely hate the part shortly thereafter where you have to shoot the tires out from under this truck. The gun's just not accurate enough. I don't know if that has anything to do with the new sensor system malfunctioning, but it was really frustrating. It had better get better for the PS3 port because I'm still pumped for it. (Still gotta get a PS3, but whatever.) It's also just plain harder in general. Enemies don't get cleared out the same way they used to in older TC games when you continue, and it's common to get shot a mere two seconds after continuing.

Initial D still sucks. I chose to race against these two girls because they were hot... er, I mean I thought I was going to race against both of them. That is, I'd be racing against more than one car, unlike last year. But I just raced against one car. And it was a night race, so I couldn't see where I was going, so I crashed around a lot, and this super-catchy "remember me" song is still stuck in my head.

I tried House of the Dead 4. It was a widescreen game. Well, it should've been. I guess the game supports widescreen, but it was obviously set to fullscreen because the widescreen display appeared all squashed. Hooray for arcade operators not knowing a thing about their arcade machines. And the "shake the uzi" to shake off the zombies was ridiculous. I felt like a sex offender jerking off in public. Not a good move, SEGA.

Barnacle Bill's is as awesome as ever. There's new turf on their legendary mini-golf course. It's $7 per person, but it's so worth it. The games are still good, and there's even Time Crisis 4. There was also Crazy Taxi, but I didn't play it. Out of all the arcades, Barnacle Bill's is the best one. The only thing they need is Ghost Squad, and there would be almost no reason to go to the boardwalk anymore.

Summary: Arcades still suck, Barnacle Bill's still rocks, and Time Crisis 4 rocks my face.

[Kid Ice]

I visited an arcade down the (Jersey) shore for the first time in many years a couple weeks ago. The experience was, as Sting would describe it, "a humiliating kick in the crotch".

The proliferation of gambling games for children is ABSOLUTELY SICK.

[GarrettCRW]

And the "shake the uzi" to shake off the zombies was ridiculous. I felt like a sex offender jerking off in public. Not a good move, SEGA.

Chuplayer FTW.

[Greg2600]

I was down the shore last month, and drove down to Seaside to go to Flashbacks. Wound up playing Pole Position II, Donkey Kong, Super Off Road, and few others, and then played The Simpsons all the way to the last level. We also tried the Multi-Arcade they had, but it was mostly Japanese games that I didn't like. Unfortunately Star Wars Arcade was broken :(

In terms of other arcades, I go to Fun & Games in Willowbrook Mall once in a while, usually to play Indy 500 or Daytona USA. The Funplex in East Hanover once had some pretty neat arcade games, like Star Wars Trilogy and Star Trek Voyager and Ferrari, but I think they replaced them. There was also an arcade over in Rutherford, NJ, on Route 17, right before you get to Route 3, which was full of vintage games, but it got torn down a couple years ago. What is a real shame is that the Clifton Commons movie theater has a ton of good racing games, like Mariokart, Need for Speed, and Ferrari F355, but you can't play them unless you buy an overpriced movie ticket.

[Poofta!]

the fast n furious machine by my (now old dorm, since i graduated) was replaced by another amazing game from the same developers, called.... *drum roll* TARGET: TERROR!!!


YEAHH!!!!

oh yeah, mvc is now powerstone 2 (pretty good) theres another pinball machine there now, and some terrible terrible snowmobile or jetskii (i forget) game with a seat type thing. yeah.

[Push Upstairs]

The arcade near me has moved to a larger (2x larger) place in the mall.

Still got the old "Car" Crusin' USA, but I don't think it moves around anymore. No pressure pads or roped off area like when it was new.

Crusin' the World game was a joke: screen was heavily tinted green...it looked like it was hooked up to an old Apple IIc monitor.

Have yet to try "Sega GT" because I'm unsure about it...and player 1 doesn't work.

And the one item that makes it worth going there: The new "Aliens" themed shooter. Play as a Colonial Space Marine on LV-426. :rocker: I was feeling good about playing it (even though I nailed two fellow marines and blew myself and an alien up with a grenade) until some dude complimented my shooting and then hit me up to join the Army reserve. :grrr:

[Apollo]

What I posted here on Sun Jun 12, 2005 2:25 am

Seaside Heights- N.J. Shore ..(perfect day,not too hot and not cold)
First off we Hit the Great!! "Flashback" Retrogame Arcade there.....No,Neo Geo MVS but they had SNK Mechanized Attack that I played.
The Arcade is Filled with Old retro Machines.
We spend so much time in this Arcade going from one machine to the other..I got pretty far in Mr.Do,Spy Hunter and Star Wars,Sit in =Turbo.


Yup, good ol' Seaside Heights, there are still some decent arcades there, from what I remember. I spent about $30 in one day there with a few friends, then drove back up to North Jersey the same day!

[Flack]

... until some dude complimented my shooting and then hit me up to join the Army reserve. :grrr:

Haha, that's awesome! I would have acted all paranoid and asked the guy, "will I get to take on the real aliens?"

[hbkprm]

i really love the arcade from street fighter to crazy taxi so what

[FoxyGamer]

yeah no doubt, arcades are beat nowadays.

Japanese style arcade games are still where it's at, you guys are right- DDR is probably the biggest draw at any arcade. Now let's get a Bemani dominated arcade going at the Jersey Shore and we can all play Pop n' music and Para Para Paradise. <3

[Push Upstairs]

Haha, that's awesome! I would have acted all paranoid and asked the guy, "will I get to take on the real aliens?"

I don't know what is worse, the fact that he thought my shooting was good despite inadvertently killing myself and nailing two marines, or the fact that he was looking for recruits in an arcade. O_O


Next time I have a buck and I'm at the mall i'm going to try the game again.

[Muscelli]

damn dude, I have a house in LBI and can see seaside heights right there, every time ive been there I have never seen these arcades youre talking about, just people trying to scam you out of your money with their own games

[Rob2600]

I was down the shore last month, and drove down to Seaside to go to Flashbacks. Wound up playing Pole Position II, Donkey Kong, Super Off Road, and few others, and then played The Simpsons all the way to the last level. We also tried the Multi-Arcade they had, but it was mostly Japanese games that I didn't like.

You also played Punch-Out!!. I played Track and Field and Rampage. There was also a Hercules pinball machine by Atari from 1979...you know, the gigantic one with the baseball-sized ball.

I liked that Multi machine or whatever it's called. We played Street Fighter II and Commando on it.

[Omni]

One of the main reasons I go the Seaside Boardwalk is to go to the Carousel Arcade. Its cheap, its got kickass games, and it allows me to kill some time quite nicely. The best machine they have there is an Ultracade machine, where they have a nice variety of 80s & 90s arcade games. (Darkstalkers? SWEET!) The best part? Living 10 minutes away from it!