My Local Video Arcade Has Closed Shop

[Rogmeister]

At least, I think it's closed up forever. I went up to the mall and was surprised to see it was locked up, the lights were out and all the machines were gone. There's a slight chance they could be either moving to another vacant store or doing some remodeling but I have a feeling that, after being open for 30 years, they've finally gone out of business. It's too bad but I didn't like what they had become...very few games I liked and not nearly as many arcade machines...spread wide apart and a lot fewer than they used to have. So long, guys and here's one final...

wacka-wacka-wacka... :(

[boatofcar]

There was another arcade besides Tilt in the Huntington Mall in WV?

[Rogmeister]

I don't know...that's not the mall I'm talking about. I don't think I've ever even been to Hunington. The mall I'm talking about is actually across the Ohio River in Steubenville, Ohio...not actually in West Virginia.

[boatofcar]

Ah, I didn't even know one was there! :(

[downfall]

There was another arcade besides Tilt in the Huntington Mall in WV?

Dude! You really haven't been here for a while. ;)

Seriously though, at one point last year you had:

Tilt in Huntington
Billy Bob's Pizza Wonderland in Huntington
Fun Room (or whatever other lame name it was) in the Town Center Mall
Power Play in Kanawha Mall
Chuck E' Cheese in Southridge
Go Kart Speedway in Southridge
Rock Lake in Spring Hill

The Tilt's still there - it's got some good stuff, and even a new Tekken 5, though it's mostly newer (1996+). Think they have a few of those combo Namco cabs, but that's about it for the retro stuff. They also have a Time Crisis 3, which is important, as you'll see.

Billy Bob's finally got rid of most of their good games. Forever they had Snow Bros., 4-Player Simpsons, Super Off Road and a ton of other great older games. Now they've also got Time Crisis 3, Soul Caliber 2, and a ton of ticket stuff like Skee-ball and such.

Fun Room in the Town Center closed - it was pretty weak anyway, so it's no suprise. A bank took that over, and now there's just a cubbyhole in the wall that houses about 5 cabs - one of which is yet another Time Crisis 3.

Chuck E' Cheese is pretty bad - the only good game they had was that firefighting game where you have the hose nozzle for a controller - and the novelty of that wears off after the first play or two, especially with the employees there. They hassle you if you go in to just play games, which is completely illogical. But hey, if they don't want to make money, no biggie - I don't go there anymore.

Rock Lake is still Rock Lake - though they had some pretty good stuff last time I was there. I seem to remember a linked Daytona USA among other things. It's about half and half on ticket games and video games though. Been about a year though, so they could have closed down for all I know.

The new Southridge Go Kart Speedway is fantastic - best arcade that we have right now, and the go karts are a blast to boot. They've got a great mix of some really new stuff (New Pump it Up, some of the newer Konami Motion-Sensing games, etc.), and a bunch of older games that you don't see often at all. It's good stuff, and a nice facility.

The absolute best was Power Play in the Kanawha Mall, and unfortunately, they shut down late last year. Shame too, because they had everything. Tons of classics (Centipede, Buster Bros., Bubble Bobble I think), shooters (Carnevil, Police Trainer), fighters, Neo-Geo stuff, great pinballs - just one of the best varieties I've seen anywhere, and probably the best small arcade I've ever been in. I gave 'em a ton of business, but it really wasn't a great location - the Kanawha Mall is pretty shady.

Eventually, you'll probably only have the new Go-Kart place. It's got a great location, and it really is a nice facility - they've actually done it right for a change around here. LOL

[AMG]

Always sad to see another arcade die.

[boatofcar]

There was another arcade besides Tilt in the Huntington Mall in WV?

Dude! You really haven't been here for a while. ;)


Rock Lake is still Rock Lake - though they had some pretty good stuff last time I was there. I seem to remember a linked Daytona USA among other things. It's about half and half on ticket games and video games though. Been about a year though, so they could have closed down for all I know.



Unfortunately, last time I came home, Rock Lake had shut down. I wanted to take my then-gf there, and we went underneath that spooky tunnel you have to go through, and everything was dark and chained up. A darn shame too, because I loved going there. I can't believe it closed due to lack of business, although it was in a kind of shady part of town.

[downfall]

For shame. :(

I have some good memories of Rock Lake. They were the first people anywhere around here to have Laser Tag - and it stayed that way forever. Same goes for the Go-Karts. And after the mini-golf in Teays Valley closed, they were pretty much the only real mini-golf course around.

Speaking of mini-golf, I forgot about Par-4. They had an arcade last time I was there, but we had to rush about 20 people through the mini-golf course in about a half an hour due to some poor timing, so nobody was able to check it out. I'll have to swing by there after work tomorrow.

[boatofcar]

Par 4 on Rt 60, right? I go there all the time when I'm home. Driving range, batting cages, arcade w/ Teed Off and Theatre of Magic IIRC, a great place!

[downfall]

The same! I also haven't been there for at least a year, much like Rock Lake. Par 4 at least seems to do some advertising and such, which is something I never saw out of Rock Lake.

Personally, I'd love to see someone renovate the old Hills building in Teays Valley and do something really great there - Indoor Go-Karts, huge arcade, good food, etc., etc. I believe it would be successful, if only because there's nothing else around here. Given the ability, funds, and time - that would be somewhat of a dream job for me, but that probably won't ever happen though. LOL

[Damion]

Back when I lived in California (ontario to more precise) they opened a huge mall which has a Gameworks and a Dave and Busters. Gameworks by far was the best. a little pricey when you grew up paying 25 cents for a good game. But they had something to the effect of "Gaming Happy hour" where you would pay twelve bucks for an hour of arcade time. which was nice. I'm not sure if it's still there anymore.

When I moved to vegas I thought that I would at least have gameworks if anything but three months later it closed down. so now theres nothing but crappy casino arcades that seem to only cater to Ticket games. I like skeeball and all but geez.

I swear me and my wife are the ONLY people that live in vegas that dosen't gamble.


Sorry to here you lost an arcade in your area. I know I miss them too.

[Sanriostar]

I live 5 minutes away from the former site of PackMann's in Pasadena, CA, and the furniture store there is GOING UNDER!!!!! Eat it, B**ch! Pack Mann's has had it's revenge!!!!!!!!

...and being a furniture salesman means a little less competition. :roll:

[namzep]

God, the last arcade around here closed 4 years or so ago. The local University bought the building it was in and, more-or-less, forced it out.

[tutankham]

The arcade near me moved. It is still in the same mall. Only now it has 1/3 the space. So it is cramped. They also managed to keep the least intersting games as well, to boot. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUU UUUDDDDDDDDDDDDGGGGGGGGGEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

[Videogamerdaryll]

Always sad to see another arcade die.

Ditto..

[googlefest1]

i think the biggest thing hurting the arcades is the cost of playing

i remeber as a kid i could spend hours in an arcade with 5$ in my pocket -- today thats like 2 plays on some machines

theres this arcade that opend up near me that has a retro flare and they seem to be doing very well

the games priced ok for the most part (many 25c) and you can spend some time in there with 15$ in your pocket


i think the general feeling is that arcades have to keep up with consoles so the hardware and development cost goes up therfore migrating to the user. unfortunatly, i dont think that will ever change

so i think at least for a little while arcades with older machines will be poping up

arcades need to offer incetives to keep customers happy - like 20$ gets you 30$ in tokens -- many dont do that

[segagamer4life]

Always sad to see another arcade die.



AMEN bro, I can speak for that, because I have seen my share of arcades go down in my area... it stinks...its getting harder and harder to find quality arcades in my area.

[Arkaign]

I miss the feel of the old arcades myself. There's a big Gameworks near here, but it doesn't feel *right* to me. I guess I'm just an old-timer. I hate those blasted cards, I must be nostalgic for the good old tokens or just plain ol quarters.

Many fine hours racking quarters across the glass on SF2, having crowds watching, or just popping them into classics like Forgotten Worlds or Time Warriors and the like.

I guess, for me .. slapping a buck-fifty by a card into a big cheesy racing game that lasts 100 seconds doesn't make me want to repeat it.

Oh well, I hope arcades evolve and survive. I actually had ideas waaaaay back when I was in the NWC, seemed pie-in-the-sky back then, but now they are doable. Nationwide (or WORLD-wide) arcade network, with audio/video feeds, so that players can link up and compete (or just have fun ..) with other locations. Companies could run promotions weekly or whatever (free DVD of X movie, $25 gift cert at GameStop, etc) for the winners, and throw in some random prizes for 1,000th player of the day or whatever. Put some excitement, and some feeling of community back into the arcade.

[kevin_psx]

Arcades died with disco. They were meeting places, but after 1985 that function was gone. Replaced with home gatherings around "arcade quality" NESes.

[ubersaurus]

Just about all of my local arcades closed up over the past couple years, culminating in the arcade in Detroit for fighting games last fall. Of course, a new one popped up in the mall nearby some months back, and they're finally getting some good stuff-Simpsons, Guilty Gear XX, a Namco combo cab, and some pinball machines.

I guess there will always be someone looking to bring em back alive.

[Lady Jaye]

I know that the arcade belonging to the bar where I go for karaoke, almost closed down recently -- until the lease was lowered by the mall. At least that's what the barman told me last weekend.

Phew, that was a close call! Although I still miss the old DDR machine in there -- nothing like a game of DDR after a few drinks!

[Arkaign]

The arcades around here had a kind of renaissance in the early '90s with Street Fighter 2 etc. I remember the special systems with an extra screen way up high for spectators, and *big* crowds gathering. At Collin Creek mall, the challenge line sometimes got to around 2 hours.

[ClassicGameTrader]

There was another arcade besides Tilt in the Huntington Mall in WV?

Damn, I didn't know tilt was a chain! The one at lakeside mall in michigan must have closed 5-7 years ago. The FYE had a gameroom but I swear they never put a new game in after they opened and eventually nobody came.[/quote]

[Pantechnicon]

I know this loss all too well. The arcade of my teen years - The Happy Bear - was located in a mall in my hometown of Santa Fe and has actually been closed for several years now. The mall management had been using the space as a storage area. However, the signs and whatnot were still up, so one could walk by it and at least enjoy a tinge of nostalgia.

However, last week I was just in that mall again for the first time in several months and now the even the shell of The Happy Bear is utterly gone and has been replaced with a frikkin Tuesday Afternoon. Suffice to say this completely killed my evening :( .

[Cirrus]

I don't know...that's not the mall I'm talking about. I don't think I've ever even been to Hunington. The mall I'm talking about is actually across the Ohio River in Steubenville, Ohio...not actually in West Virginia.

Although I live up in Akron, I've been to that Tilt plenty in the last 5 or 6 years. Too bad to hear that it's gone. My wife went to school down there, so whenever I came down we would go there and I would do the Fight Mania game (some Fist of the North Star bemani goodness). They were actually talking about maybe selling the cab to me, since it was not really functioning properly anyway.

Sorry to hear that it's gone.

[Rogmeister]

I'm wondering if they could have moved instead of just going out of business...though I don't remember seeing any signs. If I go back sometime and find out anything like that, I'll mention it here. I may be going back over there on Sunday to see another movie (though I'm not sure I will) and if I do, I'll see if anything's changed though I'm not hopeful. Guess I could call their phone number and see what kind of a message I get...

"I'm sorry, but the number you are calling has ceased to exist..." :/