Arcades: Extinct?

Only at multiplexes and bowling alleys.

The Boardwalk in Santa Cruz California has a warehouse sized Arcade with everything from Pac man, Defender etc from the 80's to the new stuff those kids like. It's amazing! Recommended if you ever get out there....

 

Edited by Cylon Baby - 3/28/11 at 9:18pm

 

And hotels...
 

My 10 year old cousin didn''t know that Arcade was a place.  To him, they're just those game machines at the movies.

 

Kids these days!

 

 

I haven't been there in forever.

 

There used to be this great little arcade at the mall when I was a kid (you know, back when every mall had an arcade).  My friends and I would go there every weekend and waste hours of our lives.  It was awesome.  Until the mall refused to renew their lease so they could open up a fucking Blockbuster!

 

There used to be an awesome nickel arcade somewhere in NorCal around Petaluma or Navato, I think?  Was basically this huge warehouse with wall-to-wall games.  Wonder what became of that place...

We have one on our oceanfront/resort strip here.  I rediscovered it recently during my old school arcade game rediscovery period.  It actually has a pretty good selection of games, including 20+ old school games (Galaga, Tron, etc.)

There's an arcade here called the Barcade...it's a bar, and an arcade in one. All classic arcade games, pinball machines, all the goodies.

Awesome one in Brooklyn, too. Lots of brews on tap. And... RAMPAGE.

 

It's a sad truth, but it's a truth nonetheless that arcades are slowly dying out.  I've still been able to find one on occasion in a mall here or there, but otherwise the best you can hope for is a couple of cabinets at a Putt Putt, movie theater, pizza place, bowling alleys, or amusement parks.  And in most cases all that is generally offered is a shooting game, a racing game, a fighting game, DDR or other variation of, and maybe a classic cabinet of Ms. Pacman/Galaga.

 

I actually had the privilege of having my tenth b-day party at an Aladdin's Castle arcade back in 1985.  Probably one of my favourite birthdays as a kid.   Sigh.

Awesome! The one here is great fun. They've got freaking TRON!

 

Heh, I'd say "dead for at least a decade" is probably more accurate than "slowly dying out".  If anything, the trickle of bar/arcades or arcade museums are signs of a nostalgic mini-revival after a complete bottoming out.  But even those are arcade games from decades ago.  There is literally no money to be made at all on new arcade games, your local dive's Golden Tee or Buck Hunter notwithstanding.

 

Once consoles hit "arcade perfect" and then "better than arcade perfect", the bell tolled.

 

There's a place here in Austin that opened up recently. Something like 10,000 sq ft and they claim to have no fewer than 80 pinball machines going at any time. Quite a few older arcade games up to the semi-newer ones like Star Wars Trilogy and a sit down version of Pod Racer. Oh, and until they get their liquor license, it's BYOB. Sweet!

Chicagoland has GameWorks (I think these were originally started by Dreamworks but are now run by SEGA), and Dave and Buster's, although I don't consider them arcades in the true sense of the word seeing that they are also house bars and restaurants. I hear that there are a few arcades down the Ozark way, but never been there to confirm.

My mom worked for Gottlieb when I was a kid and she'd always bring home little parts of pinball machines. Those were the days...

Here in calgary the only arcades left are in the theaters, and up at the airport. otherwise, the last Wizards Arcade closed up when the malls got 'upgraded'.

 

West Ed Mall up in Edmonton still has a huge Circuit Circus which is fun. And when I was in Vegas there was a big arcade center that had a digital card you could buy time on instead of pumping coins.

 

 

I gotta say though, I really miss my local arcades. I remember being a kid and waiting around the video store just to watch someone play Street Fighter 2 Turbo. I pumped hundreds of dollars of my allowance into that machine. MK3 Ultimate and the Marvel Vs anyone were big ones too.

 

Aren't Arcades till big in Japan still? With tournaments and everything?

Can't say I miss arcades. I used to spend a lot of time at them but in retrospect all they did was waste my money. The only arcade games I still see around are various driving games and dance games that always seem to be occupied by Japanese schoolgirls.

Navidson, Gameworks is...Awesome!  I went to one on vacation in, Las Vegas.  It had...4 floors of games.  Oh, and for those interested a...Rock Climbing Wall!

 

I miss old NYC arcades like...Broadway Arcade (52nd St), the same families, Broadway City Arcade 42nd between Broadway and 8th ave, and XS and it's tagline...Too Much Is Never Enough!  XS had Gunblade NY, an awesome 4 player linked Tokyo Wars and classics like Rampage.  Broadway Arcade started as a...Skee Ball Parlor, with Pinball machines.  There was also an old arcade on 42nd st, where you had to literally, walk over sleeping people to get to the machines.  That one had...The Punisher!  There also used to be an arcade/laser tag place on 46th between 7th and Broadway, with Marvel Vs Capcom 2, SNK Vs Capcom 2, Spy Hunter, and Star Wars Trilogy, that I used to go to.  Now, only...Dave and Busters remains.

Gameworks is pretty great. Went to the one in Seattle several times when I was there. A cupholder on every machine!

 

Not sure if it's still there, it's been a few years. If Nooj pops in this thread I'm sure he could confirm or deny.
 

That's awesome. She should have brought back a different part every day and reassembled a machine at home like that Johnny Cash song about the car. The title is eluding my feeble brain at the moment.
 

 

 

Barcade has this too. Definitely a big plus.

I know theres's an arcade in the mall around here. And the San Francisco bay area has at least one of those mini golf places that has a full arcade.

But the coolest arcade I have seen in recent memory was at Disneyland last year. Right when Tron was coming out, they turned a part of the park into elecTRONica, a Tron experience, complete with a replica of Flynn's arcade. And all the games were from the period. It was amazing, my girlfriend had to drag me out of there.

Disco Von Doom, Pier 39, in San Francisco has an arcade, that is pretty...Awesome!  There is also a sports bar with direct tv, and plenty of flat screen tvs for whatever sport you follow!

Yeah, but it's not as cool as the arcade they used to have, now it's more of a Dave and Busters type affair, before it was a huge arcade complete with full on bumper cars.