Does anyone have an arcade nearby that people hang out at?

Sadly no and we don't even have a FGC around my neck of the woods so I can only compete on line. It really is a bummer cause if there was an arcade around here to play SF and KOF I would be there every weekend.

SS Billiards is 10 minutes away from my house, and I visit with Lloyd once in a while and play his decent selection of pins.

Supposedly there will be a "barcade" opening in uptown, but I usually avoid that area because driving and parking is a pain in the dick.

100proof said:

Couple of middling barcades downtown. Closest serious bidness arcade is Lost Ark in Greensboro. Anyone within shouting distance should go.

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I srsly pimp that place to like everyone I talk to. Small but mighty! @OP Lost Ark usually has the big name console fighting games running in their cabs (SF5, GGXrd) and they always get the most play, more than 3rd strike and Super Turbo, even though ppl could easily play the games at home. It speaks volumes for the social aspect of arcade gaming.

Mr Bakaboy said:

I hear from a friend on XBL that there was a good arcade in Cincinnati. Supposedly when the owner returns there are tourneys. You know anything of it or did it close down?

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Sorry I don't. What I was thinking of was in Newport KY which you basically have to cross the Ohio into Cincy, roll slightly east in the freeway and back into KY to get to and it's in a huge shopping/fun complex which has an excellent aquarium. I do recall from people back when I was more into the retro gaming until it turned all predatory asshole that various people like you're thinking of would hold yearly conferences/events for classic gaming systems, computers, handhelds and arcade in the area at some convention center there but I've never gone.

We used to have one called Whimsy at the Mall nothing but Capcom shit and shitty ticket games I'm glad it's gone, any way my dreamcast and atomiswave is my arcade for now.

Tanooki said:

Sorry I don't. What I was thinking of was in Newport KY which you basically have to cross the Ohio into Cincy, roll slightly east in the freeway and back into KY to get to and it's in a huge shopping/fun complex which has an excellent aquarium. I do recall from people back when I was more into the retro gaming until it turned all predatory asshole that various people like you're thinking of would hold yearly conferences/events for classic gaming systems, computers, handhelds and arcade in the area at some convention center there but I've never gone.

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I'll send my friend a message and get more info if I can.

bogard said:

i wish. i was in the arcade at least once a week when trocadero was around in london. even invited kernow to come along. but the arcade days of the uk are over.

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You heard about heart of gaming in London? I read about them in Edge a while back. It's a retro revival community arcade project. Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/TheHeartOfGaming/

Sadly a bunch of little bastards broke in at night and stole a load of their stuff. They are now closed but looking for a new premises according to their Facebook page, keep your eyes peeled

Arcade revival is on the cards in Edinburgh too. Konboarcade is promising to bring MVS, Naomi and Capcom arcade machines and social gaming back. They were very close to opening but didn't get planning permission for the venue they had in mind. It's still happening but delayed till they find the right venue https://www.facebook.com/konboarcadecafe/

After a bleak few years, the arcade scene in the UK could be making a small comeback

bogard said:

i still remember going there to play all the newly released sf alpha and kof games when trocadero was sega world . too bad they shut it down. now it's turning into a hotel..... with no arcades lol.

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The old Sega park in Edinburgh is now a titty bar called fantasy palace. As they say at the start of Space Harrier 'Welcome to the fantasy zone, GET READY!'.

there are a couple of arcades here, most of them hidden away it seems (i.e. on top floors of malls, not well-advertised). but the selection is great. one place had Outrunners, I played that at least once or twice a month during siesta. another place has a four car Outrun 2 Super Deluxe cab which is great, and some light gun games like Go Go Safari! and Deadstorm Pirates (this game is tits! probably the best thing to come out of Pirates of the Caribbean craze in mid 2000s).

EVERY arcade here has KOF 97, no idea why it's most popular KOF but it is. and a surprisingly high number of arcades have Neo-Geo Double Dragon as well, out of all the fighters why that?

beat em ups are mostly Final Fight, The Punisher, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs. definitely boots though.

Now is there a 'scene'? No I guess not. But internet cafes are really popular. I never go to them but went with a friend last week to play pool there, and it was packed full of people playing Hearthstone, LOL and whatever gay shit people play nowadays.

we have a Barcade that just opened up in new haven and it's pretty well stocked with all kinds of games. my girlfriend and I spent half the night there before leaving and realizing the door had a sign that said "must be 21 or older to enter"

When I was a kid, our mall had an Aladdin's Castle. Eventually, it became a Take Ten (if I'm remembering right). The space eventually closed and was sub-divided into a couple of other shops. In the early 2000s, a Time-Out opened at the front of the mall, which finally brought a DDR machine to my town (I think it was a 5th Mix for all of like a week before becoming a DDRMAX2). It was definitely a very great spot and lots of people would hang out. It closed fairly quickly, though.

There was a Putt-Putt in town, and most of the crowd started going over there as they seemed like they wanted the business finally. They got a DDR Extreme machine (which eventually got replaced by a Pump It Up...and then back to a DDR with DDR SuperNova), SoulCalibur II, Initial D, etc. There built up a decent and dedicated crowd, but when they just left DDR SuperNova on the floor for forever without upgrading it to SuperNova 2 and focused more on building a bowling alley and such...well, the regulars all started to disappear.

I eventually stopped going because I was the only person my age in there aside from the staff (and even some of them were younger than me). Never a good thing when there's a bunch of little kids running around.

That's what finally pushed me into arcade collecting as I wanted my own arcade in my house.

Round 1 at Eastridge sucks balls for video games. All it has is a bunch of contemporary phone ports, boring racing games that somehow have worse graphics than normal PC games, and shitty rhythm garbage. I guess it's fine if you like dog shit, but there's nothing in there of interest to me.

Modern arcades are depressing. You used to go to arcades to see the future: hardware so advanced and expensive that it wasn't practical to be in your home. Today, I go to an arcade and see some shitty 720p game running on an underpowered budget PC. At home, I've got 4k and 144hz monitors and CPUs and GPUs orders of magnitude more powerful than what's in these modern arcade games. It's a joke. To top it off, my joysticks and buttons aren't sticky and semen encrusted unlike the filth you experience in an arcade. Gaming at home shouldn't be more advanced than it is in the arcades. We used to put up with body odor and busted control panels because arcade hardware was that much better. Now it's like getting kicked in the balls for the privilege of being slapped in the face.

There is an arcade about 25 miles from my house in Huntsville Al. Good selection of games and a few pinballs as well. Everything is set to free play and you pay a fee up front (10 bucks for all day play) and that's it. They have games from 80s on up and a few candy cabs.

The last time I went my son was with me and had a blast and he made a few friends too. I spent a good bit of my time on SFIII. The guy that owns it has one up in Nashville as well. I have not been, but it is good from what I hear. So I am lucky that I have somewhere to go that's a real arcade.

smokehouse said:

No, and that really sucks. I was just telling my wife last weekend how much I miss the Aladdin's Castle arcades in the malls. We have one bar/arcade that has a few cabs, but its a bar and I can't take my 7 year old there.

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I'm not particularly fond of the 21+ barcades either. Did those even exist back in the 80s and 90s? I don't even remember seeing any back then.

Lets Gekiga In said:

I'm not particularly fond of the 21+ barcades either. Did those even exist back in the 80s and 90s? I don't even remember seeing any back then.

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Yes, by me at least. All ages until 8pm then 21 and up.

That was 84 and the place had been around for years. It was a poolhall, driving range, go carts, restaurant, bar and arcade.

Hm... NJ is good and bad. I don't live near any arcades, but I can get to them.

The Yestercades locations in Somerville and Red Bank are pretty good, but it can end up being more expensive than it would have been if you paid per play in quarters. They have an hourly rate thing or a $25 day pass.

I know there's 8 on the Break in Howell or something, but I haven't been there since 2001. Back then, it was a Capcom fighting game paradise, and I wanted to play some SNK fighters. There were some other games, but it was mostly nothing I couldn't play anywhere else at the time. I also remember it being ridiculously loud. Looking at their website, they might have Initial D or Wangan Midnight or something these days, I don't know. I might go back there someday, but I'll be bringing my earplugs.

I think there's a Barcade up by Hoboken or a Dave and Buster's in Jersey City or something. I don't know. If I'm going to go up that way, I'll just get on the train to Manhattan and go to the Manhattan locations of those places. Besides, I had a crazy-ass girlfriend who lived in Hoboken who I don't want to run into ever again.

Except for the Ms. Pac Man/Galaga in the lobby of the movie theater in the Brunswick Square Mall in East Brunswick, SKIP.

The shore's been hit or miss for a decade, but it's mostly miss now, especially with the proliferation of redemption machines.

Keansburg got shuffled up after Hurricane Sandy. Unfortunately, one of the three arcades never reopened. The remaining two aren't that great. My favorite game there is a non-linked pair of Daytona USA 2 cabs. The right side works better, but it's still crappy. There are also a couple of those bootleg 60-in-1 or whatever cabs. They're okay, but they're not great. And of course you've got the crap like Dead Heat or whatever.

Point Pleasant is a pass. There are three arcades there, but it's mostly the same three recent games over and over. Transformers, Aliens, and something else I forget. There is a Ms. Pac Man/Galaga. That's about it. The Star Wars Model 3 is busted.

Seaside Park/Heights is a veritable pass, too. After Carousel Arcade/Flashbacks got clobbered by Hurricane Sandy, that was just about it for there. Then the fire happened, and the rest is history. I last went there a couple years ago where they had a tiny retro arcade with pricing like Yestercades but worse, especially for the amount of games they had. The rest of the arcades are pretty much copies of Point Pleasant arcades.

Barnacle Bill's in Ortley Beach... They're not perfect, but there's some interesting stuff there. Their miniature golf course kicks ass, too.

The Silver Ball Museum in Asbury Park is great for pinball and pretty good for really retro games like Donkey Kong.

I've heard of a spectacularly crappy pinball place way down in Wildwood or something. Like, it's extremely bad. They don't maintain their tables at all, and they charge an arm and a leg for a short amount of time. Avoid.

The obituaries...

Midstate Bowl in East Brunswick closed. IIRC, the building remained unused until a New York Sports Clubs moved in a few years later. It's definitely the NYSC now.

Hill Lanes in Old Bridge gave way to the big Wal-Mart complex. That sucked.

Funmania in East Brunswick also gave way to another Wal-Mart complex. That sucked, too.

The Route 18 Market in East Brunswick had a few games, but it gave way to... you know the drill.

Sports N Stuff in East Brunswick also went out of business. Bummer.

I'd heard about... Richie Knucklez? Didn't that close? It is/was more south. By Camden? I'll pass on the DMZ, thank you.

I already mentioned it, but I'll mention it again. Carousel Arcade in Seaside. *Moment of silence* This was my absolute most favorite place in the world. Stevie D.'s wasn't too far from it. In fact, the only building to survive the fire on that end of the boardwalk was the Saw Mill bar. Royal Arcade (name changed to something else around 2008ish) also got swept up in that fire.

The various mall arcades around Central NJ. The one in Brunswick Square Mall in East Brunswick was around for a long time. At one point it got taken over by Namco, but it closed shortly after that. Then the location became Wok Express. To this day, I have an irrational hatred of Wok Express. I no more than got a car and a job and the arcade closed. It sucked. There was an arcade at the Freehold Raceway Mall in Freehold. I happened to go there on the day they were auctioning off the games. That was depressing. There was also an arcade in... I think it was the Menlo Park Mall. If it wasn't that, then it was Woodbridge Center. I remember one of them had an arcade and the other one didn't. I didn't make it to that arcade more than a few times, but I remember enjoying it. It was the first place I played Last Bronx.

There were a couple arcades across the street from the "boardwalk" in Keansburg throughout the 90s. You could hear the "DAYTOOOOOOONNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!" across the street, but besides that I don't remember much about them. There was one more tiny arcade that opened up in 2001 on the "boardwalk" that was a gutted-out game of chance stand that they tucked some games into. They had a functioning Daytona USA there, so that automatically makes it a good memory for me.

Finally, Amboy Cinemas in Sayreville. Closed in the late 90s or early 00s due to the land being declared unstable or something and deemed too unsafe to have people inside the building. They had a humongous lobby space which they filled up with arcade games. It was awesome.

galloping ghost.

its hard to think of something better anywhere.

LoneSage said:

there are a couple of arcades here, most of them hidden away it seems (i.e. on top floors of malls, not well-advertised). but the selection is great. one place had Outrunners, I played that at least once or twice a month during siesta. another place has a four car Outrun 2 Super Deluxe cab which is great, and some light gun games like Go Go Safari! and Deadstorm Pirates (this game is tits! probably the best thing to come out of Pirates of the Caribbean craze in mid 2000s).

EVERY arcade here has KOF 97, no idea why it's most popular KOF but it is. and a surprisingly high number of arcades have Neo-Geo Double Dragon as well, out of all the fighters why that?

beat em ups are mostly Final Fight, The Punisher, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs. definitely boots though.

Now is there a 'scene'? No I guess not. But internet cafes are really popular. I never go to them but went with a friend last week to play pool there, and it was packed full of people playing Hearthstone, LOL and whatever gay shit people play nowadays.

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Wow. Pretty awesome sage.

There's a Dave and Busters on the top floor of Southdale Mall. It has a so-so selection. I've never really played there. There's also a retro game store I frequent near the D&Bs that sells games and has an MKII cab dedicated for free play. He used to have a pop n music there, but unfortunately, it didn't work. :ohno:

synbiosfan said:

Yes, by me at least. All ages until 8pm then 21 and up.

That was 84 and the place had been around for years. It was a poolhall, driving range, go carts, restaurant, bar and arcade.

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I should've clarified, the arcade near me is only 21+ all day. Once a month they have an all ages day where it lasts only from 12-5 and has to be accompanied by an adult.

lolifoxgirl said:

There are a couple in portland that I feel kind of eh about. Wish someone would open one up on the west side...

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Quarterworld, D&B, Wunderland/Avalon (nickel arcade), and Ground Kontrol. I thought there was at least a Wunderland in Beaverton? That's where I met my wife playing DDR .

Quarterworld and Wudnerland/Avalon both have admission fees, D&B just gets expensive with family, and Ground Kontrol is decent. In fact, I think they're remodeling to make the place bigger.

DanAdamKOF said:

Yeah, Round 1 at Eastridge Mall in San Jose, CA is pretty happening. My friends go there a lot and I'll show up sometimes to hang out. I've met a lot of people there as well.

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Never heard of it, will have to stop by next time I'm in town visiting my aunt, the only other arcades I can think of are area 51 in the sony metreon which no longer exists (sadly) Dave and Busters and the one in the santa cruz boardwalk, that one had a pretty cool vibe because I saw guys come in after school with their backpacks and just play SF4

Jibbajaba said:

We have a barcade here in Sacramento. It's very well-stocked with both arcade cabs and pinball machines. I would imagine that they would probably want to buy a new Street Fighter cab if it came out, but I dunno.

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and now I have a reason to visit Sacramento

Alpha Skyhawk said:

Hm... NJ is good and bad. I don't live near any arcades, but I can get to them.

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Good rundown on NJ then and now, but you forgot Stan's Sports World in Paramus. Not sure when they closed, but that place was freakin' mindblowing when I like 10 or so back in the early-mid 90s. It was huge, tons of arcade games, lots of simulators and drivers, a roller rink and some other stuff. I remember trying some Virtual Reality game there for like $5....it wasn't quite ready for prime time, but you wouldn't see those kinds of giant innovative games anywhere else at the time.

I also remember the Ocean 1 mall in Atlantic City having a killer arcade. That was back in the late 80s/early 90s though.

In Arlington, Texas, we got Round 1.

Here in Korea, there are PLENTY. The main one I hit up isn't exactly an arcade but it has a strong community regardless. Arcade Stream is where the elite Street Fighter, KOF, Tekken and Guilty Gear players play.

Firepro4life52 said:

Good rundown on NJ then and now, but you forgot Stan's Sports World in Paramus. Not sure when they closed, but that place was freakin' mindblowing when I like 10 or so back in the early-mid 90s. It was huge, tons of arcade games, lots of simulators and drivers, a roller rink and some other stuff. I remember trying some Virtual Reality game there for like $5....it wasn't quite ready for prime time, but you wouldn't see those kinds of giant innovative games anywhere else at the time.

I also remember the Ocean 1 mall in Atlantic City having a killer arcade. That was back in the late 80s/early 90s though.

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I never knew about Stan's Sports World, but I never go to Paramus. Atlantic City, too.

Are these even viable?
I can see it working if they were weekend only establishments, but I just dont see that many people hanging out at arcades anymore.

I dont know any in my area anymore.