Shout Out the Arcade you grew up in.

[Inky]

Aladdin's Castle -- Louis Joliet Mall

Putt Putt Golf & Games, Joliet IL (Essington Road)

That Game Place -- Jefferson Square Mall, Joliet, IL

 

All three are defunct. They replaced Aladdin's Castle with a lame-ass "Pocket Change" arcade.

 

Putt Putt is long gone, and Jefferson Square Mall was torn down 3 years ago

[slampam]

King Louie West (now AMF) Bowling Alley & Ice Chateau.

Their early 80's Arcade overlooked a glassed in ice skating rink and had a built up illuminated platform just for the new games.

 

Putt Putt behind Glenwood Theatre (Star Wars world record for $1 million in first year ). demolished

[frogstar_robot]

The Huntington Mall in Barboursville WV had two Gold Mines with some titles in one and not the other. The Gold Mine near the theatre tended to carry Atari vector titles. I enjoyed the hell out of Quantum and Black Widow especially. It also had a Wizard Of Wor which was a perfect sort of game to have in a darkened Gold Mine. The other Gold Mine tended to have large sit down cabs like M.A.C.H 3. Good times. A dark Gold Mine with cabs cranked loud and packed to the gills with games is still my idea of a proper arcade. I also spent time at the Scratch 'N' Tilt in Huntington WV which was a pinball/pool hall that very naturally added a slowly changing but well maintained selection to the front of the place.

 

I was also local to Ashland KY which got a new mall in '87 or so with an arcade I don't recall the name of but then I wasn't as fond of it as the others. This place had the only Exterminator cab I ever saw. Neat game when it was working.

 

About the time the mall in Ashland went in, the Gold Mines at the Huntington Mall were shut down and replaced with a wretched "Family Fun Center" that badly maintained their cabs; this place was my first exposure to the shift towards redemption games. There are few things sadder than a Hard Drivin' with a badly calibrated wheel and the force feedback out.

 

The WV arcades are all defunct now and so is the one in Ashland most likely. The last arcade I spent a lot of time in was a no-name arcade at the mall in Lancaster OH in the mid-nineties. They had four T-Meks networked together that I played the hell out of though I got irritated with the Nintendiods who were forever using special codes to play in the "special arenas" that were mostly lame. Aw well, all were fair Suicide Mek fodder. It wasn't highly frequented when I moved so I doubt this place is around either.

Edited February 4, 2009 by frogstar_robot

[Silverfleet]

Dream Machine-Hull, MA (still in operation in the summer)

Penny Arcade-Hull, MA (closed, but still full of old arcade games )

Dream Machine-Hanover Mall, Hanover, MA (now the Big Top Arcade or something like that)

Star Land-Hanover, MA (also still open, but the old arcade is closed down )

 

I also used to go to Funspot in NH sometimes when I was little, and I still go there every once in a while. I went there last weekend! Too bad many of my favorite games were broken.

[yuppicide]

http://www.thebreak.net/ -- they used to have more games than just dance stuff, but Chris has adopted with the times and stayed in business.

 

http://www.bowcraft.com/ -- This place was AWESOME in the 70's/80's. They had arcade games outside in a tent, inside on the main floor, and in the basement. I can recall 100+ games in there some times. I can recall a time when they had about 30-40 pinballs (and not those old 1950's crap.. semi newer stuff like 70's, 80's, and 90's).

[GameGirl420]

The Launch Pad- Serramonte Mall,Daly City,CA (mid-late 80's now defunct)

 

 

 

 

The Goldmine-Newpark Mall, Newark,CA(still running)

[J.Max]

King Louie West (now AMF) Bowling Alley & Ice Chateau.

Their early 80's Arcade overlooked a glassed in ice skating rink and had a built up illuminated platform just for the new games.

 

Putt Putt behind Glenwood Theatre (Star Wars world record for $1 million in first year ). demolished

 

 

Yes, both of these were AWESOME. A friend of my parents' owned King Louie West, and we used to go there all the time and played for free. It's still there, but it isn't the same...

[Trinity]

Red Baron and Old Towne. Both were in Southwick Mall, Toledo Ohio. I have not been there in over 10 years. I am sure they are gone.

 

 

Hey! You were from my neck off the woods!!!

 

Do you also remember Fat Darrel's and the putt-putt by the franklen park mall?

[Dryerlint]

The Castle in Toronto, Ohio was where I played when I was in 2nd grade 1980 81. Tempest Ralley X, Shark Attack, Pot of Gold, Centipede, Turtles, Galaxian, Kick Man, Pac-Man. I remember climbing up on a stool and all the high school kids watching me get to the ninth key. Omega Race. Me and my cousin would get there before it opened and the owner would let us wash the screens and turn the machines on. Some games would give u a free play when you turned them on. We would put our tobogins in the foosball goals to play longer. There was a board up on the wall behind the counter that had the game name and the full name of the person with the high score in red plastic letters. Awsome memories!!

[Keatah]

I would frequet the PinPan Alley 'chain' of arcades in the suburbs of chicago - particularily west dundee and schaumburg illinois. Also there was a huge arcade called galaxy world near carol stream on rt 64/north avenue.

 

I liked the PinPan Alley in Schaumburg because it was a few doors down from DataDomain (a computer store). We'd go to the arcade and play all afternoon long, then visit the computer store. I always kept somehow hoping that they would make all the cool arcade games for the Apple][+ I had at the time, (which I also got from another DataDomain located in woodfield shopping mall (a few miles down the road)). I remember hoping they'd come out with a super duper graphics card or something that would go into one of the expansion slots on the apple ][. Little did I know that 20 years later we'd be running the likes of stella and mame and other emu's on laptop systems that can be connected to 60" lcd monitors. But... I digress.

 

I got to play a midway/bally prototype vector flightsim games called 'earth friend mission'. I got interviewed by the programmers to see how I liked the thing. Pretty slick stuff, see klov for more info. I think the roms for this are more difficult to find than marble madness II.

[Shawn]

Mr. Arcade's Family Amusement was the name of the local arcade in the 80's to mid 90's in my city, it was closed down around 96 or 97 as the owner was busted for trafficing dope out of the arcade. In the next city over there is another arcade\mini-putt that is still up and running but the name escapes me.

[+Nathan Strum]

I spent most of my money at these five:

• Space Port - Aurora Village, Shoreline, WA (then unincorporated Seattle) - played more here than almost anywhere, since it was mere blocks from my house. The entire mall is gone now, replaced by Costco, Home Depot, etc.
  
• Electric Palace - near Northgate Mall, Seattle, WA - the first dedicated video arcade I can remember going to, around 1979. Also gone.
  
• Space Port - University District, Seattle, WA - first place I saw Marble Madness, I, Robot, and Crystal Castles. Played a lot of Spy Hunter here, too. Also gone.
  
• Arnold's - University District, Seattle, WA - amazing arcade. Skipped many a class at the University of Washington over here. Also gone.
  
• Starcade - North Seattle, about 130th and Aurora - had a change machine that would give you $5 in tokens, if you put a $1 bill in upside-down. Was one of the first ones to close during the crash.
  

Also:

• The HUB (Husky Union Building) - University of Washington, Seattle, WA - small but decent arcade. (Yes... I spent a lot of my college years playing video games.) This was the only place I ever saw Kick-Man. There were some amazing Qix players here. (Played a lot of pool here, too.)
  
• Fun 'n Games - Northgate Mall, Seattle, WA (not completely sure if this was a Fun 'n' Games, but I think so)
  
• Fun 'n' Games - Alderwood Mall, Lynnwood, WA (also not sure if this was a Fun 'n' Games, didn't have very many good games)
  
• Fun Forest - Seattle Center - didn't go there a lot because it was downtown, but it had a massive arcade in the early 80's.
  
• And finally... Fred Meyer - Shoreline, WA - not an arcade, but they had, at one point or another: Pac-Man, Defender and Battlezone, all of which I was hopelessly addicted to. Spent my high-school lunch hours (and many hours after school) here. I was so engrossed in a game of Battlezone once, someone stole my bike that I had parked outside the window. (I eventually got it back.)
  

 

Every place had video games back then, it seemed.

• Sears had Space Fury. I remember seeing a girl playing it there, and getting really upset at it because it called her "easy".
  
• There was a U&I drug store near school that had Gorf. Maybe Wizard of Wor, too. Went there for lunch when I couldn't get over to Fred Meyer.
  
• Safeway had Vanguard. I think that was the only place I ever played it.
  
• And of course, every pizza place had them too. I played Tron every time we went to Shakey's for pizza.
  

 

Man... I miss those days.

[grandcross]

Aladdin's Castle in Fond du Lac WI. I still have some spare tickets and a Pac-Man bouncy ball in exchange for the tickets.

 

It tore my heart when I saw it get shut down. Now there's a game room which can't even be called a game room since there's no real games in it.

[Gregory DG]

I went to every arcade I could go to. The names usually escape me, but there are three I do remember most, all in Winter Haven, FL.

 

* Barrel of Fun (old Winter Haven mall) The entrance was shaped like a beer barrel.

 

* Atari Expo! (boy, was I excited when this opened. Still have some tokens. Took over when BoF closed at the mall.)

 

* The third one... I visited the most, but crap if I could remember the name now. (I'm sure it will come to me after I hit post.) But it was great, my first real experience with "modern" games of 1988-ish. I remember playing SMB, 1942, Hang-On, Afterburner, Bad Dudes, Ikari Warriors and the like there. It made a killing up by the Cobb movie theatre, but ended up getting run out of town because it was so popular with the kids. A couple of years later they reopened near the original spot, but didn't last long.

[+Nathan Strum]

I found a coupon in my old high-school newspaper for Starcade:

 

 

(I kept some issues that I did editorial cartoons for.)

[shadow460]

hmmm, let's see...

 

As a kid, I played pretty much wherever I could find games and get quarters from my Dad. The more memorable ones were a Showbiz Pizza somewhere here in OKC, and Aladdin's Castle at Phoenix Village Mall in Fort Smith.

 

Now for the ones I was well known at later on...

NAS North Island, at both the pizza parlor and the trailer outside their laundromat. I usually had high scores on the Maverick pinball machine, Area 51, KI2, and Revolution X at the laundry. At the pizza parlor, I was near unbeatable at Indy Heat and MKII.

the Main Event sports bar at Naval Station San Diego. I regularly finished Daytona USA in first place against all CPU opponents on the hardest track. I finished Mission A on the Raiden DX machine nearby without losing a single jet. That took me eight minutes. I did well with the pinball machines also, but stunk at darts. I was known for playing a bit of pool here and there. My greatest scoring achievements were in the Q-Zar arena that was built into the place. This was where I picked up my nickname for a couple of reasons. I pursued my opponents like Shadow pursues Pac-Man, and I generally wore all black.

I repeated some of my success with KI2 and Raiden DX at the local Ultrazone, but when I was there it was mainly for laser tag.

 

Wind and Sea cafe, Naval Station Norfolk. I played a lot of pool there, and while they had Virtual On: Operation Moongate, I was undefeated by human opponents. I rocked Time Crisis 1, Manx TT Superbike, and 1998 Sega Rally at the nearby pizza joint, too. I dunno how many times I went home sore from Superbike, and I would be walkin' funny the next day. Then I learned to stand up on the bike through the TT course's harder turns, and I think I hurt a little less...

 

Aladdin's Castle, Lynnhaven Mall, Virginia Beach, VA. This was another place where I was near undefeated on several machines. They included Hydro Thunder, Star Wars EP 1 Racer (arcade version), and Super GT. I actually managed to win a tournament on Hydro Thunder. The double elimination tournament's final round was cut short and I happened to have won the last race, so I was awarded first place. I should have been required to win one more round instead.

 

Recently I have been seen in the Warr Acres Incredible Pizza Company.

Edited February 13, 2009 by shadow460

[Frotz]

In Bakersfield, California:

 

*"High Voltage" at Valley Plaza. This one went through several incarnations before culminating in a huge suite in one corner of the mall. Closed about five years ago.

*"Tilt" at the Toy's R Us shopping center, right next to a mattress store. Closed three years ago, I think.

*"Jimmy's Arcade" in the Mervyn's shopping center. Moved to Niles around five years ago. Now known as Rocky's Arcade and Pizza.

*"DJ's Arcade". Gone at least ten years ago. The strip mall shop it was in has never been rented out since. There's still a coin-op basketball game in there.

*"Peter Piper Pizza". Now known as King Leo's Pizza. All the ajoining strip malls are gone now, replaced with a Lowes hardware store. But King Leo's is still there. They had well-maintained older games before that was considered cool.

 

There's a relatively new arcade, maybe six years old, at the East Hills Mall. It never was very interesting.

[Gregory DG]

Now I remember (after I asked my friend) the arcade I like the best was called GIMME GAMES!

[lhfreak]

DETOUR FUN CENTER -- El Paso, TX!!!

[littleman jack]

Castle Park was the best, followed by Showtime Pizza or Chuck E Cheese (I can't remember which it was)

in Hollywood and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

 

Plus there were arcades in the malls and one tiny one off of Sheridan St. and 56th Ave. where I used to go to play Tempest.

 

And there was a Donkey Kong machine in a pizza place across from my aunt's house where my cousins and I spent many, many quarters in Pembroke Pines, FL.

 

Those were the days!

[+Cafeman]

One of the greatest arcades I ever saw in the early 80's was at Conneaut Lake Park, about an hour south of Erie, PA. Towards the front would be sit-down Space Harrier and other games like that; then towards the middle and sides of the area would be Zaxxon, Super Zaxxon, Ghosts & Goblins, Pac-Man, Tempest etc -- all cranked real LOUD. Then at the back were old 70's games like Shark Attack, Skee Ball, and peepshows for a nickel.

[madhatter667]

Random stores with arcade machines, Fort Smith, AR.

Funlandia, Pinetemari, Italia.

Edenlandia, can't remember the name, Italia.

Aladdin's Castle, Milwaukee, WI.

Chuck E. Cheese, Milwaukee, WI.

Silver Coin, Silverdale, WA.

[retrorussell]

PLEASE anybody who remembers these in the Beaverton, Oregon area give me a shout.

 

Innerspace - The best, and a hotty by the name of Candy operated it.

Electric Palace - Great while it lasted, in the Beaverton mall.

Chuck E. Cheese - Hi Molly. Uncle owned the Beaverton franchise and she always hooked me up with tokens.

Malibu Gran Prix - Still going strong. but games most of their games suck now.

Wunderland - Still going strong, but caters mostly to little kid gambling (tickets).

Hey Cougar302B,

I remember all those except Innerspace.. there was a couple others in the area I remember that were around for a very short time. One was in Raleigh Hills by the ice rink, that was where I first played Space Panic and Mr. Do. They used to have Hydrotubes at Washington Square with a great arcade; they turned it into a Wunderland, now it's Wells Fargo. But before all that there was an Engine House Pizza more in the center of the lot with a great arcade. Other arcades I recall were Astrocade at Canterbury Square, Pac Pals in Garden Home, the Chocolate Chipper Mini Golf Course in Milwaukie, and there was some nickel arcade over on Sandy in NE Portland. I played at MANY Wunderlands back when they started; the ones I frequented were in Beaverton and in NE Portland on Halsey. I have perhaps the best memories from Malibu Gran Prix, playing Crazy Climber and Dig Dug to death. Now I have a Dig Dug cabinet in my bedroom, and a Neo Geo and Phoenix in my living room. I still want to have a cocktail Ms. Pac Man or Crazy Climber some day.

Thanks for the memories! Nice Thayer's Quest av, by the way.

[cougar302b]

PLEASE anybody who remembers these in the Beaverton, Oregon area give me a shout.

 

Innerspace - The best, and a hotty by the name of Candy operated it.

Electric Palace - Great while it lasted, in the Beaverton mall.

Chuck E. Cheese - Hi Molly. Uncle owned the Beaverton franchise and she always hooked me up with tokens.

Malibu Gran Prix - Still going strong. but games most of their games suck now.

Wunderland - Still going strong, but caters mostly to little kid gambling (tickets).

Hey Cougar302B,

I remember all those except Innerspace.. there was a couple others in the area I remember that were around for a very short time. One was in Raleigh Hills by the ice rink, that was where I first played Space Panic and Mr. Do. They used to have Hydrotubes at Washington Square with a great arcade; they turned it into a Wunderland, now it's Wells Fargo. But before all that there was an Engine House Pizza more in the center of the lot with a great arcade. Other arcades I recall were Astrocade at Canterbury Square, Pac Pals in Garden Home, the Chocolate Chipper Mini Golf Course in Milwaukie, and there was some nickel arcade over on Sandy in NE Portland. I played at MANY Wunderlands back when they started; the ones I frequented were in Beaverton and in NE Portland on Halsey. I have perhaps the best memories from Malibu Gran Prix, playing Crazy Climber and Dig Dug to death. Now I have a Dig Dug cabinet in my bedroom, and a Neo Geo and Phoenix in my living room. I still want to have a cocktail Ms. Pac Man or Crazy Climber some day.

Thanks for the memories! Nice Thayer's Quest av, by the way.

I completely forgot about the hydrotubes arcade. That place was awesome. They closed it down after a few kids bumped their noggins. Torgar Halverson's dad owned it, right? I also vaguely remember an arcade by Raleigh hills, was it right by an old Sentry market? You did'nt by chance go to Sunset H.S. did you? I am class of '88.

 

Have you been able to get over to Ground Kontrol yet? If you have'nt, you should. It is not Malibu in in its heyday, but it is pretty close.

[retrorussell]

PLEASE anybody who remembers these in the Beaverton, Oregon area give me a shout.

 

Innerspace - The best, and a hotty by the name of Candy operated it.

Electric Palace - Great while it lasted, in the Beaverton mall.

Chuck E. Cheese - Hi Molly. Uncle owned the Beaverton franchise and she always hooked me up with tokens.

Malibu Gran Prix - Still going strong. but games most of their games suck now.

Wunderland - Still going strong, but caters mostly to little kid gambling (tickets).

Hey Cougar302B,

I remember all those except Innerspace.. there was a couple others in the area I remember that were around for a very short time. One was in Raleigh Hills by the ice rink, that was where I first played Space Panic and Mr. Do. They used to have Hydrotubes at Washington Square with a great arcade; they turned it into a Wunderland, now it's Wells Fargo. But before all that there was an Engine House Pizza more in the center of the lot with a great arcade. Other arcades I recall were Astrocade at Canterbury Square, Pac Pals in Garden Home, the Chocolate Chipper Mini Golf Course in Milwaukie, and there was some nickel arcade over on Sandy in NE Portland. I played at MANY Wunderlands back when they started; the ones I frequented were in Beaverton and in NE Portland on Halsey. I have perhaps the best memories from Malibu Gran Prix, playing Crazy Climber and Dig Dug to death. Now I have a Dig Dug cabinet in my bedroom, and a Neo Geo and Phoenix in my living room. I still want to have a cocktail Ms. Pac Man or Crazy Climber some day.

Thanks for the memories! Nice Thayer's Quest av, by the way.

I completely forgot about the hydrotubes arcade. That place was awesome. They closed it down after a few kids bumped their noggins. Torgar Halverson's dad owned it, right? I also vaguely remember an arcade by Raleigh hills, was it right by an old Sentry market? You did'nt by chance go to Sunset H.S. did you? I am class of '88.

 

Have you been able to get over to Ground Kontrol yet? If you have'nt, you should. It is not Malibu in in its heyday, but it is pretty close.

I had heard some kids got hurt but I didn't know all the details. I didn't know who owned Hydrotubes. But it was fun while it lasted. Good sized arcade there.

I don't remember what stores were near the Raleigh Hills arcade. I just remember it was right near the bowling alley and ice rink. Not too many games, as the place wasn't very big. All the shops in Valley Plaza are of the hole-in-the-wall variety. I remember Grizzly Bear Pizza up the street a ways further was pretty sweet for arcade games too. My sister and I pumped many quarters into Wizard Of Wor there.

I split my HS education between Oregon and Washington. 1 year at Beaverton HS, then moved to Federal Way and attended Thomas Jefferson HS for the other 2 years. Graduated in '89. Then 2 years later came back to Portland, still live here.

Definitely heard of Ground Kontrol. Will check it out sometime. In the meantime I'm happy with my emulator programs and can play pretty much anything on them.

Good chatting with you man.