Arcades and Game Rooms from Hell

[Juu-kuchi]

If you're a frequenter of X-Entertainment, you have probably read this article:

http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0887/

The question for you is... Have YOU ever been to an arcade or game room that is so vile and putrid that you could not stand another minute of being in there; whether it was the lack of games, or the lack of WORKING games, or perhaps the general room or place as a whole?

I can't necessarily answer that question myself but then again my arcade at the mall is lame. Sure it has Crazy Taxi, Tekken 4, and all that crap, but what good are those to me nowadays. Ah, screw it I'll give you another question to ponder.

What is the BEST arcade or game room you've ever been to? I've been to two when I went to the Philippines, they were awesome... It was at the time of Marvel Vs. Capcom 2's popularity. Every person crowds around the individual and wonders how much ass he will kick. They also had DDR machines, but I wasn't interested, but there were a lot of people doing that in 2000.

Okay, I stop now to let you go.

[guinaevere]

::groans:: What pictures!! They're actually very funny, the room is so poor.

I think my most fond memories of an arcade would be either at Pipe Organ Pizza (That place ROCKED!! They had a huge pipe organ, a bubble machine, and great ice cream, as well as pizza). That was the first real arcade I remember. They had a decent set up, considering arcade games were just coming into it big at the time (1981 or thereabouts).

Either that, or the game room at the Contemporary in WDW around 1983. Jim (my big bro) and I spent almost all my saved up trip money ($20) in there on games and stale chips from a vending machine. Jim got the high score on one of the games, but I can't remember which one, at this moment.

As for bad ones, eh.. there's a lot of them. Fortunately, none have been so bad that they're memorable.

[Classic Speedy]

The Luxor's three story arcade in Las Vegas was pure heaven. Too bad we didn't get to spend much time there... :sad:

[Nin-Nin69]

The best ones I've been to are in Vegas. A wide variety and great atmosphere. There are some other ones I like scattered across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Maine.

The worst I've seen are in rual bowling alleys. Most of the games are broken, disgusting, or just driving/shooting. The rooms are very compact and dark. Most of these places are inhabited by little kids that love to have little accidents right next to the machine (I've seen it happen plenty of times). You'll only see an older crowd there if they have a DDR machine which caters to the funding for the entire arcade.

[Squall]

In one of the great ironies of life, as much as I love video games, I've always hated arcades. They're usually dark, crowded, REAL noisy, and have a funny smell. And you have to pay between $0.25 and $1 just to play a game -- once. The day I got a NES for Christmas in 1986 was the day that I knew I'd never set foot in an arcade again. And, over 15 years later, with a PS2 and GameCube on my shelf, I still have yet to be in arade when I didn't have to be (tagging along with friends, for example)...

[Robin2099]

Anyone in Vegas is typically good, in fact when I was at whichever casino it was, I spent more time in the arcade than I did in the actual casino. I also thought that Universal Studios Florida and Cedar Point in Ohio had great ones too. The worst one I've ever been to is probabbly anyone at a bowling alley, or one in a Holiday Inn I went to one time.

[guinaevere]

Forgot to mention Dave & Busters (http://www.daveandbusters.com/). Pretty good for newer games. Just expensive. You oughta check them out, Squall. There's one in Austin. Food, drinks, video games. Pool and other stuff too, if you're a pool player.

And Chuck E Cheese. :D A quarter/token per play! Woohoo. Pizza and Hydro Thunder! What could be better? Well, perhaps, pizza and hydro thunder minus hundreds of kids running all over the place... grumpy old gwen...

[Chris Wood]

I can't necessarily answer that question myself but then again my arcade at the mall is lame.
Your mall still has a video arcade??????? I haven't seen one in a mall in years.

[Cyporiean]

The greatest Arcade i've ever been to is SEGA's little arcade in Akihabara.. by little, I mean about 7 stories...

[Chris Wood]

The greatest Arcade i've ever been to is SEGA's little arcade in Akihabara.. by little, I mean about 7 stories...
Yeah, arcades are still all over the place in Japan. Too bad their age has passed here.

[Viper]

Here in Staten Island, NYC, I have an arcade that's still pretty decent. It has a lot of classic arcade games like Super Pac-Man and Sega's Space Harrier. It also has some newer games like DDR and Marvel vs. Capcom 2.

Of course, the best place I've been to was Vegas' Gameworks. A fantastic selection!:D

I still miss my Funtime U.S.A. in Brooklyn.:( Like Gameworks but a little smaller.

[Mad Monkey 7]

The arcade, I have been to is Sega's Gameworks, Dave & Busters, and Gillian's.

[Lucky Bob]

Anything that does not have a pinball machine.


I'm serious. Modern pinball machines can be cool.

[Beat]

The best arcade I ever went to was the one Sega used to own in Vegas. It had a stone model of Kage from Virtua Fighter at the entrance. Kickass.

The worst was this dump over in Queens. No games designed for anyone over 4, and a smell.

[Lord Dalek]

Your mall still has a video arcade??????? I haven't seen one in a mall in years.My mall, Lloyd Center, still has an arcade. Right next to the movie theatre.

[Andy Mancini]

Your mall still has a video arcade??????? I haven't seen one in a mall in years.
The Beaver Valley Mall, which made national news recently due to the Hepititus outbreak at the Chi-Chis, still has an arcade. Outside of the three DDR machines (DDR 4th Mix, DDR Max, and DDR Extreme) and the Beatmania machine, it's nothing to write home about. Still though, it does have my favorite arcade game ever: a little known driving/shooting game from fifteen years ago called "Lucky and Wild".

[Juu-kuchi]

a little known driving/shooting game from fifteen years ago called "Lucky and Wild".
At a Sports and Recreation place they have an arcade. In that arcade for a long while was that game. It was quite fun. Nothing beats holding down the trigger and shooting everything that gets in your way.

[Peter Paltridge]

My mall, Lloyd Center, still has an arcade. Right next to the movie theatre.I know where Lloyd Center is and I didn't know that arcade was still there. Huh, how about that...after Wunderland closed I thought there were no arcades in Portland at all.

[Lord Dalek]

I know where Lloyd Center is and I didn't know that arcade was still there. Huh, how about that...after Wunderland closed I thought there were no arcades in Portland at all.If there aren't any arcades left in Portland, then what do you call Ground Controll?

[guinaevere]

Many of the larger US cities still have arcades at a good percentage of their malls, and stand-alone arcades, as well. You just have to look for them, if they don't advertise.

Lord Dalek, your avatar looks like a bad Gordan Freeman cosplayer.

[Lord Dalek]

Lord Dalek, your avatar looks like a bad Gordan Freeman cosplayer.
He does?


http://img31.photobucket.com/albums/v92/lorddalek/PDVD_019.bmp

Doesn't look that way to me.

[guinaevere]

He does? Well, not in that t-shirt, but yeah.
http://www.planethalflife.com/images/hl2/top/top_right.jpg
That guy totally reminds me of my man of science, Mr Gordan Freeman.

Check it. Side by Side comparison:

http://img25.photobucket.com/albums/v76/guinaevere/gordan_vs_red_dwarf.jpg

[Lord Dalek]

That's just creepy.

BTW- Avatar now updated.

[guinaevere]

Awwww.. I liked the Red Dwarf avatar. The new avatar looks like... a pizza party that got out of hand.

Okay, back on-topic.

I've never been to Gillians, though when I worked in Boston, I remember hearing commercials for it. Mad Monkey, is it very good?

[Chris Wood]

Many of the larger US cities still have arcades at a good percentage of their malls, and stand-alone arcades, as well. You just have to look for them, if they don't advertise.
.
Not in the Washington area they don't. The only remaining arcades are at amusement attractions like Dave and Busters or ESPN Zone. The area malls used to each have an arcade, but they closed up years ago. There haven't been any stand-alone arcades since the 80s.

[randomguy]

Yeah, I haven't seen a mall-based arcade in years. There's a few stand-alone arcades here in Austin, but they're all concentrated on the University of Texas campus. I imagine they're not that common in cities that don't have a major college campus... even the larger Texas cities like Dallas and Houston don't have much in the way of arcades. Obviously, there's the Dave and Buster's, but I don't care for those at all. Way too expensive, and their game selection tends to skew more heavily towards the giant, amusement-park style games (like Daytona 2), then the fighters and shooters that I like.

There's one arcade on the UT campus that I like a lot. It's fairly large, mainly stocked with fighters (you name it, they've got it), shooters, and music games. Everything costs a quarter, which rules.

That being said, there's no arcade better than the one you build for yourself. Take my word for it. I imagine this is only for the most hardcore of the hardcore (and it requires considerable technical skill in wiring and woodworking), but building your own arcade machines is immensely satisfying. I started about five years ago, and thus far, I've built dedicated racing, lightgun, shooter, and fighter cabinets. It's a fun hobby to have, because the results are great, and it gives you a chance to work with your hands.

[B.W.H.]

Best arcades I've been to would have to be a Namco arcade in a mall in Bowling Green,KY,and another in Gatlingsburg,TN. the worst would have to be this play room for a water park. Mosquitos, bad games,and constantly losing my change under the machines.

[Peter Paltridge]

If there aren't any arcades left in Portland, then what do you call Ground Controll?

D'OH


Your new avatar looks like Pizza the Hutt from Spaceballs...if it's not him then what is it?

[Dark Spider]

I have yet to go to anything that resembles "the best" in my book. All the arcades I've been to are average at best.

But the WORST arcade that I've been to will have to be the "game room" at Sunrise Resort in Moodus, CT. My bedroom is bigger than this game room. The room had only 3 arcade games in it (one of them of course Ms. Pac Man, because that's what's hot now), 1 pinball machine (broken of course), and a table tennis type table. This game room wasn't actually a room per se, because it didn't have any walls! Its basically a game hut, out in the middle of a farm (that's what Sunrise resort was after all). Since the room had no walls, the floor and the arcade machine faced the fierce elements of nature on a daily basis. The floor used to be white marble, but now it was this grey, grimy color with brown spots where rain and snow dried up at. The arcade machines were also grimey too, with those brown rain spots I talked about. Oh, did I mention that the arcade machines didn't work??!!?? They were all out of order, so the only thing you could possibly do in that room was play table tennis....but the table was all caked up with dirt to even be played on.

Worst. Gameroom. EVER!!!

[Conan-san]

In the Uk, the best "arcade" would be the games aviliable in Alton Towers.

Mostly casue they are all "Concept" games (In that they are like DDR and the like)

[Nimbleness]

That guy totally reminds me of my man of science, Mr Gordan Freeman.

Yeah, but he can't compare to Charlie Sheen in The Arrival

Behold

http://greycap.walagata.com/sheen.jpg

It appears hes working on a cold fusion.... or something.

Edit: For the purpose of not driving the thread off track I'll mention the arcade at a mall near me was in almost as bad condition before it was closed down. It still had the same selection of games untouched, as it did 15 years ago.

[Lord Dalek]

D'OH


Your new avatar looks like Pizza the Hutt from Spaceballs...if it's not him then what is it?A gell guard from Doctor Who. I'll post the photo when I get back to my regular computer.

BTW- For non-residents of the Portland Metropolitan Area: Ground Control is Mecca for early 80's videogame fans.

[Caffeine King]

I don't think I've ever been to a bad arcade...

But I have been to good ones. :)

One that sticks out in my mind is Good Times in Somerville, MA.

Ironically it's the same name of one of my favorite shows ;)

It's huge and has lots of games, and expanded some more, it recently added indoor go karts. :cool:

If your in the Boston area go to Good Times! :D

Has anyone else ever been there? :)

[guinaevere]

Yeah, but he can't compare to Charlie Sheen in The Arrival
<SNIP>
It appears hes working on a cold fusion.... or something. HA! Awesome, Nimble!!

Well, apparantly, I'm quite wrong about the mall arcades, from reading these posts. But by golly, the malls I go to all have arcades of some form or other, a couple even have skate parks, and most of my friends (scattered around teh US) all have arcades in their malls, too. :confused:

[Chris Wood]

The room had only 3 arcade games in it (one of them of course Ms. Pac Man, because that's what's hot now
???? Ms. Pacman is hot now??

[guinaevere]

Dude! When hasn't she been hot?!?!

I'm guessing it was sarcasm.