games you remember playing at 7/eleven or the liquor store

[Daviea]

We used to have 7-11's and Stop 'n Go's all over the place. The only game I ever cared about at these places was Gauntlet and Gauntlet II. I'd ride my bike around and try to figure out who had the most health per quarter.

What was cool about those games at the time was you could join in and play with/against anyone, even if you didn't know them. It was great for socializing with other gamers at the time. However, these machines always went unplayed in my home arcade. They saw NO love, not even the newer Legends and Dark Legacy.

I still love all versions of Gauntlet!

Dave

 

[FatChuck]

liquor store by my house had a dedicated major havoc, mario bros, bombjack, and a turbo outrun upright. i spent every quarter i had there while i was growing up. pure fun!!!

 

[gorfchampion]

The liquor store in my dinky little town(pop. 347) had a Pengo back in 1985. Used to play that damn game all the time. Didn't do very well, though!

 

[saltbreez]

I had 2 7-11 phases. First the corner 7-11 had a Space Invaders, and soon got an Asteriods.

Then the pool hall across the mall from our house got a Defender game. I have not played Space Invaders or Asteriods seriously since that time.

Sometime later Stargate hit the local university pub as a cocktial, which was great when it was new, but then a 7-11 across town got a stand up Stargate. I found enough excuses to be across town at a 7-11 to where I mastered the game.

I still consider Defender to be the greatest video game ever made, but I note that an upright Stargate, just like the one at the old 7-11 is the only game currently powered on in my house [and for the past week].

Saltbreez

 

[M1A]

Ah yes . . . back when living was easy. We rode our bikes to the neighborhood 7-11. Next door was a liquor store. South San Gabriel, Cali

Games I remember playing:

7-11 (Missile Command, Asteroids, Lunar Rescue)

Liquor Store (Satan's Hollow, Dig Dug, Kangaroo)

A liquor store had Satan's Hollow?!?! Bitchin'.

- M1A

 

[kazneerg]

At "PARTY STOP", they had a Donkey Kong fresh off the presses. The sideart was visible from the road. I use to ride my Big Wheel up there to play a few, and buy a pack of Starbursts.

Simple Times Man!..............

 

[SilverCoin]

Stop N Go!

Closest one to me was 60th & Coldspring.. 5 minutes walking distance..

Lets see, games I played there:

Tron
Rally X
Battle Zone
Galaxian
Make Trax

and Mayday! that was a fun game..

 

[kiwasabi]

Haha well I grew up in the 90's and never once saw an arcade game in a 7-11 or a liquor store (there were arcade games in liquor stores? and this was common? and it was kosher for kids to play them while unsupervised by parents?). I remember seeing Michael J Fox playing an arcade game in a 7-11 in Back to the Future (what was it, Wild Gunmen or something?) and was just thinking, "They had arcade games in 7-11? Why did they stop? Got sick of kids loitering around 7-11?".

I mainly only remember playing games at pizza parlors, movie theaters, arcades, etc. Round Table Pizza had some ~10 year old games set on free that I remember playing the hell out of: Ghouls n Ghosts and Bad Dudes; haha Bad Dudes is an awesomely bad game.

-Adam

 

[Pleiades10]

There were tons of 7-11s near me, and their games changed as the years went on, but the lineups I recall best were as follows.

The 7-11 closest to me had Donkey Kong, Ms.Pac-Man, and Centipede.

The next closest had Stargate, Pac-Man, and Donkey Kong Junior.
Another 7-11 had Defender and Pac-Man.
Yet another had Cosmic Guerilla and Space Firebird.
And still yet another had Amidar, Ms.Pac-Man, and Star Castle.

Typically, 7-11's games were visible through the front windows, but sometimes they were in their own little side room. These rooms had signage above the doors that said "Amusement Center", and I would love to track one of these signs down for my own game room.

After video games were pulled from 7-11s, these rooms often became either a manager's office, or where the ATM and ice machines would end up.

Maryland also had a local 7-11 competitor called High's Dairy Stores which specialized in their own ice cream. High's stores only had one game, but three different locations had Phoenix, Popeye, and Super Pac-Man, respectively.

I never visited any liquor stores as a kid, so who knows what games they may or may not have had, but there was a Mom & Pop "general store" named Maloney's which was the only store within riding distance on my bike. They only had 2 games at a time, but a great assortment of classics and rarer titles took up residence there over the years.

Their roster was... Missile Command, Ms.Pac-Man (mini), Berzerk, Frenzy, Frogger, Galaxian, Pac-Man, Omega Race (mini), Popeye, Stratovox, Asteroids, and Centipede.

What a great trip down memory lane!

Kyle

 

[Thomas]

We had two 7/11's that had pinball and as time went on had video games. I remember Hokus Pokus and the Kiss pinball the most in the 7/11. I remember Berzerk or Robotron not sure which one because I didn't play the game that much but Tron and Asteroids where a staple.

We were kinda lucky growing up because we had a lot of different spots we could go to. Three different bowling alleys, a local sub shop & three arcades. None of the liquor stores in Maryland had machines but the restaurants/bars did. Hell we even had a Go Cart Track across the street from my house. Not to mention the Carnivals that would stop by twice a year in my town then set up again in two towns close by that we rode our bikes to.

Just recently I was surprised to find that one of the guys I went to elementary school became a real life pinball wizard.

http://usergallery.myhomegameroom.com/gallery/Mark-Salas-Gameroom/Pinball_265a

We were all wizards of some sort back then or so we thought! Mine were Old Chicago and Delta Queen Pinball. Then Defender and Stargate video games.

 

[caldwert]

I'm a bit younger than most on here, but I recall Street Fighter II in damn near every 7-11 as a kid. There was a convenience store by my grandparents' house that had Pit Fighter and the Rollergames pinball in the back of it. Also, there used to be a localized version of Wal-Mart in St. Louis called Grandpa's. I can vividly remember playing Cyclone and Taxi at Grandpa's. I also think they had a Playchoice-10 as well.

 

[eXidy]

...

I played a ton of games in a local stop to shop called TOWN N COUNTRY.
Games I played: Gain Ground, Truxton, Ikari Warriors, Willow, Joust 2, Double Dragon, Street Fighter I and II, Mortal Kombat, Gauntlet, Rolling Thunder, Cal 50, Forgotten Worlds and much more.

Pins: Elvira & the Party Monsters & Pinbot

Jon

 

[fatherpain]

there were arcade games in liquor stores? and this was common? and it was kosher for kids to play them while unsupervised by parents?

Oh yeah. At least it was that way where I grew up...Ontario, Santa monica, Hollywood, Downtown Los Angeles, South Central LA.. my parents moved all over the the place back then.. And I'd walk or ride the bus all across town. It wasn't uncommon for at least 3-5 kids to hang out around the machines in a 7-11 or Liquor store.. At the 7/11's I went to, they were just like Pleides said...Games visible in the window, usually on the right corner of the store. I never saw a gameroom per se but that would have been awesome. Kind of wierd now thinking of 7-16 year olds hanging out in these places, but they did. I don't remember hearing about the kinds of terrible stuff that happens to kids these days, back then. Maybe it happened, I never paid attention or there was less media? Seems like there is much more of it these days, unfortunately. Dunno, why liquor stores got rid of videogames... Probably for the better though. Dunno how I'd react if my kids told me "hey Dad, can we have $5? we're going to hang out at the liquor store" heheh.

Tom

 

[Dr. Boom]

Growing up on a small island, we did't have any 7-11's, but we did have an Albertson's a few miles away that had only a few games, but they ignited the flame for my love of video games.

First, I can remember Centipede and Tempest and then the Tempest made way for Star Wars, which I have both had in my collection at one point. Awesome games, so impressive for the time and so good to be brought up on - especially considering that the Atari 2600 was the only gaming console anyone around me had.

 

[Tycoonbrad]

Our 7-11 had Mr.Do and Qbert.

Strangely, in 1980 the best place was K-mart. They had an arcade in the back of the store. The newest and best game in 1980 was Bezerk. The game freakin talked!

 

[SuperBee4406]

We didn't have any close 7-11s by us either we had Cumberland Farms. And I played Donkey Kong there. I could also goto the local bowling alley to play Asteroids, Defender, and Track & Field.

That Track & Field must have been a conversion, because it had a Track Ball that you used to run. And I clearly remeber to this day, how bad my fingers would hurt trying to get that trackball to spin to get the man to run faster.

 

[Token420]

we had Cumberland Farms.

Must of been in RI? Me too.

Anyway, it is interesting that these subjects come up and then you see something related come up elsewhere. These are not mine but I thought you 7-11ers would be interested.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300334262191

 

[fatherpain]

Bumping to hear more memories I experienced most of these games at places like this bitd.... If given the option, rather than opening an arcade, I might opt instead to open a liquor store and cycle games thru, lol. But I'm entreprenuer so itll never happen. I remember defender, asteroids, AD, missile command, mr DO! DK, punchout and Pacman. never saw a Laser Disk or rare game, just the commons!

Tom

 

[kstillin]

OK-

My 7-11 (at the corner of Rosewood Dr and S Kilbourne Rd in Columbia SC) had (at various times)

A couple of EM pinballs- one was a Space theme and the other a blackjack or something.
Pole Position
Superman (could finish on one quarter)
Xybots
Hangly Man
Astro Invaders

Maybe a Venture once too.

Fun times.

 

[xxstatic]

In Wisconsin, BITD, we didn't have 7/11s. They were Stop 'n Go stores.

'Bout '84-85, My playin' days were pretty much over...

Same here but I left the state about that time (kept playing games though), I had to go to a bowling alley, arcade in the mall, or a bar to get my gaming on, never really played any games at a 7-11.