Have you visited the arcade at your alma mater lately?

nesjess

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Have you visited the arcade at your alma mater lately?

My wife and I decided to take a trip (with baby) this past weekend down to San Luis Obispo, CA. We both went to college at Cal Poly SLO. We usually try to make the trip down about 2-3 times a year. Like most college towns, things tend to gradually change and develop over time.

However, one spot on campus that hasn't changed much is the bowling alley/arcade: Mustang Lanes. I don't know who the operator is that manages the games, but it's actually not as bad as some local arcades here in the SF Bay Area. Though that's not saying much and it's still not much to brag about.

I forgot my good camera while we were walking around campus, but I took some pictures with my phone camera. Sadly, there was absolutely no one in there and for good reason. Then again, it was Saturday and Open House weekend. Regardless, I hope there are better and more lively arcades at other schools because it was a very depressing sight.

Here is a list of machines from what I can remember:

- Galaga/Ms. Pac Cocktail w/ multigame board of some sort
- House of the Dead
- House of the Dead 2
- Time Crisis 3
- Cruisin' USA Twin
- 2 Neo Geo MVS conversions
- Marvel Vs. Capcom conversion
- Golden Tee
- 2 Air Hockey Tables
- F-14 Tomcat Pinball
- 3 Crane Machines
- 2 DDRs
- 2 more gun games I can't remember (1 of them not working)
- 2 Change Machines

How does your college's arcade compare?


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Nevada sucks. We only have an Outrun in the Microprocessor lab. I feel robbed. My $3000/ semester tuition should be used to buy games. :)
 
Nevada sucks. We only have an Outrun in the Microprocessor lab. I feel robbed. My $3000/ semester tuition should be used to buy games. :)

Haha. But it's the sitdown with the seat that moves right? That's still pretty cool.

$3000 a semester? I forgot how expensive it is to go to school. I'm still paying off student loans for a major that has nothing to do with what I'm doing now. But I enjoyed it and I met my wife so it definitely paid off. ;)
 
Nope, just an upright. When I sold mine, I figured I would play that one. Haven't yet, but at least it is there if I feel the need.

I will be paying off student loans for a long time. I was planning to sell my condo to pay for school, but my timing sucked. I ended up letting the bank take it back because I couldn't get a realtor to list it. Went from $100k in equity to $25k in the red really fast.

Hopefully I will make lots of money when I graduate and get back on track quickly. And find a huge house for a real gameroom. :)
 
Yes. I went to the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis campus. Coffman Union used to have the best game room around. The best vid players would all come to play there and they had about 12 pinball machines there as well. Place was always packed. This was in the mid to late 90's when I went there, but was the same way before from what I have been told.

Well, they remodeled it and now it is a shell of it's former self. Two pins now, with one normally broken all the time and a about 6 vids that no one cares about. I have been back a few times and have never seen anyone play any game in there but me when I was there. I wish I had pics of it in it's heyday, cause now it is depressing.
 
I found this on Flickr - Looks like my school's arcade is out of commission. Very sad for me. I played tons of Street Fighter 2 and Assault here in between classes.

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"For about a year now, this has been the state of the UCSB UCen arcade. Emptied of cabinets (though the DDR machine stayed dormant for quite a while) they've been using it for storage... of chairs, mostly. That's right... the state of American arcades is so sad that here, on a college campus, chair storage space was a better business decision for this area than an arcade."
 
Long gone at my alma mater as well. The student union/arcade/bowling alley/pool hall was torn down for improved facilities and no games were ever put back in. The arcade I worked in just off campus is also gone.
 
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