The "Biggest Arcade Spot in Orange County"...

pookdolie

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The "Biggest Arcade Spot in Orange County"...

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/vgm/1751701572.html

WE HAVE THE BIGGEST ARCADE SPOT IN ORANGE COUNTY..........

GAME SQUAD BRINGS 2 U GAME STAR THE GRAND OPENING ARCADE SPOT.....

If this is the place I'm thinking of, I peeked in a couple weeks ago. It's within walking distance from where I live, it's about 2/3rds the size of a Subway sandwich shop, and I think it's a bunch of flat-screen TVs with consoles attached to them.

I'll report back and see whether or not Nickel Nickel / Dave & Busters have a right to have issue with their claim. ;)

BIG MADERN WAREFARE 2 TOURNAMENT

A what?
 
The other day I saw an arcade and an internet gaming place next door to each other.

The arcade never has anyone in it and the internet gaming place is always full.

Not hard to tell which one is making money and which one is going to be closing one of these days.
 
I am preaching to the choir here, but dedicated arcade games are dead with rare exceptions. I think the only way they could ever come back is if they offered something you can't get at home, like total environmental immersion cabinets. Of course the cost and return on investment of such games might be an issue.
 
I am preaching to the choir here, but dedicated arcade games are dead with rare exceptions. I think the only way they could ever come back is if they offered something you can't get at home, like total environmental immersion cabinets. Of course the cost and return on investment of such games might be an issue.

or if they offered alcohol. barcade in brooklyn is packed almost every night and every machine is occupied.
 
or if they offered alcohol. barcade in brooklyn is packed almost every night and every machine is occupied.

...yes a rare exception.

We had a bar in LA called "Miss T's Barcade" and it closed this year. It had the same concept. The bad economy killed it off.
 
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Update: went to check it out on Friday night. Got there at around 9:30 - pitch black, on opening night. Sign on the front said, "Open Monday Thru Sunday til 10pm". Riiiiiiiight.

Peeked inside...12 flat-screen TVs with consoles attached to them.

If I were a betting man, I'd guess maybe...2 months before it's gone?
 
There's a place like this around here... opened up last year. Pay to play joint, guy running it thought he could rich off of making people pay to play his consoles... not a bad idea in concept, but it didn't really work out. They tried to get going with promises of a cafe (AKA a few overpriced candy bars at the front and a fridge full of Red Bull) and tournaments, but the only tournament I ever went to there (a Smash Bros tourney with a couple of friends, we had trained for months) had so few people, they canceled the thing and gave the five people who showed up an hour of free gaming! The idea of using modern games like an arcade is good in theory, until you realize that, unlike the modern for the time arcade cabinets, you can literally go to WalMart and purchase the same game you're paying to play for the price it would take to play for three hours at a pay-to-play location.

Arcades are far from dead, though, I don't know why so many say they are. In America, many smaller locations are closing, but sit-down racing simulators like Initial D, show off games like Guitar Hero Arcade and DDR, and redemption games like Wacky Gator are still making plenty of money on location. The industry isn't dead, it's changing- not for the better, in my opinion, but it's still going strong in some manner. And in other countries (mainly Japan and Korea), deluxe arcade games like Virtual On, Border Break, Pokemon Battrio and the like are still making a ton of money. It's still a social thing in Asia, where we have shifted to focusing on online leaderboards and becoming XBOX-Live addicted hermits, they still use it as a place to show off, meet likeminded people, relax and waste their quarters (or whatever currency they happen to have). Arcades are transforming, but very, very far from death.
 
http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/vgm/1751701572.html



If this is the place I'm thinking of, I peeked in a couple weeks ago. It's within walking distance from where I live, it's about 2/3rds the size of a Subway sandwich shop, and I think it's a bunch of flat-screen TVs with consoles attached to them.

I'll report back and see whether or not Nickel Nickel / Dave & Busters have a right to have issue with their claim. ;)



A what?

\
Madden Warfare?
 
Update: went to check it out on Friday night. Got there at around 9:30 - pitch black, on opening night. Sign on the front said, "Open Monday Thru Sunday til 10pm". Riiiiiiiight.

Peeked inside...12 flat-screen TVs with consoles attached to them.

If I were a betting man, I'd guess maybe...2 months before it's gone?

Bump: I was wrong. It made it about 4 1/2 months. Vacant now.

They were planning a similar "arcade" at my apartment complex - I think they've scrapped those plans, though.

They're "home consoles" for a reason...
 
It has been some time since I have been there but in 2009 there was an arcade on 19th street in Costa Mesa,CA. It is just down the way from an IN-out-burger. I think it was called games plus or rockets and pockets. Used to play there as a kid and the bowling alley but that closed down (bowling alley).

They have beer there too.

Also just down the road 19th and newport blvd there is a record holding bar for the most pull taps. Henery's and Harry's goat hill tavern and that is right next to the Helm another bar.
 
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It has been some time since I have been there but in 2009 there was an arcade on 19th street in Costa Mesa,CA. It is just down the way from an IN-out-burger. I think it was called games plus or rockets and pockets.

I hang out in CM sometimes. This place is still around, and it's been there forever. :D Newer games only, though.

Also just down the road 19th and newport blvd there is a record holding bar for the most pull taps. Henery's and Harry's goat hill tavern and that is right next to the Helm another bar.

Goat Hill is still there - the Helm closed in August. It's becoming a snooty martini bar. :rolleyes:
 
I hang out in CM sometimes. This place is still around, and it's been there forever. :D Newer games only, though.



Goat Hill is still there - the Helm closed in August. It's becoming a snooty martini bar. :rolleyes:

I kind of figured the helm would close. I grew up in CM and went to high school and college (tangerine tech) there. Many of my best memories are there in Costa Mesa. I lived there 12+ years and go back once in a while to visit friends and family. I was surprised Mar-vac is still in business and I used to love going through the bulk stuff there. I could tell you many stories of things we did in that little town. The police department will never forget the lemon capers.
 
Everyone always talks about alcohol being the end all but we had a place with pool/alcohol and some good arcade games for years and no one went...

It's a novel concept but unless you have that "hipster" demographic in your area within walking distance or in a popular area, it's not making it. Alcohol won't always work.

Buying/selling console stuff saves the day, been saying that for years and the mall I am in is one of the worst in terms of sales in the country...
 
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