What 80’s Arcades Really Looked Like
- Thread starter Olexo2424
- Start date
Yeah, games were everywhere. I have memories of a diner down the street from my grandparents house that had a Dig Dug in the back by the cigarette machine. There was a pizzeria that had Gunsmoke. There was a miniature golf place that had a shipping container or something and it always had half dozen games in it and the place was within bike riding distance. This type of thing... those one-off destinations when I couldn't get to the mall were just as rewarding and nostalgic to me.
TheYeti
Well-known member
I don't get it?
OP
OP
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2022
- Messages
- 1,214
- Reaction score
- 972
It's a strobbery. Stick em up.
TheYeti
Well-known member
I can read. What's the joke?
OP
OP
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2022
- Messages
- 1,214
- Reaction score
- 972
Gen Z humor is the joke.
TheYeti
Well-known member
OP
OP
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2022
- Messages
- 1,214
- Reaction score
- 972
We're a…weird species, us Zoomers
What do the gen x'ers say?
OP
OP
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2022
- Messages
- 1,214
- Reaction score
- 972
Gen X does not have humor. Humor is not allowed. Now go outside and join the cartel, just be home by dark.
OP
OP
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2022
- Messages
- 1,214
- Reaction score
- 972
This is literally my father by the way lol, he was born '72 and the reason I'm a Zoomer obsessed with collecting 40+ year old games
WadeLanham
Well-known member
Cronch and Yeet, so sus.
To answer your question, I was shocked to see the arcade I use to go to regularly was actually in the video!
Doc Holliday's made a small mention at time stamp 6:49. I have more images posted somewhere here on KLOV, I just can't find them at the moment. I do have a link to a video slide show with more images of Doc Holliday's (for those interested):
Last edited:
wangho
Active member
I'd like to see video from 1978 or 79'. Were there arcades rooms that solely consisted of video games then or were they usually separated into bowling alleys and bars?
I was only allowed to go into a "real arcade" if I got to go to our local mall. Otherwise, it was at the local pizza joint or the games where we went camping or at the beach.
This is a great thread.
As others said, many late 70s and early 80s arcade used whatever space they had.
I recall an arcade at a local mall with dirty, tan carpet. It was setup like a galley kitchen with two rows of games from front to back. I don't remember much about the walls, but there were three levels, each separated by one step.
There was a local family center that dated back to the 70s and it had fun carpet, along with most of the best golden aged games.
Other arcades at other malls were more spread out, had cockpits, and more fun lights and carpets. I played a lot of arcade games at local convenience stores, restaurants, etc. that typically had one to three games. I cannot think about a Solar Fox cocktail without thinking of a little Chinese restaurant .
As others said, many late 70s and early 80s arcade used whatever space they had.
I recall an arcade at a local mall with dirty, tan carpet. It was setup like a galley kitchen with two rows of games from front to back. I don't remember much about the walls, but there were three levels, each separated by one step.
There was a local family center that dated back to the 70s and it had fun carpet, along with most of the best golden aged games.
Other arcades at other malls were more spread out, had cockpits, and more fun lights and carpets. I played a lot of arcade games at local convenience stores, restaurants, etc. that typically had one to three games. I cannot think about a Solar Fox cocktail without thinking of a little Chinese restaurant .
It's remarkable to look back on it all and realize what an extraordinarily short span of time the scene that everyone romanticizes actually lasted.
Sure, there had been Bronze Age arcades before but I only recall seeing them in large amusement parks.
Pinball and pool halls existed too but they seemed to be mostly adult only venues as the stigma about pinball had only very recently been going away and they were frequently bars as it was.
From my memory it was Space Invaders that changed the world.
Really.
All of a sudden machines started cropping up everywhere someone who thought they were fun or wanted to try to make some quick $$ could put them.
Video machines started replacing pins both in those pin and pool halls and single spots too and those old Bronze Age places started replacing older machines with the new craze.
Then dedicated video arcades really blew up.
VERY few of them looked like all the beautiful things people here put together.
Arnie's place in CT was actually quite fancy but all of the other mall arcades I frequented and even the sizeable Milford Rec were pretty drab.
Nobody cared. The vibe was (pardon the really bad pun) electrifying.
It was all about the games anyway and in an otherwise dark room those games and the light and sound blasting out of them was all that was necessary anyway.
And then 5-6 years later it all began imploding.
Crazy timeline.
Sure, there had been Bronze Age arcades before but I only recall seeing them in large amusement parks.
Pinball and pool halls existed too but they seemed to be mostly adult only venues as the stigma about pinball had only very recently been going away and they were frequently bars as it was.
From my memory it was Space Invaders that changed the world.
Really.
All of a sudden machines started cropping up everywhere someone who thought they were fun or wanted to try to make some quick $$ could put them.
Video machines started replacing pins both in those pin and pool halls and single spots too and those old Bronze Age places started replacing older machines with the new craze.
Then dedicated video arcades really blew up.
VERY few of them looked like all the beautiful things people here put together.
Arnie's place in CT was actually quite fancy but all of the other mall arcades I frequented and even the sizeable Milford Rec were pretty drab.
Nobody cared. The vibe was (pardon the really bad pun) electrifying.
It was all about the games anyway and in an otherwise dark room those games and the light and sound blasting out of them was all that was necessary anyway.
And then 5-6 years later it all began imploding.
Crazy timeline.
I grew up in the Baltimore suburbs and remember seeing games in places like bowling alleys and pool halls before everything exploded. We also had the boardwalk arcades in Ocean City. They were filled with skill games, skee ball, pins and a few vids.
Then (as I remember it) Space Invaders came out for the Atari 2600 in 1980, and then we had arcades with rows of video games in them. Small local arcades popped up, and the boardwalk arcades got lots of video games. They showed up in pizza places and convenience stores as well.
The local arcades were in the malls around me. All of them were in small, narrow mall stores without windows. The walls and ceilings were dark, and the floors were mostly bare painted concrete covered in soda and probably piss. I don't remember any artwork, decorations or lighting (other than lights from the games themselves).
We heard myths of clean, corporate arcades somewhere. We had smoke filled hives of scum and villiany. You tried not to make eye contact with anyone - especially not the stoner ripping on Tempest. You could do whatever you wanted there as long as you didn't break the machines and kept spending quarters. I remember there being drinking, drugs, weapons, fights, gambling, etc.
It was awesome. Nothing was sanitized or politically correct. If you stepped up to the wrong game at the wrong time, you were going to get your ass kicked by a motorcycle gang. Your feelings about that didn't matter.
Then (as I remember it) Space Invaders came out for the Atari 2600 in 1980, and then we had arcades with rows of video games in them. Small local arcades popped up, and the boardwalk arcades got lots of video games. They showed up in pizza places and convenience stores as well.
The local arcades were in the malls around me. All of them were in small, narrow mall stores without windows. The walls and ceilings were dark, and the floors were mostly bare painted concrete covered in soda and probably piss. I don't remember any artwork, decorations or lighting (other than lights from the games themselves).
We heard myths of clean, corporate arcades somewhere. We had smoke filled hives of scum and villiany. You tried not to make eye contact with anyone - especially not the stoner ripping on Tempest. You could do whatever you wanted there as long as you didn't break the machines and kept spending quarters. I remember there being drinking, drugs, weapons, fights, gambling, etc.
It was awesome. Nothing was sanitized or politically correct. If you stepped up to the wrong game at the wrong time, you were going to get your ass kicked by a motorcycle gang. Your feelings about that didn't matter.
Lol
