Your Old Arcade Hang Out - OMG!!!

Wow! I used to go to that arcade too! Of course there were many more games then but for the most part it looks the same. I played Zaxxon there as well as the pinball machines - Haunted House, Playboy, Eight Ball, Evel Knievel, etc. The arcade is located in Warren, MI which is near Detroit.
 
Yeah....all the places I went to as a kid are loooooooong gone. For some reason...and I don't know why...I was driving by this place and was thinking about how long it had been since I was down this way. Funny how some things can be 10 miles from your home but you just don't make it out that way any more. Somebody asked...and yes...this place is about 6 miles due north of the Detroit border (8-Mile). It still shows up on-line:

http://www.golflink.com/miniature-golf/course.aspx?course=81934

Anyways...I pulled in and almost thought it had to be closed.....BUT....it wasn't! Holy CRAP! I pulled into the same spot I parked when I was 16 and just got my license! (How nuts is that?) The place has a very strange layout for a parking lot and I always remembered where I parked. Funny what comes back to you like lightening the minute you see it again. I walked in the same front doors....on and on. Yeah....it was one crazy experience and I'm glad as I walked around stunned I managed to snap some pictures. I'm sure the one or two workers who were there were wondering WTF I was doing...but I didn't care and was in 'serious rewind mode'.

Great stuff....
 
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First of all, how could you NOT have checked this out before? I know where all my old arcades are/were and what's there now... There will never be a "surprise" gameroom find like that for me.

Second... wow, what an incredible place, and also the type of place that is probably seriously in the hole and about to be taken by the bank... I mean, it looks deserted, and honestly it looks pretty run down. Most people don't want to go to that type of place any more, or take their kids to that type of place.

Wow, did you see that wear on the MsPac? I don't think I've ever seen another MsPac with that much hand wear. Serious!

Wade
 
That is truely amazing and I too had and very similar experience at Castles and Coasters last month. Your place is much cooler though because it is more original. It is incredible it still makes money.
 
Ya I grew up working the batting cages at my local arcade, a small game room maybe like 20 games. The only thing left there is a concrete slab where it stood. the other game arcades were in the malls. They were alot better, so when we went to the two malls I spent alot of time and quarters there too. Aladdin's Castle and Tilt arcade. Aladdin's Castle has been shut down but The tilt arcade is still up but has very few games and has kiddie rides for a quarter in it. MIGHT AS WELL BE SHUT DOWN! There was a couple miniature golf places that had arcade's but those are all gone and now are parking lots.

I have many memory's that I will always have and keep me wanting to get the games that bring those times back.
This kids now a days may have better games now, but they don't have what we had. SOMEWHERE TO HANGOUT AND HAVE FUN!!!

This is why I want some of the games I want! I think I can almost remember every single game that was in the arcade I worked in. How many games do you guys own that u played alot as a kid guys?
I told some kids that I've been around since the first game and have played games old and new still to this day and told them I AM THE VIDEO GAME ERA. That i was around since it started and seen everything that he didn't. You know what he said back that he'll see games that i'll never see. R.I.P.

Nice find for you alan wish my old arcade was still around!!!
 
IvanTT said:
That is truely amazing and I too had and very similar experience at Castles and Coasters last month. Your place is much cooler though because it is more original. It is incredible it still makes money.
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I visited Castles And Coasters about a year and a half ago. Awesome place! I've never seen that many pins outside of the Pinball Hall of Fame!

I keep forgetting to post the pictures I took when I was there. Someday...
 
Ah yes, the butterfly. It has the same smell because I swear that is the same carpet that has always been there. I doubt the carpet or walls have ever been cleaned anywhere in the place. I haven't been there in a long time but they still had gocarts running and the golf range last time I was there. They are notorious for buying new pinball machines, setting them up, and then never doing anything else to them leaving them partially functional with burnt out bulbs and so filthy it's hard to see the playfields. For sure it's worth a look if you are in the area but you will leave and want to take a shower immediately.
 
Great post Alan. Those pics are cool. I cant believe that the place hasnt changed in that many years. Incredible. Thanks for the post. Love the story!
 
CMAC said:
Ah yes, the butterfly. It has the same smell because I swear that is the same carpet that has always been there. I doubt the carpet or walls have ever been cleaned anywhere in the place. I haven't been there in a long time but they still had gocarts running and the golf range last time I was there. They are notorious for buying new pinball machines, setting them up, and then never doing anything else to them leaving them partially functional with burnt out bulbs and so filthy it's hard to see the playfields. For sure it's worth a look if you are in the area but you will leave and want to take a shower immediately.
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LOL! Spoken like a man who has been there before. Your comments capture 'the spirit' of the place very accurately. Yes...same carpet...same maintenance plan (none - but 100% of all games were lit up!)...on and on. I still am just TOTALLY amazed this place exists! Every place I can remember has been bulldozed and built over multiple times since the 70's/80's and for some reason this place has survived. Equally amazing is some movie studio has not latched on to this place for a location in an up and coming film. I can't imagine across the United States there are too many similar locations still around...

<Alan takes third shower in a row after visiting>
 
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WadeLanham said:
First of all, how could you NOT have checked this out before? I know where all my old arcades are/were and what's there now... There will never be a "surprise" gameroom find like that for me.

Second... wow, what an incredible place, and also the type of place that is probably seriously in the hole and about to be taken by the bank... I mean, it looks deserted, and honestly it looks pretty run down. Most people don't want to go to that type of place any more, or take their kids to that type of place.

Wow, did you see that wear on the MsPac? I don't think I've ever seen another MsPac with that much hand wear. Serious!

Wade
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Ha Wade! Funny isn't it? After hanging in the arcades through the 70's and early 80's....by the mid 80's for me it was off to college, serious sports playing time, boat racing, marriage, house restoration, kids....blah blah...blah. I'm not sure for everyone else...but 25 years went by like warp speed for me. After building my home arcade the past few years...arcade games are once again on my radar...and thus the hard right turn when I was passing this place!

Ms. Pac - I agree and I also think...that game...in that exact condition...should be in the Smithsonian. It personifies video game history simply by the amount of people who touched that particular game over the almost 30 years it has been on location. To me...that makes it a 'one of a kind'. And there were 3 Ms. Pac's in similar condition there! :)
 
AKA, The Butterfly!

Yup still going strong and the owner get the new pinballs like you saw!
 
Wow, check out the "knee wear" on the mspac and mspac/galaga cabs. Someone spent alot of time sitting at those games on the stool.
 
Riptor said:
Wow, check out the "knee wear" on the mspac and mspac/galaga cabs. Someone spent alot of time sitting at those games on the stool.
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The place is packed every Friday and Sat night.

I once saw a non-working Galaga there that looked like it had been in a fire, still on the floor, jsut sittign there. In fact, its probably still there today! I've not been there in over 2 years myself. Used to work over there and would go at lunch.

At my lunch time, you would see all the dumb ass GM workers wasting the entire day there and at their bar. Wonder why GM has some of their issues...
 
Here's my thought. I looked at your Vaps page, looked a couple of your pics, and the thought that hit me was that I think I would rather go to your arcade than this one. Its great that its still there, but in a lot of ways your personal arcade surpasses it. As long as there are people crazy enough to collect these games, arcades will never truly die. But at least its nice to know that every now and then, "you can go home again". Thanks for sharing the story.
 
Other arcades in Detroit area.

There was Ricks on Gratiot in East Detroit
Galaxy arcade on Gratiot near Macomb Mall
There was also one on Gratiot near EastGate Mall, but I can't recall the name.

They were the hangout, I think Ricks is still open.
 
I drive by Butterfly Suite every day on my way home from work, and I was going to stop one of these days, but Al beat me to it! :) I'm gonna have to make a pilgrimage over there one of these weekends...those pictures are absolutely surreal. I remember standing in that go-kart line like it was yesterday, and it looks exactly like I remember it.

Galaxy on Gratiot was a favorite of mine, but I can't remember the other place by Eastland mall... Never went to Rick's either...not sure how I missed an arcade back then?? I thought I knew them all!!!

Razz-Ma-Tazz on 16 & Van Dyke by Showcase Cinema was a pretty decent place too. It's a Ruby Tuesday's now I believe.

I mostly went to Chuck-e-Cheese since it was within walking distance from my house! I didn't start going to Butterfly until I was older.....all the older teenage kids would smoke and play Defender... I was never "allowed" to play, so now I own one! :D

The arcades at the local Bowling alleys were pretty sweet too. Ark Sterling on Schoenherr, Pampa on Van Dyke and Bonanza Lanes on Hoover..... I played my first game of Tank there with my dad...and I was hooked for life.

Ah the good old days... Thanks for sharing Al, great memories.

P.S. I have been to Tranquility Base Arcade...and many of you have not. (And it's even sweeter in person!)
 
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There was a arcade at 12 and gratiot or was it 13 and gratiot that had a fire about 10 years ago and was closed. What was it called...?

EDIT: Galaxy just like others stated!
 
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