Your old arcade hangout and what it is now.

OregonPacman

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The thread about the 49th st arcade with the giant hair got me thinking. My back in the day arcade is now a Sylvan Learning Center and has been for some time. It also has a ceramics/craft store in it. What became of your favorite arcade? Did it bite the big one altogether and get demolished or is there some other buisness living there?
 
Namco Cyberstation in the New River Valley Mall, now it's a huge empty space. Same with Bluefield Mall. Also Skate Town which is now a different skating place (Skatetown Green Valley) minus the arcades.

Anyone with 90s-2001 or prior pics of either must post.
 
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My childhood favorite arcade as a kid was at the Northgate Mall in Seattle, WA...

FUN-N-GAMES

It closed sometime in the mid-90's and has been an Azteca Mexican food joint for years now! :(

I'd steal quarters from my mom's change jar and my dad would leave me a $5 bill on a corkboard in the mornings during Summerbreak.

I'd love to see even one picture of my childhood arcade... the historical moment never occurred to me at the time that I'd be interested in what I was doing 20 years later.
 
I'd love to see even one picture of my childhood arcade... the historical moment never occurred to me at the time that I'd be interested in what I was doing 20 years later.

Ditto. As it turns out, Gary Blatter (former operator in NE) that some of the MO guys have been talking about lately is the one who bought up the games when my childhood arcade (Bally's Lemans) closed.

I also remmebered a hot dog place called Wild Willy's that had games. IIRC, it was about 1990 or 1991 (its hard to remember when you get to be an old fart). The hotdogs were horrible but they had TMNT, Rampage, Double Dragon and Tetris. There were probably 10 or 12 games total but those are the ones I remember playing. I would ride my bike across town to play them. There was also the Pamida store (think low grade Walmart for those that don't know). It didn't really count as an arcade as they only had 2 games but there was a Kangaroo and a Mario Bros. I only came there for the Mario Bros. I also remember two bowling alleys with arcades. They are both still there and one still has games (poorly maintained and not great but still games), not sure about the other. There was also the Dig Dug at the grocery store a few blocks from my house, store is still there, but not Dig Dug.
 
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When I lived in Missouri, my dad and I would go to the Tilt arcade at the Northwest Plaza Mall in St. Ann. I loved that place. As a kid, it was huge. It apparently closed between 2005 and early 2007. It is nothing now because the mall is closed. :(
 
gone. they're all gone. Every time a post like this comes up, i end up searching for pics from any of the ones i used to hang out at, and find all kinds of old pics except for the ones i'm looking for. Its depressing seeing how much stuff has gone the way of the dodo's in Memphis (like Libertyland, and The Zippin Pippin - the oldest continuously operating wood roller coaster, et al).
 
One of my hangouts in the 80's was Malibu Gran Prix in Redwood City California. Today its still Malibu Gran Prix.

Matt
 
The two places I remember playing games the most as a kid were Lakewood Lanes bowling alley and Roller Magic roller skating rink in Waterbury, CT. The Bowling Alley is still there, but they've eliminated all their games except for some shitty redemption games. Roller Magic however closed about 8 years ago and was replaced with an Ocean State Job Lot store.

There is another Roller Magic in Waterbury however that is
in the hood. They still have a decent selection of mostly beat up games. The only two I play regularly is WWF Wrestlefest and Super Off Road.
 
Mine was in here (these pictures taken circa 2003). The mall was pretty much a dead mall from 1985 onward:

http://www.deadmalls.com/malls/mountain_farms_mall.html

The arcade was a small room to the right of where you see the movie theatre and the posters on the wall. It was a Just Fun arcade until the late 80s, then lost the franchise name.

There was a Papa Gino's directly across from it. Every table had a satellite "wallbox" jukebox unit for the Seeburg, exactly like this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/SEEBURG-JUKEBOX...B-WORKING-/120580833714?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0

...and I'd go in and order a hot dog and fries, and play Paperboy and Demolition Derby while I was waiting. Then eat. Then go back and play more games.

Some I remember playing there:

Monaco GP Sit-Down
Dragon's Lair
CHEXX Hockey
Ring Fighter
Vs. Goonies
Cyberball
Arm Wrestling
Missile Command sit-down
Gun Fight
Donkey Kong


The arcade and Pap Gino's both closed in the early 90s. It was all torn down around 2005, and a Bed, Bath, and Beyond now sits where all of it was.
 
Action arcade was my local arcade growing up. It's now a subway restaurant. But, I stopped going to it around 1999 when they sold off most of the games and put in computers to play Half-Life on. What a waste.

By the way, the town was called Arcadia... You'd think they'd have a kick ass arcade in Arcadia >_>
 
When I lived in Missouri, my dad and I would go to the Tilt arcade at the Northwest Plaza Mall in St. Ann. I loved that place. As a kid, it was huge. It apparently closed between 2005 and early 2007. It is nothing now because the mall is closed. :(

Northwest Plaza is closed? When did that happen?

I grew up right behind Crestwood Plaza and would frequent the old Atari arcade as a youngen, then Exhilarama (AKA Tilt) when I got a little older. Havent been there in awhile (maybe Tilt is still around?), but last time I checked Crestwood Plaza was practically a ghost town, just Sears and a few ma and pa shops were all that was left. Pretty sad. Seems some malls in the area arent getting the love like South County & West County centers are getting.
 
Space Port in Hunt Valley Mall. The whole mall was demolished and turned into a modernized strip avenue type mall (inside out, if you will). No game room to be had there.

Space Station in Garrison Forest shoppiong center, Owings Mills. My dad's old place. It is either a fabric store or a party supply store now... can't remember.

-Mike
 
My old hangout was the Lake Square Mall in Leesburg, FL. A Gold Mine arcade, used to be right by the main entrance that's since been turned into a Target entrance from inside the mall. The spot that was the arcade is now a mom n pop video game trading store.
 
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