/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.1725695]

/vr/, do you have any local arcades? How do they compare to your 80s and 90s ones?

It's damn hard to find one, and I live in one of the biggest cities in the US. I see individual machines everywhere, especially at the movies, but never actual arcades.

[Anonymous No.1725704]

>>1725695
I wish . There are a couple around Toronto, but they are small and a bunch have gone out of business. They are pretty far from where I live too, like an hour or so.

Sucks because I would hang out there all the time if they were more accessible

[Anonymous No.1725708]

>>1725695
Yeah there is one at the mall by where I live. They have the batman driving game, the newer Big Buck Unter, a pirate rail shooter, a basket ball shooting non-video game, and we HAD a Mario Kart, but they took it out in favor of a claw machine. There are like 4 other racing games, but thats it.

My local bowling alley had Ms Pac Man, Galaga, Congo and Adams Family pinball machines and Primal Rage, but it got demolished.

A pizza place near where I live has like 4 pinball machines, Ms Pac Man and an original Street Fighter cab.

[Anonymous No.1725725]

Yeah, it's ugly, well-lit, poorly laid out, and the staff are annoying. The games are the same ones I was playing ten years ago at a different arcade that went out of business, a mix of late late 90s/early 00s standards and a couple of 80s classics.

[Anonymous No.1725731]

>>1725695
I have two in town, not including my own 5-machine collection. There's one in our mall that has mostly gimmick machines but I like some of the ride machines. Not really interested in the redemption ones. There's probably 15 machines in it, which is much smaller than the mall arcade when I was a teen that had about 50-70 machines, with fighting games being the focus. When I was a small kid the arcade was a bit smaller with probably 30-40 machines but it had a cool "Gold Mine" theme complete with fake buttresses and yellow mine lamps. The bigger 90s arcade didn't have a theme it was just way bigger and more well lit. Our current mall arcade still attracts a handful of slutty looking jailbait girls lots of evenings though so that much is still the same..

The other local arcade is more kid oriented, they host birthday parties and shit but it has kitchen that does pizza and ice cream and that kind of stuff which is kind of nice. When they first opened I was trying to get them to offer beer but they've pretty much gone full kid-oriented. It has more machines than the mall one, probably 25 or so.

The nearest big city has what used to be a Sega Gameworks in it that closed but was re-opened by an independent company and still operates with most of the machines. It has a sit down restaurant and bar, multiple floors and is still pretty much the same as Gameworks, which was the ultimate 90s overblown arcade experience.

Also, one of our amusement parks up North has an arcade in it that's been in continuous operation since the 70s because as part of the park, it doesn't need to be profitable to stay open. It's my favorite arcade because it truly has the authentic look, sound and smell of a traditional arcade.

So yeah I'm still pretty good on arcades. Hopefully we won't lose any. I'm particularly concerned for the former Gameworks since Sega decided to close it and it's in a high-class mall where the rent must be really really high.

[Anonymous No.1725732]

>>1725704
Used to be a nice one right near Yonge and Dundas square, was pissed when I found out they closed.

[Anonymous No.1725759]

>>1725695
>I see individual machines everywhere, especially at the movies, but never actual arcades.
Reason behind that is, at least in my state, you have to get an operating or premises license if you have more than two arcade machines for your business.

I wish there was something near where I live. All the cool places are upstate.

[Anonymous No.1725763]

>>1725695
I have one in an entertainment centre near my house. House of the Dead and OutRun 2006 mostly.

[Anonymous No.1725769]

My old community college (Algonquin College in Ottawa) has a MVC2 cab, an Xmen vs SF cab, and a few other games I don't bother with. There used to be CVS2, 3rd Strike, and Alpha 3 cabs as well, but they were eventually removed.

While I attended Algonquin College there was a a small, yet dedicated group of regulars to fight with. I met my current best friend at the MVC2 cab. I played at those cabs everyday after class.

Now that I have graduated I don't play at the cabs nearly as often, but I still occasionally like to 1-quarter-finish MVC2.

[Anonymous No.1725798]

There's an arcade in Cincinatti that I like to go to every now and then. There's about 50 or so cabs. Mostly stuff from the 90's but there's some 80's stuff. The mall it's in is nearly abandoned. Really spooky to walk around in an empty ass mall at like 1 am. They have an area for consoles set up and all the games that are for sale can be played. They have projectors for the rockband fags. And stream tournaments and shit on twitch. Pretty cool place.

You pay a fee to get in then all the games are on free play.

http://arcadelegacyohio.com/

[Anonymous No.1725856]

I live in NYC but haven't seen one

[Anonymous No.1725920]

>>1725798
I wish there was something decent around the Toledo/Cleveland area ;_;

[Anonymous No.1725934]

>>1725920
Go to Cedar Point, Dummy. That's the amusement park arcade I was talking about.

[Anonymous No.1725937]

I live in Brazil and one of the malls of my town has a couple of them.

They only have Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Samurai Shodown though.

[Anonymous No.1725952]

>>1725856
I lived near Chinatown Manhattan from 2001-2003. There was an arcade at... I think... 8 Mott street? I know it was Mott street, but can't recall the addy.


>>1725695
I currently live in Philadelphia. There is one independent arcade in city limits of which I'm aware, two "entertainment centers" or whatever such nonsense they've been labeled and a few Chuck E Cheese locations. There's also an indoor skating rink and a few bowling alleys that have arcade sections. About the so-called "entertainment centers," Anon: they're basically arcades with alcohol and table-service dining.

Just outside the city to the northeast, there's a place that's supposed to be the largest retailer and arcade in the world for classic/retro arcade games. I'd been there once and it was nifty. I pumped many quarters in Kangaroo and this Ikari Warriors clone that I can't recall the name of.
There's also a few "barcades" in the area for people with curled moustaches but I've yet to visit one because I'm just not hip nor with-it enough for that sort of environment.

The retro cabinet retailer/repair shop was great when I went but I don't know if they're still in business and I can't be arsed to google. The smaller, independent arcade was great when I was last there five years ago or so. Lots of pinball on one side, some classics on the other and several more contemporary games, as well.
The "entertainment centers" are overpriced and lack classic games altogether except for a few cocktail cabinets with a MAME-like interface for choosing one of several dozen classic games. They've a few pinball machines, which I enjoy greatly.
The rink, some lasertag and bowling locations around here have various games and seem to be wholly unchanged from the later 80s/earlier 90s.
I've never been to a Chuck E Cheese, so I can make no mention of them other than telling you they exist.

[Anonymous No.1725976]

>>1725695

You know a kid is going to grow up into a cult leader in his adult life when he's wearing aviator glasses that early on.

[Anonymous No.1725979]

>>1725934
I go to cedar point all the time, actually.
The arcade there is decent, although that fucking 4-D machine takes so many dollars god damn

[Anonymous No.1725985]

No real arcades here. The mall has Tekken, Soul Calibur, HotD 2, and maybe a Time Crisis 2 iirc and I will suck the dick of whoever fixes the Raiden machine in the bowling alley. Don't think there was anything else of worth there but one of those anniversary Galaga/Ms. Pac Man machines. There's this cool-ass coffee shop downtown with a bunch of pinball machines, but the only time I was down there they were all off and I don't know if they're ever on. The movie theater has some stuff but I honestly don't know what. That's all I've got.

[Anonymous No.1725986]

I've never been, but I've heard good things about this bar called 16 bit. It's really the closest thing to an arcade I know about.

http://16-bitbar.com/

[Anonymous No.1725987]

Even arcades in Tokyo have come into decline.

Walked into one of those big, noticeable TAITO towers... think it may have been in Asakusa or Shinjuku, don't remember... but most games in it were like... "pick up the teddy bear with the claws" type games. Non-vidya arcades. Only a couple floors at the top had vidya arcade games, but I definitely got the impression they no longer prioritize videogame-style arcade games.

[Anonymous No.1726008]

>>1725979
That game is pretty awesome though. I guess there's an arcade with a walk-through haunt style game that uses all those features but in multiple rooms with big touchscreen panels and puzzle elements to allow you to "escape" to the next room. Crazy.

You should feel happy to be so close to it because like I said, it's my favorite even above Gameworks. It's legit as shit. That's almost exactly what arcades were like back in the day. There used to be an arcade at the State Fair that was also legit as fuck but it doesn't appear any more.

[Anonymous No.1726023]

>>1725976
Those were the default one-step-up from the black full frame "nerd" glasses that hipsters now wear, which were the cheapest glasses your mom would buy you.

If she loved you, but not enough to really go that extra mile, then you would have gotten those. Looks like they're probably Transitions lenses.

[Anonymous No.1726029]

>>1726008
It is pretty fun. My heart rate tends to seem higher than most people so half the time when im even calm it'll say im panicked, haha.
I put 20 dollars into that machine with my friend and I think we made it through 3 of the chapters?
Most of the time when I go to the arcade there I play Time Crisis, skiball and that one Mech game, I forgot the name of it.

[Anonymous No.1726094]

>>1725987
That's not really that unusual, the larger, flashier arcades in Japan always devote most of their floorspace to more mainstream consumer amusements. There are plenty of quality arcades there, you just need to walk off the beaten path a little bit to find them.

[Anonymous No.1726129]

I happen to live next to a mall that's barely alive. For the longest time I didn't know that there was an arcade in there. For just 10 bucks you can play as long as you want. The owner said that business is really good. He's even opening a bar/arcade in the coming months.

[Anonymous No.1727841]

>>1725769

Back when I was in Ottawa that school had Area 51, Gauntlet Dark Legacy and Metal Slug cabs. There was some kind of Capcom fighter there as well but I never paid attention to it.

This was when the bar (Hagar's) was still attached to the cafeteria and the comp sci & architecture buildings hadn't been built yet.

[Anonymous No.1728352]

>>1726129
10$ is 40 quarters. Most games require a coin after every game over to continue... Starting over 40 times... man you really would have to suck at the game, any game for that being even remotely a good deal.

[Anonymous No.1728428]

>>1728352

I believe it's $10 for free access to all games. If your attention span is good enough, that can be a pretty good deal.

[Anonymous No.1728450]

>>1725695
>do you have any local arcades?

No

>How do they compare to your 80s and 90s ones?

They are exactly the same as back then.

[Anonymous No.1728451]

>>1728428
It's just a symptom of the huge change in American's mentality over thirty years. Back then the profit was in our tendency to the "It's only a quarter" fallacy. Now our gluttonous brains think "fuck yeah all you can eat buffet"

[Anonymous No.1728465]

>>1728451

>all you can eat buffet

ARE YOU CALLING AMERICANS FAT?!?

[Anonymous No.1728470]

>>1728465
UIhhhhh yeah. I go to Wal Mart. Hell I'm fully in the "overweight" category according to the CDC and people think I'm fit. Feels good tho.

[Anonymous No.1729596]

>>1726129
>For just 10 bucks you can play as long as you want

That's how my arcade
does it too, except they charge 15 claps for an all day pass. you can even buy week/month/annual passes

It's worth the price though, considering it's the largest arcade in the US, with 400 something games.

Here's a list http://www.gallopingghostarcade.com/games_list.htm

[Anonymous No.1730112]

We have a few around here. Problem is even at the big places like Dave and Busters the games are not maintained at all. Screens are all fucked up and half of the games have controls that don't work.

[Anonymous No.1730378]

>>1729596
That is an impressive list. I'm a big fan of shoot-em-up's and sadly Arcade Legacy doesn't have a big selection. They do have a few niche cabinets like Project Justice and Pop'n Music which I can sink so much time into.

[Anonymous No.1730391]

there are arcades in every decent sized mall. although alot of times they're filled more with shitty token games instead of actual arcade machines

[Anonymous No.1730486]

Found an arcade in Vegas. Was excited, but it was really more like some sort of nerd themed bar with a DJ playing in front of a montage of kung fu movies and other screens playing video game demo reels and shit. They had classic games and not just shitty rail shooters and driving games, but the selection of games was fairly small and the beat em up games weren't well maintained at all. It clearly just existed as a novelty thing, but I was ecstatic just because I'll take what I can get at this point.

[Anonymous No.1730496]

>>1730486
theres shitloads of arcades in Vegas
damn near every casino has an arcade then you have barcades like Insert Coins and then smaller places like Gemini Palace (though I don't know if they have finally find a new location)
Growing up in Vegas was fucking amazing with all the arcades they had and now it's got EVO and a resurgence of video game love in general.
Man I really wish the arcade down the street from me didn't die in 3 months since it was fucking heavenly.

[Anonymous No.1731179]

> tfw there are no arcades in my town and the closest ones are about 60km away
And they are only racing games, which I am not too fond of.

[Anonymous No.1731198]

>>1726129
my ass was in that initial d cabinet like two weeks ago. I mentioned this place earlier in this thread. I went to get some footage of myself playing house of the dead 2 for a video project I'm working on.

my girlfriend sucked my dick in the ladies room on out way out. It was a nice night.

[Anonymous No.1731208]

I'm the UK so no aside from ones at piers, which are usually expensive anyway. There must be one in London, somewhere.

I would kill for one with a couple of decent games nearby.

[Anonymous No.1731230]

>>1725704
>>1725732
Well there is A&C World which isn't bad for console fighters. And they have some machines but they're either dead or covered in stuff, which sucks.

[Anonymous No.1732540]

>>1729596
I would love to check this place out some time. They just got a Primal Rage 2 arcade cab. Would like to fuck around with it.

[Anonymous No.1732546]

>>1725695
After we lost Arcade Infinity and Japan Arcade, all we really have left in my area are James Games and Super Arcade.

I mean, it's SoCal, it's fucking great, just sad to see more arcades close every year.

[Anonymous No.1732554]

My home town has this run down little local diner that has a game room in the back that includes a bunch of classic arcade machines. In fact, the place hasn't changed at all since I was a kid. Galaga, Ms. Pac Man, Crazy Taxi, bunch of others. Couple pinball machines too.

[Anonymous No.1732701]

>>1725695
In Chicago I go to the emporium. They have tons of beer on tap at reasonable price, and tons of 80s and 90s arcades and pinball.
>also based sf2ce i usually play on tuesdays

[Anonymous No.1733045]

>>1726129
>>1731198
>that initial d cabinet
>not playing Initial D in a Cycraft cabinet

[Anonymous No.1733106]

Our local mall (which seems to be on life support itself) still has an arcade. Lots of Capcom fighters and SNK MVS cabs. But at least one button is broken on every machine.

I honestly have no idea how they're still in business. I never see anyone in there and the rent for businesses at our mall is said to be extremely high. It's gotta be a front for a money laundering operation or something.

[Anonymous No.1733150]

I live in Austin TX, we have a couple great arcades, one is Pinballz which specializes in of course pinball, but they have several arcade cabinets such as Space Invaders and Tron. Another is Arcade UFO which stylizes itself after Japanese arcades, mostly has fighting games but also has some very interesting Japan only releases.

[Anonymous No.1733181]

>>1728352
Most games are at least a buck now

[Anonymous No.1733202]

>>1733150
youre lucky. theres jack shit here in san antonio other than the last diversions which has a horrible selection

[Anonymous No.1734383]

Arcade Legacy and The Place Arcade in Cincy are about an hour from here.

Arcade Legacy has a decent selection, but they could keep up with maintenance a little better. Haven't been to The Place but it looks like they have mostly 70's and 80's stuff and a smaller selection.

[Anonymous No.1734393]

>>1726129
Yeah that's Arcade Legacy in Cincy. Our last visit was slightly marred by about ten spergy creeps drinking energy drinks and yelling at each other while they played fightans

[Anonymous No.1734394]

There are two I know of here (Sydney Aus)

Both cater to SF4 and TTT2 players, and Wangan Midnight. Plus ticket games.

Arcade's back in the 80's 90's were great. Not so much now unless you play the above religiously.

[Anonymous No.1734602]

>>1725704
Ugh, I'm about the move to the GTA and that's already got me less than hopeful, especially since Playdium looks like bullshit. Then again, I've only really encounted one arcade where I live, and it shut down years ago, so I'd be happy with something small.

[Anonymous No.1734619]

unfortunately not anymore, the closest thing resembling an arcade would be dave and busters and thats far from an arcade really, the last real arcade around me closed down in 2003 I think? and even so i wasn't too terribly sad to see it goes, the games they had were pretty shitty.

[Anonymous No.1734682]

>>1734619
And where, pray tell, d'ya live, then?

[Anonymous No.1734692]

>>1734602
Playdium was decent back in the day, haven't been in like ten years so not sure what it's like now.

>that old show Gamerz they used to film there

[Anonymous No.1734705]

Rock n' Roll bar in ottawa called
House of Targ.

Just opened up.
Great venue
bout 30 tables
10 arcade games
free play sundays are $5, and they have the best perogies!!!!1

All you ottawafags ITT, hit it up! They also have tournys, and keep track of highscores.

Best thing to happen in Ottawa in a long time, Glad I'm close by in Montreal, but it makes me regret moving from there

[Anonymous No.1734856]

>>1734383
do you know if the cabs are on free play at The Place?

[Anonymous No.1735852]

Went to a barcade for the first time recently. It was pretty disappointing. While they had a really solid representation of classic era arcade games, most of the stuff from the 90s-00s was pretty forgettable and they didn't have Robotron which I was told they had and was looking forward to.

The worst part though had to be the American stick setups. That was my first time ever using bat tops and circle gates and holy shit do I hope I never have to tolerate it again. I couldn't even jump forward in any of the fighting games without practically doing a tiger knee motion.

[Anonymous No.1735908]

>>1735852
>first time ever using bat tops and circle gates

Are you a child?

[Anonymous No.1736003]

>>1733150
Arcade UFO is great the owner knows his shit. This is what most arcades lacked back in the day. Shit like Street Fighter Alpha 2 getting replaced by fucking Street Fighter EX ugh.

[Anonymous No.1736015]

>>1734705
Why is everything on Bank St. and why do they solely serve perogies? (it's across from the Mayfair and seems to have bands with $5-10 covers)

[Anonymous No.1736591]

>>1725704
Does Sega Playdium still exist? God I havent been there in ages.. So many memories

[Anonymous No.1736705]

>>1725695
SoCal here, Super Arcade sucks!

[Anonymous No.1736714]

>>1736705
Not if you really, really, really like Street Fighter.

Just remember to use Jack in the Box's restroom.

[Anonymous No.1736719]

>>1726008
This cracka know what's up.

[Anonymous No.1738302]

>>1735908
No, but the last time I went to an arcade I was. And I don't remember that very well. I doubt I even played anything but flashy racing games, rail shooters and music games anyway.

[Anonymous No.1738325]

>mall near me
>"pinball arcade"
>no pinball
>no upright arcade cabinets
>just racing and prizeshit
Every fucking time

[Anonymous No.1738337]

>>1736705
Super arcade is cool, albeit dingy. It's THE place to go if you wanna "git gud" since anyone who's anyone plays there fairly regularly. James Games in Upland is also really nice arcade. Machines are in tip top shape but the scene isn't nearly as big.

[Anonymous No.1741146]

bumpers