Arcades!

[benderx]

Arcade Infinity is gone. Game Over

[fvgazi]

I'm probably going to be hitting up Yestercades in Northern NJ later this month. it's only about an our or so away from me.

http://yestercades.com/

[ExedExes]

Warning -- Pic Heavy (spoiler tags in use!)

NOTE: The following I was going to post in a brand new, exclusive thread to share my arcade pics/stories/memories, but rarely do I start new topics here to kind of keep down on the clutter. This thread will suit my needs just fine. Enjoy this!

Before I ever played any console, my first videogame experience was in the arcades as they were entering their golden age in the early 80s. It's something that I am very knowledgable and passionate about even to this day, so much so, that I take one day a month to seek out and play them in their original presentations. This month, I highlighted the smaller arcades and even games located in bowling alleys, because with the exception of Stop-N-Play (which I featured in the Arcade Locations thread), there isn't much for me to play. But yesterday, I had a fantastic day playing games that were even closer to me than I ever thought. After a journey of a little over 60 miles, here is what I came across.

This small arcade I've been to many times, and they still have Lethal Enforcers 3, which plays more like a game in the Police 911 series. NASCAR Arcade was a new addition, but sadly the gas pedal had a malfunction, which seems to be the case with a lot of games I play here, always a critical component not working.

The Daytona USA 2 deluxe cab, however, was working this time. The shifter had issues previously, but the best times I previously set are still in here, which is one thing I do enjoy about newer games, as opposed to those games that lost high scores when the power was turned off.

Next location was a stop for some pinball, and what a great one it is, High Speed II The Getaway. I played a few times, and almost had a good one going on the 3rd attempt with 2 locked balls, but I got a bit rusty.

The next location was a special find -- a Carrier Air Wing cab. I never came across this game in the wild before. It's a Data East conversion from the late 80s, with the marquee bent forward. The screen was clear and looked very good.

My score wasn't all that good, but to play this for real? NICE.

This location also had an original P.O.W. cabinet!

Plus the Global Arcade Classics with laserdisc games from the Dragons Lair series, and games from Taito, Atari and Incredible Technologies/Strata. Played Majestic Twelve (Super Space Invaders 91), Cameltry, Millipede, Lunar Lander, and Zoo Keeper.

The final stop was the arcade I discovered last year that once was a meat market. It has been expanded and updated!

The standup Jambo Safari was great.

Time Crisis 3 was added.

It was also nice to see the original Police 911! I have not played this in almost 12 years or so. It was missing the rubber mat, but the sensors worked perfectly.

The 60 in 1 has a vertically mounted screen.

Here it is close up.

Finally, check out this NASCAR arcade setup. Instead of a standard arcade monitor, it was set up to a wall-mounted Zenith flatscreen CRT HDTV. What a unique experience that was!

The picture is just as nice as a standard monitor too!

I apologize for the length of this post, but this was a great day to find all this neat arcade stuff. I also hope this thread will encourage some of you to share your arcade pics and stories! If you have any pictures or memories or anything you remember at all, be sure to "insert coin and join in" this thread! (and yes, even this one raised from the dead may inspire others to post their arcade stuff!)

[ExedExes]

Almost forgot to add a pic here --

The last place also had CART Fury from Midway, and it was made around the time their other big racing games came out, so that means tons of BOOST and other special touches, but this game also happened to be licensed.

[Sonicx360]

Living in south-central PA, the arcade scene isn't as fiercely abundant as where some of you guys are. The first one that comes up to my mind is the Family Fun Center in Harrisburg Mall. As far as game selection goes, it's pretty decent, having some of my favorites titles such as Time Crisis 3, Samurai Shodown 2, Tekken 3, and Virtual-On. Worth mentioning, the game with the fiercest competition in the arcade is In The Groove 3; expert players there have played the game for hours since the arcade opens!

Besides that, I have also visited one aracde in Park City Mall, but forgot its name! It's pretty much the same as FFC, but it has another game that I extremely enjoy - The Lost World: Jurassic Park!

Furthermore, I've been to the arcade at Hershey Park and I got to say it's the best of all the ones I've been in my region. While it may not be as flashy, huge, or futuristic as a typical Japanese arcade, it still has an impressive game selection, to say the least. Not only does the arcade has several games I mentioned prior to this paragraph, but also it has several fighting games, namely Capcom vs. SNK 2 and Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Plus, it has the '80's/'90's arcade atmosphere around it, making everyone want to standup for a while, reminiscing all the memories of either of those decades.

[ExedExes]

Those are some nice games. I enjoy the original Virtual-On and nothing grabbed my attention faster than The Lost World back in the day. It doesn't matter how flashy it is, as long as it has a good mix of the old and new, and not just all the latest stuff either. Plus, it's nice when everything isn't out of order

[the King]

So last night Founder's Brewing Company, a craft beer brewer here in Michigan had a tap takeover at a bar 10 minutes from my house. So I met a buddy up there to have some limited brews they were going to feature and I walk into the place and discover this











This place is great. They have over 60 craft beers on tap normally and over 60 of the best pinball machines and a bunch of classic arcade cabs.

http://www.sharkclubhowell.com

[ExedExes]

The first picture, I see what they did with the pinball backboxes high up near the ceiling. An arcade in NJ I used to frequent (Electric Circuit in Bloomfield) did the same thing with old arcade game marquees and decorated the walls with them. I believe it's been closed for a number of years, however. That's a shame because I played lots of NG games there in their 2-slot cab like Shock Troopers, KOF 98 and Prehistoric Isle 2. They also had Tech Romancer, War Final Assault, a ton of the newer racing games. Good times.

[Luke]

So last night Founder's Brewing Company, a craft beer brewer here in Michigan had a tap takeover at a bar 10 minutes from my house. So I met a buddy up there to have some limited brews they were going to feature and I walk into the place and discover this...

One ticket to Michigan please.

That looks like something else.

[TheSegaSaturnGuy]

Actually the mall here in my town has a very respectable arcade. A few 2 player driving games, a MK machine, Time Crisis , and a pretty cool white water rafting machine that I waste so many quarters in haha