Great Arcades

Just came back from Reno, NV. Me and the wife went there to see Megadeth for our anniversary. Awesome show, BTW. The best concert I've ever been to, Megadeth freaking rocked. And Reno was the place to see it, drinks in line and a full-service bar in the concert!

Just wanted to let people here know, especially Sega fans, that the Fun Quest arcade in the Grand Sierra hotel is fan-freaking-tastic. TONS of great Sega arcades there. I had a blast with the new After Burner arcade with a motion-seat, the oh-so-awesome Star Wars Trilogy Arcade (why have they not given us a home port of this stellar game yet?!), played some Batman Begins pinball, got my butt-kicked by my wife at air-hockey, and played the original House of the Dead which I was surprised to see because I usually see HotD 2 machines if any. They also had this awesome-looking touchscreen arcade that was a medieval sword fighting action game. I had run out of $1 & $5 at that point, so I didn't get to play it unfortunately.

Plus lots of ticket-games for the kiddies. There's also a mini-golf course, lazer-tag, those plastic tube jungle-gym things for kids, pool, skee-ball, air-hockey pinball tables, and even a shuffleboard room. And Round Table Pizza is right next door if you need a snack.

That's awesome!

There's a chain of video arcades in Denver where I live called 1UP (their other location is called 2UP lol), but they mostly have arcade games from the 70s, 80s and early 90s, which is still awesome, however I grew up with mostly arcade games from the 90s and early 2000s. Still a really fun place to visit if you ever find yourself in Denver.

That's awesome!

There's a chain of video arcades in Denver where I live called 1UP (their other location is called 2UP lol), but they mostly have arcade games from the 70s, 80s and early 90s, which is still awesome, however I grew up with mostly arcade games from the 90s and early 2000s. Still a really fun place to visit if you ever find yourself in Denver.

Shenmue_Jehuty

If I'm ever there, I'd love to. Sounds like my kind of place. I've always wanted to see the original Mile High Comics location there in Denver, too.

[QUOTE="Shenmue_Jehuty"]

That's awesome!

There's a chain of video arcades in Denver where I live called 1UP (their other location is called 2UP lol), but they mostly have arcade games from the 70s, 80s and early 90s, which is still awesome, however I grew up with mostly arcade games from the 90s and early 2000s. Still a really fun place to visit if you ever find yourself in Denver.

Emerald_Warrior

If I'm ever there, I'd love to. Sounds like my kind of place. I've always wanted to see the original Mile High Comics location there in Denver, too.

Yeah it's pretty cool as well. I was actually there on Black Friday because they had a really good sale going. Hard to beat 50% off everything in the store :p

Arcades are all but dead in my part of the UK, the only places you can find the machines nowadays are at beach-holiday locations (Blackpool etc) and at the Bowling alley. But the prices are extortionate for a game and frankly a complete waste of money.

It's a pity because they used to offer much more for less money (even when inflation is taken into account).

I can't offer comments on newer machines, but i always enjoyed the original Afterburner ride-in machine, Roadblasters and Spy Hunter were particular favourites too.

Where I live there are no arcades unfortunately, but a Dave & Buster's is opening a few miles away so I have that to look forward to.

Where I live there are no arcades unfortunately, but a Dave & Buster's is opening a few miles away so I have that to look forward to.

Branmuffin316

I used to love D&B, however the one near me was totally destroyed by the ownership over the years. Back in the late 90s when it first opened up it was amazing; there were probably 100 or so incredible arcade games. Howecer, they gradually started taking all their good arcade games and replacing them with stupid ticket machine, and more or less transformed it into a kiddy casino. I went there this past summer and they had maybe 3 decent arcade games left, and everything else was just sh!t. Needless to say it has been and will be the last time I go there.

Back in the late 90s when it first opened up it was amazing; there were probably 100 or so incredible arcade games. Howecer, they gradually started taking all their good arcade games and replacing them with stupid ticket machine, and more or less transformed it into a kiddy casino.

Shenmue_Jehuty

The western game center model(for non big chains) was always very inefficient and expensive in comparison with the asian one. Whereas in asia they went for smaller and more cost effective general purpose arcade cabinets that could play most any game even today, in the west they opted for bigger and more costly game-exlusive cabinets.

For example, ever since the mid-late 80's, Japanese cabinets were made in a way that you could simply unscrew the control panel and replace it with another with more buttons, trackball, dual joysticks etc. in no time.

In the west, the best they had were conversion kits, which were more expensive and not as easy to apply.

Then when it comes to big chains, I'm surprised no one has followed the current Japanese model of cattering to the geek culture which continues to prove quite successful.

I doubt the US is lacking in teenage geeks with not a whole lot to do.

Then when it comes to big chains, I'm surprised no one has followed the current Japanese model of cattering to the geek culture which continues to prove quite successful.

Panzer_Zwei

Man, it seemed like every arcade I saw in Japan was just stuffed full of photobooths and claw games. I wasn't really looking for a good one but still...

[QUOTE="Panzer_Zwei"]

Then when it comes to big chains, I'm surprised no one has followed the current Japanese model of cattering to the geek culture which continues to prove quite successful.

logicalfrank

Man, it seemed like every arcade I saw in Japan was just stuffed full of photobooths and claw games. I wasn't really looking for a good one but still...

Did you went into any of those? They usually have multiple floors. The first floor is usually reserved for ufo catchers and the like, the upper floors is where they have the standard games.

Japan is plagued with game centers though. And not just from big companies (which are the ones that handle all those game prizes). They even have these fan pages where you can check out which local game center has which games (in working order) throughout the country, so you can locate and play practically any old arcade game in existence.

[QUOTE="logicalfrank"]

[QUOTE="Panzer_Zwei"]

Then when it comes to big chains, I'm surprised no one has followed the current Japanese model of cattering to the geek culture which continues to prove quite successful.

Panzer_Zwei

Man, it seemed like every arcade I saw in Japan was just stuffed full of photobooths and claw games. I wasn't really looking for a good one but still...

Did you went into any of those? They usually have multiple floors. The first floor is usually reserved for ufo catchers and the like, the upper floors is where they have the standard games.

Japan is plagued with game centers though. And not just from big companies. They even have these fan pages where you can check out which local game center has which games (in working order) throughout the country, so you can locate and play practically any old arcade game in existence.

Like I said, I wasn't really looking so I only went in one and it sounds like it was the wrong one. It was like five floors of photobooths and claw games. It was seriously sort of surreal. I walk in and am like--well, first floor is this crap and the real games are on the second floor. And I get to the second floor and I'm like--well, next floor then... and again... and again! It had a huge Sega sign on it so I had this fantasy that I'd walk up a flight of stairs and there'd be like ten thousand people going crazy playing Space Harrier but, alas, it was totally empty and it was a bunch of carnival midway stuff. In hindsight, I should have tried harder to find something cool. I did get literally hundreds of streetpasses over the course of the week on my 3DS so it was not a total bust game-wise.

[QUOTE="Panzer_Zwei"]

[QUOTE="logicalfrank"]

Man, it seemed like every arcade I saw in Japan was just stuffed full of photobooths and claw games. I wasn't really looking for a good one but still...

logicalfrank

Did you went into any of those? They usually have multiple floors. The first floor is usually reserved for ufo catchers and the like, the upper floors is where they have the standard games.

Japan is plagued with game centers though. And not just from big companies. They even have these fan pages where you can check out which local game center has which games (in working order) throughout the country, so you can locate and play practically any old arcade game in existence.

Like I said, I wasn't really looking so I only went in one and it sounds like it was the wrong one. It was like five floors of photobooths and claw games. It was seriously sort of surreal. I walk in and am like--well, first floor is this crap and the real games are on the second floor. And I get to the second floor and I'm like--well, next floor then... and again... and again! It had a huge Sega sign on it so I had this fantasy that I'd walk up a flight of stairs and there'd be like ten thousand people going crazy playing Space Harrier but, alas, it was totally empty and it was a bunch of carnival midway stuff. In hindsight, I should have tried harder to find something cool. I did get literally hundreds of streetpasses over the course of the week on my 3DS so it was not a total bust game-wise.

In London, there used to be an awesome arcade called Fun Land (formerly Sega World) at the Trocadero, but it closed down a few years ago.

Nowadays, the closest thing I've been to is probably Tenpin Bowling in Croydon, South London. Just like Fun Land, it has a lot of Sega arcade machines.

In London, there used to be an awesome arcade called Fun Land (formerly Sega World) at the Trocadero, but it closed down a few years ago.

Nowadays, the closest thing I've been to is probably Tenpin Bowling in Croydon, South London. Just like Fun Land, it has a lot of Sega arcade machines.

Jag85

Sega used to truly rule the arcade scene back in the mid to late 90s :).

There used to be a place called Sega City inside a shopping mall near where I live back in the late 90s. I only went there once unfortunetly, but it was an absolute blast. I remember they had this thing called 10-buck Tuesday, where you paid 10-bucks to get in and you go to play unlimited games all day. I heard it was an absolute mad house for a while because of this, hoever they went out of business after only being open for about 2-years. Sad :(

[QUOTE="Jag85"]

In London, there used to be an awesome arcade called Fun Land (formerly Sega World) at the Trocadero, but it closed down a few years ago.

Nowadays, the closest thing I've been to is probably Tenpin Bowling in Croydon, South London. Just like Fun Land, it has a lot of Sega arcade machines.

Shenmue_Jehuty

Sega used to truly rule the arcade scene back in the mid to late 90s :).

There used to be a place called Sega City inside a shopping mall near where I live back in the late 90s. I only went there once unfortunetly, but it was an absolute blast. I remember they had this thing called 10-buck Tuesday, where you paid 10-bucks to get in and you go to play unlimited games all day. I heard it was an absolute mad house for a while because of this, hoever they went out of business after only being open for about 2-years. Sad :(

When I put on the headset, it was a completely new immersive experience I'd never witnessed before (and unfortunately, something I've never experienced again to this day). It was completely unlike all those other crappy VR headsets at the time (*cough* Virtual Boy *cough*), but the Sega VR actually had very impressive graphics for its time, with stereoscopic 3D to boot... though the most impressive innovation was that, as I moved my head (in all directions), the entire game world moved along with it.... making it feel as if I was actually inside the game world! The game itself was a first-person light-gun shooter of some kind, but I had to be more alert and look around with my head to see if anything's coming from unexpected directions.

I never quite figured out what Sega did to make such an immersive experience possible... until not too long ago, when I found out that the Sega VR used motion sensors to detect head movement, probably the same kind used for the Wii today (but for a different purpose). Sega was way ahead of its time, but ultimately, all that innovation cost them, big time! Either way, I'd love to see something similar to the Sega VR finally get released.