Stumbled across this flickr set:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/petromyzon/sets/553223/

Brings me back to when I was a kid, back when arcades still ruled.

 

Those were the freaking days. Tempest is still my favorite game of all time.

Funny I was just watching the movie "Nightmares" and the segment about the arcade game "Bishop of Battle" really brought back some memories of how cool 80's arcades were.

 

Arcades were already dying out when I ventured into them... I still remember beating X-men versus Streeet Fighter on one credit... I've never completed any game in an arcade before or since.

Nowadays I don't go in unless its for a House of the Dead or Virtua Fighter fix.  

 

Showing our ages, but yeah, arcades were awesome. The compounded noise of all the machines throughout the arcade. The sound of token/quarter machines spitting out money. Ash trays sitting on the games.

I loved it. And I spent all my money in arcades.

 

Donkey Kong,Smash Bros,Pac-man,Galaga,Alter Beast and Super Mario Bros.

I remeber some very long lines with Super Mario Bros.,would wait three hours just to play it.

 

TIME OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I used to always get time out gift coupons as stocking stuffers, and used to take my report card up there to get tokens for all of my A's in school. ah, the times.

 

Reminds me of my afternoons at Diamond Jim's Arcade at the Orange Blossom Mall. Those were good times.

 

I loved the Afterburner that you sat in and it moved around. I thought that was the coolest thing ever when I was younger.

 

I still went to Arcade up untill 3 years ago. I went for Initial D and other SSega racing titles, but the Arcade was 3/4th those POS ticket games and got sick of waiting in lines for the 1 Initial D Machine.

 

I think I'm going to cry.

 

Its really sad. The arcade is dead. Killed by the modern game console. R.I.P.

 

Wow, this brought back memories... going to Tilt at the Winrock Mall, playing Gunblade and Die Hard Arcade for the first time, participating in the Super Street Fighter II tournament with the gigantic 8-player machine where you had to actually change positions on the machine depending on where you were ranked...

... excuse me, got something in my eye.

 

Luckily I still have a arcade near me that keeps classics, fighting games and a lot of the current stuff. I go every now and then when I have time. But I miss "Time Out" that was in the fox hills mall way back in the day.

 

During my college years in Iowa City, we had several arcades close at hand. They were in the dorms, Planet X downtown (now closed), the local mall (also closed), and the better mall in Coralville. All had wonderful classics like Arkanoid, Burger Time, Centipede, Robotron: 2084, and freaking Wizard of Wor which I haven't seen since.

Shortly before I left, the better mall got a string of Namco-branded cabinets with little red stools. These emulated Dig Dug, Rally-X, Pac-Man, Soul Calibur II, and many other games. Good in principle, but the construction was shoddy and the emulation imperfect.

It's a pity that they're not viable businesses anymore. There are so many of us that would loyally patronize them... but not enough.  

 

*sigh* ,,,,,,,I miss those days

 

We still have an Aladdin's Castle arcade in our local mall but it's nothing like the good old days when we had Diamond Jim's.

 

Alladins castle 5 dollar friday nights rocked! Pay 5 dollars and play all the games for free!

 

Alas, Electric Palace
Poor, departed Aladdin's Castle
Farewell, Laserport
Adios, Spaceballs

Man, Do I wish There were more Neo Geo Collection discs, I could really go for some Aerofighters, or some Asteriods (The Original), Maybe even some Rampage.

 

I recall my crowning arcade achievement. It was at the arcade in Kings Island. I was there on a school field trip years ago. My buddy and I headed there first. Figured we should play a few games right off, before we spent all our money on food and stuff.

The last game I decided to play was Marvel Superheroes vs. Streetfighter. At this point in time, the game was about 6 months old, and I had played it maybe 3 times previously. I was decent, but not great. I'm playing by myself, when these three older guys walk up. One asks if he can play, and I say sure.

I then proceed to utterly whip this guy's ass. I take out both of his guys without losing either of mine. I had never won a match like that, ever. He's quite obviously annoyed. Before I can say my usual "Good game.", one of his buddies comes up and says he's going to take a shot. I quickly beat his ass too. Then the third guy chimes in and goes for it. Once again, I dominate the match. I then end up fighting and beating all three guys a second time around. To make things even more awesome, I beat them using Chun Li and Dan.

They left after that. This other guy who had been waiting, asked to play. This time around I picked Chun Li and Shadow, because I had gotten tired of playing the same team for like ten rounds (I was about half way through single player mode). This guy was actually good, and we had a damn fine match. We both had one guy left with only a little energy. I lost, but it was awesome. One of the best games ever.