Stumbled across this photo set of actual '80s arcade establishments, thought I'd share. A little alcove of joy: Love the fake screens: Holy shit: Tron tournament! Win an album! Hahahaha
Good stuff Streck. I just watched King of Kong yesterday so it's nice to see more arcades back when they got a bit of love. It's a shame there is no appropriate spots for arcade gaming near me anymore. I miss those times, it was a fun and magically atmosphere.
Those are cool. And I want to see that King of Kong movie. Seems pretty cool and will have some footage of the older arcades. Wish we had a good one in our area...
So cool. I have lots of good time memories of my towns arcade The Starbase and the grumpy old Japanese guy that owned it. I remember they got the deluxe cabinet Sinistar. I had never played before and jump in, start playing. The volume was up crazy loud and when Sinistar screamed and announced "I live!" with those damn speakers right behind my head it scared the crap out of me. That sort of video game experience is gone now.
Was that an Asylum Films release? EDIT: Oh, shit, that's actually a movie! I look like a dumbass now.
I so remember growing up in places like that. My mom LOVED Galaga and Ms. Pac-Man so I never had a problem with her keeping me away from the Arcades. It explains why I'm in the business I am too.
I never had any around me that were that decked out but there was one that came close. The outside was decorated to look like a volcano. Gone are the days of the stand alone arcade.
This brings back memories. I started visiting arcades when I was 11 back in 1991, and haven't stopped until 2002/2003, when the last arcade ditched all the machines and replaced them with PCs. I so miss SoulCalibur, Capcom's D&D games, King of Dragons, SDF Macross, Samurai Shodown games and many other cool games.
There were a couple of machines like that at a pizza join near me when I was a kid in Jersey. I so loved the table top arcade machines for some reason.
I meant the faux fine-dining setup in the foreground. Wine glasses, elaborately folded napkins, upscale (from a distance) flatware, and a candle - but with an industrial chair and uninspiring tablecloth, and all of it adjacent to a high-traffic gaming area.