ARCADE GAMES

[Shamus The Brute]

Never considering myself much of a "gamer,"
I nevertheless had logged hundreds of hours in on the (devoted) gaming fetish I did apparently have as a kid/young lad growing up.

But wait, you might ask.
*Isn't that considered somewhat of an oxymoron?

Well "ok," so you got me there but you also have to understand the time period and era in which the roots of my gaming expertise were planted. Back in the day when I was growing up (lol)...

...we walked around inside the dark cave of some ARCADE we had purposefully entered all the while the heavy weight of quarters/tokens jingling about while our pockets burned with a continuous lust to hold the capacity of even more. ​

During this period of time, we gamers had never heard of such frivolous games like "Call of Duty," "Slenderman," "Grand Theft Auto," or "Club Penguin."

But you know what?
...

...WE LIKED IT! ​

So this leaves me to explain to everyone the "why" did we like it so much.
Well, let's touch upon this subject now, shall we?

~ When I was a kid, visiting the ARCADE was considered cool because it became a place to hang out with both friends and family. And while most arcades could be considered quite distracting (i.e., the atmosphere of lights and sounds alone sometimes were more enticing than the flashiness of any 'Las Vegas' casino), those arcades I frequented on a regular basis as a kid were quite "engaging," meaning that there was often other people standing around you (either waiting for their turn to play or happily watching you progress as your heart beat raced a million miles an hour).

Those popular ARCADE games which occasionally drained my weekly allowance (and budget as a kid) include:

Pac-Man/Mrs. Pac-Man

Donkey Kong

Pole Position

Q*Bert​

Other ARCADE games I did love to play include "Space Invaders," "Centipede," "Joust," "Tron," and "Star Wars."


~ My most favorite ARCADE game (and to which I devoted a huge part of my 'childhood' to) was...

Galaga (I love this game)

So, in your best "Wreck It Ralph" frame of mind and experience, what are your favorite ARCADE games?


- Avast! Please use share your various ARCADE experiences and/or joys here, on this thread. ​

 

[Sparky Wonderwolf]

While I have never ever played an actual arcade booth/console/whatever, I have for the longest time had arcade games all on one disc for the PS2 that were produced by Namco. I loved playing these and was the only disc I played much of on there if anything. It has Galaga, Pacman, Pole Position, Dig Dug, Tower of Druaga and a few others.

 

[Fortune]

I think I played almost every game in your pictures. The first time in an arcade my cash ran out in about 15 minutes so I waited over an hour for my ride.

My favorite came later in the trend: Double Dragon. A buddy and I played together for weeks until the game was mastered. Not an MMO but still social. If you were good you could do the game on one quarter.

 

[Dreamcatcher]

Arcades are great, and much like being a pirate, you never grow out of it. We have a few around us that we still go to now and then, and playing or watching, it's always a fun time. The one at Salisbury beach is probably the best, because you have the boardwalk to stroll down, people and things to look at, and there's beach food.

I was never too into the video game machines, I played some, but was never very good at them. I lack "Virtual coordination", I guess. I went straight for the pinball machines, Skeeball, and the air hockey. Pinball was the big one, I probably could have bought a car with all the quarters that "Those pleasure machines", as Springsteen sang, gobbled up over the years. Unfortunately, they are so slanted and jacked up now, and most need in the millions to get a free game, most of the charm is gone from them.

Still a great time going though, it takes you back to another time for a couple hours ...... and then it's fried clams and ice cream time.

 

[Shamus The Brute]

Arcades are great, and much like being a pirate, you never grow out of it. We have a few around us that we still go to now and then, and playing or watching, it's always a fun time. The one at Salisbury beach is probably the best, because you have the boardwalk to stroll down, people and things to look at, and there's beach food.

You mentioning this arcade located at Salisbury beach makes me feel like I am missing out. That is really cool though, when you think about it...

At best, the arcades here either face the side of some gas station/convenience store or they are struggling to keep themselves afloat at some shopping center or mall (across the aisle of some 'Victoria Secrets' store to where when I do decide to enter, the darkness of the arcade itself cannot hide the blushing on my face as I seek out first the availability of any manly game [a Bass fishing game to play, for example] to get my mind centered and "back on track," lol!

 

[Bart Gunshot]

I haven't played many actual arcade games (at an arcade), most of what I have played are better graphics than the older 'iconic' arcade games. The only arcade game I have a memory of is Nascar 2003, which I also owned on PC.

I did however have many arcade games on a disk for the PC. It had things like PacMan, the old Frogger, Pong, the 100's of games where you were a spaceship shooting other spaceships, etc.

Although I didn't play many arcade games I did play a lot of 'retro' PC games. One my favorites had to be 'Frogger, He's Back.' I completed almost all of the levels with no cheats (because I did not know about them) except for the sewer zones, I remember that I got stuck on the level uncanny crusher.

 

[Dreamcatcher]

You mentioning this arcade located at Salisbury beach makes me feel like I am missing out. That is really cool though, when you think about it...

At best, the arcades here either face the side of some gas station/convenience store or they are struggling to keep themselves afloat at some shopping center or mall (across the aisle of some 'Victoria Secrets' store to where when I do decide to enter, the darkness of the arcade itself cannot hide the blushing on my face as I seek out first the availability of any manly game [a Bass fishing game to play, for example] to get my mind centered and "back on track," lol!

Unfortunately, to have an arcade on the boardwalk at the ocean, you need an ocean. Not many of those in the mid west, last I checked. And tragically, much like the Drive Ins, diners, or anything of that sort, arcades seem to be a dying institution in America. We need to reassess our priorities, or the next generation will see none of these things that make an area unique.

Most of Salisbury Beach is being demolished because the land is more valuable as condos than whatever it is that gave the area charm in the first place, which is a crime. And sadly, that is not isolated to Salisbury, look to anywhere in the country and places that made a city special, and they are facing the bulldozer. We should be ashamed that we are allowing this to happen, we are trading cherished memories for the almighty tax dollar...... and that really great super Walmart that's going up in its place. We should enjoy them while we can, their days are numbered.

Oh, and BTW, if you happen to see the black Potco corset in the Victoria's window, let me know. I never did find one of those, even after 5 years. Thanks, Iger.


https://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugg...beatable-super-mario-64-goomba-183150357.html

This was on Yahoo today, interesting for the Mario people, I never played it myself.

I think I posted that one wrong, you have to click on it. Jeez, I am soooo low tech.