Shout Out the Arcade you grew up in.

[awace]

I Fixed both flippers on the Grand Prix Pinball machine at chelet pizza .

THen discovered one of the kicker coils was shorted out so i snipped the coil the owners has one on order !!!

Now they have 2 working games out of the 3 they would be at the limit before needing amuzement device permit they are aloud 3 of them games!!..

It was awesome to actually play Grand Prix pinball its actually a fun pinball machine the high score is set at 530,000 or around 500 thousand witch is good cause its hard to obtian but not impossible the DAD has the machine set to be fun to play by kids so the ball goes super slow1!! sometimes it goes normal speed witch makes it a very interesting game and since I needed to move it to get the glass off to replace the flipper coils i left it in a really lame spot now its harder than it was before but since the OWNER was in the store I left it in the same spot it works great I came back the next day or so to see what was up and found they had the game circut breaker off so i said I wanted to get my plug strip witch i left and forgot i left it up there and wanted some pizza to boot...

I got a personal sized 7inch pizza w sausage around $8 then i played 6 credits out witch were still there The Dad of the computer store Guy bruce 's dad was there and i asked him about the pinball machine and asked if he remembered the spiderman one and he did then he started playing player 4 and started to kick ass at the game like he had played it with his eyes closed and i reminded him i had trouble w the game getting stuck on ball 2 and he said does it still have a tilt and i said yes I left the Tilt Switch Plum Assembly alone.

i think the one on the table it self had been bent out the way anyway i said it seemed to be stuck on ball 2 it was like the relay coil for the ball inplay coil was weak I remembered replugging the 3 5 ball plug assembly back on and heard when he was playing and i mentioned using the green 3m scrubbie on the rotorary logic pcbs and he was playing I said at least the doorbell chimes seem to work most of the time and are not super annoying but can still be heard at this point he stated to play soley on hearing the score and knowing by the timing where the ball was just by the noise of the relays then he said not only does the double score give you 50,000 points X2 meaning 100,000 points you only need to do that 6 times to go past 500,000 530,??? means credit at this point i said do you think the extra ball was lit or the extra ball got stuck and he fenagled since the left kicker coil only gives points on kicker coil closure hittng leaf switch using the coil to push it it drianed w out hitting kicker or any bonus points

. i think he somehow knew how to get the ball 2 unstuck i said hmm sounded like the ball in play relay was stuck we said hmm extra ball was lit but bulb had crappy lead solder crud on it or was itr lit?? then i told him about a rubber binder kit w lights 3 packs on ebay for cheap then he said what about pole pos II i said find a cga screen from a slot machine and i will change out 4 bolts screen and r g b synk gnd and 110v and viola it will work .. I might just get a new screen then resell it or just wait but now the pinball machine works and you can have up 2 4 players it even goes up to 9 credits and even not on freeplay WAS SLAM SWITCH WAS OPEN NEEDS TO BE closed make contact at all times to hold take quarter relay on coin door!!!!!!! all door slots are 3x 25¢ slots...

even thoug they were 5¢ 10¢ and 25 ¢ like the one my dad has at home a round up http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?gid=2026

the one i repaired was this one http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?gid=1072 once i get the kicker coil or coils i will replace the 1uF cap witch is only 25v i measured 26!!! with a 100V 1uF cap! same type cost 50¢ axeman surplus .. hmm schmatic addenumm on pdf says 200v if the one is only 25v then i can see the problem why the coil shorts on open.. now i need a huge ceramic cap 500v or more... more like a mov.

sorry for the non grammacal ramble..

anyway i am happy I fixed the flippers I played p1 and p2 p3 then he let me round out last credits and killed odd ball 3 then i pushed the start button had no quarters using check card so i ordered pizza after using c machine at nearset store then came back and my pizza was DONE in oven waiting for me it was yummy . I m going back this weekend to spend some quarters and eat a nother mini pizza . also the tetris has been running since the last time i set the histogram settings bookeeping settings i will have to beg to use dip switch to see what it thinks then clear them so they can empty coin box WE use coin counter at closest bank to count our quarters who cares about a credit it is just that if i put a quarter in when its shut off the tetris will eat it!!! pinball machine has a coin door relay slam switch coil witch still works and rejects quarters witch is cool /..

when they decide to replace the screen in pole pos i will test using a computer power supply instead of the one they have since its not mounted then i can remove fuses untill only the if needed the isolation t former for the screen is only one needed then computer power supply can just be swapped if it blows ..

[awace]

Whooly crap was that a rant!!!

[awace]

Time-Out Arcade - Cheyenne, WY is the one I remember having fun at. For a while, there was this incredible rail shooter called Police 911. It was very unique in that it reacted to your shifting of weight, which was imperative to dodging bullets. It was so fun, and unlike anything I had seen. I wonder if that game is still there? I wonder if the ARCADE is still there? The arcade was ran by Namco. It was so awesome, winning tickets so you could buy Pac-Man merchandise. I still have a Pac-Man drinking glass with a silly straw on my dresser at home. One time, my little sister watched a guy win big at one of the gambling games and win a double armful of tickets. The guy then gave her all of his tickets so she could buy something nice. That was another awesome thing about this arcade. The clientèle was so kind and generous. That is the arcade I remember best.

That reminded me of the last time i went to the Park TAVERN bowl ..

my brother was there w kids ANd my brothers youngest kid LEO was whining he needed one ticket or 51 more to get to to next vending machine witch took tickets to get prizes i was like hmm i remember wining tickets at Cheap Skate when on break and i would if i caught the light w the big lit button in the pink neon going in circles I would go find the kid who was bumed about not having enought tickets to get something cool and said here take the whole pile then i got bitched at not cause i gave away the tickets but because the DJ had to switch the whole pack of tickets out i was like sorry i didnt think it was going to land on 100 i toughti would get like 10 I got lucky and hit the bit anyway the person who i gave it to right after the dj switched the tickets i forget if it was the husband or the wife who switched the tickets but they said its stuck and were thinking WTF i saif blow on the iso optolator led whole then they said yeah right you know how many tickets have been threw that hole more than you can think of then the kid who was bummed out played it and lost and i said here take the ones i just one I work here and what would i do with toys but just restock them they were super happy and i JUst wanted to use the ticket counter box

 

i like how it chopped the tickets in half after comapreing them to the next ticket comming into the isoptolator then the DJ came up and said hey adam watch this they took the hole pile even the ones witch were in half did something to the SCALE witch i Didnt catch how they programmed the scale and were were all in awe they just saw the pile and said so and so amount what i forgot was he said remember the game you were playing i watched the score output and did the math on all you playing that game and said they had x amount of tickets and the scale was off like 3 tickets but after the person left the lcd on the ticker choper sucked the bookeeping up it was a blast untill the RENT went threw the roof on water per gallon w all the leaks in the rest room they had a leaky valve somewhere just wasted water no bigge but the land lords sold the place to a ALDI the aldi grocery store never painted over the end wall behind the cooler wall they just put up metal drywall beams in front of it then finished the wall then added the other store to the end of the building and made a cool ramp like driveway for ther semi trucks you still enter in the all skate direction and shop in counter clockwise direction I guess its the layout of the building the expensive thing was the replacement roof ALWAYS remember to SEAL the cement in youre basement arcade!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! use tar plastic tar then drywall like zbart... it works great its like driveway sealing the basement its works we did it at parents house when they built I said do it to the out side so they did we NEVER had a basment leak yet cause water is repled by tar....

OH crap back to tickets the kids came up and split the tickets in the group the WINNER who won 10 tickets and got my 100 distributed it anyway they wanted

then i didnt have to worry about what they wanted so it cost me 75¢ or less to keep kids happy also i got to put 25¢ into game click on insta cue stopping a stuck but so it would win then just walk away from GAME that was the best I would just say ok lets behave kiddies now have fun..

then i would say green lycopeen then DJ would start a red light green light game and would say green lyma beans and every one would always move I wish they would have just combined the bank into a bigger HOLIDAY station store instead now i might start balling about cheap skate closing OH i forgot there still is one in coon rapids but its a cheep skate not a cheap skate!!!! althogh you almost have degjavue and swear youre in the other one!!! with the 4 way circle hanging white glass roller rink lights and the snak bar in the same exact place next to the left of the dj stand witch is left of the 1st entrance and left of the snak bar is the bday tables up higher then across from that are on the carpet hall next to the storage room is the mushroom sit down shoe changing carpet tables and lockers amuzement devices are stocked where ever there is a extra outlet and where they always are if any thing should be solar powered it would be a roller rink if they had a big enough basement they could have enough backup batteries to sell electriclty back to grid and with the wind generated by the skaters you could have the weather vane in the middle of the rink and convert it to watts I think i might have to go up to ROLLER GARDEN just to see it again.. naa mabie not... hmm that would be a good thing to do to the mall of america 3rd shift skate /dj sweeping that would be fun that would also be a great place to put a roller rink cause its the mega mall you could make it big enough the arcade would generate a place for kids to get tickets i could actually get a prize for playing ms pacman!! using comercial mame by playing pacman on galaga/mspacman just need pinouts from namco for ticket dispenser or $ slots pinouts for jamma!!!!! now next time I goto mystic lake i know what im going to tell WMS to get mspacman mode joystick to slot credit this way i could rack up credits playing mspacman and then get bonus wave to play mspacman but have 7's chase me instead of ghosts now that would be fun if it was a touch screen i could just blame it on screen crud IE joysticks fault then push change button/pause 10 seconds and get some drink or put my card in and goto restroom then swap to other lav card and unlock my paused game or just move it down one if someone chomped my seat i could just move the game using the tcpip fiber twinax useing the player card i could pull it out push it back in then push a special button and pause the game up to 10 minnutes to use lav then come back and play it on any same lcd type machine if you time out the credits go onto player card but you lost youre multipyer and stuff ..

[awace]

Has anyone played a game recently I got less than 100,000 on pinball today .

I was playing a 4 player game and started w 6 credits witch i had to widdle down SO anyone else who wanted to play could!..

this weekend I wil PLAY TETRIS for REAL using a REAL 25¢ quarter a new one any state or year will do then see how many points i get then will post it here..

ALSO if i get to see bookeeping totals i will post if i can..

Edited August 13, 2009 by awace

[Joeyray]

I Grew up in Aladdins Castle (Liberty Tree Mall) Danvers, MA.

I'm Growing old in Funspot Weirs Beach NH

[retrorussell]

I had the pleasure of many arcades in the Portland Metropolitan Area as a lad.. went to Chuck E. Cheese here and there in Beaverton.. as any kid will attest, lousy pizza but TONS of games. I would often see Chuck E. wandering around looking for kids to hug/shake their hand, and I would stay far, far away.

[awace]

The pizza is good It must be eaten hot but it comes hot always its more geared for delevery pizza and tastes great the day after cold watching cold pizza.

The sauce is great the chees is really good and the toppings are pretty reasonable i got a Really good deal same deal i got 5 years ago prices have stayed same at this place witch is what i like about it.. reminds me of child hood.

The pinball machine works great now quarters got stuck i put one in got stuck I punded on door and it fell in and made that infamous famous credit clack of the credit silinoid then that got the cooks attention I guess that lead to a job.

Now I know the fact that the coin return button plunger being rusted is going to be HELL to deal with but I like kids anyway so ill just open it then give some credits until parents say come eat then ill adjust tilt back to factory the one on the TABLE is off I will replace it by bending it back I DID NOT shut it off someone else before Gary got it he said it was already off its to keep you from playing catch w the kickers so they dont gointo geek mode... were still waiting for the kicker coil but it works i got high score for my self..

My score for GRAND PRIX 1972 Williams Pinball. ([WMS Gamming])

1st game

2 credits the second quarter fell then i pounded on door to get 2nd quarter to fall then it did i thought it was clear naw it was had one still in now its jammed cause i put one more I was like DUH dont do that! ..

1st game score 1 credit left game starts.

score $150,000

2nd game score

250,000 whell ok i cant remember exact score but it wasnt anywhere near 530,000 points for freereplay credit!.

[awace]

The Tetris Game is up and running it comes on w pinball circut breaker!!! so they always come on when they open now ..

I put 1 quarter into left slot witch i new was dumb.

Game works great right slot takes $ every time sometimes it costs 50¢ sometimes it costs 75¢

its a gamble to get credit on tetris , but its always worth it to get a game started.

I will leave the scores on the high score table for the drivers..

What they dont understand wont be mutch of a problem cause once polepos gets a new screen I will beable to come in 4 hours early and drive.

 

You all know how fun it is driving w lots of gas listning to youre favorite rock station on the PA system.

Edited August 19, 2009 by awace

[S1500]

Lesee, what can I remember of what the twin cities had?

 

1. Picadilly Circus in St. Paul, Highland Park in a strip mall-like place. It's gone now in favor of a Lifetime fitness + other businesses. I remember the arcade was rather vertical in architecture.

 

2. Some arcade on Lake Street where you pay a door fee, but all games were a nickel. Real good deal. Only went once. The owner had a police scanner he listened to.

 

3. All the Circus Circus/Showbiz/Chuck E Cheeses. The odd thing to me is that there is still a Chuck E Cheese's in West St. Paul on Robert street.

 

4. The now closed-down Saints North roller rink in Maplewood. I went there so many times as a kid in the early 80s I remembered many of the arcade cabs they had(The Pit, Kangaroo, DK3, bunch of others).

 

5. Pop's Arcade in downtown Minneapolis. The rude employees asked you to move if you watched someone play for more than 2 minutes.

 

6. The now-defunct grand daddy of them all: The Minnesota State Fair. There used to be THREE arcades all around the fair. They had plenty of coin-ops old and new. You would be surprised what they would have for classic coin-ops. Nowadays the Midway arcade(the least fun of the 3) is gone, and many of the games are now ticket redemption machines. It's nowhere near as fun as it used to be.

 

And just about every shopping mall had a video arcade that was some mom & pop operation. I remember in Burnsville Mall in '96 had that virtual reality "dactyl nightmare" game that was really disappointing. You put on the helmet, armed the "gun' and you were treated to a low-polygon count on-rails shooter. Not worth the money.

[VectorGamer]

5. Pop's Arcade in downtown Minneapolis. The rude employees asked you to move if you watched someone play for more than 2 minutes.

 

What was the reason for that?

[S1500]

5. Pop's Arcade in downtown Minneapolis. The rude employees asked you to move if you watched someone play for more than 2 minutes.

 

What was the reason for that?

 

 

I dunno. Downtown Minneapolis isn't the world's greatest area. Maybe they were preventing some sort of gang-up on the machine or something. I remember many many moons ago some rocker-type chick standing in front of the Spy Hunter machine in Har Mar Mall, not playing it. Probably guarding it for her boyfriend.

[awace]

Lesee, what can I remember of what the twin cities had?

 

1. Picadilly Circus in St. Paul, Highland Park in a strip mall-like place. It's gone now in favor of a Lifetime fitness + other businesses. I remember the arcade was rather vertical in architecture.

 

2. Some arcade on Lake Street where you pay a door fee, but all games were a nickel. Real good deal. Only went once. The owner had a police scanner he listened to.

 

3. All the Circus Circus/Showbiz/Chuck E Cheeses. The odd thing to me is that there is still a Chuck E Cheese's in West St. Paul on Robert street.

 

4. The now closed-down Saints North roller rink in Maplewood. I went there so many times as a kid in the early 80s I remembered many of the arcade cabs they had(The Pit, Kangaroo, DK3, bunch of others).

 

5. Pop's Arcade in downtown Minneapolis. The rude employees asked you to move if you watched someone play for more than 2 minutes.

 

6. The now-defunct grand daddy of them all: The Minnesota State Fair. There used to be THREE arcades all around the fair. They had plenty of coin-ops old and new. You would be surprised what they would have for classic coin-ops. Nowadays the Midway arcade(the least fun of the 3) is gone, and many of the games are now ticket redemption machines. It's nowhere near as fun as it used to be.

 

7. Thats because Upstairs U needed a Adult ID to get into the bar (upstairs) and since the front door was threw the arcade they were strick about people giving other poeple $ to play games I also think that arcade was a waste of space there could have been thousands of more games...

 

8. I think The Fair has a Fair arcade now they still have it but Todd dosent Run it anymore he does Weddings and photo booths and doesnt have time to repair old video games But I remember silver ball mainia pinball in the TENT it was a M.A.S.H like tent it was cool many electric cables running around to the carni/vender tents and to the video games circut breaker breaker boxes and many outlets hanging from the criling w striagn relifs. I remember playing Hurculise Atari pinball I could not even reach the other flipper!!! I also like and still like the racing games LAst ok the year before that i went and there was a dance machine VERY tireing !!!! and a punching bag punch down and fast on the chain but dont break it there was also mspac and a buntch of other cool games I was Alone at the fair that year so the games were not as fun.. there was a Nvidia error on one of the racing games witch they said probably a nvidia fan problem had a win2000 blue screen but it was a 4000 pound sit down racing game .

I tried one of the sit down racing games and it was pretty fun for a force feedback steering wheel and this perticular arcade had no redemption .. exept for a big one .. I still enjoy the midway and the infamus crain games!!..

Summit arcade pulled out of the fair cause $ was to high to ship games to and from the fair plus the are into more commercial routes and photo booth restoration and wedings and stuff like that.. more twords rental than of redemtion!..

I think mabie i will see the fair this year if my feet dont give out 1st.

[awace]

Shout the Arcade you grew up in.

I hope the State Fair has more venders come in w video games.

I also want to see the rest of the Fair..

I think there was a high score broke on Tetris and Pizza place .

highscore totals have been saved.

[stunt cycle fan]

My dad and my uncle had an arcade in North Platte, Nebraska called The Pinball Center. Original name (I know right?!)

 

spent lots of friday and saturday nights there. about 25 upright arcade games, 5 pins, 2 pool tables, 1 foose, and an Atari Football "cocktail" game.

 

Cedar Bowl bowling alley also in North Platte.

 

Fun Time Roller Skating also in North Platte.

 

Cedar Bowl still has about 20 of the newer games but none of the original or classics. They are the only 1 of the 3 still in business!

 

Later, Scott (Nebraska)

[atarilovesyou]

One Stop Fun Center, Prince George BC Canada...your typical early 80's arcade, complete with dark n' dirty sketchy people, drug dealers...didn't last long but was one of my first memories.

 

J & C's, PG BC...technically a pool hall, but a wicked arcade. Dangerous as all get out, but you had to get tough if you wanted to play games in that setting, in those days! Chased outta that place by hooligans more than once!

 

Redwood Square Arcade, PG BC (again) Circa 1986?...actually had coupons in the local newspaper that gave free games for the most advanced game of the time, Outrun! This was a hangout for many years...right up to the end of it all, the arrival of Street Fighter 2.

 

Family Fun Center (PG BC again!) This was a family oriented place, but still had many stand-ups...circa early 90's. When it closed, it was the last arcade in Prince George.

 

...I also gotta mention my faves from when I travelled to Vancouver!

 

Wacko

Johnny Zee's

Playdium

 

All these arcades were in the Metrotown Mall...carried me through the late 80's till the mid 90's. Playdium was much more 'game ride' oriented, but for a time, it was a real throwback to the days of arcades. It finally proved to people that the business model couldn't possibly work at that grand a scale.\

 

Favorite of all time:

 

Lester's Fun Palace , Burnaby BC

This arcade had it all over the years...was still open a couple years ago but is now done. That was THE place to get your ass kicked at Street Fighter 2...at the time I didn't really realize the end was so near. Daytona, Time Crisis 2...great games, but the pinnacle was when you had four giant screen TV's in the corner playing nothing but SF2...endlessly.

 

Honorable Mention:

 

Pie in the Sky (PITS), Burnaby

Great early 90's, late 80's arcade...specialized in the early 80's stuff, without the lineups at Lesters.

 

Ah, the memories. Anyone who grew up in the west coast of Canada must remember these places.

[EricDeLee]

penny arcade...

 

Camden Park (West Virginia)

[Vic George 2K3]

Just Fun -- Holyoke Mall, Holyoke, MA

Cheap Skates/Chateau Complex -- Swansea, MA

An arcade near the original Bonanza bus terminal in Providence, RI

Edited September 8, 2009 by Vic George 2K3

[Ben_Larson]

For me it was:

 

Aladdin's Castle, Eastland Mall, Columbus, Ohio (long gone - mall's still there, though)

Bally's, Hamilton Rd., Columbus, Ohio (long gone)

Malibu Gran Prix, Columbus, Ohio (it's now a day care center I think?)

 

I also used to ride my bike over to the local strip mall that had some assorted games. There was a drugstore there called Dane Drugs that had Dragon's Lair, Wizard of Wor, and Gauntlet 2; a TG&Y next door that had Ikari Warriors and Demolition Derby; and a pizzeria (which is still there) that had Joust. I'd usually play some of those games (or watch people play them) and buy some Garbage Pail Kids and junkfood with my allowance. Those were the days...

[EricDeLee]

I forgot a place I spent a lot of time at. At my middle school we were allowed to have off-campus lunches. We used to hangout at a place called AJ's Pizza. It had a Space Invaders arcade in there. And the owner had the high score and ran a contest all of the time. If you beat his score (which we never did) you'd get free pizza.

[frogstar_robot]

penny arcade...

 

Camden Park (West Virginia)

 

Ah! I remember it well. Ever hit the Gold Mines at the Huntington Mall?

[OpenSourceBrad]

Ms.Pacman... must have spent 300$ on them machines!

[Dynosaur]

Mini Golf Rte 1 Saugus (home of big orange T-Rex)

Fun and Games Framingham

Salisbury Beach & Hampton Beach Arcades

Aladin's Castle Liberty Tree Mall

Fun Spot (New Hampshire)

Arcade at Salem Willows

[Underball]

G-Wizz at Boston Bowl, in Dorchester, MA.

 

Dream Machine at Nantasket Beach, Hull MA.

 

Replay II in Weymouth, MA.

 

Starland in Hanover, MA.

 

The Arcade at Papoose Pond Camp Grounds, ME.

[retrorussell]

I was lucky to have gone to quite a few in my youth. I've racked my brains to think of some more that I haven't mentioned before on this thread:

 

In the Portland Metro area:

The mini-arcade at Rico's Red Lion Pizza (now Round Table) on Capitol and Barbur

The nickel arcade (can't remember its name, something like Fun Palace) by Dunkin' Donuts in Raleigh Hills

A nickel arcade off of Sandy Blvd. WAY out in NE Portland, that had a LOT of weird/obscure machines

The Organ Grinder Pizza out in SE Portland had GREAT pizza and a GREAT arcade

also:

Space Gang Pizza in Vancouver

The Gold Mine at the Sea/Tac Mall

[Atari Scorpio]

Mine were:

 

Gold Mine - Marquette Mall, Michigan City, IN (nice big arcade, 60+ games, including a Hercules pinball)

 

Aladdin's Castle - Southlake Mall, Hobart, IN