NJ Arcades: Billy's Midway (Hawthorne) Yestercades (Somerville & Westfield)

[Greg2600]

Hey all, the other day I made a quick tour of a few local Northern NJ freeplay arcades. First was Billy's Midway in Hawthorne, NJ, and then I visited the Somerville location of YESTERcades and the new one in Westfield, both for the first time.

 

Billy's Midway

https://www.flickr.com/photos/greg2600/sets/72157694325773762

 

 

 

YESTERcades of Somerville

https://www.flickr.com/photos/greg2600/sets/72157695765889731

 

 

 

YESTERcades of Westfield

https://www.flickr.com/photos/greg2600/sets/72157695765975611

 

 

Here's my general review....obviously if you are closeby and enjoy playing, these places are great. Though free play can be pricy, but usually they charge $25 for the "day." Condition wise, to be honest, they're all pretty similar, as machines need fixin'. None of them match the level of the Morristown Game Vault, but the owner there is beyond meticulous.

Edited June 2, 2018 by Greg2600

[Keatah]

Interesting.. The thing I dislike about what I see is that all the games are scrunched together. Mostly. Can't see the side artwork. And you'd be rubbing elbows with the neighboring player. All the true 80's arcades I visited back in the day had some spacing between machines. Or had them staggered diagonally, with spacing too. Or put 4 to 6 of them in a circle like flower petals - which I think I see in the first photo.

[+sramirez2008]

Interesting.. The thing I dislike about what I see is that all the games are scrunched together. Mostly. Can't see the side artwork. And you'd be rubbing elbows with the neighboring player...

 

 

I've only visited the Red Bank location of YESTERcades and this was the problem there as well. The games are definitely too close to one another.

 

I agree with Greg2600 that the games are in better shape at the Morristown Game Vault. They are also much more spaced out. BTW, they have Baby Pac-Man and when I stopped by last year, my son and I played it, Battlezone and Time Pilot for hours. That was fun. They also have Satan's Hollow, Phoenix and a sped up Ms Pac-Man. Very nice assortment of games.

[Greg2600]

Showcasing artwork is not an efficient use of space. What's amazing is that 10 years ago, I had to drive down to Seaside Heights to play at a retro arcade, and between Yestercades, Barcade, and the others, almost double digits now within earshot of NYC.

[VectorGamer]

Judging by your pics alone I'm not seeing anything rare that would entice me to make a trip.

[+sramirez2008]

The Red Bank location of YESTERcades was supposed to have Star Castle, when I last visited. However, it was not on the floor and when I asked, the guy at the counter said he thought it was at their Somerville location.

[Dauber]

Showcasing artwork is not an efficient use of space. What's amazing is that 10 years ago, I had to drive down to Seaside Heights to play at a retro arcade, and between Yestercades, Barcade, and the others, almost double digits now within earshot of NYC.

 

Oh man...are you talking about Flashbacks by the carousel?? Man...those games were in the most atrocious condition, and they only got worse as time went on. My wife and I would go to Seaside every year for about 12 years straight (even after moving back to Chicago), and every year there was one more game that was just plain out of commission....last time I was there maybe half the games were functional. The hurricane and fire mercifully put them out of their misery.

[Greg2600]

Yes, Flashbacks, RIP!