late 70's, early 80's arcade nostalgia

[Justin1138]

Back before kids developed a resistance from computer generated graphics from years of Atari, Nintendo 8 bit, Genesis, etc. to the point where 25 cents to play an arcade game seems like a waste, there was that magical cauldron called the arcade. I was born in '72 and grew up in Hayward, CA -- east San Francisco Bay Area, just about 10 miles north of silicon valley -- hotbed of R&D, home of Atari, birth of the internet, PC, Apple, etc.. We lived near Southland Mall (which still had an ice rink at the time like the mall in Dawn of the Dead) and in its basement area, its guts, next to the shoe repair place and the mall offices was a large, dark area with all the hottest new games -- rows and rows of Space Invaders, Asteroids, Pac-Man, Galaxian and shortly after Galaga and pinball machines shared space with some older almost mechanical shooting games and such. In the back were go karts you could ride. As soon as you'd walk in, the electronic noises, the beeps, the synthesized effects, and the darkness would engulf you and suck you in. It was like a 1970's Matrix, our bodies were there, but our minds and actions were in a tiny triangular shaped craft in the middle of a screen blasting away at asteroids! After the quarters were gone, it was time to find Mom in Dillard's and go and have a piece of pizza the size of a kite from Woolworth's and looking much like the ship in Asteroids.

[adonis_minus_20]

I remember the great arcades that were around when I was a kid. There was one just outside a mall that I would always go to. This arcade had all the great and classic arcade games: Asteroids, Missile Command, Space Invaders, Battle Zone, etc. It also had a room dedicated to pinball machines, some being Captain Fantastic, Dynamite, Flicker, Bow and Arrow, Lost World, etc. It had another room just for air hockey and many other games and things that I can't remember. That was a magical place! It's so sad to see today where there aren't really any decent arcades, or any at all. I bet if someone were to open retro type arcades with classic games, the place would be packed! What a dream it would be to re-live that experience.

 

Jim

[Cassidy Nolen]

There is a local movie theater that has a small retail space for lease in the building. Currently, there is a Ruby Tuesdays in the one across the way, but I have felt the same way about a classic arcade.

 

I dream about being able to open an arcade play/for sale area. Completely retro theme in colors, music and merchandise. Seriously, have about 30 arcades for play and also for sale, and an entire area dedicated to refurbished Atari, Coleco, Intellivision, etc. consoles.

 

Imagine, going to dinner, getting tickets to the show, and bopping over to the arcade. I wonder where you would put the Vectrex during the movie?..

 

I have enough inventory to stock the place. Anybody want to go in on this with me......?

 

Cassidy