I help run an arcade in Utah, one of two locations, and we set ours up as a traditional arcade! We use tokens and we only have a single crane game set to easy and one i-crud machine which I absolutely detest! Otherwise, we have a full arcade and pinball here! It's really awesome!
Nice you have the crane machine set to easy. Those things I think should cough up the prizes, they're made for little kids, let them go home with a soft toy. I see some places where blatantly rigged to be loose and no chance of even lifting the toy for a couple seconds let alone get it over to the exit chute
Such a shame that the arcade as anyone who grew up in the 80's and 90's is sadly no more. They were amazing places that many people will now never experience. Gaming is much the worse for the lack of proper arcade games for me....very grateful I at least have the wonderful memories. Interesting video 👍
@@player1videogames128 Seems many of the ones that do exist these days have followed the Chuck E' Cheese, and/or Dave & Busters model, and IMHO they just end up being overpriced ripoffs with crappy games.
I’ve been in the biggest arcade machines museum in Europe last weekend. The place is amazing, it’s close to Prague in Czech Republic. They have all classics from 80s and 90s. You pay 15$ for entrance and you can play all games for free. I live in Poland so definitely gonna visit it again.
Thanks for uploading this nostalgic video. Arcades were already scarce to begin with these days and the last time I've been to an arcade was Dave & Busters in 2019 before the pandemic. I went to Dave & Buster's and got to play that same oversized Pac-Man game which was great and I had a lot of fun with the oversized Galaga game with the feedback vibrating gun. This looks like a lovely large arcade you went to but yeah it's weird how casual and younger gamers gravitate to the mobile-style and redemption games more than the typical or classic arcade machines. They have a different mindset with gaming than us in the older generation aside from Fighting eSports gamers. But to think arcade machines were everywhere from grocery stores, corner stores, shopping malls and now you have to go out of your way to find them.
Bro!! When you said arcade machines use to be everywhere and then said grocery stores, man I just had some flashbacks. I remember as a kid saving some change to go hit the local store just to play a few games, or when over at a friend's house walking to the 7/11 to do the same.
@@buckroger6456 Yeah exactly! I remember the first time I played Street Fighter 2 was at a grocery store, the first time I played Contra was at a K-Mart, and the first time I played Shinobi was at a hotel that had the machine right next to the ice maker 😇
@@thedrunkmonkshow oh man!! Such great memories and time in gaming. Those early 90s was just epic, same for the late 80s. Me and some friends use to hit the little dark arcades all the time at the mall. I remember our school had a different week off then the other so when we went they would always say we can't be here lol.
Our nearest arcade in the area of Tokyo I live has a lot of back to back cabinets of fighting games such as street fighter. One cabinet plays "player 1" where as the other cabinet plays "player 2". You can't see the other player as the screen obstructs your view. The screens have been updated with full HD screens and the cost is still the same as it always has been. Nice video! Keep em coming!
The whole "pay and scan" arcades I feel are really misleading, when you lose the monetary value/actual number of what you're putting in, it's really easy for them to trick you into paying more than you normally would.
2 года назад
Also, I don't think we have them anymore in our country, Larry. Unless Western Super Mare still has theirs. I haven't been there in over 15 years. I know we definitely do not have them in the part of the U.K. I live in.
Some of these games cost upwards of $2 to play nowdays, and the last couple arcades I've been to had giant oversized novelty crane games that cost $5 a pop! Having to put five, eight, upwards of twenty quarters into these machines every time you play them would probably be an even bigger drag for the customer.
Props to Raw Thrills for being one of the very few publishers of new, quality arcade games these days. They don't get home conversions so we can only hope their games like The Walking Dead, Batman and Halo: Fireteam Raven will make their way to MAME for preservation. Great vid, John!
While I wish they were the heyday of when we were kids, I'm just so happy to see any arcades thriving. One of our favorite things to do is go to Great Wolf Lodge as a family, and we make sure that one of the days is spent doing the bowling alley and spending time in the arcade. It's not what I remember as a kid, but I know my son has a ton of fun - and really, that's what matters. Great video!
More videos like this please. Mr Hancock out in the wild. This video was a winner. Always love to hear someone from my generation of gaming comment on current trends and what direction the industry is going. Great video Mr. Hancock.
You know, I'm really fortunate because I live in Vegas and we have the Pinball Hall of Fame which is like a gigantic classic arcade and yes they use real quarters. Of course the Gold Mine and Tilt Mall arcade days are gone but having the Pinball Hall of Fame is like living in a bubble where the whole arcade thing is still alive and well.
Kinda sad what has become of arcades. The beach we used to frequent as a kid are now full of redemption games. Like the ones here. When I was a kid there was tons of upright arcade cabinets along with redemption games. It is what it is, I suppose. In my hometown of Frederick, MD there's an arcade called Spinners that has pinball tables and tons of old school arcade games. 30 min away is a Tilt Studio which was a blast. Check out Tilt if you ever see one, John!
I wish places like Frankie’s, Adventure Landing (IDK, it’s been a while) and Dave and Buster’s in the Raleigh, NC area had all the classic arcade games, but they have some of the games mentioned and that’s fine with me. Well, at least we have Boxcar (Downtown Raleigh) and coming up - Rewind RetroBar (in nearby Knightdale, NC)
Round1 has all of their claw machines set to 100% skill. The UFO Catchers particularly are simply puzzle games that you need to figure out how to get the prize. The triple catcher cranes are more difficult, because it's usually a small prize with a big claw. They have double-tap that allows you to control when the claw closes, just tap the button a second time to close it.
"Skill" crane..... The immersion was unfortunately changed for me when I saw that the frequency of winning was a setting modified by the owner of the cabinet.... We have a Round 1 at out mall in SE PA. It has a bowling alley also so makes a good spot for my boys birthday parties.
Interesting video! Particularly interesting to me because I live just one city over from Vancouver, WA. I might have to finally head out to the mall just to check this place out!
I'm old enough that when I was a kid, upright arcade cabinets had ashtrays bolted next to the controls - and yes, the player would use them, chuffing away on their cigarettes while they played.
We had a crane game at Fort Hood, early 80s. It was only a nickel while the arcade games were a quarter. Some of the games used physical media or props instead of electronics (think battlezone, defender, night driver era).
Claw machines have a very small player skill versus winning component. "The (claw) machines allow the owner to select a desired level of profit and then automatically adjust the claw strength to make sure that players are only winning a limited number of times. "The big decision for machine owners is how fair or unfair they want to make the game. They could adjust the machine so that the claw only operates on full power one out of every 23 times. "The owner can manually adjust the "dropping skill," as well. That means that on a given number of tries, the claw will drop a prize that it's grabbed before it delivers it to you.
This looks like a Round 1 Bowling and amusements. For those that don't know, Round 1 is a japanese style dave and busters chain of arcades that also have pool tables, bowling alleys and karaoke. They started establishing locations in the US and these locations have Japan only fighting and rhythm games that have their fandoms.
My wife and I live 5 min from here! Wish I was there and could’ve said hi. We call it the “Kid Casino”, it’s a blast but it really sucks up your money. It’s owned by a Japanese company and modeled after contemporary Japanese arcades. It also has a full service bar, restaurant and bowling, we always have a blast there.
I'm lucky to live near Europe's largest vintage arcade in bury England called arcade club. The guy there does a great job of preserving the classics with some modern stuff thrown in. £15 in, 3 floors, everything on Freeplay.
super jealous of folks that live near a round 1... the wife and I live near SD and I don't believe we have any remotely near us! I know there's a dave and buster's in a nearby town, but I've always wanted to visit an R1 cus I'm a huge fan of some of the Japanese-centric games they have there. (stuff like Konami's recent rhythm games I was a huge DDR nerd back in the early 2000s) cool to see some of the more classic style arcade games covered I'd definitely toss a few credits into some of those!
I have a similar place near me. It's pretty awesome. It has the large arcade, an indoor obstacle course, a full-fledge restaurant and bar, and my personal favorite: a bowling alley. The arcade is really nice. I like a lot of the physical games like basketball and football. They have the giant Pac-man machine there too. I think the reason a lot of the classic arcade games are ignored is because, as you said, it's not nostalgic for the younger players, and also, these games can be played at home in so many different ways. If you're going to spend money at the arcade, you're going to play something you can't get at home.
Man. I remember going from arcade to arcade back in the day with my dad looking for an MK3 machine when it launched. When we finally found one, kids were in a line with their quarters on the cabinet just trying to get a turn. What an awesome, fun time that was. The first time I got a turn, I picked Liu Kang. I lost to another kid in about 20 seconds. I'll never forget my dad saying, "do the flying kick!!" Good times.
Up here in Canada there's a big new modern chain of arcades called "The Rec Room" that's gotten locations in all major Canadian cities like here in Winnipeg, also Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, etc.
I went to shanklin arcade on the Isle of Wight, it has mostly prize machines, They have the Raw Thrills Jurassic Park, Space Invaders Frenzy. Theres an VR Machine, A Huge Screen Tomb Raider game. I went with my sister, her husband and friends.
Awesome video. We have an arcade right down the road in Bossier City, LA full of mobile games converter into arcade games. There is a really kick ass bowling alley/jungle gym/arcade in Grapevine, TX that has a huge selection of Japan only arcade games like Mario Kart GP, Luigi's Mansion, Half Life, Halo, etc... Along with some of the most popular arcade machines from the 80s and 90s
Always loved the arcade, such a fun experience....My favorite is Galloping Ghost in Brookfield, Illinois....$20 at the door and you get to play however much you want ✌
Thanks for sharing the experience, that's pretty cool. Didn't know there were any modern day arcades on this side of the pond. Would love to check it out sometime.
I just went to Dave & Busters because my son wanted to go. It's so loud there. Either that or I'm getting old! I hate having to load a card because you're always going to have a few credits left because there's no way to get rid of them evenly but it's way better than having a pocket full of tokens or quarters. Also, the machine can't eat your token since the card reader either works or it doesn't.
Arcades pretty much disappeared in my country(Portugal) near where i live around 15 years ago, my go to Arcade games were Outrun 2, Daytona USA, Time Crisis an Sega Rally
All of your vids are just EXCELLENT John! Very informative and always professional! From Nol up here in Kelowna, Canada...have a great holiday season upcoming! Thanks John for all of the good content you provide and look forward to seeing much more in 2022. Sorry I have yet to comment off here in past but I watch You Tube on My Roku tv and you cannot comment that way so I literally have to jump onto a laptop when I think of it to comment/praise such as now. (: Nol P.
I miss Chinatown Fare here in New York, a Mom and Pop arcade that been in Chinatowm for many years. I called it my Dojo since it had all the fighting games out. Since the pandemic, I don't know if it's still around. All I got left is Dave and Busters in Times Square, and Coney Island.
I'd be up for any arcade nowadays, as there are none anywhere near where I live, but I'll always prefer the small, dark, hole-in-the-wall ones to the big, bright entertainment centers. ;)
Haven't been to the arcades for well over a decade. I use to spend money on Bust and Move and many other OG arcade games they offer. Pac Man is so legendary that no matter what generation we're from, we still play it!!!
Round1 "crane" games have a bunch of variety too. Not all are just grab action. Some a push to knock down, pick up ping pong ball and drop into slot, etc. Be sure to check them out.
Great video John. Thanks for sharing. Looks like you guys had fun there. A lot of good memories playing in arcades back in the 80s/90s. Seeing some of those awesome Capcom fighters in the video made me smile. So many classics.
Arcades today are a mere shadow of what arcades were in the early 80s. Now THAT was a golden time. (although being able to drink a beer in the arcade... well.. it rules).
I remember playing Mortal Kombat II in the arcade, and trying to remember the moves! I was chuffed when the SNES port was released, day 1 purchase. Other than that, I never really took to arcades. I didn't have loads of expendable income.
I wish I could open my own arcade! Plenty of classics like Space Invaders, Pac Man and Donkey Kong, if model 1 machines, which are prone to overheating, can be modded to include fans and heatsinks, I’d include those too, I’d also offer deep cuts like Tropical Angel and Ninja Baseball Bat Man (was there a 2 player version of this one?), I’d have a few redemption games as well but the prizes would be worth it! They’d include Evercade games, rare Pokémon cards and chapter books for readers aged 6-8!
I need to check out the largest pacman as I'm a big pacman fan too. Thanks for sharing your experience as it's been too long since I've been to an arcade.
Round One is just okay. A bit too many Dave and Buster's type machines for my tastes, and maybe a bit too modern for yours, but at least they have a decent selection. I like the Japanese flat panel cabinets. Vewlix is just a modern candy cab, and Taito is one of the oldest players in the arcade game. I like the rhythm games too. That's the stuff that helped keep arcades alive for the last twenty or so years. Too bad that's even starting to fade now. Those vewlix cabinets are basically retro themselves now.
I went to a local arcade a few counties / in Florida. They had a lot of modern games the arcade I went to including virtual reality Games with were awesome. Made me want to keep playing them over and over and over that VR is very immersive
Ironically, I went to a Dave & Buster's at the Irvine Spectrum a couple of days ago. Once inside, I saw some games from this video. The one arcade game that caught my eye is the Guitar Hero Arcade. It's basically Guitar Hero 3 in arcade form. But really cool video, Hancock.
I miss those racing games where you sat in a huge car and the whole arcade machine moved and rumbled as you raced down the track. Sega and Konami did a lot of those.
I love round 1. The one in NC has a section of sit down fighting games, initial D & other Japanese drifting racing games, a crazy new looking outrun and cruisin USA, some zombie shooters, Japanese crane games, every single japanese dance game imaginable, and bowling! it's familiar enough that someone in their 30s can enjoy it. Looks like your round 1 had everything mine does. Nice that they keep them the same or close to it.
Next time you're in CT for a convention check out Gamecraft in Southington. Old school arcade that serves alcohol. Popeye, Donkey Kong, SFII, TMNT, Tetris, all kinds of classics from around the early 80s to early 2000s, and a ton of pinball as well.
Mall of America has 3 modern arcades. Gameworks, then Xscape Entertainment Center. One on the third floor and one in the amusement park. I always have fun when going there. Gameworks has some pinball games too.
We have Round 1 down in California, too. Too many mobile games and too expensive. But it's nice to see arcades still exist, even if they aren't like we remember them.
I went to an old school arcade that's called the 1980s Arcade that was awesome it has game like Rampage Pac-Man Ms. Pac-Man just to name a few I went there with my family we all had a blast even me! It was great to play all of those old Arcade games again it was taking a trip down memory lane they had music from the 80s as well it was just so fun! 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀
Over here in NJ, we have Barcades which are a much more traditional 80s and 90s experience with beer! In terms of modern arcades, we have Dave & Busters. Also, we still have some more traditional arcades such as 8 on the Break and Yestercades. We also still have some arcades on the Jersey Shore but they are mostly redemption games with very few classic experience s left. However, the Silverball Museum in Asbury Park still offers a classic arcade experience
I've been to a few modern arcades in the last 6 or 7 years. We have a Dave and Busters in our town too. It's very odd seeing phone games turned into arcade games and old arcade games updated to some new version. Bigger and flashier is the new norm, but most of the games don't seem to based on skill. It's a ride experience. So many new light gun games that are just designed to drain credits off the card. Despite my complaining, it's nice to see SOME version of arcade games still being made.
If I made a modern arcade buissness chain. It would be a tall and wide building with 7 floors of arcade section such as 2010s games, 2000s games, 1990s games, 1980s games, 1970s games, a food-court on the first floor, and a golf/race course on the roof.
There's a Round One at Great Lakes Crossing shopping mall in Detroit. I haven't been there in a couple of years, but it was awesome the last time I went. I played the same huge PacMan game.
Miss the days of a dark room with only the lights and sounds from the arcade games. Visited old arcades (mostly at the beach) and they were pretty much all prize-winning type machines which I have zero interest in. I'd like to try some of those Noir Cabinet HD ones or Vewlix that were apparently ignored by most. I saw some skee ball in the background, which I find fun. In the last few decades or so I've gotten into pinball a lot more. The cabinet sophistication has gotten quite amazing for game play from the 1990's onward.
Hi John, great video ! seemed like an awesome arcade built by a true fan. I'm 40 and can still remember going to arcade , the lights, the sounds, smells, ha ha . Best years of my life. One Tip on growing your channel, shorten your introductions to < 30 seconds and under 15 seconds is even more fruitful. Anyways give it a try and see what happens !! Cheers !
Hey now, don't disparage the baseball game! That was my favorite the last time I went to Dave & Busters! Sure, it's a redemption machine, but the bat itself is fully mechanical and I had a great time. That Nerf shooting arcade next to the Pac-Man machine is a lot of fun, too, even if it's just your basic "find the high point targets, point a light gun at them, and fire". Even old school arcade fans can understand that. I do enjoy the skill games, even if I usually can't win crap at any of them. That will never go out of style. Minecraft Dungeons is really just Gauntlet for the 2020's. A ton of monsters spawn around you, you move and mash the fire button until you die. The good old days aren't really as gone as it looks; it's just taken on a new skin - literally in Minecraft Dungeons's case, as you get a free card with every play that you can place over the machine's scanner to change your character, your pet, and/or your weapons. I had a lot more fun with it than I expected. My local arcade that opened last year has an oldies section, and like yours, it's definitely the least popular section, although we have the original machines, not old games on newer hardware. I've never seen that version of Tetris in an arcade, but we do have the 1988 Atari Tetris arcade machine still kicking. Wasn't very fun, though, because the joystick is also 30+ years old and not as responsive as it used to be.
Sadly ever since covid hit I haven't gone to a arcade. Mine is more based Japanese style arcades so it has a lot of the games I like to play. I do wish they had more then one table top shmup but it's always empty so I know I can always jump on and have some fun.
In the town I live in, there is one arcade place and it's small. The arcade is called ko ko jos. They have modern stuff and they have some gun games like house of the dead which I liked. They also have a multi arcade machine running Pandora's box 6. I liked it because even though most of the games on there I can play on mame via retropie, they had a few on there that I couldn't play. The Pandora's box 6 had lots of old games that I liked and if that machine wasn't there, I wouldn't go lol.
we had this as well at our bowling place locally ion canada, i have it on my early arcade video so cool. The ticket system is here as well basicly trade in for very cheap dollar store toys but the games were the fun part . I miss the guys back in the 80s 90s huddling around the arcade cabnets with their codes for mortal kombat , we use to put our quarter on the cabnet to verify who was playing next i miss those days.
I've been in a couple modern arcades and looked around, but never spent any money. It's just not the same as it was back in the early 80s when I was going to the arcades growing up. Maybe it would be different if I went with a group of people and we played together.
I recently went to the arcade I used to go to as a kid, it was quite depressing to see that it was all casino/ fun fair ticket games, with only a few video games, and those few games were only racing games. The days of Simpsons, Wrestlefest and Virtual Striker are dead and gone, they’re with O’Leary in the grave.
Those spicy Korean Buldak ramen are from H-Mart! The red ones on the left are 2x spicy, just touching them with your tongue burns it. It takes a solid hour for me to finish one package. I would recommend the black ones on the right, their spice is not killer like the red one is.
Yep, we have a Round 1 in Greensboro, NC. The flat panel machines were expensive, the controls were wonky & the screens were meh :/ It was quite depressing.
