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Posted: 5/21/2022 12:53:29 AM EDT
[#1]
Damn that brings back some memories of late elementary school and early middle school.
We had an Aladdin's Castle right next to the dollar theatre in a local strip mall. Occasionally as a family, we'd walk down the road from our apartments and eat at the pizza place in the mall, then play a couple games at the arcade before grabbing a movie as a family. That was before my parents divorced and before things got complicated. 
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Posted: 5/21/2022 1:05:36 AM EDT
[#2]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Yep had one here. Became a Cyberstation after Aladdins "closed". We had 2 arcades here in the 80's. Aladdins and Stans Arcade (was a detached 4 car garage converted to an arcade behind the owners house. Owner set it up so teens have a place to go without getting in trouble. Had tv's, games, soda machine and a pool table. Had strict rules, dont follow you are OUT.). 3-4 yrs ago another arcade tried to start up in the mall. Failed within 2 months. Now we have a new one that charges like $12 or $15/day to play all you want. Downtown Janesville isn’t it? |
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Posted: 5/21/2022 2:11:20 AM EDT
[#3]
Somewhere I still have an Aladdin's coin pouch. Red with gold lettering.
A couple of tokens too.  Attached File |
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Posted: 5/21/2022 2:22:20 AM EDT
[#4]
I would love to find a Stargate pinball machine. Spent a lot of time playing that esting beer battered fries.
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Posted: 5/21/2022 3:49:20 AM EDT
[#5]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Spencer’s is another store that’s time has come. I went in to the local one recently and it was basically a sex toy shop. Not joke novelty shit either but straight up dildos. Jeesh. Spencer's. I was banging this chick in high school. Her mother worked late, so I ended up spending lots of time at her place. The mom thought we were in a relationship, so she always asked me to stay for dinner there. Anyhow, her younger brother ended up getting some girl pregnant. There wasn't a father in the picture. I guess that's why the mom asked me to talk to her son about things. I was really uncomfortable, but I just went with it. Turns out, this kid stole some novelty condoms from Spencer's and used them. |
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Posted: 5/21/2022 4:17:48 AM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The best thing about the Aladdin's Castle we hung out at was on Friday nights when the mall closed if you paid $10 they'd lock you in with all the machines on free play for one hour. I can only assume this was a local only thing as we never saw any advertisements for it. You'd track down one of the employees before the mall closed and hand over your sawbuck and get your ticket, then when the mall was closing you'd line up outside, they'd take your ticket, and in you went. I remember a friend and I beat several games that way. Double Dragon, Ninja Gaiden, Bad Dudes, Altered Beast... all beat using free play. The Aladdin's castle near me had 2hrs for x amount of money on Wednesday nights 7 to 9 back in the late 80's. Free Domino's pizza. I have a few coins around somewhere. |
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Posted: 5/21/2022 4:28:25 AM EDT
[#7]
Spent all my extra money in there back around 89-92
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Posted: 5/21/2022 5:47:03 AM EDT
[#8]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Did they have Bad Dudes? I've spent a amall fortune at Alladin's Castle and Hot Sam in my youth. President Ronnie is that you? |
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Posted: 5/21/2022 7:14:36 AM EDT
[#9]
16-bit Bar + Arcade is pretty fun
https://www.16-bitbar.com I built a MAME cabinet a while ago. It's pretty fun and got my kids into classic arcade games. We also have a Super Chexx bubble hockey. I really want to get a pinball machine when we get back to the US. |
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Posted: 5/21/2022 7:18:39 AM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryQuoted: What happened to all those big video game machines? They just dump them in the ocean or what. You never see them anywhere. The upright cabinets got bought by collectors. The big units (the ones that were borderline rides) mostly got scrapped because few people want to devote that much space to them. |
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Posted: 5/21/2022 7:21:08 AM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I would love to find a Stargate pinball machine. Spent a lot of time playing that esting beer battered fries. Keep an eye on here. Median price $3K. https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/stargate |
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Posted: 5/21/2022 1:55:12 PM EDT
[#12]
I still have tokens from the late '80's from the one in University Mall, Tuscaloosa, AL.
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Posted: 5/21/2022 2:03:36 PM EDT
[#13]
Paradise Valley Mall is gone now. Bulldozed.
I remember when it first opened. SuperFun |
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Posted: 5/21/2022 2:08:16 PM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Jeesh. Spencer's. I was banging this chick in high school. Her mother worked late, so I ended up spending lots of time at her place. The mom thought we were in a relationship, so she always asked me to stay for dinner there. Anyhow, her younger brother ended up getting some girl pregnant. There wasn't a father in the picture. I guess that's why the mom asked me to talk to her son about things. I was really uncomfortable, but I just went with it. Turns out, this kid stole some novelty condoms from Spencer's and used them. 
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Posted: 5/21/2022 2:14:19 PM EDT
[#15]
lots of good times in the arcades in the 80s and early 90s. street fighter, kung fu. altered beast are a few I remember. First time I saw defenders I was hooked on videos games still like them today.
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Posted: 5/21/2022 2:26:30 PM EDT
[#16]
AZ kids, remember Van's California Daze at PV Mall?
Sidewalk Surfer by the UA5 was cooler. Bought my first Caballero deck there. Also, the Bare Cover in Mesa. Getting old sucks. |
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Posted: 5/21/2022 2:29:30 PM EDT
[#17]
Pretty sure we had an Aladdin's castle in the Ashtabula mall back in the 90s. Last time I visited that mall it was an absolute ghost town. Weird flea markets, craft stores and other non mall shops in the few occupied berths.
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Posted: 5/21/2022 2:31:42 PM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Around here the arcades were “Spaceport.” I spent a lot of hours in there. I miss the mall era… I fucking loved the Spaceport in the LV Mall |
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Posted: 5/21/2022 2:32:46 PM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryQuoted: AZ kids, remember Van's California Daze at PV Mall? Sidewalk Surfer by the UA5 was cooler. Bought my first Caballero deck there. Also, the Bare Cover in Mesa. Getting old sucks. Paradise Valley was too far, we stuck to Westgate or Metro mall |
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Posted: 5/21/2022 2:35:13 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Paradise Valley was too far, we stuck to Westgate or Metro mall Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: AZ kids, remember Van's California Daze at PV Mall? Sidewalk Surfer by the UA5 was cooler. Bought my first Caballero deck there. Also, the Bare Cover in Mesa. Getting old sucks. Paradise Valley was too far, we stuck to Westgate or Metro mall Nostalgia. |
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Posted: 5/21/2022 2:39:17 PM EDT
[#21]
Our mall had two arcades: Time Out and Galaxy.
Both long gone, of course. |
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Posted: 5/21/2022 2:46:31 PM EDT
[#22]
Back in Illinois we used to go to galaxy world (or Gala world, I can't really remember). Video arcade, 50 lane bowling, pool tables and bar. Great place.
Out here we have a "penny" arcade down in Manitou Springs. Lots of old school video games. |
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Posted: 5/21/2022 2:50:08 PM EDT
[#23]
The one we had in the mall closed in the late '90's.
I recently found one of their tokens and gave it to my son to put with his coin collection. Apparently, even though it had no monetary value, it's still worth something. https://coinquest.com/cgi-bin/cq/coins.pl?coin=5366 |
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Posted: 5/21/2022 3:02:20 PM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryQuoted: AZ kids, remember Van's California Daze at PV Mall? Sidewalk Surfer by the UA5 was cooler. Bought my first Caballero deck there. Also, the Bare Cover in Mesa. Getting old sucks. I just passed a Sidewalk Surfer on Scottsdale Road near Old Town. I almost stopped in. I bought my first pair of "fake" Ray Ban cat eyes at a Sidewalk Surfer back in the 80's. |
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Posted: 5/21/2022 3:04:29 PM EDT
[#25]
Quoted: There is a small shopping mall about 40 miles from me with an Aladdin's Castle arcade. Recently, I was dumbfounded to learn it's the very last one left. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/111652/Screenshot_2022-05-20_5_36_55_PM_png-2390971.JPG Quincy Mall? |
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Posted: 5/21/2022 3:05:51 PM EDT
[#26]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I just passed a Sidewalk Surfer on Scottsdale Road near Old Town. I almost stopped in. I bought my first pair of "fake" Ray Ban cat eyes at a Sidewalk Surfer back in the 80's. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: AZ kids, remember Van's California Daze at PV Mall? Sidewalk Surfer by the UA5 was cooler. Bought my first Caballero deck there. Also, the Bare Cover in Mesa. Getting old sucks. I just passed a Sidewalk Surfer on Scottsdale Road near Old Town. I almost stopped in. I bought my first pair of "fake" Ray Ban cat eyes at a Sidewalk Surfer back in the 80's. The Damned, Crass, Charged GBH, Discharge, a few more |
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Posted: 5/21/2022 3:09:11 PM EDT
[#27]
The microbreweries around here have been installing pin ball and arcade games.
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Posted: 5/21/2022 3:13:51 PM EDT
[#28]
We had the Nautilus arcade at Southglenn Mall in Littleton. Themed after the submarine from the Jules Verne book. Really cool place. Spent WAY to much time and money there.
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Posted: 5/21/2022 3:17:53 PM EDT
[#29]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I spent a lot of my hard earned lawn mowing money in that place.  Same. Arcades are still popular in Asia and I spent some time in the ones in the Philippines just for the nostalgia. |
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Posted: 5/21/2022 4:15:59 PM EDT
[#30]
Quote HistoryThank you. |
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Posted: 5/22/2022 6:06:13 AM EDT
[#31]
I take the kids to Free Play in Richardson a few times a year. $12 after tax or half price the first hour (I have checked my kids out of school early before
 ) because we have the place to ourselves. http://freeplayrichardson.com/games/ Almost everything is old school arcade machines, only a few wall mounted emulators running fight games. An entire wall of around 10 pinball games (including Star Trek TNG). They have a few DFW locations and they rotate games between them, so sometimes they won't have something they only have one of. We're good for about 90 minutes, sometimes a full two hours. They have food and fancy boy beers some of y'all would love  We have played completely through this, but it took 50 minutes LOL https://www.highwaygames.com/arcade-machines/bishi-bashi-channel-arcade-machine-17709/ |
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Posted: 5/22/2022 6:20:36 AM EDT
[#32]
80s Alladin's Castle was a good time.
90's not so much We had pizza joints with machines and pinball in the 80s too. We have an "Arcade Bar" in the city to the south of us, daughter will have to wait almost a decade before she can enter and if the business is still open. |
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Posted: 5/22/2022 6:36:11 AM EDT
[#33]
fun times at the mall.
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Posted: 5/22/2022 6:47:54 AM EDT
[#34]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I would love to find a Stargate pinball machine. Spent a lot of time playing that esting beer battered fries. Be prepared to spend 4k or so. Facebook marketplace has some games for sale. Your best bet is looking for resellers tho. There are several near where I live. I go by from time to time to get machines or parts. |
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Posted: 5/22/2022 6:51:14 AM EDT
[#35]
Quote HistoryQuoted: 16-bit Bar + Arcade is pretty fun https://www.16-bitbar.com I built a MAME cabinet a while ago. It's pretty fun and got my kids into classic arcade games. We also have a Super Chexx bubble hockey. I really want to get a pinball machine when we get back to the US. @helmet91 What are you using for a front end? I'm in the process of doing the same, but can't decide what to go with I guess bigbox is the answer, but I absolutely hate the idea of "lifetime licences" it just irks me so bad |
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Posted: 5/22/2022 7:04:33 AM EDT
[#36]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Yep it was right next to the suit store. Ours was called Tilt or something. It was next to the Tux rentals. |
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Posted: 5/22/2022 7:13:37 AM EDT
[#37]
MAME brought the death blow to arcades.
Do you guys remember when David Foley at Hyperware tried to file for ownership of MAME and the community said fuck no and fuck off? He lost his house in Saratoga when the feds found out he was selling pirated TV cards. I think he even did jail time. He also fucked Hyperware by doing side deals with company property. |
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Posted: 5/22/2022 7:24:25 AM EDT
[#38]
We had Funway Freeway at the mall
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Posted: 5/22/2022 1:40:56 PM EDT
[#39]
When the Annapolis mall first opened in the early 80s, there was one. I remember the tokens specifically
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Posted: 5/22/2022 2:02:36 PM EDT
[#40]
Quote HistoryQuoted: @helmet91 What are you using for a front end? I'm in the process of doing the same, but can't decide what to go with I guess bigbox is the answer, but I absolutely hate the idea of "lifetime licences" it just irks me so bad Unfortunately our cabinet (and Super Chexx) are in storage while we're over here in the NL. |
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Posted: 5/23/2022 10:57:31 PM EDT
[#41]
Quote HistoryQuoted: @helmet91 What are you using for a front end? I'm in the process of doing the same, but can't decide what to go with I guess bigbox is the answer, but I absolutely hate the idea of "lifetime licences" it just irks me so bad Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: 16-bit Bar + Arcade is pretty fun https://www.16-bitbar.com I built a MAME cabinet a while ago. It's pretty fun and got my kids into classic arcade games. We also have a Super Chexx bubble hockey. I really want to get a pinball machine when we get back to the US. @helmet91 What are you using for a front end? I'm in the process of doing the same, but can't decide what to go with I guess bigbox is the answer, but I absolutely hate the idea of "lifetime licences" it just irks me so bad I built one using a Raspberry Pi 4 / Retropie. I took an existing theme and completely reskinned it with Photoshop to fit the vibe I was after. I paid for the lifetime BigBox tag and got fed up trying to beat it into submission I might find a use for it eventually but as far as my arcade preferences go, I really don't need a PC to power my machine.
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