Best defunct Classic Arcade?!?

[Al's Garage Band]

For me: It was Both Dream Machines. Located in the now defunct
Dutchess Mall, East Fishkill NY as well as a sister location in the
still kinda open South Hills Mall, the Dutchess Mall location had a
slew of good early pins like Kiss, Harlem Globetrotters, Flash, Dolly
Parton, Haunted House etc. South Hills Mall had an Upper Tierl, Lower
had like 100 plus Video Games, pool Tables, Foosball and Gun Games.
Upper Tier was like about 15 pins at any time! Loads of Sterns Like
Galaxy and Meteor, and Some Williams Like Stellar Wars, Blackout, and
others. Good times cutting last class in High School and riding a
transit bus to the Bigger Dream Machine! Toss in a Blimpies Sub for
$2.00 and Life was good! Ahhh......... so what was your best defunct
arcade?!? www.pinballcountry.com

[pingeek]

I only had a chance to check out this place once, the now gone
"Flipper McCoy's" in the Norfolk area.
http://www.pingeek.com/flipper2/flipper1.htm

Not too many pins, but as you can see, what videogames did they NOT
have?

I was impressed. A shame it's gone.

Pingeek
http://www.pingeek.com

[WEade]

For me, by FAR...

Bally's Aladdin's Castle.

We had one close to where I grew up, and I swear,,, In my teenage years
from 1979-1982, I paid their mortgage in the mall. :)

Bill

"Al's Garage Band" <malon...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:ed3f394c-2a65-42ec...@x15g2000vbr.googlegroups.com...

[Bob in Phx]

pinball palace, mesa az, southern and dobson.
1978 to about 1982
lots of vids and only one pin... gotleib solar ride. This place was a
typical (for the time) mom and pop deal with no class and nothing but games.
Located in a strip mall, in the back corner. Got into more fights there then
I care to think about.Arby's was in the same strip too!!! Bought my first
video from them when they closed. asteroids deluxe for 25 bucks,
working!!!!!!!!

"WEade" <we...@rcn.com> wrote in message
news:heclfj$i7f$1...@news.eternal-september.org...

[Zak]

Time Out Arcade in Northway Mall, Colonie NY. This was the first
arcade I went to as a kid. I remember playing games like Stunt Pilot,
Sprint and Super shifter. I wasn't very good, but I liked the feeling
that I could try and control something. I played in that arcade right
up through High School.

I can still remember the smell of the Pizza place when you walked into
that Mall. Lot's of good memories. I really miss that era.

Zak

[MrBally]

On Nov 22, 7:13 pm, "Al's Garage Band" <malonebr...@yahoo.com> wrote:

Jolly Genie Arcade in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. One of Gene Wagner's
seven arcades he had in the Detroit area. His partner was Fred
Bragenzer in at lest five of them; the "Arcade 5" group.

[Al's Garage Band]

Nice! I can toss In Two more: Mr. Arcade, Route 59 Nanuet NY, Nice
Family place, lots of vids, Pizza etc. Up about 2 miles was Space
Port, open 24 Hours!!! Crazy Lighting, a nice Bank of pins in the back
wall, redemption center and change located in the center of the
arcade. Wild looking carpet, loud music, this Arcade was Jumping!

[mikepin]

Fun n games in Randal park mall in cleveland. It was a test location
for factories. had all new pins and videos from like 78 to 90 or
so .

[gbi...@gmail.com]

Dream Machine at Lincoln Mall in Lincoln, RI and Just For Fun at the
Swansea Mall in Swansea, MA were my 2 favorites.

There was also a Nickle Arcade in North Dartmouth, MA. We could spend
the day there with just a couple of dollars in our pockets. I don't
recall the name, but it was across from the Ann & Hope.

-Gregg B.

[OHMI_ARCADE]

Old Towne (i think that's how they spelled it) in the now demolished
Southwyck Mall (Toledo, OH).
It was magic to a kid. It closed before my teen years however.
- Tim

[Al's Garage Band]

Was Lincoln Amusement Park near North Dartmouth? Just wondering.
www.pinballcountry.com

[Gunstar Hero]

The Mine Shaft in Rancho Cordova/Folsom California will always have a
special place in my memories... in the 80's it was probably the
largest arcade I'd ever seen, as well as batting cages, mini golf and
the works. In the 90's it had lots of fighting games, but all the old
80's games that broke down got shoved into a large corner by the air
hockey tables, making a kind of weird arcade graveyard. By the 2000's
it was gone. I wasn't too into pinball at that time, but I recall they
had quite a selection... I know I played PINBOT there a few times.

[Les Manley]

Has to be the Circus Pizza in Maplewood Mall. It had everything.
Rock-a-fire explosion, bumper cars, skee ball, pool tables, classic
vids, pinball, ball crawl, pizza and ice cream. I miss it. Here is a
link to the facebook page someone created for it...

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=61890144971

[Al's Garage Band]

Did anyone have a Alladin's Castle near them too? www.pinballcountry.com

[Amigoid]

> Did anyone have a Alladin's Castle near them too?www.pinballcountry.com- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I think there was one in Tulsa, OK, but the best arcade I ever saw was
at Bells Amusement Park, in Tulsa Oklahoma. Pong, Space Wars,
indy800, death race, magic carpet, target UFO, skeeball, pinballs, it
was incredible what they had there. It was my first big arcade and
the best for me. (You always remember your first... its true.)

[Al's Garage Band]

On Nov 23, 8:16 pm, Amigoid <lbrown-amig...@comcast.net> wrote:
> On Nov 23, 6:05 pm, "Al's Garage Band" <malonebr...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Nov 23, 11:58 am, Les Manley <inet...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > On Nov 22, 6:13 pm, "Al's Garage Band" <malonebr...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > > > For me: It was Both Dream Machines. Located in the now defunct
> > > > Dutchess Mall, East Fishkill NY as well as a sister location in the
> > > > still kinda open South Hills Mall, the Dutchess Mall location had a
> > > > slew of good early pins like Kiss, Harlem Globetrotters, Flash, Dolly
> > > > Parton, Haunted House etc. South Hills Mall had an Upper Tierl, Lower
> > > > had like 100 plus Video Games, pool Tables, Foosball and Gun Games.
> > > > Upper Tier was like about 15 pins at any time! Loads of Sterns Like
> > > > Galaxy and Meteor, and Some Williams Like Stellar Wars, Blackout, and
> > > > others. Good times cutting last class in High School and riding a
> > > > transit  bus to the Bigger Dream Machine! Toss in a Blimpies Sub for
> > > > $2.00 and Life was good! Ahhh......... so what was your best defunct
> > > > arcade?!?www.pinballcountry.com
>
> > > Has to be the Circus Pizza in Maplewood Mall.  It had everything.
> > > Rock-a-fire explosion, bumper cars, skee ball, pool tables, classic
> > > vids, pinball, ball crawl, pizza and ice cream.  I miss it.  Here is a
> > > link to the facebook page someone created for it...
>
> > >http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=61890144971
>

> > Did anyone have a Alladin's Castle near them too?www.pinballcountry.com-Hide quoted text -

>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> I think there was one in Tulsa, OK, but the best arcade I ever saw was
> at Bells Amusement Park, in Tulsa Oklahoma.   Pong, Space Wars,
> indy800, death race, magic carpet, target UFO, skeeball, pinballs, it
> was incredible what they had there.  It was my first big arcade and

> the best for me.  (You always remember your first... its true.)- Hide quoted text -

>
> - Show quoted text -

Bells with the ZINGO Roller Coaster? Yes, That was one helluva arcade!
www.pinballcountry.com

[Lloyd Olson]

Alladin's had some in my area. Used to be lots. Crimson Cue, Olympic
Billiards, Twin City Family Fun Center, Hopkins House Fun Center,
Cheapskate, Silver Ball, Gizmos, Gold Mine, every city around me had one or
two back in the day. Now all gone. LTG :)

"Al's Garage Band" <malon...@yahoo.com> wrote in message

news:efdabf03-5b91-4994...@31g2000vbf.googlegroups.com...

[frankMi]

> Did anyone have a Alladin's Castle near them too?www.pinballcountry.com

My first real job was right next door to an AC and I spent $5 a day
just on Dragon's Lair (1981 money) until I beat it. ( I must have
sucked now
that I think of it).

But my favorite defunct was the Pinball Pete's on the West Side of
Lansing.
It was there until the late 80's or early 90's if I remember
correctly.

Fun and trouble as I recall.

frank

[ScooterMcTavish]

Mother's Records/Games on the Avenue on Portage Ave. in Winnipeg,
Manitoba, Canada. Disappeared somewhere in the 90's.

Always had a nice pin section, including a Black Knight and a High
Speed.

Nothing like buying Quiet Riot's "Metal Health" on cassette for $3.99
at Mother's in the basement, then coming upstairs to play some
Pinball, Krull, Dragon's Lair, Gyruss, Zaxxon, Ladybug, and Donkey
Kong while listening to the Quiet Riot on your Sony Walkman.

Honorable mention - Great arcade on the second floor at the UMSU
building at the University of Manitoba. Best selection of well-
maintained pins in Winnipeg in 1988. Where I got really addicted to
Williams pins like Taxi and Cyclone.

[dsup...@aol.com]

I can think of at least three:

First (and it is still there) would be the Scandia outside of
Fairfield, Ca. I remember when I was younger that place had at least
2 huge rows of pins, and all working. I loved walking down the aisle
and seeing all the blinking lights and various sounds. I specifically
remember a BK and the double playfield.

Second (and it is still there) would be the main arcade at the Santa
Cruz Boardwalk. THAT place was heaven. TONS of pins, cranes, ball
bowlers, etc...I would have spent all day in there if my parents would
have let me. I remember wanting to play a big ball bowler, but my dad
would not let me, as (at that time) there was one in my grandparent's
basement. He did not understand, I had not played THAT one!

Finally, the second story of the Starcade at Disneyland in
Tomorrowland. I remember how all the pins were lined against the far
side, and the defunct Peoplemover moved by above the games.........

Honorable mention:

The Penny Arcade on Main St. in Disneyland. Rotoscopes, fortune
tellers, EM games of all types. That place was really neat and added
to the atmosphere of Main St. Then they turned it into a damn store.
A shame really.

Brian

[BBQ]

Herb's Arcade off Old College Main in College Station, TX (mid 80's)

Walking distance from campus
BYOB

Have a full ice chest, three friends, and you've got an all night
Gauntlet hoe-down....

[Les Manley]

> Did anyone have a Alladin's Castle near them too?www.pinballcountry.com- Hide quoted text -

>
> - Show quoted text -

An Aladdin's Castle showed up in the same mall, Maplewood Mall in MN.
It is still there too...if you consider the crap they have in there an
arcade.

[jackofdiamonds]

On Nov 24, 3:03 pm, Les Manley <inet...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Nov 23, 7:05 pm, "Al's Garage Band" <malonebr...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Nov 23, 11:58 am, Les Manley <inet...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > On Nov 22, 6:13 pm, "Al's Garage Band" <malonebr...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > > > For me: It was Both Dream Machines. Located in the now defunct
> > > > Dutchess Mall, East Fishkill NY as well as a sister location in the
> > > > still kinda open South Hills Mall, the Dutchess Mall location had a
> > > > slew of good early pins like Kiss, Harlem Globetrotters, Flash, Dolly
> > > > Parton, Haunted House etc. South Hills Mall had an Upper Tierl, Lower
> > > > had like 100 plus Video Games, pool Tables, Foosball and Gun Games.
> > > > Upper Tier was like about 15 pins at any time! Loads of Sterns Like
> > > > Galaxy and Meteor, and Some Williams Like Stellar Wars, Blackout, and
> > > > others. Good times cutting last class in High School and riding a
> > > > transit  bus to the Bigger Dream Machine! Toss in a Blimpies Sub for
> > > > $2.00 and Life was good! Ahhh......... so what was your best defunct
> > > > arcade?!?www.pinballcountry.com
>
> > > Has to be the Circus Pizza in Maplewood Mall.  It had everything.
> > > Rock-a-fire explosion, bumper cars, skee ball, pool tables, classic
> > > vids, pinball, ball crawl, pizza and ice cream.  I miss it.  Here is a
> > > link to the facebook page someone created for it...
>
> > >http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=61890144971
>

> > Did anyone have a Alladin's Castle near them too?www.pinballcountry.com-Hide quoted text -

>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> An Aladdin's Castle showed up in the same mall, Maplewood Mall in MN.
> It is still there too...if you consider the crap they have in there an
> arcade.

Broadway Arcade 52nd and B'way,also Playland in Times Square.NYC

[Mick]

Replay II, South Weymouth MA growing up as a kid.

The Fun Machine in Altamonte Springs and Orlando, FL. Both kicked ass
with a large selection of pins and vids.

Altamonte Mall in Altamonte Springs, FL also had two arcades at one
time, one upstairs, and one downstairs next to Farrell's Ice Cream
Parlor.

Dayton Mall in Dayton OH used to have a huge arcade too, long gone.

[BlueMalibu]

Wooden Nickel Arcade, Copper Country Mall, Houghton Mi. This is where
I played in college '82-87. Pins and Vids galore. Won an original
space invaders there that I put in my college apartment.

Long shot if anyone else from RGP been there! Long gone of course.

Parker

[scubadentist]

MOTHER's in Mt. Prospect Illinois. One of Williams test locations, on
Northwest Highway....great place located in an old house on a corner
of a busy interesection in the local downtown area.....great ambiance
and a great place to go to play.....they were independent, and family
run.....Steve Richie always has great things to say about this place
also....kind of like Dennis's arcade in Chicago, also a cool test
location, but a lot bigger.....

Paul

[John In WI]

Johnson's Park in North West Milwaukee

Go-carts....mini-golf....batting cages and a pretty decent coin-op
arcade. I used to work in the pizza joint across the street and spent
many hours there.

[KJ_Gameroom]

WOW! The Fun N' Games at Altamonte Mall are hardly mentioned on here!
Paul, do you remember the pin line-ups they had before 1998? That
place is what got me started with this hobby. My dad and I used to go
and play Taxi, Fish Tales, and Rollergames while my mom would shop.
The lineup that they had before they started rapidly phasing out
pinball (and shutting down the larger downstairs arcade) was Fish
Tales, Bride of Pinbot, Taxi, Addams Family, Judge Dredd, Getaway, and
Rollergames. I'm trying to put that lineup together in my gameroom. I
have Bride of Pinbot and Judge Dredd so far, 7 more to go. I've got
other machines that I'm selling or trading to acquire the old Fun N'
Games titles.

Hope to hear from you!
-Kurt

On Nov 24, 4:04 pm, scubadentist <scubadent...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Nov 24, 2:53 pm, Mick <michael.f.mcdon...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Replay II, South Weymouth MA growing up as a kid.
>

> > The Fun Machine in Altamonte Springs andOrlando, FL. Both kicked ass

[Eddie]

On Nov 22, 7:13 pm, "Al's Garage Band" <malonebr...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> For me: It was Both Dream Machines. Located in the now defunct
> Dutchess Mall, East Fishkill NY as well as a sister location in the
> still kinda open South Hills Mall, the Dutchess Mall location had a
> slew of good early pins like Kiss, Harlem Globetrotters, Flash, Dolly
> Parton, Haunted House etc. South Hills Mall had an Upper Tierl, Lower
> had like 100 plus Video Games, pool Tables, Foosball and Gun Games.
> Upper Tier was like about 15 pins at any time! Loads of Sterns Like
> Galaxy and Meteor, and Some Williams Like Stellar Wars, Blackout, and
> others. Good times cutting last class in High School and riding a
> transit  bus to the Bigger Dream Machine! Toss in a Blimpies Sub for
> $2.00 and Life was good! Ahhh......... so what was your best defunct
> arcade?!?www.pinballcountry.com

Playland NYC Times Square couldnt be beat !
All Em arcade games no video games of course I was there when I was 7
through 9 years old pre Video Games.

Periscope by Sega and S.A.M.I by Midway were my favoriites.

[Ron, (Boatcat)]

I'll go with the penny arcade at Willow
Park in Butztown, PA. If I recall, rivalled the size
of the Pinball Wizzards Convention in Allentown
and mostly pinballs. I think the op used the
location as a warehouse until he found other
locations for them.

[Orbian]

On Nov 22, 4:13 pm, "Al's Garage Band" <malonebr...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> For me: It was Both Dream Machines. Located in the now defunct
> Dutchess Mall, East Fishkill NY as well as a sister location in the
> still kinda open South Hills Mall, the Dutchess Mall location had a
> slew of good early pins like Kiss, Harlem Globetrotters, Flash, Dolly
> Parton, Haunted House etc. South Hills Mall had an Upper Tierl, Lower
> had like 100 plus Video Games, pool Tables, Foosball and Gun Games.
> Upper Tier was like about 15 pins at any time! Loads of Sterns Like
> Galaxy and Meteor, and Some Williams Like Stellar Wars, Blackout, and
> others. Good times cutting last class in High School and riding a
> transit  bus to the Bigger Dream Machine! Toss in a Blimpies Sub for
> $2.00 and Life was good! Ahhh......... so what was your best defunct
> arcade?!?www.pinballcountry.com

Merlin's Castle in Saratoga, CA. It was a nice layout that always had
all the latest pinball machines back in the day. The pinballs
eventually got squeezed out as video games got popular. Atari would
use it as one of their test locations. The old Atari prototype
documents are listed at http://www.atarigames.com/page5/page5.html

I remember playing Atari Malibu Grand Prix there. Once I finished they
had some Atari marketing girl ask me a few questions about the game.
It was still early in the video game fad and she wanted to know what I
thought of it. I told her I liked it but preferred pinball instead. I
guess they didn't listen to me :O

-Orbian

[PINAHOLIC]

On Nov 28, 12:10 pm, Orbian <orb...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Nov 22, 4:13 pm, "Al's Garage Band" <malonebr...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > For me: It was Both Dream Machines. Located in the now defunct
> > Dutchess Mall, East Fishkill NY as well as a sister location in the
> > still kinda open South Hills Mall, the Dutchess Mall location had a
> > slew of good early pins like Kiss, Harlem Globetrotters, Flash, Dolly
> > Parton, Haunted House etc. South Hills Mall had an Upper Tierl, Lower
> > had like 100 plus Video Games, pool Tables, Foosball and Gun Games.
> > Upper Tier was like about 15 pins at any time! Loads of Sterns Like
> > Galaxy and Meteor, and Some Williams Like Stellar Wars, Blackout, and
> > others. Good times cutting last class in High School and riding a
> > transit  bus to the Bigger Dream Machine! Toss in a Blimpies Sub for
> > $2.00 and Life was good! Ahhh......... so what was your best defunct
> > arcade?!?www.pinballcountry.com
>
> Merlin's Castle in Saratoga, CA. It was a nice layout that always had
> all the latest pinball machines back in the day. The pinballs
> eventually got squeezed out as video games got popular. Atari would
> use it as one of their test locations. The old Atari prototype

> documents are listed athttp://www.atarigames.com/page5/page5.html

>
> I remember playing Atari Malibu Grand Prix there. Once I finished they
> had some Atari marketing girl ask me a few questions about the game.
> It was still early in the video game fad and she wanted to know what I
> thought of it. I told her I liked it but preferred pinball instead. I
> guess they didn't listen to me :O
>
> -Orbian

I remember a dude ranch, either the Painted Pony (Lake George), or the
Rocking Horse Ranch in New York (we went to both). I remember lines of
awesome pinball machines in their game room. , i just wish I remember
which they were. It was in the mid-sixties, and I was born in 59. I
also remember going to a miniature golf in Lake George with a lot of
pinballs in their game room, and you won ten nickles if you scored a
hole-in one on the last hole(games were a nickle), and of course, both
of us got that hole-in-one, since it was honor system..
-Al .

[Lloyd Olson]

I liked the Rifle Sport Arcade at 812 Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis,
Minnesota. Flashing theater type marquee lights on the overhead sign guiding
you inside, a couple flashing neon bullseyes on each side.

Walk in there in 1969 and first thing you smelled was luminal paint. Over
head rows of pennants lined the ceiling to make it seem lower and miss some
of the burned out florescents. On the door post next to you was a wall
mounted penny fortune telling box, drop the penny at the top and see whick
answer it lands in, or get your penny back. To your right was a bowling game
with cast iron man inside throwing the ball, you controlled him. Nex to it a
puck shuffle bolwer, with puck return that if you held your hand there
waiting for the puck you could break fingers. Then a huge old shooting game
with the biggest WW1 looking aircraft machine gun mounted to it. You shot
the plane lights as the scrolled across the backglass. Straight ahead a
booze barometer and the start of one of those big figure eight speedway
racing games. A Genco driving game came after that where you drove the car
around and tried to hit every parking spot, had a curved plastic front. To
the side was a basketball game with a couple metal guys inside, you
controlled the one and tried to get your ball past the other into the hoop.
Had another pinball looking game there with cars in the backglass.

On your left was the Photo Booth and Recording booth where you could make
your own record.It replayed very loud before it gave it to you, so if you
were swearing they'd come and take your record away from you. And a machine
to buy clear plastic with glue on it so you could seal things in plastic
like pictures or your library card.Up that row was a pinball shaped cabinet,
two steering wheels and smaller figure eight racing game. Then a few
baseball games where the runners ran around the back glass. Then sticking
out was a Midway Flying Turns and A Rodeo pinball. After that a Derby Day
and HayBurners. These games weren't considered pinballs so anyone under 18
could play them. Then came a hockey game with the metal guys spinning around
inside, one on each end, and the Little Pro Golf machine.

Further up the right side was an Atomic Bomber.

One the left near the middle was the change booth/office with a neon Change
Here sign on top. To your right was a four gun 22 caliber shooting range.

Then further back was a row of at least a dozen EM pins. They had to be in a
separate area because in Minneapolis at that tme you had to be 18 or older
to play pinball.

Past the pins the backroom, a coupld cabinets for paint and cleaning stuff,
a bathroom, heading to the right you go behind the shooting gallery and then
ahead and left out the back door into the Anthony Hotel parking lot.

not everything, but that's what I recall. LTG :)

[RonKZ650]

Here in Denver we had Celebrity Sports Center that had probably 200
pinball machines at one time. Has anyone ever been to a place that had
sometimes 3 of the same game? Find one that's junk, move to another
part of the center and find the same game pristine :) That's always
the hope anyway. They closed in 1994 I think.

[thehorn...@gmail.com]

That's some photographic memory you've got there Lloyd! I didn't start going to Rifle Sport until the late 70s but some of those things you described sure did ring a bell! I think that the shooting gallery was gone for sure. I mainly played pinball and the juke box there. I was always called "Replay" because I could play a lot of the pinball machines all day for a quarter or two relying on replays to keep me going. I ended up selling a lot of replays and would sometimes leave with more money than I came in with. That placed closed and all of the games went down the block to the corner of 5th and Hennepin next door to the Brass Rail and Augies--two very different bars in more than one way! I was lucky that those arcades were there because when all of the other kids were smoking pot, dropping LSD, drinking and doing all kinds of other things that could very well have had long term detrimental effects on their lives, me and two other kids that hung out together spent our evenings and weekends there, staying away from the riff-raff that was certainly available in that area if you were wanting to get into it. Thanks for sharing your memories, your recollections really are amazingly accurate and sparked my memories!

[Glen Vespa]

Pizza keg in dearborn hgts mi, jolly gennie in dearborn hgts mi, golden key in dearborn hgts, i worked for the wangers fixing their machines and old man wanger and his son were great to work for. first pin i played was jack in the box at pizza keg, after that was their everyday and when i was driving always went to jolly gennie to play death race and all the pins. Great times!

[mikepin]

From 1975 until 1996 I ran all the FUN N GAMES nation wide 76 at one time we had ALOT of pins becasue I belived then and still do PINS will keep the adults as they give money to kids and gran kids to play other games. I still believe this would work today yet SEVERAL chains refuse to have even one pinball. mike pacak

[Ron, (Boatcat)]

Anybody recall "Rocky's," Rac-n-Cue"
or the "Wreck Room" in Bloomington, IN?

[Pinster68]

For me it was my local 7-11 in Montvale, NJ. Only room for a few games, but it was close to home, between home and school, in the golden years of 1977-83. I was introduced to classics like Flash and Gorgar. Not an arcade, but a landmark for me.

For a longer haul I'd gather my paper route money, pedal my PK Ripper (BMX bike) up to Nanuet, NY to Aladdin's Castle. I remember a long line of pins on one wall, and seeing Centaur there for the first time. Good times.

[american...@hotmail.com]

On Wednesday, September 11, 2013 10:40:16 PM UTC-4, mikepin wrote:
> From 1975 until 1996 I ran all the FUN N GAMES nation wide 76 at one time we had ALOT of pins becasue I belived then and still do PINS will keep the adults as they give money to kids and gran kids to play other games. I still believe this would work today yet SEVERAL chains refuse to have even one pinball. mike pacak

These were all at DeBartolo owned malls, correct? Sad to see that Randall Park is closed as it is not that old and was a modern mall when I first visited the place around 1977.

[Don O Team EM!]

I grew up outside of washington DC, in Fairfax County VA... so we had a LOT to choose from in the early 70s to early 80s...

Sub-Machine City... serving... you guessed it, subs and pinball. Games I remember playing included GTB King Pin, Now, Wildlife, Top Card, WMS Gulfstream, Eight Ball, Bally Champ

Time Out - Springfield Mall... had all the newer games, and kept them playing well. I do remember they always had their scores to beat at the most conservative settings.

Casual Quarter - Annandale VA/Rte 236 - WMS Gulfstream, Strato-Flite, Bally Hi-Lo Ace, Air Aces GTB Jacks Open, Top Card, Big Hit.

[mikepin]

WEll not all FUN N GAMES were in DeBartolo malls but most. Yes Randal Park mall was LARGEST mall in usa when oppended in 70s Just in wrong neighborhood . sad Agin it was a TEST location and had the first of most everything Especially videos .many games there at one time were never produced. It made like 600,000 in its peak ALL QUARTERS...

[craigm...@gmail.com]

+1. Celebrity was amazing. Owned by Walt Disney and other influential gents from Hollywood. I remember HUGE banks of pinballs, I think at one time they had a Bally bank of at least 30 and other games spread around the arcade.

[ted wilson]

On Thursday, September 12, 2013 7:44:45 AM UTC-4, Pinster68 wrote:
> For me it was my local 7-11 in Montvale, NJ. Only room for a few games, but it was close to home, between home and school, in the golden years of 1977-83. I was introduced to classics like Flash and Gorgar. Not an arcade, but a landmark for me.
>

There was a place up on Rt 46 back then that had tons of games- was called O'Dad's or something or was near O'Dad's; past Willowbrook, 1st on one side of the road, then on the other. Lot's of fun times there on Fri or Sat nites in the mid/late "70's.

[G]

On Sunday, November 22, 2009 9:45:45 PM UTC-5, Al's Garage Band wrote:

> On Nov 22, 9:16 pm, MrBally <americannleag...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > On Nov 22, 7:13 pm, "Al's Garage Band" <malonebr...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> > > For me: It was Both Dream Machines. Located in the now defunct
> > > Dutchess Mall, East Fishkill NY as well as a sister location in the
> > > still kinda open South Hills Mall, the Dutchess Mall location had a
> > > slew of good early pins like Kiss, Harlem Globetrotters, Flash, Dolly
> > > Parton, Haunted House etc. South Hills Mall had an Upper Tierl, Lower
> > > had like 100 plus Video Games, pool Tables, Foosball and Gun Games.
> > > Upper Tier was like about 15 pins at any time! Loads of Sterns Like
> > > Galaxy and Meteor, and Some Williams Like Stellar Wars, Blackout, and
> > > others. Good times cutting last class in High School and riding a
> > > transit  bus to the Bigger Dream Machine! Toss in a Blimpies Sub for
> > > $2.00 and Life was good! Ahhh......... so what was your best defunct
> > > arcade?!?www.pinballcountry.com
> >

> > Jolly Genie Arcade in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. One of Gene Wagner's
> > seven arcades he had in the Detroit area. His partner was Fred
> > Bragenzer in at lest five of them; the "Arcade 5" group.
>
> Nice! I can toss In Two more: Mr. Arcade, Route 59 Nanuet NY, Nice
> Family place, lots of vids, Pizza etc. Up about 2 miles was Space
> Port, open 24 Hours!!! Crazy Lighting, a nice Bank of pins in the back
> wall, redemption center and change located in the center of the
> arcade. Wild looking carpet, loud music, this Arcade was Jumping!

Put lots of quarters into machines at both of those locations.

[Tektune]

Fireball Arcade in East Lansing, Michigan in the early 70's was my
favorite arcade. The owner Tom leased a storefront next to Marshall
Music on Ann St and spray painted everything inside dark blue. Then he
lined both of the long walls with pinball machines- lots of them!
Installed a really nice sound system "quadrophonic" with an open reel
tape machine playing good rock n roll. With the large number of pinball
machines and the good music, the place was hopping with college students
from MSU. All the machines were setup as 2 plays for a quarter, all 5
ball games. I have fond memories of unboxing new Gottlieb EM machines
and being the first to play them out of the box.

There was also a Fireball Arcade just outside of downtown East Lansing,
next to Coral Gables bar, that was in a small building with an elephant
on top. This building was later taken over by Tim Arnold (I believe Tim
painted the elephant pink). The smaller arcade was fun too, but it
didn't have the killer sound system, was further from campus, and had
less machines than the main arcade on Ann St. They did have one
memorable thing at this location- An original Bally Fireball EM machine,
that played well, and that title was the inspiration for the name of the
arcades.

Had lots of good times playing pinballs, fixing pinballs, and doing road
trips to setup/fix pinballs in the bar accounts in East Lansing and Ann
Arbor.


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Tektune
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[Player 3]

It was called ODowds...Route 46 Pine Brook NJ....I shot the very last
ball on the very last game played there, before it closed...The Pins
were moved to a place up the road called Game Town....Richard Stowe


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Player 3