Let's play at the Arcade!

[Bekuno]

Hi, my name is Becca and I'm addicted to Coin Pushers.

Do you like arcades? I do! They're one of my favorite places to go and I'm a big spender at them. I once spent over $60 trying to win a little Indominus Rex plush from a quick reflex type machine. No regrets. It's the kiddie version of gambling but you win silly trinkets instead of money.

One specific game I loved to play was a game where you caught bumblebee striped balls that were being blown into the air in a net and then dropping them in a honey pot. It's quite easy to win a lot of tickets from if you're quick yet precise. I broke the machine twice at one arcade and the guy made me stop playing, whoops.

I also like how advanced some are getting. There's a 4D horror shooter I play at Dave & Busters that vibrates, blows air in your face, and checks your pulse to see if you get scared.

What's your favorite thing to play at the Arcade? If it's "other", tell me what it is!!

[northstar3184]

I checked Beat 'Em Up & Skeeball. The Beat 'Em Up games were a favorite as far as arcade games when I was kid. I can still remember the old Double Dragon and Streets of Rage arcade games.

Skeeball is what I played most often (I use past tense because it's been probably more than a decade since I've played any games in an arcade).

This topic brings back so many memories: the arcade place that was a like 2 miles from my house; many times playing arcades at the mall, at the grocery store and at Pizza Hut. Sadly, you hardly ever see arcades anymore. Other than the arcade room in our local mall's food court, I can't think of a single place that has them. They've been phased out by modern technology, just like movie/video game rental stores have been.

[shintoji]

i LOVE arcades!!! its silly, but ive always especially loved claw machines. a few months ago i drove a whole hour away to go to one just because i heard it had an AMAZING selection of claw machines with great prizes!! id totally reccomend it, its called round 1 and they have a ton of locations all over the place.

[ghouldilocks]

I don't arcade much, and never really did, but they're fun. I like the fighting and shooting games best for cabinet machines; for me, the controls lend themselves best for those haha. Not too long ago, I went on a date to a barcade, and that was a lot of fun!

[kaoskat]

Does.....Whack-A-Mole count?

[scarletjul]

I'm not big on arcades any more, but I still spend time in them every now and then. 

I like to play pinball and old school video games.  I got super excited when I saw the arcade on the beach had Donkey Kong and Burger Time.  I have absolutely no memory about how to play Burger Time, mind you but it's nonetheless a vague childhood memory.

I also play air hockey. 

[aluke]

I haven't been to an arcade in years, but I've been having such an itch to go to one lately! Claw machines were my favourite thing ever as a kid, and I used to spend so much time playing Pachinko at Wonderland, so those two got my vote.

I'm intrigued by this 4D horror game, I wonder if there is one in the D&B near me.

[zombienixon]

I don't go to arcades often, but skeeball has always been a favorite of mine.

[invaderhorizongreen]

I love pachinko so much I have two working machines in my bedroom, also I have won a ton of plush off of claw machines.  I am great at coin pushers too, those are some of my favorites. 

[PinkRosedust]

I love arcades! It's sad that they don't seem to be as common as they used to.

I always loved claw machines. I tend to avoid them in recent years though since it seems like it got to a point where anytime I grabbed something, the claws just dropped it back down. I swear they're rigged 90% of the time...but ANYWAY.

My other favorite was Skee Ball and still is. Anytime I walk by an arcade (generally only when I'm at a beach these days) I gotta play a round or two. Then I leave the tickets somewhere for a lucky kid to find because I don't need a single Tootsie Roll or a pair of plastic vampire teeth. =P

I also love air hockey for some reason. I'm pretty bad at it as I have rather slow reflexes. Sometimes I'm even clumsy enough to knock the puck into my own slot lol. But it's still fun!

Earlier this summer I also played one of those Whack-A-Mole games (but with alligators) and really enjoyed it. It had been a very long time. Those gators really start moving fast toward the end! lol

[Sugar]

Oh gosh, I should take a photo of allllllll the plushies my son and I won from claw machines over the last couple years.  We would go into hospital every month or so, and there was a pretty good claw machine at the Metro... we'd hit it coming and going, and sometimes get two or three at a go.  He was so sweet - he would give his extras to the kids who 'had it worse' than him!   But we still wound up with enough to stock a claw machine of our own...

Other than that, I remember a fair amount of my misspent youth (haha) in arcades, playing Tetris and Strider and Bagman and my ultimate favourite, Bubble Bobble.

(Becca, do you play Coin Dozer?  I've never played a real life coin pusher, but it's addictive as all get-out!)

[Bekuno]

(Becca, do you play Coin Dozer?  I've never played a real life coin pusher, but it's addictive as all get-out!)

Never heard of it! Doesn't looks as much fun as a real coin pusher. They're so terribly addictive. I will have coins justttt on the edge and I run to go refill my card with credits in hopes of getting a few more.

It is a shame arcades aren't super popular. There's two Dave & Busters and one Main Event and I think maybe two other arcades at least an hours drive away from me. Lovin' all this love for claw machines, I'm not really good at them myself but they sure are fun.

[Sugar]

(Becca, do you play Coin Dozer?  I've never played a real life coin pusher, but it's addictive as all get-out!)

Never heard of it! Doesn't looks as much fun as a real coin pusher. They're so terribly addictive. I will have coins justttt on the edge and I run to go refill my card with credits in hopes of getting a few more.

It is a shame arcades aren't super popular. There's two Dave & Busters and one Main Event and I think maybe two other arcades at least an hours drive away from me. Lovin' all this love for claw machines, I'm not really good at them myself but they sure are fun.

I'd best stay far away from the real coin pushers, then... that app was far too much for me!   Same studio also does a claw machine app, and that's pretty fun, too.  Especially since they seemed to have tinkered with the claw strength on the machine my son and I were winning on so much, and now it hardly pays out at all. :/

I really, really miss arcades.  I took my son to one in Montréal, but it just isn't the same.  He's happier with his Nintendo and iPad; back when I had an Atari 2600 (gosh, Sugar, you're older than dirt!), the difference in graphics and gameplay made arcades a notch or two above home gaming.  Now, though, unless you like the dance games or riding the sim bikes or w/e, it isn't really as much of a much.   Wish they still had games-for-tickets places round here; those were fun and lucrative!

When my son's out of bed, I think I will collect all his claw plushies (and mine too) and snap a pic.  I'm all inspired now!

[Bekuno]

Hahaha, glad I could inspire you! The reason I started this thread was because I started watching a bunch of videos of this young guy play claw machines and him winning sooooo much stuff! He even owns his own so he can study how they work and up his chances.

I like playing the older games a lot. My boyfriend is good at Galaga and I'm pretty good at Donkey Kong Jr. I don't have an issue with a big change in graphics because I don't really play much modern stuff anyway. We even own a Ms. Pac Man cabinet!

I've seen sort of retro remake games at arcade. There's advanced versions of pac man, one of which is actually four players, or frogger. I think there's a new galaga game as well. I was totally shocked to see an arcade version of Candy Crush last time I went! I knew fruit ninja was a big one but wow. Angry birds has one as well.

[Duenia]

If I go to an arcade it's normally specifically for skeeball. I don't really enjoy a lot of arcade games but skeeball is amazing.