Long gone. I remember having a Reese‘s peanut butter cup with a coke after playing and the lady behind the desk of the bowling alley (while smoking) always said someday I’ll enjoy having them with a beer.

The 3 pinballs were where the bowling ball lockers were…just outside the restroom. Many years later I found out the best earning pinball was kept in the bar where kids aren’t allowed.

It’s been since torn down and it’s approximate location is now a parking lot for an ugly LA fitness building.

I think 1979 was my favorite as far as video games go. Everything was new. A button, a joystick, a joystick and a button, a track ball, a track ball and a button, two buttons, two joysticks.

Then into 1980 it stagnated. Nothing new. Same old same old. Build fighting games, build driving games, build sports games. Then start over. Build fighting games, build driving games, build sports games.

1982 probably the worst, went from huge income to almost no income. Worse then the mid 2000's when everything tanked.

I think my favorite was March 2nd 2001 thru 2005. The start of the Goose Parties which turned into the Pinball Circus events.

Individual favorites. Not sure exact date, Rick Bartlett asked me to help on the tech section of his Bay Area Amusements, around 2010. 2013 when Jack hired me for jjp tech support, then I could help people with direct factory involvement. Expo 2014 when Rick Bartlett and Doug Duba asked me to help with the remakes they were going to build. January 2024 David Fix asked me on board to help with American Pinball tech support. Since I was no longer with jjp, that freed up a lot of time. I was approached by some companies, and still occasionally am asked. American Pinball this time worked out great, I'm friends with many of their people since their beginning.

Over all favorite was discovering Rec Games Pinball, and being able to help people with their pinball machines. After all these years, someone getting their game going is still a rush.

My favorite event was the Mona Geesa party when I had the full Capcom line up here including BBB and KP. The amount of people that attended that day was staggering. Runner up was my 50th Anniversary party.

My favorite happening was one time when Lyman Sheets was here and gave a young girl a Medieval Madness poster he signed, 30 years of hard work melted seeing the look on her face. Made everything worthwhile.

My favorite era of pinball. Well I guess that is starting right now. Great times ahead !

LTG : )

In the 80's, I believe it was Aladin's Castle and then in the late 90s I believe there was a Cyber Station that was near the food court. There was also a retail/drug store CG Murphy that had video games in the corner of their store that was big during the 80s. Sears also had a section of vids near one of the entrances in the early 80s, but hanging out and waiting for a turn at the Intellivision, Atari, and ColecoVision kiosks was the norm at Sears - good times.

LTG - Thanks for sharing above. I enjoyed that read.

Nah, mines gone and the mall is gone now too. Fun n Games at Virginia Center Commons mall was my “home arcade” and I frequented multiple Aladdin’s Castle arcades and random game rooms attached to campgrounds and resorts.

Nope…. Trends and taxes killed all the good arcades in MD. Except crabtowne.

PONG!

Thanks for sharing.

None of the dozens of arcades I played at from the early 70's to the mid-90's still exist. A handful of the bowling alleys do, but they don't have pinballs any more.

I remember going to Marvelous Marvin's in Farmington Hills, Michigan when we were kids. I haven't been there since the early 90's. If that place still exists, the answer is yes to my childhood arcade still operating.

Still going
http://www.marvin3m.com/

My favourite arcade back in the day was Pleasure Passtimes in Manchester, UK. That was ca 1979 - 1982. It had games ranging from the EM era to the latest solid state games and vids. The selection was truly eclectic ranging from fruit machines (English slots), gun games, coin pushers and every generation of vids. It was rundown, seedy and slightly scary.

1981 Special Report: video games

Jump to the 2:12 mark for arcade footage and later in the video some great factory footage.

Yeah, but what a dump that place is! The toilets were filthy, and the owner was super obnoxious

Great report. The king of flow even makes an appearance.

None of my childhood arcades lasted past the year 1999

What is funny, a new arcade has just opened in town, in an area that had in the past banned arcades. (I guess when you have trouble finding tenants, ANY tenant will do)

Reminds you of home.

LTG : )

My favorite arcade was not one of the first 10 or 20 that I played at, but it is always the one I remember as the best. "Hotter Than Mother's Music" in Mt. Prospect Illinois was a really cool shop that sold records and tapes, music gear, and had a pinball arcade all in the same building. We called it "Mother's Pinball" unofficially. I discovered it by accident while riding around on my motorcycle. I became a regular after that - I used to chain my Sportster to a telephone pole behind the place when I was there.
It was in a building that looked like an old house, and had tight stairways that went upstairs to more pinball. I can only imagine the griping and groaning you heard from the employees every week, since they moved games in and out regularly.
Lyons Classic Pinball in Colorado has a similar "house" layout, although all on one floor. I love arcades where you can't see everything all at once, and you have to explore around and find all the different rooms and games. LCP totally has that feel.
Mother's was around from 1971 until sometime in the late 80s or possibly early 90s. The town actually saved the building and moved it to a new location nearby. It's been an ice cream shop or something for awhile now. Some barebones info here: https://www.mtphist.org/hotter-than-mothers-music/
They were a test location for pinball and video game manufacturers, and we would sometimes see guys with short-sleeve shirts and ties and pocket protectors taking notes and watching us play. They had a lot of good deals on records, but I spent most of my time there playing pinball.
I played a prototype Stern "Orbitor 1" at Mother's that had no graphics and a minimal backglass. It didn't have any hint of a space theme yet. I guess you'd call it a whiteplastic instead of a whitewood. I remember that it was fun to play, and I was amazed to see it later in a few arcades.
I also clearly remember playing a prototype Stern "Scramble" video game at Mother's. It was in a plain cabinet that just said STERN in huge letters on the side, no graphics or title on the marquee. I got really good at it and could just cruise through the tunnel to the end over and over. Later, when it was released, I could beat it in any arcade that had it. I won a bunch of t-shirts for Scramble high scores in the 80s...I still have one or two of them stashed away somewhere.
This is pretty much how Mother's looked when I was going there:
HotterThanMothersMusic-MothersPinball (resized).jpg
And this is a repro of one their T-shirt designs that's available from the Mt. Prospect Historical Society. Love the "30 Action Pinballs" slogan! Not just regular pinballs...ACTION pinballs...LOL.
Glad to see that the local historians understand that their pinball legacy is worth preserving!
Mothers-shirt-2020-1 (resized).jpg

Very cool story. May buy a shirt.

I had so many favorite arcades as a child (pretty much all I cared about) and though I remember the earliest ones, many have evaporated from my memory already. what I do recall, however, was how in high school (84-88) every 7-11 in LA had a game or two and I pretty much had my neighborhood mapped out and would travel to or stop at certain 7-11's to play certain games. long gone.

A couple of weeks ago a new arcade opened in my town
Full of the usual skill testers, shooters and ball throwing games

Only one pinball (Godzilla) and that was $2.50 a game

Nope, Gold Mine in Marquette Mall in Michigan City, IN.

It died 30 years ago, and the mall is now a boarded up empty relic waiting for a wrecking ball. This is the way of things

My childhood arcade became a pub apparently with fried loaded fries on the menu. Was a Donut shop to the right of it with apartments above. (Owners lived above their donut shop.)

IMG_6910 (resized).jpeg

None of the places I played in on location are still in existence. But we're talking 60s and 70s so no surprise

All the greats from the Seaside NJ and Point Pleasant NJ boardwalks are long gone, including all the smaller ones a block or two in from the beach. Barnacle Bill's still seems to be there but the Pinside map lists them with two pins, so presumably they've switched over to redemption games mostly.

I just looked up Yelp photos -- yep, Diner and Sopranos sitting in the middle of a sea of redemption games. At least it's two good ones.