Arcades

During the video-game craze of the early 1980s, you couldn't travel far without bumping into an arcade. Numbering in the tens of thousands, most of them sprung up overnight like body-snatcher pods to quell the thirst of the avid gamer. Although arcades existed long before the advent of the video game, the familiar regime of pinball machines and electromechanical contests were quickly relegated to the back corners, pushed aside by the new giants like Space Invaders and Pac-Man.

But all too soon it was over. By the late 1980s, the video arcade nearly ceased to exist. Once home console games were able to match the audio and visual experiences of their upright equivalents, people would rather save their quarters and keep their keesters firmly planted on the couch in front of the NES.

The arcade hasn't vanished entirely, however. Games like Mortal Kombat and more recently, Dance Dance Revolution have lured a new generation back into the arcades, but things just aren't the same. The arcade of today is a stopping place on the way to another destination, not the destination itself.

From time to time, we run across arcades who haven't totally forgotten their heritage. Some are quietly tucked away in the corner of a mall; still others are nothing more than a collection of a half-dozen games to keep the kids busy while the parents are away.

Nevertheless, when we run across an arcade with at least one original or retro-themed cabinet - or at least something which pays homage to the arcades of yesterday - we like to grab a few photos for the history books. Here's the roster thus far...

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We're always on the lookout for retro-themed arcades. Drop us a line if you know of one you'd like to see featured here.