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I am looking for some good arcades around the Bay Area. I know of a couple that I usually go to whenever I am in the area, but I'm constantly looking for more. Definitely looking for more places that have lots of 2-D fighters. Any help would be appreciated. Here's a couple places I already know of/been to/go to occasionally,

Boardwalk arcade (Santa Cruz)
Scandia (Rohnert Park)
Metreon (SF, the arcade upstairs)
Golfland (Milpitas)

Golfland in Milpitas definitely has the best fighting game selection I've seen in a long time. But then again I'm still unfamiliar with a lot of the Bay Area. The arcade at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk has a nice selection of the more pricey games (Beatmania, In The Groove, Driving/Shooting sims) to stuff like Bust-A-Move, SNK fighters, Capcom Vs. Snk, and so on. Scandia in Rohnert Park is small, but has a good selection of the newest stuff from time to time. Also it is nice to see they kept their Marvel Vs. Capcom 1 machine as well as their X-Men: Children of the Atom. Metreon has a nice selection of everything in their arcade. Before getting it on Dreamcast, it was the place I got my Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 fix. Parking/Toll adds to an already pricey trip (games are a teeny bit pricey) if you don't live in the city though.

Dave & Busters at the Great Mall
Golden Tee in Castro Valley

Nickel City

if you are willing to take a bullet southland mal has a decent arcade

There is a Scandia in Cordelia just south of the 80/680 interchange.

I would advise against Dave and Busters. That place is a rip off. If you still insist on going, PM me your address and I'll mail you a dave and busters card. They charge you ~$2 for it and you need it to play their games. LAME! I'm serious, if you want it, you can have it. I'm never going there again. Also, I think SFII was seriously $1 per play. C'mon.

For 2-D fighters my friends and I go to:

Golfland (Sunnyvale)
SJSU
SFSU

I'm still at school so I haven't been to them since like last summer, though..

Originally Posted by oxidative I would advise against Dave and Busters. That place is a rip off.

I agree. The place is essentially Gameworks + alcohol.

Two friends of mine took me to a D&B down in Orange County when I visited a year or so ago. Wasn't too bad but there weren't that many good games. Lots of light gun games, dancing games, and so on. Does that D&B at the Great Mall have 2-D fighters?

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. Where is Nickel City?..and sorry to ask the obvious but is it an arcade where everything is 5-15 cents?

I used to go to Bear's Arcade they close down. Still have some left over tokens...

You cant go wrong with any of the Golfland.

Golfland is one of the most famous arcades on the West Coast, they constantly have some of the games being test marketed probably because of the close proximity to the big companies like Capcom, Namco, Sega, etc. There's always Chuck E. Cheese though they're nowhere near what they used to be.

southland mall isnt that bad.... i used to play ddr there back in the day, it has some decent games even though its a shell of its former glory =/

Originally Posted by 62t I used to go to Bear's Arcade they close down. Still have some left over tokens... You cant go wrong with any of the Golfland.

is that the one in Berkeley? my friends were telling me about that place and I never got to go there before they shut down. I heard the games got moved to various parts of the dorms?

you go to rohnert park scandia? that's the nearest arcade to me, but there's never any competition there. my friends and i sometimes make treks to rack n cue at sfsu, tilt in the fairfield mall, or sometimes svgl and mgl. how often do you go to rp scandia though? we've been communicating with their management regarding getting new fighting games.. my friends and i pretty much influenced them into bringing in tekken 5, and i know for sure that the ddr crowd in this area petitioned them to get in the groove 2.

if you're looking for good nearby fighting game comp, there's some cool cats over at the fairfield tilt and at sfsu.

Originally Posted by kristianator how often do you go to rp scandia though? w

not too often, usually when all my friends are back home from college. I maybe there more often though once everyone is back in June.

I'm always looking for people to play MvsC 2 with. Problem is all the places I've been to...well..everyone plays the same people. It's always guaranteed someone will choose Magneto, Storm, Sentinel or Cable. As strong as those characters are, it's still quite annoying.

Malibu Grand Prix in San Mateo

Doesn't have the best games, but there's a good deal there. Every Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, you can pay $10 and play all the games you want for the rest of the day (they're all on free play). They give you a bracelet to know you paid.

Great for the summer. They got rid of the older fighters (Tekken 4, X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Street Fighter III) But they still have Marvel vs. Capcom 2, two Tekken 5's, and SVC chaos (which sucks IMO). I just go there for Initial D and DDR pretty much. I mean for $10 bucks...

Oh yeah, plus you get unlimited mini-golf too.

Originally Posted by asianxcore is that the one in Berkeley? my friends were telling me about that place and I never got to go there before they shut down. I heard the games got moved to various parts of the dorms?

yup, bearcade was located on the cal campus. stupid stupid people decided to replace it with a gelato place...i still have around $20 of tokens left over from them.

Originally Posted by vietgurl yup, bearcade was located on the cal campus. stupid stupid people decided to replace it with a gelato place...i still have around $20 of tokens left over from them.

Hmmm....Gelato...

Anyways, the best arcade in my opinion is on the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz.

On a personal note, I like the old school run-down arcade on Broadway in North Beach; Its near all the strip clubs. Back in the day, we used to go drinking and play a few games of pinball over there.

Originally Posted by Xevious Hmmm....Gelato... Anyways, the best arcade in my opinion is on the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. On a personal note, I like the old school run-down arcade on Broadway in North Beach; Its near all the strip clubs. Back in the day, we used to go drinking and play a few games of pinball over there.

how far up Broadway is it? I go to North Beach sometimes to bar hop and such.

Originally Posted by asianxcore how far up Broadway is it? I go to North Beach sometimes to bar hop and such.

Its the same street as all the strip clubs. I believe its between "the Garden of Eden" and "Centerfolds". My memory is a little hazy though. I haven't been there in awhile.

Don't expect it to be fantastic. Its pretty run down but its still kinda charming in my opinion. Not everyone will agree.

Originally Posted by asianxcore I am looking for some good arcades around the Bay Area. I know of a couple that I usually go to whenever I am in the area, but I'm constantly looking for more. Definitely looking for more places that have lots of 2-D fighters. Any help would be appreciated. Here's a couple places I already know of/been to/go to occasionally, Boardwalk arcade (Santa Cruz) Scandia (Rohnert Park) Metreon (SF, the arcade upstairs) Golfland (Milpitas) Golfland in Milpitas definitely has the best fighting game selection I've seen in a long time. But then again I'm still unfamiliar with a lot of the Bay Area. The arcade at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk has a nice selection of the more pricey games (Beatmania, In The Groove, Driving/Shooting sims) to stuff like Bust-A-Move, SNK fighters, Capcom Vs. Snk, and so on. Scandia in Rohnert Park is small, but has a good selection of the newest stuff from time to time. Also it is nice to see they kept their Marvel Vs. Capcom 1 machine as well as their X-Men: Children of the Atom. Metreon has a nice selection of everything in their arcade. Before getting it on Dreamcast, it was the place I got my Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 fix. Parking/Toll adds to an already pricey trip (games are a teeny bit pricey) if you don't live in the city though.

If you play Tekken and SF at the boardwalk, I'm sure you've played with my friend Johnnie. He plays 3-4 nights a week down there. Always chuggin beers and throwin' juggles down.

He's a skinny white guy and wears a hat a lot. Say what up to him if you cross paths.

There's a cool pinball place in Alameda, but that may not be exciting to the younger folks. :(