Bay Area heads: Good Arcades?

asianxcore

asianxcore

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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.
 
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Golfland arcade near Oakridge mall in SJ is pretty legit. They have a cabinet with Zero Wing/Hellfire/Mega Man and many more. also most games are free for the whole month of Feb.
 
[quote name='Diebythesword']Golfland arcade near Oakridge mall in SJ is pretty legit. They have a cabinet with Zero Wing/Hellfire/Mega Man and many more. also most games are free for the whole month of Feb.[/QUOTE]

I haven't been to that Golfland in years and free games sounds like a good excuse. :) I'll probably check it out this weekend.
 
[quote name='Diebythesword']Golfland arcade near Oakridge mall in SJ is pretty legit. They have a cabinet with Zero Wing/Hellfire/Mega Man and many more. also most games are free for the whole month of Feb.[/QUOTE]


how/what games are free?
 
Stopped by the SJ Golfland for the last day of their free February thing. The only game I wanted to play that was on free play was Point Blank 2, but I couldn't have asked for anything better. Played until my finger was too tired to pull the trigger. :)

They've still got a pretty decent selection with lots of gun games, music games, SF4, CvS2, DJMAX Technika, etc. Sort of annoying that they didn't seem to be using the card system that they have in Sunnyvale but I'll head back with some tokens another time.
 
I really do wonder how Scandia in Fairfield is still open. Last time I was there, I was the only person there who wasn't an employee. And, it seems like they're trying to get rid of the real games, and replace them with ticket games. It's more of an underage casino like Chuck e. Cheese, then an actual arcade.
 
Metreon arcade is closed down as well. Wanted to take a break from the RSA conference and decided to head to the metreon to spend a few quarters when lo and behold the arcade was closed. Seemed like the only thing open was the theater. Such a letdown.
 
[quote name='Spanky']Metreon arcade is closed down as well. Wanted to take a break from the RSA conference and decided to head to the metreon to spend a few quarters when lo and behold the arcade was closed. Seemed like the only thing open was the theater. Such a letdown.[/QUOTE]

the metreon is pretty pathetic now... i remember when it first opened it seemed like such a cool place, haha

is the video game walk of fame even still there anymore?
 
The Metreon Arcade went to shit once TILT took over. I think that was over the last 3+ years.

The original arcade was a Fighting Game player's dream, with Japanese H2H Cabs everywhere and there were tournaments being held there constantly.
 
[quote name='asianxcore']The Metreon Arcade went to shit once TILT took over. I think that was over the last 3+ years.

The original arcade was a Fighting Game player's dream, with Japanese H2H Cabs everywhere and there were tournaments being held there constantly.[/QUOTE]

I remember those days. *sigh* Now I can't find any good arcades around. Even Scandia is turning into a collect ticket crapfest and most of the machines don't even work. It's sad to see Arcades dying. Anyone know if Santa Cruz still has a good one on the boardwalk?
 
[quote name='Spanky']I remember those days. *sigh* Now I can't find any good arcades around. Even Scandia is turning into a collect ticket crapfest and most of the machines don't even work. It's sad to see Arcades dying. Anyone know if Santa Cruz still has a good one on the boardwalk?[/QUOTE]

I haven't been to the Boardwalk Arcade in about a year, but the last time I went it was still solid. Good mix of ticket redemption games, fighting games, retro games, dancing/driving games, etc..
 
Golfland in Sunnvayle is pretty famous, I used to go there alot when I was in high school. They used to be featured in a lot of video game magazines back in the day when arcades we popular.

Stay away from Dave and Busters, it's over priced and they don't have new games. It's okay place if you want to get drunk and over pay to play Daytona USA.
 
[quote name='Naramie']Golfland in Sunnvayle is pretty famous, I used to go there alot when I was in high school. They used to be featured in a lot of video game magazines back in the day when arcades we popular.

Stay away from Dave and Busters, it's over priced and they don't have new games. It's okay place if you want to get drunk and over pay to play Daytona USA.[/QUOTE]


agree with sunnyvale, though i used to go to the Castro Valley one for Initial D back in high school. but Dave and Busters definitely not worth the price for the video games better spent on earning those freaking tickets. sucks the ticket value there in comparison for the good prizes are so crappy.
 
[quote name='asianxcore']I haven't been to the Boardwalk Arcade in about a year, but the last time I went it was still solid. Good mix of ticket redemption games, fighting games, retro games, dancing/driving games, etc..[/QUOTE]

I was just there a few weeks ago. There's actually 2 separate arcades on the Boardwalk; the big main one you can't miss, and a smaller one halfway down the strip. Called something like Fun Land or whatever, but it's got Soul Calibur and Soul Edge!! I nearly pissed my pants when I saw this!!

Oh, and lots of bikini girls, so...win-win-win!!
 
Since it hasn't been mentioned here yet, a new arcade opened in San Mateo a few months ago. It's called Gamecenter and has a pretty good selection of games, plus a $7 all-day fighting games pass and a side room with TVs you can hook consoles to. It's largely fighting games and Gundam vs. Gundam, but they have a few shooters, D&D Tower of Doom, Virtua Cop 3, and a free-play cocktail cab with a bunch of older games on it. Pretty excellent.

A sweet bonus is that it's literally right around the corner from the Off the Grid food trucks on Monday, so you can grab some awesome food and then play arcade games all evening. That's probably what I'm doing tomorrow.

Keep an eye our for special events (tournaments, game happy hours, etc.) on their Facebook or Twitter at @GCAracde.

Read my short write-up (with photos) or listen to me repeat pretty much everything I just said on VGHangover below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dLxzCPSmDk
 
Shocked no one has popped in to mention the farily new Southtown Arcade in SF. Uber-tiny but legit. Mostly fighting games with a few side-scrollers sprinkled in there. Most cabinets are either .50 or .25, no $1 plays here. They're all Japanese-style sitdown cabinets. Games change frequently.

http://www.southtownarcade.com/
 
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