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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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.. :whistle2:?
 
[quote name='oxidative']I would advise against Dave and Busters. That place is a rip off. [/QUOTE]

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 =/
 
[quote name='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.[/QUOTE]

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.
 
[quote name='kristianator']how often do you go to rp scandia though? w[/QUOTE]

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.
 
[quote name='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?[/QUOTE]

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.
 
[quote name='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.[/quote]

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.
 
[quote name='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.[/QUOTE]

how far up Broadway is it? I go to North Beach sometimes to bar hop and such.
 
[quote name='asianxcore']how far up Broadway is it? I go to North Beach sometimes to bar hop and such.[/quote]
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.
 
[quote name='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.[/quote]

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.
 
[quote name='Freshwillis']There's a cool pinball place in Alameda, but that may not be exciting to the younger folks. :([/quote]

Where?
 
[quote name='coltyhuxx']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.[/QUOTE]

I haven't been there in maybe a month or so. When I'm there you'll usually catch me playing Capcom Vs. Snk. I'll definitely say hello if I run into him sometime.

Thanks Xevious. I know I saw an arcade down there a while back while I was driving through. For some reason I haven't been able to find it when I'm actually walking through the area.
 
I remember spending quite a few hours at the Regency Game Palace in Pleasent Hill, CA. I'm almost certain it is closed down by now.

It was next to a recruiting office. I used to get free tokens and movie tickets for promising to enlist. I'd even get extra tokens for pimping out my friends, and getting them to listen to their stories.

The only thing I regret is not saving a game token for memory's sake.
 
[quote name='Freshwillis']There's a cool pinball place in Alameda, but that may not be exciting to the younger folks. :([/QUOTE]
Where is this place? When I worked at the local hardware store, a couple guys were asking me it was. I thought I knew Alameda inside and out too.
 
What's the arcade with the cheapest Initial D machine in good condition?

I haven't played for months and I just discovered my stack of cards so I need to practice again.
 
thought i'd resurrect this thread, since i'm looking for good arcades in the berkeley/albany or san francisco area. as far as i know, the arcade at the metreon closed down and has a bunch of creepy claw machine thingies now. can anyone please tell me where are all the good arcades??!!?! thanks!
 
[quote name='mentos888']thought i'd resurrect this thread, since i'm looking for good arcades in the berkeley/albany or san francisco area. as far as i know, the arcade at the metreon closed down and has a bunch of creepy claw machine thingies now. can anyone please tell me where are all the good arcades??!!?! thanks![/quote]
Nope
Portal One closed down and Tilt opened which is right next to the war field of claw machines.
Pier 39 has a nice aracde.
Also, if you don't care about being embarrassed Malibu Grand Prix
Also, theres a nifty arcade at UCSF
 
Somehow I missed this thread. Unfortunately all the arcades I know of (besides Pier 39's, which was decent) are in the south bay. If you happen to be in the area, the Sunnyvale Golfland is pretty good, and the famous San Jose one is even better. I'm surprised people recommended the Dave & Busters at the Great Mall. The one time I was there, the only fighting game they had was Tekken 4. Come on.
 
[quote name='metaly'] If you happen to be in the area, the Sunnyvale Golfland is pretty good, and the famous San Jose one is even better. [/quote]

the San Jose Golfland has NOTHING. Maybe about 15 arcade games there now and are all crap and beat up games. Haven't been to Sunnyvale Golfland in a while, but that was a haven for all the good fighting games and test sites for Namco and Capcom. Almost all arcade games now have all Global VR crap games.

anyone remember Keystone/Matt's Electronic Playground in the Alamaden Shopping Plaza? That place was KING of all arcades around the south bay.
 
List of arcades I miss in San Jose...
Keystone on McKee and Jackson
Keystone on San Carlos
Galactica near the old Saratoga Lanes bowling alley
The big arcade at Vallco Mall, even had bumper cars
Eastridge arcade
The arcade in the Great Mall, mostly Namco games, can't remember the name

Golf Land in South San Jose sucks. Removed most of their arcade games, now mostly claw machines and crap like that.
 
[quote name='jugu']List of arcades I miss in San Jose...
Keystone on McKee and Jackson
Keystone on San Carlos
Galactica near the old Saratoga Lanes bowling alley
The big arcade at Vallco Mall, even had bumper cars
Eastridge arcade
The arcade in the Great Mall, mostly Namco games, can't remember the name

Golf Land in South San Jose sucks. Removed most of their arcade games, now mostly claw machines and crap like that.[/quote]

The Arcade in the Great Mall used to be known as Wonderpark by Namco. I was sad that they turned that to a Sears Outlet. :cry:

--Michael
 
[quote name='miyamotofreak']if you are willing to take a bullet southland mal has a decent arcade[/quote]

Are you serious? o_O
Where in the mall are the arcades? I've never seen them... :O
 
[quote name='freakyzeeky']Are you serious? o_O
Where in the mall are the arcades? I've never seen them... :O[/quote]

Its down in the food court right next to the elevator, it has been there forever and I have gone there since I was a kid.
 
Woah zombie thread!

SVGL is best for fighters, and more. Milpitas GL is good too. SJ, not so much.

Yikes. Metreon. Bad memories of waaaaaay overpriced games. Only went once and played that fireworks game when PS2 came out.

Haven't been to NickelCity (silver creek-SJ) in a long time. But its one of the few big 'cades left. And if you spend a good 4 hours there, you'll get your $'s worth.

Other than that, I don't really know these days... bearcade was cool. Mallcades suck usually, but I gotta give a shout out to Fairfield Tilt! (my og home turf, but I hear staff & sticks suck these days-- and its kinda far from the bay).

As I remember it, Scandia's got a good selection, even had SF2 Rainbow at one point. That's about it though. Again, its more valley than bay.


@metaly: Nice avatar!
 
SJSU or SFSU are good arcades. SFSU will be getting Tekken 6 in a week. SJSU and SFSU has had SF4 for quite a while now.

Of course, SVGL is also the other better arcade...if not, the best in the south bay. SFSU is the best in the north bay. Metreon is now Tilt, and...they suck still =\

Initial D at SFSU would probably be the cheapest iirc. The vendor for SJSU/SFSU usually charges .75c for the usual dollar games...besides Drummania since they just got it.
 
[quote name='haguremetaru']Haven't been to NickelCity (silver creek-SJ) in a long time. But its one of the few big 'cades left. And if you spend a good 4 hours there, you'll get your $'s worth.[/quote]

Sadly, they closed down a while ago (about 4-5 years I think).

I go to SJSU and the arcade there is pretty much the only one that's good compared to the others one I know of that still exists. Milpitas Golfland is alright but all they have are fighter games and I'm not really into that.

There's also one in New Park Mall in Fremont. Doesnt have a lot of new stuff but only place I know that still has an Alien vs Predator machine, good times.

Even though Eastridge doesnt have an arcade anymore, if you're around the area there's one at Evergreen Valley College. I was there about a year ago but they had Time Crisis 4 when it just came out and the usuals like MVC2 and those 100 classic games in 1 cabinet.
 
Newpark arcade sucks. They have like 5 Initial D based racing games as if one or two wasn't enough. SFSU is your best bet for good games. Southland sucks too, but it's not as bad as Newpark. Golden Tee in CV is okay.
 
lool, I'd kinda recommend Golfland over D&B although I have to say how the hell is Golfland still open? at least the one in Milpitas.
 
Is the Nickel City off Camden still totally ghetto? And does everything still cost like 5 nickels?

I was at the Sunnyvale Golfland a couple weeks ago and they had some good stuff. Planning to go back sometime soon.
 
In the south bay, the competitive arcade scenes are mainly at SVGL and SJSU. SVGL is pretty much an epicenter for fighting games. SJSU has its own scene and has a tournament once a semester (or had), and it gets pretty full when class is in session. Between the two arcades, you'll pretty much get what fighting games you need. SJSU is especially good at getting the latest arcade machines, like when I was there they were on top of Tekken 5 and they've had SFIV for a long time.

MGL is alright, from what I've heard; some of the tournament fighters go there for some reason or another. I think they have frequent tournaments, like SVGL does.

Is the Nickel City off Camden still totally ghetto? And does everything still cost like 5 nickels?
Click to expand...
I haven't gone into that place in years, but the outside looks the same: dirty.
 
For people that go to the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. Its the only place in Santa Cruz County to get your game on that I know of.

They are doing a promotion till Dec 31.

Buy $20 in tokens get $20 in tokens free.
 
I'm frequently at Scandia in Rohnert Park; it's close by and always has a few shmups worth playing. Currently, from memory: Raiden Fighters Jet, Viper Phase 1, Gradius III, Gradius IV, and Wyvern Wings.

A good handful of fighters as well, and a group of regulars who play them constantly.
 
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