Arcades

[Skull Commander]

Out of interest who actually has any arcades near them and how do they survive?

In Aberdeen we only have the one down the beach front and it's mainly fruit machines, money falls and kiddie ticket redemption type machines. Very little in the way of "proper" videogames

Does anyone have any arcades near them that are still mainly videogame based?

[J0e Musashi]

Yes, Casino. Surely the only great arcade left.

[Skull Commander]

Your in London, right? Does the Casino just have videogames or has it a load of gambling machines too? What era of games does it cover?

[fuse]

It's a Casino in name only - whilst there's a bunch of fruities and gamblers upstairs, downstairs is full of (admiteddly rather battered/old) sit-downs running all kinds of fighters and shmups. They rotate PCBs pretty routinely, but you will nearly always have your staple SF, KOF, Tekken, plus a fair selection of Cave titles. For shooters in particular, a large number of these are provided on loan by the community. There is a real community spirit about the place - for instance, go down on a Friday night and it will be full of people pumping in cash on the fighters.

There's also the Troc, but well... yeah. If you want to play new games they're probably the place to go but as it's not really designed for the more discerning gamer these days it's a real gamble as to how your experience plays out - you could call it the 'Game' of the London Arcade world. Oh, and it's closing.

[Neon Ignition]

The only one near me I know of is Namco Station and it's a pretty poor version of an arcade. Sometimes it gets a new title in but it's usually pap rather than 'proper' releases. It's still trying to milk money out of Outrun 2 and Tekken 6.

[Colin]

Where is this "casino" fuse? I've been down here 11 years and never heard of it?

[endo]

Oh, and it's closing.

What, again? It's been closing for the past 15 years.

I'll have to pop down to Casino soon- haven't been there for a while.

[endo]

Where is this "casino" fuse? I've been down here 11 years and never heard of it?

Tottenham Court Road- come out of Goodge St tube and it's a couple of doors up.

[Skull Commander]

Why is the Trocadero closing? Is there a lack of people playing there becasue of the badly maintained machines or is it just because there is no demand for it?

[Colin]

Tottenham Court Road- come out of Goodge St tube and it's a couple of doors up.

so i've probably only walked past it a bazillion times then.

[speedlolita]

Yes, Casino. Surely the only great arcade left.

Casino is pretty ****, honestly.

They have the games, but the equipment is lacklustre.

My bedroom is better.

[fuse]

Where is this "casino" fuse? I've been down here 11 years and never heard of it?

Tottenham Court Road, a couple of doors down from Goodge St station, next to the Scientology building - you can see it here.

Re: Troc closure - link.

[fuse]

Casino is pretty ****, honestly.

They have the games, but the equipment is lacklustre.

My bedroom is better.

I would consider the community part of the equipment to properly enjoy a lot of these games Been meaning to say this before, but would be good to get some of us down there in a group one weekend if anyone fancies it.

[Soundwave]

We have quite a few still down on Sunny Southend seafront.

Most are just stuffed full of Fruit Machines to entice the usual reprobates & keep the bank managers happy

But a few are still running the Naomi's with VT/VS/VF & all of them have some version of full Outrun 2/Sega Rally/GTi Club/Intial D/Need For Speed sit downs

A couple actually have Mario Kart GP as well

Oh & then there's the House of The Dead/Ghost Squad/Rambo/AvP/Terminator Salvation & Silent Hill gun games

Still pretty good selection but the days of quality fighters etc. are long gone down here

Neil

[endo]

so i've probably only walked past it a bazillion times then.

Most likely- it ain't much to look at from the outside. A little giveaway a few years back was a little Mushi flyer on the window when they got the PCB downstairs.