It's Official, Arcades are DEAD

  I live in Los Angeles.  This is relevant because it's a big-ass city and it's got a plethora of present-day gaming studios that call this city home.  I didn't hit my gaming stride until the tail end of the 90's (my earliest videogame memories are of Mortal Kombat and SFII on the SNES...) so I missed out on the supposed "Golden Age" of arcades.  But that's fine, I can just grab a fistful of quarters and head on down to my local arcade with my buddies and still have a good time, right?  
 
  Like I said before, I live in a big city, so it's natural to assume that a big city would have more of everything... including arcades.  Now, aside from the Gameworks and the Dave and Busters, both moderate driving distances away (yeah, try driving up or down the 405 on a weekend evening...) I can name off only a handful of arcades in the entire Los Angeles county that are worth checking out.  There is the rundown, dirty, skeeball-and-air-hockey arcade on the pier, a smattering of arcade/miniature golf establishments, a few hole in the wall arcades hidden in obscure strip malls.  On Friday night I went with my friends to a place called "Nickel Nickel," which, as its name implies, charges just three to nine nickels per arcade game.  Mathematically that sounds fantastic on paper; about 15 cents a game is a good deal, with the nicer machines charging more nickels, obviously.  The way it worked was you walked up, gave the cute girl behind the counter a five dollar bill, and she gave you a large bag- not unlike the kind you keep your drugs in- of nickels and you were off.   There was even a whole section of arcade classics, like Defender, that were free to play altogether.
 
  Unfortunately it only all sounds good on paper.  The place as a whole was rundown; over half the aforementioned free-to-play games were either broken or turned off, and their were many arcade machines with stuck joysticks, missing buttons, broken guns, etc.  The newest machines were the Initial D's, the Para Para somethingoranother (which is hilarious fun, by the way....) and the dancing games.  The whole arcade was in a state of despair, and instead of leaving with my arcade gaming fix, I left just sort of depressed.  I mean, they didn't even have a SFIII machine, what the eff?
 
  Sadly, that arcade was not just an isolated incident.  Other than the Gameworks and the Dave and Busters, both of which are ridiculously overpriced, every arcade I've ever been to has been a rundown piece of shit.  This is one of the main reasons why I want to go to Tokyo.... the nerd mecha, where I could run around a multistory, neon-lit arcade like a little kid for hours, hell, even days.
 
  Anyways, to generate some discussion value, when was the last time any of you have gone to a real arcade?  How did you enjoy your experience?  How is the state of the arcade doing in other regions of the United States/other countries?

last time i went to an arcade was arcade infinity when they got f-zero ax and it fucking owned. i dropped like $25 in that machine that day
 
i hear AI is actually pretty well known now too, maybe you should check it out since you live in LA
 
Arcade Infinity
1380 Fullerton Rd,
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

There's a pretty dope arcade in Seaside, Or.  That's like several hours away from my home in the Puget Sound region of WA, but it has an F-Zero GX machine, so that's fantastic.  Other than that all I can really think of is the Gameworks in Seattle, and random arcade machines/ pinball machines at liek bowling alleys and such.  Oh, actually there's this dope drive-in movie theater in Oak Harbor I believe that has a go-kart track and a pretty awesome arcade.  If you live in Western Washington and have some free time in the summer totally go up there with some friends, it's pretty sick.  But yeah, it's pretty pathetic.

Welcome to the 21st century, We now have cell phones that aren't the size of bricks. Enjoy your stay.

" @onimonkii: I just checked it on Yelp, and it actually looks really good.  Apparently they keep their machines in good shape and even have a few SF4 machines.  Thanks for the suggestion! "

Yup. Arcades pretty much only exist in the basements of major chain hotels, these days. Maybe a little section at the mall. Oh, and bowling alleys...
 
I'll be honest, I've only ever visited an actual dedicated arcade once in my life, that I can remember (and I doubt that place still exists). That's by no fault of mine, though; I just live in an area devoid of those kind of things.

Nickel City in San Jose is pretty much the same, but the not as bad as you describe.

If I had the money and time, I would build my own arcade. If I couldn't find a particular cabinet, that's OK. I'll just build it myself.  
 
I wouldn't build it for profit. It's actually something I'd use for fun and invite a bunch of people over often to play. (Even though I have almost no friends interested in this kinda stuff)

Welcome to 10, 15 years ago.
 
Console killed the arcade star....

I think I can provide two anwers, the last time I went to an arcade:

 
1. For reals, to actually play and see if they had any new games. 1997. 
2. To pass the time and reminisce. Around 2007. I was left a bit sad too.
 
And it's a total shame that such a big part of gaming is slowly dying, but that is the way it is; we can game in our homes now. However, let's not forget Japan and the very invested arcade players, and to a certain extent fighting game tournaments; they keep arcades alive.

My best memories of arcades consisted of Time Crisis 2 and 3, House of the Dead 1, 2, and 3, Silent Scope, and playing Unreal Tournament in a machine box that you closed yourself into. Completely unnecessary to play a PC game that I could play at home, but it was just so much more badass that each station had its own fucking unreal tournament caccoon.
 
 Edit: Also, spaceball.

I could have told you this 15 years ago... thanks for the official word though.

The arcade I always went to as a kid shut down years ago, and just recently reopened as this gaudy piece of shit filled with redemption machines and the bikes you sit on and they lean. I haven't seen an actual, thriving arcade since middle school.
 
Then, I guess CA where dudes play competitively is a little different from my crap hometown in upstate NY.

" There's a pretty dope arcade in Seaside, Or.  That's like several hours away from my home in the Puget Sound region of WA, but it has an F-Zero GX machine, so that's fantastic.  Other than that all I can really think of is the Gameworks in Seattle, and random arcade machines/ pinball machines at liek bowling alleys and such.  Oh, actually there's this dope drive-in movie theater in Oak Harbor I believe that has a go-kart track and a pretty awesome arcade.  If you live in Western Washington and have some free time in the summer totally go up there with some friends, it's pretty sick.  But yeah, it's pretty pathetic. "

Redondo Beach Pier has an awesome arcade!

" @onimonkii nailed it in the first post. You live in the LA area, declare that "arcades are dead" and yet never heard of Arcade Infinity, one of if not THE best arcade in the entire United States?  There's also Japan Arcade, Super Arcade and if you're willing to drive, Denjin Arcade. There's also Family Fun Arcade which is hosting weekly training sessions with Justin Wong in SF4. Seriously, there are a TON of great arcades in SoCal ... I didn't even get to mention San Diego.   If you live in Californa, arcades aren't "dead." I still visit my local ones (Sunnyvale Golfland, SFSU) all the time for competition and rhythm games. "

@LiquidSwords

" Redondo Beach Pier has an awesome arcade! "

ahh... I miss Superfun, and W.C. Frank, the arcades of my youth, both looooong gone. Fond, fond memories. Dave & Busters and a few theme bowling alleys is about all that's left in Colorado and they are pale, pale shadows in comparison.

I haven't seen a healthy working arcade in a long long time.

It died years ago. Did you just come out of the cave?
 
Even in the "golden age", nobody really cared to shovel quarters into machines for a few minutes of fun, die, dump more quarters, get a little further than last time, die again, more quarters.  It's the most exploitive, shitty, money-grubbing system that ever could be imagined to separate a kid from his money.  I'm glad it's dead.

" There's a pretty dope arcade in Seaside, Or.  That's like several hours away from my home in the Puget Sound region of WA, but it has an F-Zero GX machine, so that's fantastic.  Other than that all I can really think of is the Gameworks in Seattle, and random arcade machines/ pinball machines at liek bowling alleys and such.  Oh, actually there's this dope drive-in movie theater in Oak Harbor I believe that has a go-kart track and a pretty awesome arcade.  If you live in Western Washington and have some free time in the summer totally go up there with some friends, it's pretty sick.  But yeah, it's pretty pathetic. "

Sorry to blow your mind, but arcades have been dead since 2001 or so. I actually have a local arcade, and it sucks. Their lineup consists of light gun shooters, fighting games with broken joysticks, and crane games. It's rather pathetic.

I continue to have an adjustment disorder with mixed conduct and emotions when it comes to arcades. My wife told me to say that, I think it's more PTSD. The arcade jocks scared me, so competitive.

the last arcade would have to be probably a while ago at a vacation somewhere. i don't remember the place but there were some arcades. arcades have been dead for a while now. video games were the cause of this because people wouuld stop going to arcades and buying video games instead. 
 
i have a pinball machine a couple of feet ot me. it is pretty cool. it's judge dredd. i want to get a arcade machine of something but don't know what.

" Sorry to blow your mind, but arcades have been dead since 2001 or so. I actually have a local arcade, and it sucks. Their lineup consists of light gun shooters, fighting games with broken joysticks, and crane games. It's rather pathetic. "