THeBlueCashew

Quote from: "Angry White Male"...but he sure plays a mean pinball!    :roll:





Bought "Pro Pinball Ultra" through Steam today.  It's not bad!  Fairly challenging though...



As a kid, I caught the last gasp of actual arcades and pinball machines.  Obviously the electronic version can never compare to a physical machine, but in the long run it's a whole lot cheaper!

Quote from: "Angry White Male"


When I win the $55,000,000 Lotto Max!

Quote from: "Angry White Male"...but he sure plays a mean pinball!    :roll:





Bought "Pro Pinball Ultra" through Steam today.  It's not bad!  Fairly challenging though...



As a kid, I caught the last gasp of actual arcades and pinball machines.  Obviously the electronic version can never compare to a physical machine, but in the long run it's a whole lot cheaper!

Quote from: "Blurt"I love air hockey. Haven't played in a while, though.



Pinball, video games, pool, air hockey... all mastered as I put myself through university working in a huge video game arcade.

Quote from: "Blurt"It was.



Except when the time came to write philosophy papers... while sitting under wall-mounted 120-Db output speakers from the jukebox.



You can get used to anything, I guess.

Quote from: "Blurt"1990-1995

Quote from: "Blurt"Not in arcades, though.



Imagine: people paying money to listen to their favourite song. Over and over. And over.



While paying money to play their favourite games. Over and over. And over.



Arcades were the perfect place for such gizmos.



People think video game arcades died in the gaming crash of the early to mid-80's. But, no, these playerful parlours, these dens of ludology, are alive and well.



Minus the jukeboxes, true, but still blooping and bleeping.

Quote from: "Blurt"I'd love to walk into one of those. A sensory overload experience.

Quote from: "Renee"Video game arcades were a big deal back in the late 70s and 80s. There were several of them located close to where I grew up. Every large shopping mall had one and there where others dotted throughout the landscape of strip malls that were cropping up all over the place. For us preteens they were social gathering places and hangouts to get away from your parents once and awhile.



One arcade in particular that sticks in my mind, for a peculiar reason was located in a large somewhat upscale shopping mall. It was completely out of place because it was just a little hole in the wall dive called the "Purple Room". Everything in the place (except for the arcade games) was purple. The walls, the ceiling, the carpet were all the same damn shade of dark purple...it was like Barney threw up all over the room..... :laugh3: The place was also very, very dimly lit. You could make out with your Jr. High boyfriend in the corners in what seemed like relative privacy... :laugh3:



 But that's not what makes this place stick in my mind. What we as kids didn't realize at the time is that the arcade was actually the entrance to a theater. In the very back of the arcade was a roped off area with small podium/security booth and an entrance to the theater. The theater was an adult theater.... ac_wot



So here you had a porn theater in the middle of an upper middle class shopping mall with a cheesy arcade as its front with an assload of underage kids all playing Pacman, Asteroids, Galaxian and other shit........ :laugh3:



It was a unique and very odd set up to say the least. Unfortunately the mall closed the theater down and made room for more retail space long before I was ever old enough to check it out.

Quote from: "Fashionista"

Quote from: "Renee"Video game arcades were a big deal back in the late 70s and 80s. There were several of them located close to where I grew up. Every large shopping mall had one and there where others dotted throughout the landscape of strip malls that were cropping up all over the place. For us preteens they were social gathering places and hangouts to get away from your parents once and awhile.



One arcade in particular that sticks in my mind, for a peculiar reason was located in a large somewhat upscale shopping mall. It was completely out of place because it was just a little hole in the wall dive called the "Purple Room". Everything in the place (except for the arcade games) was purple. The walls, the ceiling, the carpet were all the same damn shade of dark purple...it was like Barney threw up all over the room..... :laugh3: The place was also very, very dimly lit. You could make out with your Jr. High boyfriend in the corners in what seemed like relative privacy... :laugh3:



 But that's not what makes this place stick in my mind. What we as kids didn't realize at the time is that the arcade was actually the entrance to a theater. In the very back of the arcade was a roped off area with small podium/security booth and an entrance to the theater. The theater was an adult theater.... ac_wot



So here you had a porn theater in the middle of an upper middle class shopping mall with a cheesy arcade as its front with an assload of underage kids all playing Pacman, Asteroids, Galaxian and other shit........ :laugh3:



It was a unique and very odd set up to say the least. Unfortunately the mall closed the theater down and made room for more retail space long before I was ever old enough to check it out.

Attached to an arcade where adolescents hang out??

 ac_wot

Quote from: "Renee"

Quote from: "Fashionista"

Quote from: "Renee"Video game arcades were a big deal back in the late 70s and 80s. There were several of them located close to where I grew up. Every large shopping mall had one and there where others dotted throughout the landscape of strip malls that were cropping up all over the place. For us preteens they were social gathering places and hangouts to get away from your parents once and awhile.



One arcade in particular that sticks in my mind, for a peculiar reason was located in a large somewhat upscale shopping mall. It was completely out of place because it was just a little hole in the wall dive called the "Purple Room". Everything in the place (except for the arcade games) was purple. The walls, the ceiling, the carpet were all the same damn shade of dark purple...it was like Barney threw up all over the room..... :laugh3: The place was also very, very dimly lit. You could make out with your Jr. High boyfriend in the corners in what seemed like relative privacy... :laugh3:



 But that's not what makes this place stick in my mind. What we as kids didn't realize at the time is that the arcade was actually the entrance to a theater. In the very back of the arcade was a roped off area with small podium/security booth and an entrance to the theater. The theater was an adult theater.... ac_wot



So here you had a porn theater in the middle of an upper middle class shopping mall with a cheesy arcade as its front with an assload of underage kids all playing Pacman, Asteroids, Galaxian and other shit........ :laugh3:



It was a unique and very odd set up to say the least. Unfortunately the mall closed the theater down and made room for more retail space long before I was ever old enough to check it out.

Attached to an arcade where adolescents hang out??

 ac_wot

Yeah, and it was in the middle of an affluent middle class area. Ain't that some shit?.... :laugh3:



I swear, only in NJ can you find oddball shit like that... :laugh3:  In fact, I think it was even featured in one of the old bimonthly "Weird NJ" magazines.

Quote from: "Fashionista"

Quote from: "Renee"

Quote from: "Fashionista"

Quote from: "Renee"Video game arcades were a big deal back in the late 70s and 80s. There were several of them located close to where I grew up. Every large shopping mall had one and there where others dotted throughout the landscape of strip malls that were cropping up all over the place. For us preteens they were social gathering places and hangouts to get away from your parents once and awhile.



One arcade in particular that sticks in my mind, for a peculiar reason was located in a large somewhat upscale shopping mall. It was completely out of place because it was just a little hole in the wall dive called the "Purple Room". Everything in the place (except for the arcade games) was purple. The walls, the ceiling, the carpet were all the same damn shade of dark purple...it was like Barney threw up all over the room..... :laugh3: The place was also very, very dimly lit. You could make out with your Jr. High boyfriend in the corners in what seemed like relative privacy... :laugh3:



 But that's not what makes this place stick in my mind. What we as kids didn't realize at the time is that the arcade was actually the entrance to a theater. In the very back of the arcade was a roped off area with small podium/security booth and an entrance to the theater. The theater was an adult theater.... ac_wot



So here you had a porn theater in the middle of an upper middle class shopping mall with a cheesy arcade as its front with an assload of underage kids all playing Pacman, Asteroids, Galaxian and other shit........ :laugh3:



It was a unique and very odd set up to say the least. Unfortunately the mall closed the theater down and made room for more retail space long before I was ever old enough to check it out.

Attached to an arcade where adolescents hang out??

 ac_wot

Yeah, and it was in the middle of an affluent middle class area. Ain't that some shit?.... :laugh3:



I swear, only in NJ can you find oddball shit like that... :laugh3:  In fact, I think it was even featured in one of the old bimonthly "Weird NJ" magazines.

I am surprised the shopping mall allowed it.

Quote from: "Renee"One arcade in particular that sticks in my mind, for a peculiar reason was located in a large somewhat upscale shopping mall. It was completely out of place because it was just a little hole in the wall dive called the "Purple Room". Everything in the place (except for the arcade games) was purple. The walls, the ceiling, the carpet were all the same damn shade of dark purple...it was like Barney threw up all over the room..... :laugh3: The place was also very, very dimly lit. You could make out with your Jr. High boyfriend in the corners in what seemed like relative privacy... :laugh3:



 But that's not what makes this place stick in my mind. What we as kids didn't realize at the time is that the arcade was actually the entrance to a theater. In the very back of the arcade was a roped off area with small podium/security booth and an entrance to the theater. The theater was an adult theater.... ac_wot



So here you had a porn theater in the middle of an upper middle class shopping mall with a cheesy arcade as its front with an assload of underage kids all playing Pacman, Asteroids, Galaxian and other shit........ :laugh3:



It was a unique and very odd set up to say the least. Unfortunately the mall closed the theater down and made room for more retail space long before I was ever old enough to check it out.

Quote from: "digitalpress"

Quote from: "Rob2600"Does anyone remember The Purple Room in Willowbrook Mall?

I do. Right about where the food court opening was eventually added. The Purple Room was really small and from what I remember, really really dark. I remember cigarette smoke, the thumping of Jungle Hunt, and a single Dragon's Lair machine near the entrance shortly before the place closed down.



Ah, Willowbrook Mall. Good times, though I've managed to steer clear of the place for the last 3 or 4 years.

Quote from: "Blurt"The arcade where I worked for a number of years (it was a 30-second walk from the university):







That damned coin-pusher at 1:15 gave me such a headache; the drunks stumbling in at 4 a.m. after the bars closed would endlessly push and shove it around, setting off its alarms.

Quote from: "Blurt"

Quote from: "Renee"One arcade in particular that sticks in my mind, for a peculiar reason was located in a large somewhat upscale shopping mall. It was completely out of place because it was just a little hole in the wall dive called the "Purple Room". Everything in the place (except for the arcade games) was purple. The walls, the ceiling, the carpet were all the same damn shade of dark purple...it was like Barney threw up all over the room..... :laugh3: The place was also very, very dimly lit. You could make out with your Jr. High boyfriend in the corners in what seemed like relative privacy... :laugh3:



 But that's not what makes this place stick in my mind. What we as kids didn't realize at the time is that the arcade was actually the entrance to a theater. In the very back of the arcade was a roped off area with small podium/security booth and an entrance to the theater. The theater was an adult theater.... ac_wot



So here you had a porn theater in the middle of an upper middle class shopping mall with a cheesy arcade as its front with an assload of underage kids all playing Pacman, Asteroids, Galaxian and other shit........ :laugh3:



It was a unique and very odd set up to say the least. Unfortunately the mall closed the theater down and made room for more retail space long before I was ever old enough to check it out.

From another forum (//https):

Quote from: "digitalpress"

Quote from: "Rob2600"Does anyone remember The Purple Room in Willowbrook Mall?

I do. Right about where the food court opening was eventually added. The Purple Room was really small and from what I remember, really really dark. I remember cigarette smoke, the thumping of Jungle Hunt, and a single Dragon's Lair machine near the entrance shortly before the place closed down.



Ah, Willowbrook Mall. Good times, though I've managed to steer clear of the place for the last 3 or 4 years.

This is a vid of Fun 'n' Games, the successor to The Purple Room. Although it seemed thriving at the time this vid was shot, this arcade, too, shut its doors.

Quote from: "Blurt"They're very noisy.



Daytime is best for families.



The drunks come out at night.



Can't tell you how many injuries we had at the punching bag game.



There's a good reason the machine is plastered with warning labels advising players not to hit the bag with any other part of their bodies but their fists.

Quote from: "Blurt"No, not where I worked.



Don't know about elsewhere but, in Montreal:



1) Video game arcades cannot obtain liquor licenses, and

2) You must be 18 years of age to gain admission to a video game arcade.



In principle, anyway. In reality, families often dropped by during the daytime with very young children; they were never turned away, in my experience. And the cops never enforced that rule when it was obvious the kids were part of a family outing. But, at night, the cops would come in and check for the presence of teenagers.

Quote from: "Blurt"They're very noisy.



Daytime is best for families.



The drunks come out at night.



Can't tell you how many injuries we had at the punching bag game.



There's a good reason the machine is plastered with warning labels advising players not to hit the bag with any other part of their bodies but their fists.

Quote from: "Blurt"Like I said, I don't know about elsewhere, but I suspect municipal by-laws may have been strengthened across the board to prevent kids from hanging out in places where patrons may have consumed drugs and alcohol or where less-than-honest customers could ply their trade (I once snitched on a cell-phone theft ring operating out of one arcade and boy did I ever get in deep trouble).

Quote from: "Fashionista"

Quote from: "Blurt"No, not where I worked.



Don't know about elsewhere but, in Montreal:



1) Video game arcades cannot obtain liquor licenses, and

2) You must be 18 years of age to gain admission to a video game arcade.



In principle, anyway. In reality, families often dropped by during the daytime with very young children; they were never turned away, in my experience. And the cops never enforced that rule when it was obvious the kids were part of a family outing. But, at night, the cops would come in and check for the presence of teenagers.

I thought Renee said that minors hung out at arcades?



Maybe New Jersey is different.

Quote from: "Renee"

Quote from: "Fashionista"

Quote from: "Blurt"No, not where I worked.



Don't know about elsewhere but, in Montreal:



1) Video game arcades cannot obtain liquor licenses, and

2) You must be 18 years of age to gain admission to a video game arcade.



In principle, anyway. In reality, families often dropped by during the daytime with very young children; they were never turned away, in my experience. And the cops never enforced that rule when it was obvious the kids were part of a family outing. But, at night, the cops would come in and check for the presence of teenagers.

I thought Renee said that minors hung out at arcades?



Maybe New Jersey is different.

Different? That's an understatement.



When I was growing up, arcades were full of teens. Hell once I turned 18 I wouldn't be caught dead in an arcade full of "kiddies" unless it had a pool table that wasn't warped. There were usuaĺly signs that said minors had to be accompanied by an adult but I never saw anyone enforce it. If they did they would have lost half their revenue..... :laugh:

Quote from: "Blurt"Yes, true.



But Montreal is weird. (Remember, this is the city that was the focus of the infamous "Maple Spring" of 2012,)



There are by-laws in Montreal forbidding citizens from assembling in large groups and from having their faces covered. The cops can stop you if you are wearing, say, a ski mask. (This might be hard to enforce in winter.)



Maybe these by-laws have been repealed by now, I don't know. I haven't lived in Montreal since 2014. But they seemed extreme.

Quote from: "Blurt"Yeah, but that's inside a business. (Same thing here, by the way.) But Imagine a law that prevents you from covering your face outside!!! It's an unenforceable nightmare.

Quote from: "Angry White Male"The arcades here (when they still existed) allowed anyone of any age.



One small arcade used to sell single smokes to kids for 10 cents a piece.  This is going back a long way now...  Then again, it is still legal for kids to smoke here, they just cannot purchase tobacco products themselves.



Never did see booze sold in arcades here, as I'm sure with the liquor laws at the time (quite strict), that would have been impossible to get licenced.

Quote from: "Blurt"It's enforceable?