As you know, I went to get some new glasses yesterday at Redketchup's place, and noticed that he is located right beside a bowling alley called "Le Spot" in Cartierville. Man, did I ever get a flashback...

Back in 1983, my mom was part of a bowling league with fellow work colleagues and she used to bring me along every week. When we would get there, she always handed me 5 bucks in quarters and told me to have fun... you see, Le Spot had a HUGE arcade right in the front lobby once. I remember seeing 14 pins lined up near the center. I remember Close Encounters Of The Third Kind always being the first pin to the left. And then others like Centaur... EBD... Dolly Parton... Black Hole... Haunted House... Superman (was often dead even then...)... Flash... Firepower... Jungle Lord and others coming in and out.

Vids galore as well... I still remember line-ups in front of Defender and Robotron... some guy always trying to recreate a marathon game on Asteroids deluze like he did on Asteroids, with no success of course... Jungle King kicking my a**... guys swearing after Blinky on Ms.Pacman... Frogger turning into roadkill... Star Wars just being awesome...

2010... the year I made contact... again. And I wish I didn't. Le Spot looks like a run-down dinosaur. A sad sight. The center lobby is empty except for a few cardboard signs announcing bowling nights. The alleys haven't changed, except for looking really old and decrepit. And the only leftovers of an arcade lies in the far left corner in the lobby...

A Street Fighter 3 in decent shape... a Cruisin USA twin that is 4 quarters away from a scrap heap... a shooter game I don't even remember due to it being forgettable... a Guitar Hero machine... a HUGE (bigger than a showcase...)shooting game (Sammy's Sports Shooting USA) with once a big projector screen and now has a 27" screen, which looks lost in the cab and the game lasts all of 3 minutes from start to finish... and a Ms.Pacman in a generic cab with a bluish screen and a joystick that is misaligned (Ms.Pac goes down when you let go of the stick).

Sad... Very sad...

As a teenager, I lived a few blocks away from Spot bowling and I would get off the bus there almost every day. I loved playing in there, arcade, bowling even pool! And when I had extra money I would even go to Belmont park and go crazy there    I could hear the screams of delight from the people on the roller coaster, pretty cool. Today that area is a housing complex. I am saddened to hear the state that Spot it is in today. Sigh, the only constant is change I guess...

It brings back good memories....and that's what's important!

I remember playing Pole Position....at the Montreal International airport in Mirabel...years ago....

tartagliag

Can't live in the past..........but you can bring the past with you going forward that is why this hobby is nice.

Keep on playing..........and your kids will too!

(Ms.Pac goes down when you let go of the stick).    

Sorry I do feel your pain. All the local arcades around me died out years ago. There's nothing left except for the cinema lobby, and they're mosly combat type games

Quoted from shock_me

(Ms.Pac goes down when you let go of the stick).    

Jesus... took long enough for someone to catch that!!!

Quoted from Sparky

Jesus... took long enough for someone to catch that!!!

lol............I figured that was intentional!

I remember standing in line to play Xenon when she was brand new. Something about that female voice had all us teenage guys waiting to have a go  
Now she's in my basement, so I guess you can bring the past with you.

Think of how most of us were privileged enough to be in the main stream of that era and not even know it until it was gone. No matter how we explain or try demonstrate the emotion and passion of our youth, when arcades were actually arcades, it will never be felt or understood by anyone except those who were actually there. Long live Nostalgia.  

Quoted from sorcerer

Think of how most of us were privileged enough to be in the main stream of that era and not even know it until it was gone. No matter how we explain or try demonstrate the emotion and passion of our youth, when arcades were actually arcades, it will never be felt or understood by anyone except those who were actually there. Long live Nostalgia.  

Exactly!! And try to explain the "smell" of an arcade...

tartagliag

I find it amusing how you all reminisce about the "good ole days", might as well break out the rocking chairs and adult diapers there grandpa.  

Arcades were great..... in their day, but lets think about this honestly for a second, how many of you would actually make a point to go to an arcade if they were still available , filled with nothing but punk kids, smoke (cause that is how it was in the "good ole days") and usually in dark dingy holes.

I know Toronto had arcades up until a few years ago and I hated going to them in my adult years, I'd much rather have played in someone's home then have to deal with the locals in the area of an arcade.  They don't offer anything, I can't have a beer, everything is dirty and disgusting, things are poorly maintained (that hasn't changed in the last 20 years either) and while they filled a void in our childhood, no way would I see any of us going to any arcade on a regular basics of they even still existed.  

Vengeance, I think it's more of a commentary that no other generation will have that opportunity, not that people miss going to them now...

Personally I liked the games but not the arcades - too noisy and crowded. My best memories are playing a single machine on location, like Williams Flash or Missile Command at the local laundromat. There it was possible to hear the machines properly and fully enjoy them. Plus the owner kicked out any kids acting obnoxious.

Pins at home are much superior to any arcade I ever visited.