A little piece of my youth died the other day

[Justice4all]

I was at Willowbrook Mall in Wayne NJ the other day when I was driving by the Sears at the back end of the mall. I passed by a section that was a video game parlor called Fun N Games. It was gone.

When you were a kid in the Wayne/West Essex/Little Falls/Cedar Grove area then the Willowbrook mall was the place to hang out. Fun N Games was where EVERYONE went to play video games.

Even as an adult when I was in the mall to go shopping during Xmas time I could not resist stopping in and playing a pinball game or two. This place had been standing for well over 20 years.

I got a little sad, but this was not a surprise. With PS3 and Xbox and everything that came out over the last few years the video parlor shops are slowly dying.

[TheMojoPin]

"Video game parlor?"

Is that the same as an arcade?

[Sinestro]

Even as an adult when I was in the mall to go shopping during Xmas time I could not resist stopping in and playing a pinball game or two.



You sure you weren't trying to pull a Dateline??? You predator you.:nono:

[topless_mike]

justice, i know the struggle.
everytime i walk through hoodbridge mall, i catch myself looking down the aisle, hoping and praying that i find the "spaceport arcade" again.

no such luck.

[Justice4all]

"Video game parlor?"

Is that the same as an arcade?

Yea yea I know....I sounded really old right there.

You sure you weren't trying to pull a Dateline??? You predator you.

Nah....I was the nerd who was into video games more then anything else. At one point even girls!:wacko:

[Justice4all]

justice, i know the struggle.
everytime i walk through hoodbridge mall, i catch myself looking down the aisle, hoping and praying that i find the "spaceport arcade" again.

no such luck.

You know I was watching the movie The Last Starfighter on HBO last night, and I remember when Atari came out with the game. This was back in 1984 I believe. Fun n Games NEVER had the game in their arcade (that better Mojo?). I would even go into other arcades when I was on vacation with my family to see if they carried it.

No suck luck either.

It's not the video games as much as the pinball games I will miss overall.

[Sinestro]

You know I was watching the movie The Last Starfighter on HBO last night, and I remember when Atari came out with the game. This was back in 1984 I believe. Fun n Games NEVER had the game in their arcade (that better Mojo?). I would even go into other arcades when I was on vacation with my family to see if they carried it.

No suck luck either.

It's not the video games as much as the pinball games I will miss overall.

I always liked the pinball machine "Theatre of Magic". Every now and then, if the numbers matched on the vaious pinball machines, you would get a free game.

[tele7]

justice, i know the struggle.
everytime i walk through hoodbridge mall, i catch myself looking down the aisle, hoping and praying that i find the "spaceport arcade" again.

no such luck.

Ha..I remember it well. Right down to the blue entrance with grey circles. For a while they wouldn't let anyone under 16 in. At 16 I looked 12. Rejected.:wallbash:

[Bulldogcakes]

Funny you should mention that. GVAC said the same thing to me the other day when he heard they were going to build some condos in Maryland on the grounds of the Battle of Antietum.

[Justice4all]

Ha..I remember it well. Right down to the blue entrance with grey circles. For a while they wouldn't let anyone under 16 in. At 16 I looked 12. Rejected.:wallbash:

They never had that kind of rule in Willowbrook, just a shitload of police officers patroling the area.

[TheMojoPin]

It feels like it's been close to a decade since I saw an arcade in a mall. Kids just don't seem to give a rat's crap about arcade systems, though I can easily see why. Why pump money in a public machine to stand up and play something on a nasty ass control board when you could be doing it in the comfort of your own home for a onetime cost (or cheaper extended price)? Driving back and forth between Chicago and DC as a kid, I remember the interstate rest stations always had a ton of arcade games, and kids would always be lined up to play or grouped around to watch. The games are still there, but now they seem to always be without anyone playing. Why bother when you've got the PSP and such waiting in the car?

It makes me kinda sad, but I guess that's just tech evolution for ya.

[grlNIN]

There was an arcade in my dentist's office when i was younger.

it was amazing.

[SatCam]

When I was younger my dentist had a Sega arcade setup with six games to choose from. Whenever my family would stop by we'd rock all the kids there because all we did at home was play sega. The last time I was there I remember he finally got a GameCube.

[Sinestro]

Was that yesterday?

[marcpsych]

There was an arcade in my dentist's office when i was younger.

it was amazing.

Who was your dentist, Chuck E. Cheese?

[grlNIN]

Who was your dentist, Chuck E. Cheese?

Stop hating on my dentist, you old coot.

[marcpsych]

Stop hating on my dentist, you old coot.

That's borderline DiFranco-worthy.

[Mike Teacher]

There was a time around the last Ice Age; since I may well be the only living person from the era...

There were arcades where you could smoke cigarettes; and arcades where you could get a drink [much rarer, but they had em] and get all your drugs [naturally]; so after stopping by Two Guys record Dept. to get the new KISS album and Hardee's for a burger you could hit the arcade, get a fistful of quarters and do your route; your Pac Man here your Missile Command there, Asteroids, Galaga, Defender, Centipded, Robotron, Tempest, Frogger, Joust, Qbert, Xevious, Dig Dug, Pole Position, Battlezone, Donkey Kong...

It's all mixed up in a part of my brain once [still?] clogged with bong resin so forgive...

It fucking ruled.

[Judge Smails]

My kids have absolutely no interest in arcade games, unless they're the kind of games that spit out tickets that you can then exchange for crappy prizes. For some reason, nothing makes them happier than to spend $20.00 to get enough tickets to for a 25 cent pencil eraser.

[sr71blackbird]

I blame the intranet

[spoon]

There was a time around the last Ice Age; since I may well be the only living person from the era...

There were arcades where you could smoke cigarettes; and arcades where you could get a drink [much rarer, but they had em] and get all your drugs [naturally]; so after stopping by Two Guys record Dept. to get the new KISS album and Hardee's for a burger you could hit the arcade, get a fistful of quarters and do your route; your Pac Man here your Missile Command there, Asteroids, Galaga, Defender, Centipded, Robotron, Tempest, Frogger, Joust, Qbert, Xevious, Dig Dug, Pole Position, Battlezone, Donkey Kong...

It's all mixed up in a part of my brain once [still?] clogged with bong resin so forgive...

It fucking ruled.

Hey, don't forget crystal castles and mr. do!!

[pennington]

This place had been standing for well over 20 years.

Longer than that, I used to go there in the mid to late 70's. I haven't been in there for years although I'm often at Willowbrook so I don't know if they have fewer customers.

I think part of the problem, too, is rents keep going up in that mall and it's hard for an independent, as opposed to a corporate chain, to survive. Any idea what's going to take it's place? That space is only accessible from outside, not the mall.

[AnnoyedGrunt]

I stopped in a small arcade back in the Fall for the first time in probably a decade. I paid 75 cents to play a light gun game that turned out to be so poorly calibrated that the shots hit a good 8 inches away from where I was aiming and I ended up getting killed in about 30 seconds. Suddenly I wasn't so nostalgic for arcades.

[Justice4all]

Longer than that, I used to go there in the mid to late 70's. I haven't been in there for years although I'm often at Willowbrook so I don't know if they have fewer customers.

I think part of the problem, too, is rents keep going up in that mall and it's hard for an independent, as opposed to a corporate chain, to survive. Any idea what's going to take it's place? That space is only accessible from outside, not the mall.

No Idea yet.....they said the rent for that place was what drove them out. I guess we will see in time.

[CofyCrakCocaine]

Yea yea I know....I sounded really old right there.



Nah....I was the nerd who was into video games more then anything else. At one point even girls!:wacko:

You liked girl video games? I thought they all just came with the same standard plug hole.

[keithy_19]

Menlo Park Mall has an arcade across from the movie theater on the second level.

As for Willowbrook, I loathe that mall.

[Ritalin]

It feels like it's been close to a decade since I saw an arcade in a mall. Kids just don't seem to give a rat's crap about arcade systems, though I can easily see why. Why pump money in a public machine to stand up and play something on a nasty ass control board when you could be doing it in the comfort of your own home for a onetime cost (or cheaper extended price)? Driving back and forth between Chicago and DC as a kid, I remember the interstate rest stations always had a ton of arcade games, and kids would always be lined up to play or grouped around to watch. The games are still there, but now they seem to always be without anyone playing. Why bother when you've got the PSP and such waiting in the car?

It makes me kinda sad, but I guess that's just tech evolution for ya.

There was always Galaga.

[drusilla]

i just realized the other day that the arcade that i used to go to with my dad all the time as a kid i gone now. it made me really sad when i drove past where it used to be.

[FUNKMAN]

in my neighborhood they put a parking lot on a piece of land where the supermarket used to stand. Before that they put up a bowling alley on the site that used to be the local palais

[PapaBear]

in my neighborhood they put a parking lot on a piece of land where the supermarket used to stand. Before that they put up a bowling alley on the site that used to be the local palais
take a right where they're going to build that new shopping mall, go straight past where they're going to put in the freeway, take a left at what's going to be the new sports center, and keep going until you hit the place where they're thinking of building that drive-in bank. You can't miss it.

[Contra]

They closed Fun 'N' Games?!?!?!?!?! Damn that used to be the spot. A lot of memories in that place:sad:

[Justice4all]

You liked girl video games? I thought they all just came with the same standard plug hole.

All girls are like video games....they never work right unless you get a plug that fits all three holes.

Wakka Wakka!

in my neighborhood they put a parking lot on a piece of land where the supermarket used to stand. Before that they put up a bowling alley on the site that used to be the local palais


So funk...when you gonna come dancin'???:wink:


They closed Fun 'N' Games?!?!?!?!?! Damn that used to be the spot. A lot of memories in that place

Holy shit...a Contra sighting!!!! Good to see ya man! PM me when you can, we'll catch up on things.
and yes that did used to be the spot....in my area it was that place and Game Town.

But Fun N Games lasted a hell of alot longer then Game Town.