Any arcades left near you?

[Harrison]

Are their any video game arcades still running near where you live?

I'm lucky that there are still quite a few near to me.

In Southampton there is the proper SEGA arcade which is quite big, and there is a smaller arcade in an entertainment centre that has quite a variety of cabinets. The Megabowl also has a lot of cabinets too.

The arcade I used to visit a lot in Southsea (Portsmouth) is also still running and is quite large. And in Brighton the pier still has it's arcade with a lot of games and I think Worthing still does on its pier too, but I'm not 100% certain of that.

There also also a few more smaller arcades in the area I haven't mentioned. So on the whole for arcades it's still pretty good in the south.

[Demon Cleaner]

At the pub where I go weekends are still some running cabinets, newer cabinets measuring min 50" with older games. Mainly NeoGeo games. Sometimes they're exchanged.

There was one with 80 games on it, but was never being played at, so they removed it. It had a cool frontend which I saw one time at a site, displaying screenshots in circles, and when you moved the stick, you could chose your game. Don't know anymore what the frontend was.

[Harrison]

That frontend could have been custom built using MAMEWah. You can built any sort of frontend with that, and have it directly controlled from the cabinets controls.

[TiredOfLife]

Quite a few small ones.
Nothing large.

[LowercaseE]

There used to be one at the mall up the street from where my office is, but as far as I know, it's now closed. That particular mall itself is so dead I can't believe it's still open. Seriously, you can go there at any time of day and park within 3 spaces of the entrance. It's sad.

[Puni/Void]

There is a Sega arcade near in the city centre of Bournemouth. There are also an arcade near the main beach. All of them are only a few minutes in walking distance, so they are pretty close. Have to admit I spent a few bucks trying out some of the games available. Can't resist the temptation!

[J T]

There's never really been any proper arcades around my way.

I missed out on the arcade experience through a combination of there not being many around, and being told it's a waste of money by my parents

[Submeg]

Brainwashed!

[v85rawdeal]

Portsmouth and surrounding area seems to still have the hightest ratio of arcades to people I have seen. Clarence Pier has about 6 arcades, all competing with each other all so close together. Then about a half-mile walk, if that, there is South Parade Pier with its arcade. There also used to be a couple of smaller ones scattered between the two piers but they have long since become night clubs, theme pubs or guest houses.

Then there were a fair few over the water in Hayling Island, but i think some of them have also gone. And in the other direction, there was a couple on Lee-on-the-Solent Sea Front. Including one right on the water's edge that was rumoured to get flooded in bad weather.

Plenty of fond memories from the, such as the first time playing Hard Drivin', and spending hours at the Gauntlet machine, and the strange heavy-breathing and other noises that used to eminate from beneath the piers just after closing time, and the permanantly lingering smell of alcohol from all the night-clubs in the surrounding area...

Gosh, the memories of a '80s technophile...

[Stephen Coates]

None that I am aware of.