Manhattan Video Arcades
 

I'm taking a trip to NYC with some friends soon. Just wondering if anyone knows of any good video arcades in manhattan. And not Dave & Busters, I mean REAL arcades with REAL games. Hard to come by these days. Anyways, help me out

Excluding D&B franchises, I don't know. There's a Chuck E. Cheese on Frederick Douglass out towards Harlem. Douglass is a hero. So is Nolan Bushnell, who founded those awful pizza places (that also have games) after making his bank with Atari Games. If you end up deferring to this, maybe you should call first to find out what machines they have.

Some places these days have an upfront charge of six bucks or so and the games are set to free play. Or, they have mame-based machines.

Okay, google sez there's these:

Eastside Billiards & Bar (it looks expensive; i wonder what games they have though; I don't see any in the pictures)
http://www.eastsidebilliards.com/
All new, beautifully renovated and upscale 5k sq ft billiard parlor, full svc top-shelf bar, video arcade. NY's best spot for pool, friends and fun.
163 East 86, New York, NY 10028

Broadway City Arcade (very promising, sounds a little expensive though)
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3674077340
(212) 997-9797
241 West 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036

Plaza Arcade (looks promising)
27 W 47th Street, New York, NY 10036
(212) 391-0100‎

Arcade Inc ??? (don't know about this one)
120 E 56th Street, New York, NY 10022

Places usually have Donkey Kong, Galaga, Ms. Pac-Man, and Joust, but not often Robotron: 2084 or Stargate. (Can't play Defender all that well though as it is the real toughest game ever made; then again, Donkey Kong, Jr. is ridiculously difficult too). Phoenix, Asteroids, Asteroids Deluxe, Centipede and Tempest are fairly (but not all that) common. Even more rare is Marvel Vs. Capcom (fave fighting game) or Blasteroids. Sometimes you'll see the Marvel Super-Heroes one (vs. Capcom is much better) or one of the D&D ones.

Oh, and I'm nuts for more than a few pinball machine titles: Jurassic Park (think I like this one the most), Addams Family, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Simpsons, and the classic Cyclone are all great just to name some favorites.

Craziest arcade I've ever been to was the Casino Boardwalk Arcade in Santa Cruz, CA. I nearly creamed myself when I walked in the door. They had like 300 games and a classic corner with Battlezone. I hadn't played that game since I was 6 years old


Thanks for the info Atari by the way. I'm strongly considering broadway city arcade.

looked Battlezone up at klov.com on a hunch, and didn't find out, but think it's the first vector game...yeah 1980, yeah, wiki implies that it is.

I used to love that vector game rip-off of Star Wars as a kid (before Star Wars and ESB machines came out)...it's called Starhawk. Man, I think that was my earliest favorite before I discovered that I could play Tempest and Phoenix well.

oh man, i read the link
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3674077340
and check out this post
I LOVE PINBALL
By David K. | Insider Expert | Rank: 7,915
Too bad this place is closed down! There is no point for this review because you will never get to find out how it is because they are not longer there. I used to play pinball here all the time.

PROS: I love pinball
CONS: no longer there!

just play games on your cell phone its a vast improvement and if you want to get hustled hang out on the docks off Christopher St just like old times

Barcade in Brooklyn:
http://www.barcadebrooklyn.com/

lazerpark closed down. bummer

yeah i was going to mention barcade.

Not gonna be in brooklyn. Dammit

it's two stops out of manhattan on the L train. even us manhattanites go there once in a while:)

yeah it's not that far.

Barcade is fun. I don't remember if the arcade at the end of Mott in Chinatown is still open. They got rid of their tic tac toe playing chicken years ago.

I know some good penny arcades.