Hello, Gamers & GenXr’s!
UPDATED 2/22/2023: Arcadeinn.com has ceased operation so we can focus on our current projects. Thank you for your patronage during its 2021 – 2023 run!
How are you? I hope this article finds you well and in good spirits.
Storytime!
As a kid in the 80s, I loved going to the corner arcade. I had one of those cool bikes with the yellow mag wheels and this bike carried me everywhere! From jumping ramps in the cove late at night with my buddies, going to the pet store, the movies, kmart, and the arcade! It was really as cool as it sounded to be growing up as a kid in the 80s.
Going to the arcade was an exciting adventure.
The first arcade I ever went inside was named, “Barrel of Fun” and was located in the Hickory Ridge Mall in my hometown of Memphis, TN. The entrance was literally a barrel that you walked through to go inside. Another favorite was “The Gold Mine” at The Mall of Memphis. Again, the entrance looked like the entrance to a mine shaft. These were all filled with some great arcade games. I can’t remember the name but the Raleigh Springs Mall also had a very nice arcade.
Back to the bike?
I mainly hung out at two places that were easy to access via my bike. You best believe after cutting yards for the money two or five bucks in quarters would be in my hands. There was a shopping center a couple of miles from my house called Hickory Commons. It had a full-blown arcade on the corner and a pizza restaurant next door. I would ride my bike there to play Defender, Scramble, Tempest & Zaxxon. These were my favorite and Defender was always king! Especially Defender 2 known as, “Stargate.”
He was, “the wizard of the arcade”
The pizza restaurant was, “Exlines Best Pizza in Town” and they had 2 arcade machines to play. One was Spyhunter and the other was a WWF type of wrestling game that I fail to recall. The year was 1984 and it was not the wrestling machines that started coming out in the late 80s. I was on a first-name basis with the workers in the restaurant. I would give them a five-dollar bill for quarters. It was time to play the literal hell out of Spy Hunter and the wrestling game.
“Will he give me some free quarters?”
Seeing the guy at the arcade walking around with that coin changer belt and those tools to fix broken machines always intrigued me. In my mind, he was, “the wizard of the arcade.” I envied his knowledge of the machines and the games he hosted in his arcade. Every time I saw this dude I was always mesmerized. What secrets does he hold about the machines? Will he give me some free quarters? hah!
Let’s move on to why we are here and that is to announce the launch of Arcadeinn.com!
The website has been under development for quite some time. ArcadeInn currently offers 1500 plus games using the Unity engine and other non-flash engines. I add games weekly & personally like to test them all before they go live. You can play games anonymously the first seven times. You will have to get a free account to continue playing after your seventh play. Your account will track your gameplays, add your own avatar, track your favorite games, and more! We already have a dedicated chat channel in our Discord server for you ArcadeInn folks. We plan to expand the community functions in the future by adding new features and enhancements.
Do you have an arcade story? Please share in the comments. I would like to hear about others’ experiences with arcades. Thanks for listening and check out ArcadeInn. Let me know what you think? Send me feedback and trust I am listening.
Peace! -Six
