I'm going to try and make it to the auction to see if there is anything cheap I can buy myself for christmas.
I'm going to try and make it to the auction to see if there is anything cheap I can buy myself for christmas.
I'm just trying to keep from losing my mind!
Dude, I used to go there ALL THE TIME!Originally Posted by Greg2600
What about - right across the highway from "Kiddie Land" (I think it was called at one point if memory serves) the "Game Room" that was on the top floor of that old church - which is currently a fancy schmancy restaurant.
I remember asking my parents to take me there one day during what used to be it's operating hours only to find out that it had closed!
Man, that was a sad sad day in my childhood.
"And the book says: 'We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.'"
Peeked in on the now empty ex-arcade last week and seeing it completely bereft of machines made a little bit of me die inside.
"And the book says: 'We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.'"
Tell me about it. Whenever I pass the furniture store on Rt. 17 where Sportsworld used to be, I get all sad and feel emotions.
Those pictures made me envious. I've never been to an arcade even remotely that nice and well maintained. I grew up in Keansburg, NJ during the 80's, (Self Explanatory for NJ Natives, but for those who are not - It's sort of a white trash shore community, with rides, a boardwalk, and tons of arcades. Not exactly the safest of places.) and dark and scary wasn't the half of it. I can remember an actual knife being pulled on me over an argument with a 20 something year old over who's turn it was at Donkey Kong.
Being a smart 11 year old, I decided that it was in fact HIS turn.
Mangar
http://www.lucid-vision.org
Yeah, we gave up on Keansburg by the end of the 80's too. 10 years later they spent money and fixed it up, and the riff raff rarely hung out there anymore (they have Sleazeside for that!). Speaking of arcades, I remember going to the one in the Showboat Casino in Atlantic City a lot. The game room was next to the bowling alley. In one instance, I was playing WWF Wrestlemania Arcade, and some kid puts in a quarter during the match and demands me tag him in. A) I ignored him and B) I never could figure out how to do that. So he didn't get to play and threatened to beat me up. Then I told him I'd take him to see Michael Jackson and he ran away.
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Greg and I visited the Fun N Games arcade a week before it shut down. We recorded a video tour and just posted it on YouTube for posterity:
Fun N Games arcade, Willowbrook Mall 11/17/07
Last edited by Rob2600; 01-28-2008 at 01:23 PM.
Great video Rob...people should check it out, especially those who fondly remembered the arcade.
On a semi-related note, with the recent closing of the FYE stores, the KB Toys, and the Suncoast Video store at Willowbrook ... I'm finding less and less reasons to stop by there.
Sure, there are like 10 Gamestop/Software Etc./EB/Funcoland's there ... but at this point, I'd rather support Joe's retail efforts with the lion's share of my game purchases ...
Sad, that was once my favorite mall. Not to big, not too small, great arcade, nice food court, and plenty of stores that served the movie/music/game/entertainment loving consumer. Soon it'll consist of just women's clothing stores and Gamestops.
"And the book says: 'We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.'"
Thanks!
Wow. I remember in 2001, there was already an Electronics Boutique, EB Kids, Funco Land, and two Software Etc. stores, all within one shopping mall. Now, there are even more video game stores?
Last edited by Rob2600; 01-28-2008 at 02:37 PM.
Woah, double post!
Last edited by Frankie_Says_Relax; 01-28-2008 at 04:46 PM.
"And the book says: 'We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.'"
Actually, there are only 4. One Funco, one EB, one GameStop and one Software Etc. (which I think has been re-branded to Game Stop).
(I was just exaggerating for comedic effect.)
"And the book says: 'We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.'"
Willowbrook Mall was getting so overrun with video game stores that I actually believed you!
I went to that Mall Tonight.....Sad to see Fun N' Games closed..the windows were all blacked out.
The doors from inside the mall to get out near the old Fun N' Games were tied off shut..
................................
They closed Kay Bee and the FYE next door it too..
Gamestop on the lower floor still open..Gamestop upstairs still open and Software etc next to the food court(they were all DEAD.
I have no clue why this mall has three gamestores in it,two right near each other...
Wow, one of my childhood/teen years places gone forever
Like you guys, I'm a long time old-school arcade junkie. So I have very strong nostalgic memories of the arcades from my youth, but the Willowbrook Fun N Games is the grandaddy of them all.
The very first arcade game I ever remember playing was there....I remember very clearly my grandfather holding me up so I could see the screen and play 'Indy 500' in all it's glorious black and white graphics. And then riding on his shoulders walking out.
When I got older, my grandparents would get me a game card every year that allowed me four free credits a week on any game in the place. Being that I rarely if ever had any money on me, and we would go to Willowbrook Mall only once a week on a Saturday,this was something that I had to make count. Games that cost 50 cents to play would count for two credits.
I fell in love with my favorite arcade game of all time, Spy Hunter in that place. They used to have four of them in a row against the right wall walking in. A bar-table version of Demolition Derby was in the back at one point next to Donkey Kong. I never cared much for the pinball games, but I did like High Speed and it's sequel.
They were really good at keeping up with the latest releases,even the ones that weren't popular sequels, like Empire Strikes Back and the infamous Spy Hunter II, which really let everyone down. That game just SUCKED out loud and was gone soon.
In 1988, Hard Drivin', the sit down version debuted there....everyone was lined up to see it,and it seemed like the coolest most realistic driving game ever made. I was a little disappointed, the car seemed to drive and accelerate too slow for a Ferrari. Plus it was really easy to fly off the road and explode which pretty much screwed you to make the lap before timing out. Then Race Drivin' replaced it and it became my go-to game for a couple years.
My weekly visits to that place and the mall became more infrequent after I started college. It seemed like the crowd became more and more sleezy and ghetto/inner city punk.... that, or I was just getting older and noticing these things more.
My last visit there was around late summer, early fall. I walked around, maybe played something or other and walked out. Arcade games lost their soul somewhere in the mid-90s. What they gained in graphics and sound they lost in imagination and spirit. On the occasion that I did visit FnGs was more or less out of nostalgia then being really interested in any of what they had to offer.
I can still close my eyes, and go back in time to the mid '80s and see Paperboy facing the side door next to Roadblasters. Rampart was around the bend, always curious what anyone found interesting about that one.
A good afternoon always started off eating Roy Rogers chicken with my mom and grandparents, and then we'd all part ways so they'd go shopping and I'd head right to the arcade, making up my mind on the way what game I'd use my card with it's precious four credits on.
Thanks for this great forum, no-one else on the internet would be interested in reading things like this!
While in Boston (Framingham, actually) last week I stopped by an arcade named Fun and Games. Is this related, or a coincidence? They weren't huge, but did have Laser Tag as well as several games and Skee Ball.
Holy shit I just heard about this from some guys over at www.the-nextlevel.com/board.
I am fucking STUNNED.
I used to work up 46 in Fairfield and I'd skip out for long lunches there ALL THE TIME, not to mention drag all my friends to movies there just so I could play some games. It was the closest place around for Air Hockey (I am in Paramus) since Sports World bit it. The 3rd Strike action was AWESOME.
Crap. I had the high score on the Ms. Pac Man cab. I used to go there just to watch people play the fighters, and always drop some money into Drummania or Virtua Tennis or Pinball. I think I'm going to fucking cry.
There's just..nothing left around here. 8 on the Break is a pain in the ass to get to AND it kind of sucks. I feel so empty. What the fuck am I going to do.
PLEASE inform me if anyone finds out if they're relocating. Please.
Also, the Palisades has some fun Laser Tag for small groups, and some air hockey tables in the waiting room along with some other junk games.
There's also a GREAT laser tag place WAY up 23 north called Laser One that is HUGE, with two floors, and has unlimited tag from 6-11 on thursday nights.
Palisades tag is 8 bucks but on weekdays you get 4 dollars off if you bring a scorecard.
Man and I was going to try to write an article on the competitive fighter scene too. I had talked to a few 3rd strike players, there were some really good ones.
If anyone knows where to contact the former owner I'd like to do an interview with him, and you could save me some phone calls.
I started going to Willowbrook Mall in the early/mid 80s. I had no idea about the closing and found out last month when I showed up for a quickie Japanese lunch at the food court and some arcade action. I was truly upset to see the place closed down. I can't imagine the hours and money I spent in that place over the last 20-something years! Until just last summer it was the place my friends and I would visit whenever they were back in NJ for a visit. Just a shame.
It would be more awesome if they weren't four of the same store.
To be fair, Suncoast should have gone out of business years ago considering just about everything in the store had a mandatory $10 markup. And Kay-Bee Toys is just a relic. I went into the one in the strip mall on Rt. 46 by Best Buy not too long ago and I smiled a bit because it just felt so quaint.
FYE was a coin toss. Sometimes you'd find good stuff for good prices but other times (especially with the games) you'd find something for double what it should be.
But if it's true that Fun 'N Games is actually just moving to a new location I'll breathe a sigh of relief. Especially if it's nearby.
It's pretty sad, really. The Great Escape, Sportsworld, another arcade I can't remember the name of in Edgewater, NJ, and a few others. I remember specific things about all of them because I can say "That was the first time I ever played Mortal Kombat 3" or "That was the first time six of us beat X-Men." Welcome to die, NJ arcades. Welcome to die.
Though, has anyone been to Wildwood recently? I don't know if it's still there (it was a couple years ago) but in the Boardwalk Mall in Wildwood there was a GIANT arcade. This place ruled. If you wanted to play it, they had it. There wasn't a whole lot of actual competition so to speak but the sheer volume of machines more than made up for it. How often do you find arcades with every Mortal Kombat, Soul Edge, Soul Calibur, and every Konami beat-em-up?
Last edited by TonyTheTiger; 02-24-2008 at 01:21 AM.
I think Fun 'n Games should move into the laundromat's space next door to my store. Then we'd have a game store, a comics/cards/action figures store, and an arcade all on one block. Then someone could take over the nail salon and the hair stylist and put in a decent bookstore and maybe an indy music store.
C'mon, I can dream.
Oh wait, since I'm dreaming - throw in a really good liquor store that also sells cases of soda. Put that where the pharmacy is now. OK I'm done.
Tony, I spent a week and a half every summer in Wildwood from 1989-1997, and can honestly say I was never really excited about their arcades. More or less the atypical boardwalk arcades (almost all Point-based) found in Wildwood, Seaside (except Flashback), Ocean City, Point Pleasant, etc. On the other hand, I wasn't really into playing vintage games while I was there, so I may have forgotten about those. In addition, just about everything in Wildwood was and likely still is a total rip-off. It cost our family (including airfare) only a few hundred dollars to go to Disneyworld in Orlando one time than Wildwood.
The problem a Fun n Games will have is the rent will be very high in a mall, and while a location within town is much cheaper, there is little parking and many towns have ordinances preventing outright arcades. Perhaps in a strip mall somewhere?
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Well every arcade in shore points has a good percentage of space taken up by skeeball and other ticket games where 10,000 earns you a blue pencil and 100,000 can buy a shitty toaster but the one I'm talking about is big enough where that doesn't matter.
As for the cost, NJ in general is expensive. But I don't remember the arcade machines being ripoffs. They weren't $.25 machines but what are nowadays? Just don't expect to get particularly great food in the area. I know a handful of places but in general it's all tolerable at best.
I just found this forum, and I still to this day, cannot believe that Fun N' Games is no more! That arcade sure was pretty good for the most part, though I'll admit that it did get worse towards the end of it's time, due to having too many of the same games that I really didn't care for, and that most of the good games they had that I liked were ones that I could already play at home on my console systems. It also didn't help that this arcade would almost always be swarmed with teenagers, who did pretty much nothing, but hang out, and loiter almost the whole time, which would get annoying at times.
I first went to this arcade during the mid 90's, though I didn't start going to it as often as I could, until very late 1999. I felt like I was in heaven when I was here then, as arcades were still pretty good in the late 90's, though were nowhere near as good as they were during the golden ages from the 80's, to early to mid 90's. I would come here at least a few times a year (I couldn't go here too often, as I don't live that close to it), though would be often disappointed with it, while hoping it would still be as good as it was when I first started to visit this place on a semi regular basis. I was one of the gamers who would come here basically for nostalgia reasons, over being interested in really playing the games here (especially since the games became so expensive to play), as I would often exit this arcade almost as fast as I would enter it.
I will admit that I found it pretty hard to take when I last went to the Willowbrook Mall (which was just after F.N.G. closed down), and saw the windows of this arcade "blacked out". I was also pretty upset that this arcade was in my opinion, starting to barely get a little better than before, and was about to (according to their website) get one of my all time favorite games in The House Of The Dead 4, which has yet to get a console release, and got Time Crisis 4, which I also like, and cannot play at home now, since I currently don't have a Playstation 3 system. I do hope that this arcade will relocate as they say they will one day, even though arcades (especially mall ones) are becoming as rare of a sight as payphones are these days. I also wonder what will become of the spot where Fun N' Games was located, and if it's somehow possible that the Willowbrook Mall will get another arcade in the near future? That would be pretty good, since this mall having an arcade would be better than not having one in my opinion, even if it won't be nearly as special as Fun N' Games was.
I used to live in Oakland, NJ and moved out of there around 1986 or so.
Anyways, does anybody remember the arcade(s) that used to be in that shopping center where Shoprite is?
There was one that the entrance was a Clown's mouth (freaky I know)..and the other was down the mall near where the Movie theater was (was being the operative word as it's gone now). ( btw, that movie theater is where I saw my 1st pg movie..in 1980...Mothers Day..the Troma film at! )The arcade next to the movie was a lot smaller but had fun games and all. I remember seeing the Kiss, Ted Nugent and Playboy pinball machines there...*big pinball fan here*.
I moved a town or 2 away and really never came back to Oakland until a few months ago. All my childhood hangouts are gone.
The roller rink - gone.
The movie near the roller rink - gone. I think it's a blockbuster now.
Sears Surplus - gone
The 2 fore mentioned arcades...gone and gone.
The 5 & Dime store near the train tracks (where I used to get my baseball cards and wacky packages stickers from) - gone.
Sigh.
I know there used to be a arcade in the Wayne Hills Mall. I'll swing by there tomorrow and see if it's still around.
I did goto a local Pizza place in Wayne and they had 2 new Pinball machines there!
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