Yes that is the place I was talking about earlier in the post, but I couldn't remember the name. Across from a Burger King and Wendy's and next to a Popeye's. It was leveled and nothing is in its place. The correct name of the joint was "Great Escape."
Wow, I totally missed that one closing up too, although not a surprise. They never bothered replacing any of the games, which mostly stunk. The Lazer Tron game was fun in its day, and the only reason to go there.Originally Posted by mgriff
Last edited by Greg2600; 11-06-2007 at 08:54 AM.
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I live pretty close to the ex-arcade "The Great Escape" ... and in my briefest experiences with the place, I can say without hesitation it was the polar opposite of Fun N' Games - it was dark, dirty, smelly, almost every single cabinet had damaged or broken hardware ... and I never even remember the place being "staffed". It was kind of like one of those 24 hour laundromats...sometimes there'd be somebody in there to help you with getting change, and sometimes there wouldn't.
I'm not saying that anybody else was even comparing the two locations in terms of quality - but if Fun N' Games rated on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say the place was a solid 10 for most of it's existence in terms of the quality, variety and working order of games and pinballs, and Great Escape a 2 or 3 for being a veritable craphole. (from the brief impression that I had of it)
Was Great Escape ever a clean, inviting, well maintained place in it's early days?
"And the book says: 'We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.'"
Heh, you just described half the arcades I went to as a kid. The only nice arcades I went to back then were at malls, and even some of those were pretty dark and scary. The arcade near my house had an unguarded cigarette machine in the back that took quarters (and maybe tokens, who knows). Half the time, part of the thrill of playing a game was worrying that you might get abducted at some point during the game.
Alright, you want to talk about an old dumpy arcade! Well, does anyone else remember the kiddie amusement park up on Route 46 in Pine Brook, NJ? After Googling I found the name was Kiddie Karnival, and closed in 1987 to expand the highway. I remember there was one room, which I think was a shack or garage, that had early 80's games like Space Invaders, Tron, etc. It was like a county fair that never moved.
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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!
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
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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.'"
Last edited by Rob2600; 01-28-2008 at 02:37 PM.
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...
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.