Grief in arcades as a kid?

[virtvic]

Did anyone ever get in any grief / mischief or see any dodgy goings on in an arcade as a kid?

I know arcades were seen as a place for ne'er do wells (like us), but I never had any problems?

 

[strykr]

Personally, I never had any grief, apart from the odd older kid threatening to smack me after i'd beaten them at sf2.

Unfortunately though, my brother was approached by someone who tried to get him in his car. Makes me sick even now thinking about it.

The whole image of druggies and thugs I never experienced at all though. I mainly frequented the seaside arcades early in the morning though with my pocket money.

 

[neo-geo-mvs]

I remember playing Street Fighter II at a fun fair and some kid headbutted me for no reason. WTF! Always the bully with about 5 friends, what can you do?

I remember going to Scotland to see relatives and some Scottish kid punched me as I went on the 10p machine he just left and he hadn't finished (how did I know?). Told me to fu#k off back to England. Having a Scottish Grandad I consider myself part-Scottish, with a Scottish surname but I guess with an English accent, they would not know my heritage.

Kids hey! Overall had a great time in the arcade as a kid

 

[Zektor]

Ha yeah in our town it was always "hey, give me ten p for Defender"

 

[vib_ribbon]

loads!! but the arcade also saved me from a beating as well.

a bunch of us from school met up in town 1 evening and some of us left the group only to come back as they were being chased by some lads twice our size. we scattered, and while some were caught and got beaten up, i sought refuge in my local arcade where thankfully there were regulars in that night. saved!

 

[Equites]

I went to a premium 'posh' arcade in Liverpool called Las Vegas, never any dodgy stuff going on in there.

I did used to get thrown out all the time though, probably because I was in my school uniform.

Then again, Jon Stood never used to get bothered when he was playing 'Snapper'.

I think it was cos I is black.Equites2014-05-15 22:03:42

 

[Deathrow]

I never skipped school to spend the day in the arcade... Never

I can remember a great bunch of like minded lads to be honest, A few scuffles and a few kisses from the girls but nothing with knives or any drugs etc.

All round good memories.

Oh and the above reminds me of frantic lads literally begging for 10p as a fruity was about to pay out lol

 

[Rawsome]

I never had a bad experience, only good memories...like people crowding round when I got mega high score on Williams Whirlwind and a standing ovation for finishing Double Dragon on one 10p

 

[Jodo]

Girls used to tug on my t-shirt when I was practising on Space Harrier Dlx to try to put me off.

At the time I found it hugely annoying as I was 'in the zone'...

Nowadays I'd give my right arm for a tug

 

[Sixtoe]

Only one thing stands out, a little twat who used to press the start button on power drift when he went past which reversed the camera...

 

[ben76]

I remember playing Double Dragon on a cab once and some comedy cock walking up and pressing start on player 2 using a credit of mine.... He gave me a "wtf are you going to do" look so after saying 'I think you're meant to add your own cash' I just kicked the sh*t out of him on the game. He went for another credit out came my arm and told him to feck off and come back with his own cash. I was cocky... then again my brother had gone to the bog and was due back any second

- Ben

 

[theory]

An arcade in Accrington used to do a roaring trade in knocked off goods. You'd be playing Afterburner and then there would be a tap on your shoulder seeing if you wanted to buy a hot Game & Watch. As least they knew their market

 

[DrGlitch]

Aye - a fair amount. We knew what coin pushers to knock to easily get a handful of 10ps, the games with dodgy coin mechs that held money, there were always kids selling cigarettes, the nomadic dealers, the punchy piss-heads, the (exceptionally rare) pervert. People were punched, dragged out the arcade and stomped on - and there were always people being shouted at and told they were banned by big Howard the manager.

I'd assumed this was simply the way arcades worked?

But I did kind of live in the arcade for about 5 years...

 

[giantkeeling]

There was never an arcade in Lichfield where i live, but there was an electrical shop called Adeys, that housed about 12 cabs at a time. A kid called Anderson used to bug me and others. He'd say 'can i have your last man? If you said no, he'd wrestle the controls off you anyway. Knob!

 

[silverfox0786]

never had any bad experiences at the arcades as such except for the older lot carrying CREDIT GUNS

one place I went to often was owned by a big feller and he already warned everyone about the credit guns so no one dared even carry one let alone use one in there

you didn't get thrown out, you got your head kicked in

I must admit arcades wasn't as bad as some people think, even kids I got bullied by in school at the arcades never took my money or tried to take over my game.

 

[stevebm1]

I once had a twat turn off bombjack at the wall whilst I was playing it because I was beating his high score,I repaid the favour a few weeks later when he was playing track n field with his mates,luckily he didn't realise it was me,and started having a go at the woman in the change booth

 

[Stevros]

Always had great experiences in our arcades down new brighton, we had rides too, loved the jets, also had remote control boat racing in there, met a few girls there and had loads of fun.

One of the arcades are still running now only its been taken over by the fellas son and its just full of fruities, dance machines, grabbers and racing machines so crap.

Long gone is battlezone, discs of tron, frogger, space harrier, etc, before you ask i did ask if there were any of the old machines in the basement but unfortunatly not, he has 1 machine down there which is a jamma cab

 

[Jase]

"Give us your last man", and "Give us 10p" were common phrases, but not so much in the arcades. More often at the fairground were all the nobheads used to congregate.

 

[chubsta]

Moved from a small village in the cotswolds to the seaside in 84 when i was 18 and spent all my life in the arcades - never had any trouble and remember playing loads of great games. It seemed like it was always the same crowd in there and we kind of all knew each other and used to play games together with no problems.

Was never threatened or offered drugs etc, although one lad who i played with most ended up on heroin so i guess stuff was about...

 

[urbanledge]

never had any bad experiences at the arcades as such except for the older lot carrying CREDIT GUNS

whats a credit gun?