Went back to my old arcade in Toledo after 12 years, the fighting game cabinet row tells a whole story
Stopped by my hometown over the weekend and swung past the arcade on Adams Street where I used to hang out every Friday in middle school. The place is half the size it used to be, but the back corner still has six cabinets lined up and two of them were running. What got me was the mix: a beat em up, a racing game, and one rhythm cabinet with initials scratched into the side. I watched two kids trade off on the racing one, no trash talk, just handing the wheel over when one of them wrecked out. Back when I was their age the whole row would be packed and you had to put your quarter on the deck to claim next. The owner told me he keeps that corner going because regulars still show up on Saturday afternoons. Curious if anyone here has an old spot like this still running near them, and what is on the floor now versus what used to be there.
Man, the quarter on the deck thing hit me hard. We used to do the same at a laundromat near my grandma's that had like three machines jammed in the back, and the owner would yell at us for leaning on the dryers. Last time I drove by it was a vape shop, which feels about right.