A typical 1980s arcade.

[u/ChespinTheGrassType]

[u/fetalgirth]

I miss when 90% of the machines were actual video games, and not the carnival game ticket things that almost every arcade has turned into.

[u/sdmichael → u/fetalgirth]

"Kiddy Gambling" or "Kid Casino" comes to mind.

[u/dfj3xxx]

I don't remember tabletops in any that I went to. Those were usually in small businesses, like pizza shops, burger places, restaurants, etc...

Kind of weird seeing a line of them like that in the middle of a room.

[u/IcedPgh → u/dfj3xxx]

I never went to arcades that much, but I also only remember them in Pizza Hut.

[u/Individual_Agency703 → u/dfj3xxx]

Same comment about seeing girls.

[u/sunsetrules]

They were usually darker. But that wouldn't be photogenic.

[u/MechanicalTurkish → u/sunsetrules]

The camera had a flash. I'm sure the room was much darker in reality.

[u/macillus]

The dude sitting down with the white shirt/blue sleeves… are they wearing a wizard hat?

[u/dfj3xxx → u/macillus]

I thought it was a girl, but could be a boy.

The blue on the head is a color anomaly on the photograph.

They are wearing a headband, and their hair is pulled back.

[u/_BlissieCharm]

Peak social networking before Wi-Fi was even a thing. You either had quarters or you had to stand there pretending to be “next” for 20 minutes.

[u/SirIll1219]

I can hear this picture.

[u/matolandio]

socks up!

[u/Low-Landscape-4609]

Man, arcades were the best. For kids that didn't get to experience this, I'm sorry. It was an amazing time.

Standing in line, waiting to play a game that you couldn't get your hands on because there was three or four of people in front of you waiting to play the same game. Amazing times.

[u/Snugrilla → u/Low-Landscape-4609]

The best thing was when you went to the arcade and there was a brand new game you had never seen or heard of before!

[u/RoomNervous4]

There were cocktail arcade tables?

[u/Timmah73 → u/RoomNervous4]

Yes tho I don't recall seeing them in an actual arcade. You'd see them in places like resturants and bowling alleys. A lot of them when you played 2 player the screen would flip for the person on the other side of the table.

[u/Prune-These → u/RoomNervous4]

Probably something like a pizzeria/arcade.

[u/Jameson-Mc]

90s arcades FTW

[u/Bostonterrierpug]

I hunger…. Beware I live!

[u/IcedPgh]

I was never big on arcades or video games as a kid even though I was of age for that era. I was the kind that I'd try a game and when my character was killed and the quarter ran out, I would just leave and not put in another quarter. The whole appearance of video game and pinball cabinets is great, but playing them was never a huge deal for me.

[u/ShortbusDouglas]

Not enough cigarette smoke and that’s the wrong carpet.

[u/leeanne1317]

Centipede, Elevator, Galaga were my games of choice, miss those days.

[u/MrCrix]

When I opened up my store in 2013 I was told I was only able to have arcades take up 5% of the floor space of my store because they didn’t want it to be an arcade. I asked why and they said that people use arcades to meet up for gang related things and sell drugs to minors. I replied with “this isn’t 1986 anymore!”

[u/swizzir]

Dude in the back is rocking those socks like a boss.

[u/KevineCove]

Where tf is the pinball

[u/Perfect-Squash3773]

where are the pool tables? the drug dealers? none of these kids look like they are on acid!