I thought hey, they're bringing in some new games, that's awesome. So I stop and see what's going on as I'm on the phone with a friend. So I go in, and when I get inside, this is the terror I saw:
I was in shock. This was the arcade I grew up on. It's ben around for over 20 years, and it was apparently shut down. I stopped one of the workers and asked what was going on. It seems the mall wanted too much for the space they were renting out, and so Namco, the head of Aladian's Castle, said they wouldn't pay that much. So, they had to pack up and leave for good. I also talked to one of the truck drivers who said this is happening all over the place. He said he's had a lot of folks come by and ask what was going on. Not even mall security knew about this. It was so quick. I tried to buy some of the cabs off of him, but they were being moved to other locations in the U.S.
This was a sad day indeed. This was the arcade where I had spent many tokens on games. I had many birthday parties there as well. Hell, I grew up all my life playing games from the late eigthies until this present day. The arcade was huge and had multiple floors. Back in the day, it was quite a site to be seen. Over the years, it's had less and less games, but it was still fun to go into. I knew this time would come, but it just sucks to see it happen. Oh well, as the famous Namco game says, "The legend will never die".
