Good Arcades in San Jose??...

[dave4shmups]

Well, I've got everything booked, and I'm going to the 2006 Game Developer's Conference!

My hotel is near the Light Rail, (I won't be renting a car) so I was wondering if there are any really good arcades in San Jose? (Or, for that matter, import game stores) I would think so, since it's the capital of Silcon Valley. The Classic Gaming Expo Site mentions one:

"Chuck E. Cheese
2445 Fontaine Rd. San Jose
Why not take a quick 15 minute ride south on highway 101 to the original Mother of all arcades, located in East San Jose. While no longer the format of start-up legend Nolan Bushnell's dream, the building still features the famous multi-story high rat mascot. Ya gotta get a picture of you and Chuck!"

Err...yeah...don't know about the picture part!

So, are there any others in town?

[TalkingOctopus]

Golfland in Sunnyvale is the best arcade I know of, although I haven't been there since the summer 2004. It is some what close to San Jose and it is on El Camino Real. They even had several shmups. I used to drive by it every day on the way to work.

[dave4shmups]

Golfland in Sunnyvale is the best arcade I know of, although I haven't been there since the summer 2004. It is some what close to San Jose and it is on El Camino Real. They even had several shmups. I used to drive by it every day on the way to work.

Thanks man! How close is Sunnyvale to San Jose? I've only been to San Francisco, and that was back in 1992, so I'm not familar with the area. I would like to see the building(s) that was Atari's old headquarters in Sunnyvale, although that may be occupied by Capcom, or some other game developer.

[OneEyedJack]

Whoa! Could you make a double check about the Golfland? A famous Golfland closed, and I don't remember which one.

[OneEyedJack]

I'm wrong!

This is from Mr. Wizard: "Tuesday, December 17, 2002, will be the last operating day for SHGL. RIP Southern Hills Golfland."

Never mind!

[TalkingOctopus]

Golfland in Sunnyvale is the best arcade I know of, although I haven't been there since the summer 2004. It is some what close to San Jose and it is on El Camino Real. They even had several shmups. I used to drive by it every day on the way to work.

Thanks man! How close is Sunnyvale to San Jose? I've only been to San Francisco, and that was back in 1992, so I'm not familar with the area. I would like to see the building(s) that was Atari's old headquarters in Sunnyvale, although that may be occupied by Capcom, or some other game developer.

It is about 10-15 miles away.

[BIG]

Dave_Ks'

B-

[IlMrm]

There's a Nickel City off 85, last time I was there they had Mars Matrix, Giga Wing, Raiden Fighters 2, UN Squadron, Carrier Airwing.

San Jose State should have a shmup. There's an import shop in Burlingame which is near SFO.

But as BIG says, Dave's place.

[dave4shmups]

There's a Nickel City off 85, last time I was there they had Mars Matrix, Giga Wing, Raiden Fighters 2, UN Squadron, Carrier Airwing.

San Jose State should have a shmup. There's an import shop in Burlingame which is near SFO.

But as BIG says, Dave's place.

Thanks man! Edit: Dave and Busters? At least out here their game selection is pretty poor-lots of VR stuff.

I seriously will have to look up Atari's old address in Sunnyvale! Are there any buses or trains that go between San Jose and Sunnyvale?

And what about game stores? I've read that San Jose does have a Japantown, and I found some place called "The Game Keeper", on www.sanjose.org . I'm considering going to see this:

http://www.videogameslive.com/index.php?s=home

I'll be staying at the Best Western Gateway Inn, BTW.

[shariar07]

There is also Dave and Buster's at the Milpitas Mall, i have not checked it out but looks good, i played lot of their gun games

[Dave_K.]

Thanks man! Edit: Dave and Busters? At least out here their game selection is pretty poor-lots of VR stuff.

They are talking about my garage...



Next scheduled San Jose shmupmeet is March 4th.

[Dave_K.]

There's a Nickel City off 85, last time I was there they had Mars Matrix, Giga Wing, Raiden Fighters 2, UN Squadron, Carrier Airwing.

I went to that Nickel City about 2 weeks ago to see if anything had changed in about the year since I'd been there last. Same games as you mention above are still there, and all STILL have the same problems. Dimahoo, Mars Matrix, and Gigawing all have seriously screwed up monitors. Actually most of the non-shmup games are also broken one way or another. I really can't believe they continue to operate that arcade when over 50% of their games there are broken. Sad really, yet there are still a ton of kids there having birthday parties and whatnot.

dave4shmups, I'd recommend checking out the 3 Golflands in the area, Sunnyvale, San Jose (next to Oakridge mall), and Milpitas. Wyvern Wings, 1945, and 1945 III are the only shmups there unfortunally.

[shariar07]

Hey Dave_K your arcade is the best, no arcade joint place has that many shmups as you do. Also i was thinking of have a Team Tournment for the shmupmeet, 2player challenge. I was only referring to Dave and Busters since its the biggest arcade center, next to that it would be Golfland in Sunnyvale. But they don't have too many shmups like you do. Okay gotta bounce

[dave4shmups]

There's a Nickel City off 85, last time I was there they had Mars Matrix, Giga Wing, Raiden Fighters 2, UN Squadron, Carrier Airwing.

I went to that Nickel City about 2 weeks ago to see if anything had changed in about the year since I'd been there last. Same games as you mention above are still there, and all STILL have the same problems. Dimahoo, Mars Matrix, and Gigawing all have seriously screwed up monitors. Actually most of the non-shmup games are also broken one way or another. I really can't believe they continue to operate that arcade when over 50% of their games there are broken. Sad really, yet there are still a ton of kids there having birthday parties and whatnot.

dave4shmups, I'd recommend checking out the 3 Golflands in the area, Sunnyvale, San Jose (next to Oakridge mall), and Milpitas. Wyvern Wings, 1945, and 1945 III are the only shmups there unfortunally.

Thanks Dave_K! What about that arcade mentioned on the CG EXPO site in the Chuck-E-Cheese?

So, what's transportation like within Silcon Valley? I'm referring to public transportation, of course, because I won't have a rental car-so I'm wondering how to get from San Jose, via Public Transportation, to surrounding cities like Sunnyvale and Milpitas.

[Dave_K.]

There's a Nickel City off 85, last time I was there they had Mars Matrix, Giga Wing, Raiden Fighters 2, UN Squadron, Carrier Airwing.

I went to that Nickel City about 2 weeks ago to see if anything had changed in about the year since I'd been there last. Same games as you mention above are still there, and all STILL have the same problems. Dimahoo, Mars Matrix, and Gigawing all have seriously screwed up monitors. Actually most of the non-shmup games are also broken one way or another. I really can't believe they continue to operate that arcade when over 50% of their games there are broken. Sad really, yet there are still a ton of kids there having birthday parties and whatnot.

dave4shmups, I'd recommend checking out the 3 Golflands in the area, Sunnyvale, San Jose (next to Oakridge mall), and Milpitas. Wyvern Wings, 1945, and 1945 III are the only shmups there unfortunally.

Thanks Dave_K! What about that arcade mentioned on the CG EXPO site in the Chuck-E-Cheese?

So, what's transportation like within Silcon Valley? I'm referring to public transportation, of course, because I won't have a rental car-so I'm wondering how to get from San Jose, via Public Transportation, to surrounding cities like Sunnyvale and Milpitas.

Never been to Chuck-E-Cheese, although its like 10 minutes from my place off 101. I'm not to familiar with public transportation. There is a "VTA Lightrail" system but it just runs north to south, so could get you to the oakridge mall near the san jose golf land, but they only have 1945 for a shmup. Sorry, but it would have to be taxi or something else if you wanted to go to sunnyvale or milpitas golflands.

Here is the VTA Lightrail map:
http://www.sjcc.com/downloads/vta_map.pdf

[Valgar]

The best Arcade in Wisconsin is the Cowboy Arcade (seriously).

http://cowboy.ikaruga.co.uk/cowboy/cowboyarcade1.html

Some statistics researched in depth by scientest with tools like pen and paper.

Number of people who have visited the Cowboy Arcade : 6
Total Profit of the Cowboy Arcade : $0
Amount of ass kicking the Cowboy Arcade delivers : Unmeasurable

[dave4shmups]

I went to that Nickel City about 2 weeks ago to see if anything had changed in about the year since I'd been there last. Same games as you mention above are still there, and all STILL have the same problems. Dimahoo, Mars Matrix, and Gigawing all have seriously screwed up monitors. Actually most of the non-shmup games are also broken one way or another. I really can't believe they continue to operate that arcade when over 50% of their games there are broken. Sad really, yet there are still a ton of kids there having birthday parties and whatnot.

dave4shmups, I'd recommend checking out the 3 Golflands in the area, Sunnyvale, San Jose (next to Oakridge mall), and Milpitas. Wyvern Wings, 1945, and 1945 III are the only shmups there unfortunally.

Thanks Dave_K! What about that arcade mentioned on the CG EXPO site in the Chuck-E-Cheese?

So, what's transportation like within Silcon Valley? I'm referring to public transportation, of course, because I won't have a rental car-so I'm wondering how to get from San Jose, via Public Transportation, to surrounding cities like Sunnyvale and Milpitas.

Never been to Chuck-E-Cheese, although its like 10 minutes from my place off 101. I'm not to familiar with public transportation. There is a "VTA Lightrail" system but it just runs north to south, so could get you to the oakridge mall near the san jose golf land, but they only have 1945 for a shmup. Sorry, but it would have to be taxi or something else if you wanted to go to sunnyvale or milpitas golflands.

Here is the VTA Lightrail map:
http://www.sjcc.com/downloads/vta_map.pdf

Thanks man! Yeah, my hotel is near the light rail, which drops you off right in front of the Convention Center.

I'll have to look into busses, as far as visiting surrounding towns go; taxis-even out here in Denver, are an arm-and-a-leg to go even a short distance.

[Dave_K.]

The best Arcade in Wisconsin is the Cowboy Arcade (seriously).

http://cowboy.ikaruga.co.uk/cowboy/cowboyarcade1.html

Some statistics researched in depth by scientest with tools like pen and paper.

Number of people who have visited the Cowboy Arcade : 6
Total Profit of the Cowboy Arcade : $0
Amount of ass kicking the Cowboy Arcade delivers : Unmeasurable

LOL, that was awsome!

[dave4shmups]

Just found a Caltrain map here:

http://www.caltrain.com/caltrain_map.html

It connects with the light rail in San Jose, so I'll be able to take it over to Sunnyvale!

@Dave_K, have you ever been to San Jose's Japantown? I'm sure it's nothing compared to San Francisco's, but I'd still be interested in knowing if there are any import game stores there-or in any other part of San Jose, for that matter.

[IlMrm]

Actually the SF Japantown is pretty dull. Only worth visiting for me is an anime video store, and a Kinokuniya bookstore where I get my Arcadia magazines. Occasionally I'd see some cute Japanese girls, usually at the bookstore.