Despite Grim Prospects, a Florida Arcade Carries on
Despite Grim Prospects, a Florida Arcade Carries on
July 26, 2008
As an old school arcade devotee, GP can't resist a nostalgic story about a coin-op joint. Naturally we found the Seminole Voice's coverage of a local arcade compelling.
The place is Rocky's Replay in Casselberry, Florida. Owner Dave Mosher, who seems to get that he's swimming against the twin tides of history and commerce, calls Rocky's the "politically uncorrect gaming center." Hoping to pull an older crowd, he serves micro-brewed beers, and keeps the under-17's out on Friday and Saturday nights.
From the Voice:
Some of their games are nostalgic, such as Ms. Pac Man and an air hockey table, while others feature the latest in gaming technology, such as the LCD-screen NASCAR driving game... Mosher said that the gaming industry has changed a lot over the years, evinced by several big players, such as Nintendo, dropping out of the arcade sector...
After the Columbine school massacre, Mosher said officials pointed the blame at video game arcades. "Today it's a very different industry. This is not where the violence is," he said, comparing arcade games to home games, which are not subject to the same liabilities and tend to be more violent.
Arcade games are one-tenth of one percent of the world video game market, he said.
GP: That's an actual pic from the interior of Rocky's...
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Posted 11/20/08 at 10:47am
PHX Corp: looks like the kids are getting a more proper punishment in canada for nuking a cat
PHX Corp: looks like the kids are getting a more proper punishment in canada for nuking a cat
Posted 11/20/08 at 10:45am
PHX Corp: http://kotaku.com/5094143/judge-bans-teens-from-video-games-for-cat-killing
PHX Corp: http://kotaku.com/5094143/judge-bans-teens-from-video-games-for-cat-killing
Posted 11/20/08 at 10:27am
Shadow D. Darkman: @zel: Found it.
Shadow D. Darkman: @zel: Found it.
Posted 11/20/08 at 10:26am
zel: its at the bottom of the GTA 4 comments.
zel: its at the bottom of the GTA 4 comments.
Posted 11/20/08 at 10:25am
zel: Wow somehow while posting my message got posted like 6 or 7 times, anyone on that can delete the extra ones? O.o sorry bout that
zel: Wow somehow while posting my message got posted like 6 or 7 times, anyone on that can delete the extra ones? O.o sorry bout that
Posted 11/20/08 at 10:13am
ddrfr33k: @Alevan: It's the only way to fight dirty against PETA.
ddrfr33k: @Alevan: It's the only way to fight dirty against PETA.
Posted 11/20/08 at 09:52am
Shadow D. Darkman: @Alevan: Hey, Amy!
Shadow D. Darkman: @Alevan: Hey, Amy!
Posted 11/20/08 at 09:44am
Alevan: Love how Mejasco is taking the parody game lightly and with a sense of humor.
Alevan: Love how Mejasco is taking the parody game lightly and with a sense of humor.
Posted 11/20/08 at 09:42am
DeepThorn: Good morning
DeepThorn: Good morning
Posted 11/20/08 at 09:40am
Alevan: Good morning everybody!
Alevan: Good morning everybody!
Posted 11/20/08 at 09:36am
JDKJ: @Austin_Lewis: Perhaps. But rest assured that, as I always do, I'm giving it 100%.
JDKJ: @Austin_Lewis: Perhaps. But rest assured that, as I always do, I'm giving it 100%.
Posted 11/20/08 at 09:32am
Austin_Lewis: @JDKJ:come on, that was weak. @GP: Go to a real Roadhouse. It's a 50/50 they'll be awesome. Also, that city has gone downhill,
Austin_Lewis: @JDKJ:come on, that was weak. @GP: Go to a real Roadhouse. It's a 50/50 they'll be awesome. Also, that city has gone downhill,
Posted 11/20/08 at 09:03am
DeepThorn: Everyone should go to that PETA game site and click Ask Mama for Vegan Recipes, then change the subject and content text with animal based.
DeepThorn: Everyone should go to that PETA game site and click Ask Mama for Vegan Recipes, then change the subject and content text with animal based.
Posted 11/20/08 at 08:57am
sqlrob: @Novablack: If you're talking to me, it's a local Austin chain. I hit the one on Spyglass
sqlrob: @Novablack: If you're talking to me, it's a local Austin chain. I hit the one on Spyglass
Posted 11/20/08 at 08:56am
BearDogg-X: @ NovaBlack: I still say that Capcom could have countersued since "Diary of the Dead" was basically a ripoff of Dead Rising.
BearDogg-X: @ NovaBlack: I still say that Capcom could have countersued since "Diary of the Dead" was basically a ripoff of Dead Rising.
Posted 11/20/08 at 08:43am
magic_taco: JT is still here?, Figures, I have to get back to my business class, Wish you guys luck.
magic_taco: JT is still here?, Figures, I have to get back to my business class, Wish you guys luck.
Posted 11/20/08 at 08:34am
NovaBlack: where is that?
NovaBlack: where is that?
Posted 11/20/08 at 08:27am
JDKJ: Big shout outs to my man, nightwng2000, for pulling, at his own expense, and sharing the Orders in Numbskull's federal case.
JDKJ: Big shout outs to my man, nightwng2000, for pulling, at his own expense, and sharing the Orders in Numbskull's federal case.
Posted 11/20/08 at 08:02am
NovaBlack: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21188
NovaBlack: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21188
Posted 11/20/08 at 08:02am
NovaBlack: capcom triumphs in dead rising copyright infringement case (by dawn of the dead producer)
NovaBlack: capcom triumphs in dead rising copyright infringement case (by dawn of the dead producer)
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Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Comments
I recently went to an Arcade and saw Mario Kart as one of the games. I thought Nintendo stopped making arcade games like that?
Actually they turned to Namco for help with that one (hence the addition of Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man and a ghost (Blinky?) to the regular MK roster. :P
I played it once it was kinda fun... but the really fun ones have the cardslots to save your progress.
As fun as today's arcades are, I miss the golden age, those were fun games.
The Mario Kart arcade machine was farmed out to Namco. It actually has Pac man in it. There was also a crazy F-zero arcade machine with a moving seat that Sega made.
Classic stuff. I kinda miss the arcades of old. Too bad a lot of them now-a-days are just dingy DDR havens.
Rocky's is a cool place, there is a bar and all the machines have a cupholder to place your drink. After a certain time they start carding and it's only the 18+ crowd that is let in.
Having been to this arcade a few times I can safely say that Rocky's Replay isn't that great. The only major advantage is that it's a closer drive than Pac-Man cafe on International Drive and Disney Quest at Downtown Disney.
I agree. During my FullSail days my friends and I went to Rocky's at least once a month, sometimes more. It was really cool at first, but then the vast majority of machines in there were Soul Calibur, Street Fighter, Virtua Fighter, and Guilty Gear machines. Not to mention my favorite machine, Fist of the North Star, was removed. The place just wasn't enjoyable anymore.
I haven't been there since, that was four or five years ago. Maybe I'll swing by there again sometime and see if the game selection has improved, though I've heard from friends who have been there recently that it hasn't. Personally I prefer Disney Quest myself these days, I love that Pirates game.
Man i need to hit up a Dave & Busters or a Gameworks soon. I've been itching to get back in an arcade.
*looks at picture*
Pinball... :) I like pinball.
...But I also suck at it...
- Warren Lewis
It seems that businesses like these always go through the same phases. First, they boom when they're popular. Then they decline when the people's fickle interest wanders. Finally they reach a point where they become small enough that they can coast indefinitely on cult followings and nostalgia.
I hope that's what's happened to the world's remaining arcades, at least. It would be a shame to see even more of them go.
I agree with you CK. The arcade that I worked at is going through a tough time, and to make matters worse their Video Arcade Game supplier is trying to activly compete against their own games now instead of trying to work with them, in their own house of all places.
I love Rocky's, one of my favorite places to go to when I was at school (Full Sail). We even went there for field trip for one of the classes I had.
GDF -- that class was worthless. Almost as bad as Story Time with Dave Arneson.
Welp, I got a job, so I don't care if they were worthless :P
Hey, Dave's class was one of the best ones. Probably the only one I enjoyed more was SGP.
I loved GDF. Every class at Full Sail had something important to offer, you just had to open minded enough to look for it.
Even if you only took away one thing, how many game developers can say that one of their teachers in school was the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons?
HEY, bite your tongue! Dave is a very close friend of mine from years back and a great guy (though i will admit a little nuts at times), after Gaigax (sp?) he is all we have. Rocky's is still a great place, they are simply a business and have to cater to what will bring in the most money and keep the doors open. Pac-man is way too over priced and on the other side of town and Disney Quest?!?! Either you are a tourist or just an avid gamer, cuz DQ is painful at best. Respect the hometown favs.... or maybe I don't get it cuz I couldn't stomach what FS was trying to feed me as "real world education." But that's just me.
The link is screwed up.
This place has been in my vicinity for years and I'm just now hearing about it. I'm a bad gamer :(
Hey, that's nearby me, too!
Amid the fact that there are very few arcades nationwide, there are quite a bit down here in Florida that I have visited. Boomers (formally Grand Prix race-o-rama) still operates large arcades in Boca Raton and Ft. Lauderdale, Pac-man Cafe and Disney Quest (awesome 5-story arcade goodness!!!) in Orlando, three Dave and Busters north and south Florida, and a few small independantly owned arcades here and there.
We lost a local mall arcade a number of years ago. We still have soem I know of in Michigan. Gameworks, Dave and Busters, and Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum.
Man I wish there was somehting like that around here. N. Nevada's arcades are all in casinos and cater to the DDR fools. LOL. I miss the arcades. I would spent hours in them mashing buttons. And hey now that I am an adult now, I have money to blow on this kinda stuff. Bring back the Arcades!
What are the grim protests? Are the ones protesting even aware of what's in the arcade? Have they played the violent games they fear their children playing?
Psst.. its prospects, not protests..
Ah Yeah I'm a dipshit nya. Still don't see the problem...
Vegeta, what does the screen say about how much it costs to play an arcade game these days?
Also, arcade games today are considered too "short" by today's standards (only 30-60 minutes) and too easy (but that's only because people credit-spam and fail to understand the difference between actually beating a game and just feeding money into the machine until they see the "THE END" screen).
When I was 12 I went to the Metro Center Mall in Phoenix. At that time the arcade was an entire sub-level in and of itself. I slowly descended the escalator and experienced the rapture. Street Fighter 2 Champion Edition had just landed and they had at least 20 of them in a big circle. Not sure how much money I had but being the day when the average machine only required 1 quarter, I had enough for several hours of play. I fed my last $5 into American Laser Games Space Pirates and left with a smile. The kind that a man smiles when he leaves the massage parlor with a happy ending. I blew a bunch of money but had a good time doing it.
Now that arcade has shrunk to the size of a video store and is on the ground level next to the food court. How the mighty have fallen.
Sunnyvale Golfland for the win.
I wonder if they could expand add a cyber cafe or at least a console room or 2 with the current consoles and and a few games, I mean it would be cheaper than new arcade units and at 5-10$ for 30 minutes for each person...I mean in this day and age you have to do more than hock the dieing arcade shuffle, mixing in a cyber cafe and game lounge, hell even charge more for kids under 10 that are by theme selfs as a way to get parents to either keep them out or pay as a alt unregulated day care least til the law gets on you LOL.
I is fuzzy brained mew =^^=
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
(in need of a bad overhaul)
There isn't room for them to expand in any direction, sadly.
well some can some cant but the point is made you need to balance thigns out to surive.
I is fuzzy brained mew =^^=
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
(in need of a bad overhaul)
I love Rocky's and I will miss it when I have to leave Florida. Sure, some great machines have been removed, but they still add to it. You can still smoke (yay for me), get a beer, and grab a hot dog. If anything, the F-zero machine on hydraulics is insanely fun.
I hope when I come back to visit over the years, Rocky's will still be here to enjoy.
I went to Japan in September of 2007, and spent many days in Shinjuku, and there are arcades there as commonly found as Starbucks. Many have new games as well as the old, and it really reminded me of the arcade scene in the USA (that can be reproduced at California Extreme to a degree), big time from more than 10 years ago. I played "Typing Of The Dead" at a Sega Joyopolis, but I couldn't beat the 3rd level boss because you needed to be able to answer trivia questions which required reading the native Kanji/Hirigana/Katana. Seeing "Power Shovel" was really cool, and one thing I REALLY liked was the "Let's go by train 2", which is a SHINKANSEN simluator WITH WORKING MECHANICAL GAUGES.
Seeing a Sega satellite terminal was just awesome.
I agree...I went to Tokyo a couple years ago and went to this great Sega arcade right in the middle of Akihabara. Best part about it was...even games that were pretty new to me were old news there, so they had the amount of play time turned up...a 100 yen coin got me 5 DDR songs, for example.
I really do miss real arcades, the closest thing we have here in Fayetteville is called The Docks, which is like a local Dave & Busters. its 2 levels, top floor is only open to 18+ (21 to drink obviously) and bottom floor is a small arcade, bowling lanes, and restaurant. The games that are mainly played are DDR and Street Fighter 3rd Strike =/
The Gold Mine
South Square Mall
Durham, NC
$25 in quarters
:: Starts singing "Those Were The Days". ::
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
Nightwng2000 has also updated his MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/nightwing2000 Nightwng2000 is now admin to the group "Parents For Education, Not Legislation" on MySpace as http://groups.myspace.com/pfenl
I love Rocky's for the experience. There is still something about playing light gun games in an arcade. Plus there is also the air hockey table (which I dominate in), the basketball machine (which I dominate in), the beer is reasonably priced, and the nostalgia is there. Also, if you really are jonesing for some food, the Hooter's is right next door!
On this topic, see the movie: "The King of Kong: A Fistful Full of Quarters." A wonderful documentary about old-school video gaming. It covers the battle between two men for the world-record score in Donkey Kong. It is a fantastic film!
its an awesome place...its too bad the industry has slowed.
I'm a bit late on this, but I just started reading GamePolitics earlier today. Scrolling through the pages, I was sure suprised - I live 15 minutes away from this place and have been going there for close to four years.
Now, don't get me wrong. I love Rocky's, but lately... it really is getting run down. In the past few months, I've seen one new game (poorly made Deal or No Deal? game) installed and none of the broken ones repaired. The lone DDR machine they have has been dead for two months, only one side on both of the Time Crisis machines work, one gun on each House of the Dead games works, and slowly getting worse. They really focus on their Pinball games, almost every time I visit they have a different one. If only they would stop buying pinball machines (I rarely see people playing them anyway) and spend the money they would spend on just ONE machine on repairing everything else, Rocky's would be such a better place. It's sad, it really is, because I remember being able to go in a year ago, pushing a 20$ into one of the change machines and blowing it all in a little over an hour and have one hell of a time doing it.
Now I go and drop 5$ and play Soul Calibur or Maximum Tune for 20 minutes and leave. Nothing else there worth staying for. There are days now where I'll stop in for just lunch (60 cent hot dogs and 1$ drinks? Hell yeah) but not play games. Half of them don't work, anyway.
It was a good place....just a bad owner. If Rockys only had a honest and caring owner it would be so much more fun to be. The place has been going down hill for a long time now.
They got rid of many good games... Fist of the north star, that F16 Fighter pilot game and many others. but it would be great to have them in your own home...
Rocky's Replay is closing early part of 2009,
it's the end of an error!
(yeah error) It's the
end of bullshit lies and unjust events!! It's over
for that place one teen said,I was thrown out of
Rocky's because the gun toting pedophile asshole
that worked there simply didn't like me! one
steroid taking queer
that still works there
made a young girl quit because of sexual
harassment and the
owners did NOTHING!
it's poetic justice
for that shit hole!!
it is scheduled to be bulldozed in early 2009,
the owners of that
shit hole have only a
few months to sell there shitty home and move
out of state!! it's so
funny to sit back and
see it all happen!!
hey T I hope Walmart is hiring you little midget cunt!
hope you don't lose
your piece house if you haven't already!!
ROCKY"S REPLAY!! you truly deserve to
ROT IN HELL!!
ROCKY"S REPLAY!! You truly deserve to
ROT IN HELL!!
and I'm laughing about it every day!
Rocky's Replay is closing early part of 2009,it's
the end of an error!(yeah error)It's the end
of bullshit lies and unjust events!! fuck you steroid taking queer,fuck you you little midget cunt!! and everyone else
that works there still but especially the owners of that shit hole!!
fuck all of you!!
SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. -- An intersection expansion at S.R. 436 and Red Bug Lake Road in Seminole County
will mean less traffic, but at least 17 homes and four businesses will be forced out.
Tuesday evening, more than 100 residents got a chance to look at the expansion plans that include
a left turn flyover from S.R. 436 to Red Bug Lake and extra lanes. For some residents, it was a
first look at their neighborhood with their homes replaced by a road and retention pond.
"It's kind of sad, you know, after you've been so many years living in a place and you've had to
invest all your money and your effort with your family. It's kind of hard," said homeowner Manny
Mendoza.
Will Collier will also lose his home.
"Supposedly they will take them, pay for our homes and take good care of us, so we'll see," he said.
Seventeen homes along Red Bug Lake Road, along with Comfort Furniture, a Mobil gas station, an office
building and the popular Rocky's Replay Arcade will all be forced out because of eminent domain laws.
"One of our clients has been in their house for 18 years, with five children, all their grandkids and
to have them locate at the age of 65, whatever compensation can be obtained through this process is
never going to be enough to replace that," said Prineet Sharma, an attorney for the homeowners.
County officials said road expansion is never easy, but it's needed at the notoriously busy intersection.
Seminole County engineers said they expect to finish the design phase in the spring of 2008. Then they'll
spend two years acquiring the necessary properties. They plan to start construction in the summer of
2010.
Eminent domain: The power of the state to take private property for public use with payment of
compensation to the owner.
This place sucks,the staff are assholes the owners are assholes and it's just a shitty place to work,I would love to know what the hell aquamanluigi is talking about cuss if I'm not mistaken he worked there too and left because it was a stressful as hell place to work! have you started kissing ass or what? did you forget the CIA games? Remember the Cutthroat assholes that always end up working there? the owners constant lies right to your face? and let's not forget all the jerk-off customers,I'm sooooo glad that the place is closing the hell down!! I'm gonna throw a party that day I swear!! stay tuned for the ROCKY"S REPLAY ROT IN HELL MYSPACE PAGE!! and as for aquamanluigi...MAN OH MAN what a worthless lazy ass idiot to have known. Even your brother and a few other people warned me about how frikin lazy your ass was,I guess that's why you haven't done appraisals since NOV 30 2006 you managed to really screw that up too ,I laughed when I read it (Registered Trainee Appraiser Null and Void
11/30/2006) it's the proof that you can't finish anything not even computer school and when it comes to computers you don't know as much as you think you know,you really suck ass dude! I finally see that now! well you and everyone else can screw off I don't need a lazy ass like you around me!
It is not a rumor. Rocky's is closing most likely in mid-2009. Here is the proof that the idiots at Rocky's don't know; copy and paste this into your browser: [url]http://65.202.76.58/[/url].
Feel free to look at the whole site but mostly look at the lower right that says: [i]Click here to see Preferred concept alternative approved by the board of County Commissioners[/i]. When the PDF opens (you must have Adobe Reader), pay attention to the upper left corner and zoom in to it 1-1 next to 330 the pond is where Rocky's is [b][u]now[/u][/b]. They'll spend two years acquiring the necessary properties but businesses will go first then the residents.
[list]- The owner didn't care whether or not female employees were being sexually harassed.
- The owner didn't care that a certain employee acted like a drunk jerk who tried to constantly have sex with underage girls, and brought his [i]unlicensed loaded gun[/i] to work everyday.
- Every other day someone tried to get me fired because (1) they felt like it, (2) favoritism to certain customers and I uncooperative with others, (3) being informed that I was being watched by unknown customers, and (4) told that I was doing things that simply were not true.[/list]
The owner likes to keep a paranoid atmosphere to try to keep everyone in line, but people resent that type of treatment after a while and figure out that he is full of crap. This place is closing and I [b]love[/b] it. This is justice!