I'm 32 years old. When I was a child my mother worked overnights in 7/11. She had no babysitter, so I sleep in the car or play video games all night long. I was a pro at some of them games lol!
Even though it was so long ago I still miss those days. Arcade machines weren't just at 7/11 but they were everywhere. I remember playing Contra at Kmart and Street Fighter 2 at Food Lion (grocery store). The very first time I played Shinobi, believe it or not, was at a hotel we were staying at in San Diego, CA back in 1989. That's right...even hotels and motels had arcade machines back then. I was so floored with the game that I bugged the shit out of my parents until they got it for me on the Master System lol. But it's such a crying shame that arcades are virtually non-existent here in America now. Kids today have no idea how common place they once were.
Jesse Watson And they're all broken. I tried playing some fighting games with my son at this Amusement center, and you can barely play the damn games. Ditto for pinball as nothing in being maintenance.
Hell yeah, dude. First place I ever played a Neo-Geo cab was at the 7-Eleven near my high school. I remember that it was a 2-slot and had World Heroes and Samurai Shodown.
Being born in 89, I definitely came along during the tail end of this but I do remember the exciting , awesome feeling of finding arcade cabs in lil convenience stores in restaurants and just having this feeling of whoa, lol. It's so nostalgic to remember when they were everywhere and ya never know what kinda arcade game one place would have...very exciting.
True story. Mid 90's, 2am at 7-11 in a sketchy 'hood, me and a buddy were so into a game of Mortal Kombat II we had no idea the clerk was being robbed at gunpoint as we played until the police showed up and hardly believed we saw or heard nothing.
Hell yea! Those were the goddamned glory days! It wasn't just 7/11s either, arcades were freaking everywhere! Pizza places, laundromats, electronics stores, you name it. Just along the one street where I was living in New York at the time, there had to have been at least 5 places that had arcade machines. The og tmnt game and it's legendary sequel, Mario bros 2, double Dragon, ninja gaiden, Robocop, final fight, X-Men, hell, even tomb raider had an arcade! Tekken, virtua fighter, the list goes on. There were so many awesome games I discovered through arcade machines. I swear, at one point they pretty much started just putting an NES in the things basically, with the popular Nintendo games of the day.
those games were everywhere. we didn't really have alot of 7/11 at the time but we had the games. att stores, diners, gas stations and buss terminals. everywhere. in the mid 90's they rerouted the freeway and alot of those places closed down, never to reopen. I still stumble upon really dusty old pinballs and cabinets that have been there all this time or have been moved to some storage after the bankruptcies. the roads where the main traffic passed through before the freeway is a time capsule, left as it were 20 years ago. oh the memories.
Thanks for taking us on another great trip down memory lane. I do miss the arcades. I remember being so excited walking into the darkened room lit up with of games and exchange my dollar for quarters in the change machine ready go to town :) I like your videos because they feel like the nostalgic conversations I have with my friends sometimes. Keep up the good work!
When I was a kid, Wal-Mart was the place to go to check out new arcade games. I remember they had gotten Street Fighter 2, King of the Monsters, Tetris, Raiden Fighters, Samurai Shodown, and shoot...what was that game called where you are like a game show contestant who has to navigate a baton through a maze without touching the sides? It was another Neo-Geo game.
I don't comment much on your channel, but I never miss it, ever! I keep up with your show as much as I keep up with my kid's! I am going to be 43 in May and I remember my first game I played was space invader's at our local 7-11 in Burbank, Cali. It was about three blocks away from where I lived. This was about 1979-80.
7-11 is where I first played Contra, I also used to skateboard /bmx to 7-11, we would buy sports cards, and play video games for a good hour, then go back out and skate, or go to the dirt track... thanks for the video... brings back great memories... I remember that straw trick as well,, i was never very good at it, but i had a friend that could do it really well... thanks again
I remember doing this as well Johnny. My friends and I loved going to different 7/11s through out my home town to play. Not just 7/11, arcade cabinets used to be common in convenience stores here in the US in the late 80s and early 90s. One in particular I used to frequent had an SNK 4 in 1 cabinet with Fatal Fury 2, World Heroes 2, Super Baseball 2020, and Samurai Showdown. That cabinet was my favorite. Thanks for sharing this video. I truly miss being a kid in those days racking up quarters and riding my BMX bike around town find the newest cabinets to play fighting games.
I always love these memoir videos! Even though I wasn't even alive in the late 80's. Maybe that's why Gaming Historian is also a pretty cool channel. You'll always learn something new from the retro days of gaming.
Great episode, brought back so many memories. I remember every single place I played and they were all at very different places. An arcade casino, our local cornershops, a bakery, fastfood joints and any place that had them.
i'm mostly amazed you can remember all these things from a long time ago. i grew up playing arcade games all the time but still have a faint flicker of memories and i'm even younger than you
I remember that whole experience all too well. All those games you mentioned I played those as a kid. I guess that's why I try so hard to have them back in my collection. I'm always looking for the closest thing to the arcade experience.
Dude I cannot tell you how much I love your channel. The way you reminisce about the past about video games and anime it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling in the cockles of my heart. keep up the good work!
I vaguely remember back in 97-98 going to the 7/11 and my older brother and I would buy Mac cheese pizza 2 big ol cheesey slices and then we’d hurry up to eat it cause we wanted to play “las maquinitas” arcade machines . We’d Sit their and try to play X-men vs Capcom and then we’d hop on to metal slug .. good times ..
I loved that "Ninja Kid" game! It was so silly, but so fun to play! I remember it also had a TON of secrets and special techniques/items you could find! You hit the 'way-back-button' my friend...
So cool that with MAME ports, we can relive and replay these awesome arcade games that never got ported to the consoles. Love your videos and recollections. Thanks
Talk about taking a walk down memory lane.I remember seeing arcade machines at convenience stores even at a gas station.I remember the 7-11 near my house had not only arcade machines but also pinball games.Remember the table top machines? I still remember some of the games that I got too play some are vague:Donkey Kong,Centipede,Joust,Asteroids,Dig Dug,Battlezone,Pac-man,Ms.Pac-man,Star Castle,Gauntlet,Satan's Hollow,Star Wars:The Arcade Game I could probably name some more.The games would change frequently so always had something new to play.Thanks for bringing back memories of the old days.God I miss it.
If there's one thing I very much regret about being born in '86 it's that, by the time I was getting old enough to be able to appreciate -- or even find -- arcade games, they were already disappearing in droves from the areas I might run into them. That said, the arcade games I HAVE had an opportunity to play have always amazed me. My first experience with Ms. Pac Man was with a vintage arcade machine, sitting at a laundromat my sperm donor would requent when I was a kid. If I was lucky I could talk him out of 50 cents to get a credit or two on it, and I'd try my darndest to make those credits last, usually to no avail. The first time I played Rampage it was at a skating rink's arcade, and right next to it was an Operation W.O.L.F. unit. I was there for a friend's 9th birthday party, but I ended up spending the entire time standing in front of those two machines, blasting army men and smashing buildings. As much as I love arcade games on home consoles and even emulators, there's always something missing from the experience. To really get, to really *understand the appeal* of the games, you HAVE to play them on the arcade machines, at least once. Some day I hope to open an arcade. It won't be oriented at kids or teens (though they will be welcome,) but at those who grew up with and loved the games on display, all available for nickel or, at most, dime credits. It will be GLORIOUS.
I do remember arcade games in convenience stores like 7'11s,hcg.In the 80's and 90's they were every where.The most i remember playing at any 7'11s were games like chase hq,xenophobe,guerrilla war,1943,ikari warriors and p.o.w.
We used to have an arcade in a laundromat inside of this old grocery store called "Sack&Save" when I was a kid. My parents would go grocery shopping, toss me a few bucks, I'd go load up on quarters and I'd sit there for about an hour or two until they were done. Best memories of my childhood right there.
I gotta tell you, you have one of the best, if not the best channel on youtube! I feel like you sum up everything extremely well without sounding fake or rehearsed. I'm of the same generation and it feels like we would've been friends hanging out playing games! At our 7/11 we had Galaga, Bagman, and Ms Pacman for a long time!
I'm glad I make the cut of being old enough to remember gaming at the 7/11. I remember Top Gun always being the #2 machine and a Neo Geo machine with 4 games was common. Arcade games were everywhere when I grew up, the video store had Street Fighter Championship Edition, a taco shop had Mortal Kombat , skating rinks had decent arcade and then there were full blown arcades either local or in the mall a town over. But the good ole 7/11 was the best choice to waste a few dollars. you could grab a Big Gulp, I was on the Mountain Dew or if I felt sneaky I'd fill it up with slushee. Then you played games until you ran out of quarters. How I miss the good ole days when arcade games were everywhere.
Final fight was at my local 711 in San Mateo CA growing up. When I played final fight years later on the Sega cd, I remembered the intro sequence and recognized it!
7/11 in the mid-80's was my go-to place for gaming when I couldn't make it to any of the arcades in my area. The one near my childhood home always seemed to have an awesome selection/rotation of cabinets.
I remember my friend and I in the early 90s 12 years old would go to the 711 in our neighborhood. We play street fighter 2, wrestle fest, mortal kombat cause it would be 25 cents instead of 50 cent everywhere else. A lot of 711 arcade stories. I was a skateboarder too.
I remember those days. I used to play quite a few games at the 7 eleven. That is the first time I got to play Contract 2. 7 eleven used to have a great selection of arcade games.
I remember when I was about 7 years old playing "WWF Superstars" arcade cabinet in a local 7-11. As a huge wrestling fan at the time, this game was amazing to me. To this day I'm still looking to find this cabinet to buy for my collection. That's my "holy grail". But yeah, 7-11's introduced me to so many great arcade games. The other one that comes to mind was when I was in high school. I would stay at my friend's place on the weekends and in the middle of the night we'd head down to 7-11 and play "NHL Challenge", where it was basically a hockey version of NBA Jam. We spent countless hours at that 7-11 playing that game. Obviously, there were other games like "The Simpsons", "TMNT", etc. Such great times, oh the nostalgia. Great video Johnny, you just brought back so many great memories to me. It's really a shame that arcade cabinets aren't still around.
Love all your videos Johnny! Always strike a chord with me as I am from the same generation. You said previously you lived in Yorkshire, England. Just wondered where? I live in Hull, East Yorkshire. There were some AMAZING arcades on the coast there...especially Scarborough! All full of bandits, a few racers and the odd HotD now.
So funny your mentioning this. I remember playing street fighter 2 among other arcade games @ 7-11 back in Virginia Beach VA where I was born and lived until I was 13 years old. Great memories playing arcade games at 7-11 for sure my brother.
Great video! Some of my greatest arcade experiences happened in my local 7/11! Candy, chocolate bars, chips, soft drinks, popsicles and arcade games! As a kid, this was heaven! I first experienced Toki in a 7/11! I was always mesmorized by the orbes he fired! The shiny orbes brought the game to life! Double Dragon and Comando were two other memorable games I enjoyed playing in my local 7/11 as well. The one game I totally forgot about was Saint Dragon. Holy crap! That was a blast from the past! Shinobi the arcade game and Ninja Gaiden were both games that I enjoyed very much as a kid! And you are definitely right! Arcade game attracted a crowd of kids! Onlookers would conser you riff raffs! But as teenagers we didn't care! We were all about hanging with the boys and girls, just having a bit of fun!
I never saw coin-op machines at 7-11 stores as a kid in the '90s, but they were at several convenience store chains. One of my local gas stations had a machine for the first "Mortal Kombat", which I put tons of quarters into. The now-defunct grocery chain Minyard's had a few "Street Fighter" machines, which I also saw at "Stop-N-Go" locations, too.
Holy crap, Saint Dragon looks sick! My 7-11 in Pacifica, CA had some great games: Roadblasters, Bad Dudes, Turtles in Time, Street Fighter II. Great times. You know what else is trippy? I used to play Mortal Kombat II at Pay Less Drugs (now its called Rite Aid). So much fun and the old people buying laxatives would stare at me at the front of the store LOL. Great video! I might have to talk about this on a video as well!
Awesome segment man, I'm in japan as I type this and got some food from a 7-11 and thought to myself, I remember when 7-11s had arcade game.....great days. That was literally 2 days ago. In so cal a lot of our street fighter 2 MK days were at 7/11. Anyways keep up the good work, love getting these videos weekly.
I used to play most of my arcade games as a kid at a little shopping mall by my house called "The Big H" and there were always 4 or 5 arcade games right outside of a Pathmark supermarket. That's where i first played Double Dragon, Altered Beast, Ninja Gaiden and a ton of other classics. There are still a few games i'm still searching for that i played there that i cannot remember the names of. Also i remember the first time i played Mortal Kombat was at a little video rental store and oh boy was i amazed at that game. I can go on forever about this so i will stop here. Love your videos i just started watching recently and i think i seen most of them already.
I love that someone else remembers gaming at 7-11 as a happy part of their lives. I can remember playing Gauntlet there and does anyone else remember going to hills? They had that awesome part of the store before you go in that had food and slushies and they had exite bike and rampage. Then you would go in the store and hopefully not have to wait in line to play Mario Bros on the NES they had set up. Only time in my life that my mom couldn't get me out of a store before her. God i miss those days everything was much simpler.
...Final Fight, that half stale corn chip smell, the scent of that artificial nacho cheese and the sound of the door dinger....It's all coming back to me again. *flashback*
Those were they days! We had a few grocery stores with arcade machines. There was this one shop called "Ashique" which was a general food store downstairs with 2 machines but they had a top floor full of machines! Man I used to spend a lot of my weekends and most of my pocket money there. The audio on the machines were loud, I remember when they bought in SF2, all you could hear from downstairs was "HADOOOKEN, SHOORYUKEN!" I was like what is that!!!? ran upstairs and there is was SF2 - RYU vs Ehonda (Ehonda stage) wow I remember games like Wardner, Killer Instinct, Outzone, Shinobi, Golden Axe, King of Fighters, there was this one fighting game - they had a character called bobby who was exactly like Guile from street fighter 2 i cant think of the name of the game!! please if anyone knows let me know. LOL man amazing memories Thanks for your videos its takes me back!
One of the many reasons why I'm glad that I grew up in the 80's. I lived right down the street from a 7/11 for a time. I can't even remember how many quarters I wasted on Mortal Kombat.
Such a great topic. 7/11 stores are not as common in my area any more, but as a kid I would ride my bike to play arcade games and read WWF magazines. I remember playing games like Yie ar kung fu, Terra Cresta, Bomb Jack, Gauntlet II, but the two game simply fell in love with at 7/11 were Ghosts and Goblins and 1942. I spent so much money on these games, and I begged my parents to get me an NES so I could play them at home. Great memories
My Dad used to take me to a 7/11 down the street where they had a Shinobi arcade game. I needed a footstool to reach the cabinet controls properly. Later for Christmas my parents bought me a Master System because it had Shinobi on it. Those were some of my earliest memories I have and were great bonding moments with my dad.
7/11 is where I played Vigilante. My mom used to take me so it was probably '88. Needed the small step stool to reach the controls lol. I'll never forget those times.
I remember so well. It wasnt just 7-11 either! Lots of mom & pops had them too... ahhh, double dragon, choplifter, operation wolf... & you can never forget going up to sev to see if your Ryu can beat the Bison torpedo spammer, or finally getting a dragon punch off ON PURPOSE the first time! Thems was the days!
I was pretty young when arcade cabinets were around but I still have plenty memories of them. My last great memory of just finding arcade games was when I went to wildwood New Jersey and they had an arcade that was just packed with arcade cabinets and not just crane prize games. There is still a Pizza Hut 10 minutes from where I live that has a marvel vs capcom cabinet that has been there since I was really young(I'm 22 now)
7-11 was the place to go for gaming!! So many great games, so many great memories. I remember playing Gauntlet for hours with my cousins while enjoying nachos and cherry slurpees!! Arcade machines were everywhere back then. Liquor stores, supermarkets and even family restaurants. And I'm not talking Chuck E Cheese!! The first time I saw and played Super Mario Brothers was at a Mayfair Supermarket. It was just fantastic entering a 7-11 or any other place of business and discovering a new video game. The 80's and 90's ROCKED!!!
Not only 7/11 arcade machines were everywhere. Laundry mates, gas stations, pizzashops, super markets, roller skating rinks we even had a funeral home that had froger, pacman and space invaders up at the front(it was only for guests tho, probably to distract young kids) kinda wierd that they were in a funeral home, but those were the times.
I remember playing Time Soldier and Smash TV at 711 as well as Street Fighter 2... Those are the best days and like you said you'll find the occasional arcade machine at a pizza joint or a laundromat...
Thank you!! I've been racking my brain for years trying to remember the name of that awesome combat fighting game Hippodrome!! I was beginning to think I had imagined it lol! Thank you for this video, so many great memories playing at 7-11!!
wow, didnt expect muxh but you blew me away. My mind is blownn. I was born in 81 and u remembered just seeing that Toki game as a young kid, but i really recognised it. the mere sight of ot really did somethign for me back then
I have golden memories about arcade games at my local theme park here in Finland, end of 80´s there was Outrun, Spaltterhouse, Ninja Gaiden, Afterburner, Star Wars, and many more. But those are games i always played there. Damn such a good times.
There's a ton of memories I have, not so much from 7/11, but just some local mom and pop stores also having arcade games. For example, I discovered 1943 at a local gas station/deli (Which served pretty stinking awesome food!). In addition, I remember there being arcade games at grocery stores like Fred Meyers, Thriftway, IGA, K-Mart, etc. That's where I discovered stuff like TMNT, Crime Fighters, Punch-Oujt (Both playchoice-10 and the "wireframe" version), WWF Superstars, Rolling Thunder, WWF Wrestlefest and yes, Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. I also remember a restaurant within the grocery store having a cocktail version of Ms. Pacman. So, I totally relate to that being the place where you got to play state of the art stuff. There are still a few pizza joints that carry some classikc arcade games in a small room (remember discovering Ninja Gaiden and Golden Axe that way at the local Pizza Hut and the burger joint Fuddruckers) It's most unfortunate that the younger generation won't get a chance to do that. FYI, I apparently WAS the six year old that was told to stay away from you guys. Didn't work. I still stepped up to plunk down the more than occasional quarter into an arcade machine. Though, it's likely mom and dad were watching from afar off. :-)
I remember arcade machines being all over the place, liquor stores, pizza places, video rental stores, bars, gas stations, laundry mats, everywhere. Oh the memories, a time period like that will never happen again. Good times. :)
Just modded my Arcade1up streetfighter Cab. With light up buttons and better sticks. Raspberry Pie 4 inside And boy, im loving all the classic Capcom Konami Neo geo Classics
Laundromats where also notorious for having arcade games. Corner stores,outside and inside some supermarket grocery stores. I don't know about nowadays but bowling alleys also had some great stuff. They were everywhere!
I never really played arcades in 7/11, but I remember playing arcades in pizza parlors, bowling alleys, Scandia, and the underground arcade at Harvey's Casino.
My 7/11 had two arcade cabinets, one was Space Harrier and the other I can't remember. There was also a department store, back in the 80's/90's, called Aides (not really a good name to choose), which, I think, was part of the Ace Hardware brand (not sure), but it had a huge room of arcade cabinets, ranging from SEGA titles, Double Dragon, Ninja Gaiden, and more! I also loved that place because that was where I rented my Super Nintendo games. They later closed down towards the middle of the 90's and I still miss that store.
My local convenience store had 5 or 6 arcade games at a time in the 80's. They had Golden Axe, P-47 Phantom Fighter, Sky Soldiers, Two Crude Dudes, 1943, and Ghosts and Goblins. Good times.
They were such good days then...I remember all of us around space ace in the corner of 7/11 drinking slurpys and spending all day in there.....good times...
I remember the 7-11 down the road from our house getting a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cabinet when it just came out, I used to play it all the time. A couple years later they got a Street Fighter II cabinet, good times. The 7-11 I lived by also had a video rental section as well, I still remember renting all kinds of movies from there.
I loved my my 711, that's how I played final fight , sengoku, wwf games. So much memories of me and my friend's rideing r bikes in the country then stopping there afterwards to play n chip n on snacks.
I was born in 91 so I missed out on the majority of arcade genre of games... But fortunately for me I loved fighting games and that was time fighting games were golden.. You had 4 big time fighting games of all time... Alpha 3, Capcom vs Snk2, marvel 2, and third strike... All God like...
I remember the Circle K across the street from where I lived had a Super Street Fighter II machine back in the mid 90s. It was amazing going from one hundred degree weather outside in the summer into a cool store and seeing the wonder that was Super Street Fighter II in all of its glory. The memories still sit inside my head to this day.
My 7-11 in chicago had time killers and arkanoid and then mk2 and killer instinct it was amazing my dad would send us with a note to get him smokes (that was ok back then) and we would also have to get a roll of quarters for the laundry in the apartment and he would let us have 2 dollars each for me and my brother. Thank you for bringing back that amazing memory!
I remember the arcade games at the 7-11 and the laundromat. Playing games like Pac-man, Street Fighter2, and Galaga. In the mid to late 90s i remember alot of the SNK machines poping out all over the place.
Haha, remember these days! Late nights at 7/11 playing Street Fighter 2 and Jurassic Park pinball with my friends. Yep, can relate here and will unfortunately never see this again. Only places i see any games at these days are a few pizza parlors. Couple light gun games and maybe a neo geo multi cabinet once in awhile. Miss those days indeed!
I'm 32 years old. When I was a child my mother worked overnights in 7/11. She had no babysitter, so I sleep in the car or play video games all night long. I was a pro at some of them games lol!
happy 40th birthday now
Even though it was so long ago I still miss those days. Arcade machines weren't just at 7/11 but they were everywhere. I remember playing Contra at Kmart and Street Fighter 2 at Food Lion (grocery store). The very first time I played Shinobi, believe it or not, was at a hotel we were staying at in San Diego, CA back in 1989. That's right...even hotels and motels had arcade machines back then. I was so floored with the game that I bugged the shit out of my parents until they got it for me on the Master System lol. But it's such a crying shame that arcades are virtually non-existent here in America now. Kids today have no idea how common place they once were.
I love arcades, luckily in my city there is still 3 of them.
These days it's just the junk-game arcades where you pump in tokens and get tickets to buy junk. :( That and the odd light-gun shooter. Sad.
Jesse Watson the place near my house has actual games like street fighter, contra, and lots of other classics.
Jesse Watson And they're all broken. I tried playing some fighting games with my son at this Amusement center, and you can barely play the damn games. Ditto for pinball as nothing in being maintenance.
Jesse Watson And Guitar Hero lol, even sadder...imo.
Three greatest arcades of all time, TNMNT, the Simpsons, and x-men!
Space Harrier, Outrun, and Hang on were epic!
Knieghtz the 3 screen Darius and Ninja Warriors were my favorite games.
Sunset Riders is another great Konami game!
Ah yeah, I remember one of the arcades in my town used to have a broken Simpson's arcade that you could play endlessly for free :).
Lydomina Or it was just on free play.
Hell yeah, dude. First place I ever played a Neo-Geo cab was at the 7-Eleven near my high school. I remember that it was a 2-slot and had World Heroes and Samurai Shodown.
7/11 is where Marty McFly learned how to shoot.
Being born in 89, I definitely came along during the tail end of this but I do remember the exciting , awesome feeling of finding arcade cabs in lil convenience stores in restaurants and just having this feeling of whoa, lol.
It's so nostalgic to remember when they were everywhere and ya never know what kinda arcade game one place would have...very exciting.
True story. Mid 90's, 2am at 7-11 in a sketchy 'hood, me and a buddy were so into a game of Mortal Kombat II we had no idea the clerk was being robbed at gunpoint as we played until the police showed up and hardly believed we saw or heard nothing.
Reminds me of that scene in Grosse Point Blank! :)
Hell yea! Those were the goddamned glory days! It wasn't just 7/11s either, arcades were freaking everywhere! Pizza places, laundromats, electronics stores, you name it. Just along the one street where I was living in New York at the time, there had to have been at least 5 places that had arcade machines. The og tmnt game and it's legendary sequel, Mario bros 2, double Dragon, ninja gaiden, Robocop, final fight, X-Men, hell, even tomb raider had an arcade! Tekken, virtua fighter, the list goes on. There were so many awesome games I discovered through arcade machines. I swear, at one point they pretty much started just putting an NES in the things basically, with the popular Nintendo games of the day.
Shotgun Zombie Ah, the Nintendo "Playchoice 10" and "VS." cabinets!
I have to say your memory of your childhood for specific stories and details is incredible!!!! Props on keeping your mind young. Love all your videos.
those games were everywhere. we didn't really have alot of 7/11 at the time but we had the games.
att stores, diners, gas stations and buss terminals. everywhere.
in the mid 90's they rerouted the freeway and alot of those places closed down, never to reopen.
I still stumble upon really dusty old pinballs and cabinets that have been there all this time or have been moved to some storage after the bankruptcies.
the roads where the main traffic passed through before the freeway is a time capsule, left as it were 20 years ago.
oh the memories.
I used to play Revolution X at my 7/11... Remember, MUSIC is the weapon.
Rev X is one of my favorite arcade games. I don't know why most people say its terrible. I want to buy the 3 gun arcade cabinet for my garage.
I'm from Argentina, but I can totally relate to those memories ! Good episode !
Thanks for taking us on another great trip down memory lane. I do miss the arcades. I remember being so excited walking into the darkened room lit up with of games and exchange my dollar for quarters in the change machine ready go to town :)
I like your videos because they feel like the nostalgic conversations I have with my friends sometimes. Keep up the good work!
Arcades were everywhere when I grew up in the 80's/90's. I spent countless hours and coins in my youth playing arcades. Great time to be a kid.
When I was a kid, Wal-Mart was the place to go to check out new arcade games. I remember they had gotten Street Fighter 2, King of the Monsters, Tetris, Raiden Fighters, Samurai Shodown, and shoot...what was that game called where you are like a game show contestant who has to navigate a baton through a maze without touching the sides? It was another Neo-Geo game.
I don't comment much on your channel, but I never miss it, ever! I keep up with your show as much as I keep up with my kid's! I am going to be 43 in May and I remember my first game I played was space invader's at our local 7-11 in Burbank, Cali. It was about three blocks away from where I lived. This was about 1979-80.
7-11 is where I first played Contra, I also used to skateboard /bmx to 7-11, we would buy sports cards, and play video games for a good hour, then go back out and skate, or go to the dirt track... thanks for the video... brings back great memories... I remember that straw trick as well,, i was never very good at it, but i had a friend that could do it really well... thanks again
I remember doing this as well Johnny. My friends and I loved going to different 7/11s through out my home town to play. Not just 7/11, arcade cabinets used to be common in convenience stores here in the US in the late 80s and early 90s. One in particular I used to frequent had an SNK 4 in 1 cabinet with Fatal Fury 2, World Heroes 2, Super Baseball 2020, and Samurai Showdown. That cabinet was my favorite. Thanks for sharing this video. I truly miss being a kid in those days racking up quarters and riding my BMX bike around town find the newest cabinets to play fighting games.
I always love these memoir videos! Even though I wasn't even alive in the late 80's.
Maybe that's why Gaming Historian is also a pretty cool channel. You'll always learn something new from the retro days of gaming.
Arcades are terrible now. There are a bunch of crappy iOS and Android games being translated into arcades.
It disappoints me as well
Steve Jobs killed gaming.
GamerWho Eh !? More like consoles killed arcades.By the time the N64,PS1 and Saturn came out arcades were all ready dead by that point.
Yeah, I saw doodle jump in an arcade place... Sigh.
Progearspec As in iOS games, FTP and microtransactions thanks to the invention of the infernal IPhone.
Great episode, brought back so many memories. I remember every single place I played and they were all at very different places. An arcade casino, our local cornershops, a bakery, fastfood joints and any place that had them.
I remember arcades in the grocery store here. Ninja Turtles, Samurai Shodown and The Simpson
haha I remember this too. I also remember Home Depot having Arcade machines as well, great stuff!
i'm mostly amazed you can remember all these things from a long time ago. i grew up playing arcade games all the time but still have a faint flicker of memories and i'm even younger than you
still remember them in the groceries stores
the laundromat and u knew ur parents had quarters so it was game on
Yep, my neighborhood grocery store growing up had Tempest, Ghosts n' Goblins and TRON for most of the 80's.
Arcades were everywhere in those times.
I remember playing Galaga for the first time. The sounds the machine made, I could play it for hours.I loved the cabinet art too.
Still Remember playing metal slug with my brothers at the laundry mats :)
I remember that whole experience all too well. All those games you mentioned I played those as a kid. I guess that's why I try so hard to have them back in my collection. I'm always looking for the closest thing to the arcade experience.
Dude I cannot tell you how much I love your channel. The way you reminisce about the past about video games and anime it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling in the cockles of my heart. keep up the good work!
I vaguely remember back in 97-98 going to the 7/11 and my older brother and I would buy Mac cheese pizza 2 big ol cheesey slices and then we’d hurry up to eat it cause we wanted to play “las maquinitas” arcade machines . We’d Sit their and try to play X-men vs Capcom and then we’d hop on to metal slug .. good times ..
X-men VS Capcom, and Metal Slug? Great games. Many 7 Eleven had Metal Slug. Fantastic game.
I loved that "Ninja Kid" game! It was so silly, but so fun to play! I remember it also had a TON of secrets and special techniques/items you could find! You hit the 'way-back-button' my friend...
So cool that with MAME ports, we can relive and replay these awesome arcade games that never got ported to the consoles. Love your videos and recollections. Thanks
Talk about taking a walk down memory lane.I remember seeing arcade machines at convenience stores even at a gas station.I remember the 7-11 near my house had not only arcade machines but also pinball games.Remember the table top machines? I still remember some of the games that I got too play some are vague:Donkey Kong,Centipede,Joust,Asteroids,Dig Dug,Battlezone,Pac-man,Ms.Pac-man,Star Castle,Gauntlet,Satan's Hollow,Star Wars:The Arcade Game I could probably name some more.The games would change frequently so always had something new to play.Thanks for bringing back memories of the old days.God I miss it.
If there's one thing I very much regret about being born in '86 it's that, by the time I was getting old enough to be able to appreciate -- or even find -- arcade games, they were already disappearing in droves from the areas I might run into them.
That said, the arcade games I HAVE had an opportunity to play have always amazed me. My first experience with Ms. Pac Man was with a vintage arcade machine, sitting at a laundromat my sperm donor would requent when I was a kid. If I was lucky I could talk him out of 50 cents to get a credit or two on it, and I'd try my darndest to make those credits last, usually to no avail. The first time I played Rampage it was at a skating rink's arcade, and right next to it was an Operation W.O.L.F. unit. I was there for a friend's 9th birthday party, but I ended up spending the entire time standing in front of those two machines, blasting army men and smashing buildings.
As much as I love arcade games on home consoles and even emulators, there's always something missing from the experience. To really get, to really *understand the appeal* of the games, you HAVE to play them on the arcade machines, at least once.
Some day I hope to open an arcade. It won't be oriented at kids or teens (though they will be welcome,) but at those who grew up with and loved the games on display, all available for nickel or, at most, dime credits. It will be GLORIOUS.
A few had a pinball machines! I remember playing the pinball Monday Night Football in one!
Finally some love for TOKI. So glad you played this Johnny. I spent hours on that during my Megadrive years!
I do remember arcade games in convenience stores like 7'11s,hcg.In the 80's and 90's they were every where.The most i remember playing at any 7'11s were games like chase hq,xenophobe,guerrilla war,1943,ikari warriors and p.o.w.
We used to have an arcade in a laundromat inside of this old grocery store called "Sack&Save" when I was a kid. My parents would go grocery shopping, toss me a few bucks, I'd go load up on quarters and I'd sit there for about an hour or two until they were done. Best memories of my childhood right there.
I love this channel because it feels like you're everyone's uncle just telling stories about video game experiences in the past
I gotta tell you, you have one of the best, if not the best channel on youtube! I feel like you sum up everything extremely well without sounding fake or rehearsed. I'm of the same generation and it feels like we would've been friends hanging out playing games! At our 7/11 we had Galaga, Bagman, and Ms Pacman for a long time!
I'm glad I make the cut of being old enough to remember gaming at the 7/11. I remember Top Gun always being the #2 machine and a Neo Geo machine with 4 games was common. Arcade games were everywhere when I grew up, the video store had Street Fighter Championship Edition, a taco shop had Mortal Kombat , skating rinks had decent arcade and then there were full blown arcades either local or in the mall a town over. But the good ole 7/11 was the best choice to waste a few dollars. you could grab a Big Gulp, I was on the Mountain Dew or if I felt sneaky I'd fill it up with slushee. Then you played games until you ran out of quarters. How I miss the good ole days when arcade games were everywhere.
Final fight was at my local 711 in San Mateo CA growing up. When I played final fight years later on the Sega cd, I remembered the intro sequence and recognized it!
What year did you play the game at 7-Eleven? 80s? 90s?
@@TheBigExclusivedude I’ll never remember….either very late 89 or early 90s
7/11 in the mid-80's was my go-to place for gaming when I couldn't make it to any of the arcades in my area. The one near my childhood home always seemed to have an awesome selection/rotation of cabinets.
I remember my friend and I in the early 90s 12 years old would go to the 711 in our neighborhood. We play street fighter 2, wrestle fest, mortal kombat cause it would be 25 cents instead of 50 cent everywhere else. A lot of 711 arcade stories. I was a skateboarder too.
I remember those days. I used to play quite a few games at the 7 eleven. That is the first time I got to play Contract 2. 7 eleven used to have a great selection of arcade games.
HELL-F'n-YEAH! I totally remember those days. Nowadays you can find them at the local mom n' pop diners. They're still out there.
I remember when I was about 7 years old playing "WWF Superstars" arcade cabinet in a local 7-11. As a huge wrestling fan at the time, this game was amazing to me. To this day I'm still looking to find this cabinet to buy for my collection. That's my "holy grail". But yeah, 7-11's introduced me to so many great arcade games.
The other one that comes to mind was when I was in high school. I would stay at my friend's place on the weekends and in the middle of the night we'd head down to 7-11 and play "NHL Challenge", where it was basically a hockey version of NBA Jam. We spent countless hours at that 7-11 playing that game.
Obviously, there were other games like "The Simpsons", "TMNT", etc. Such great times, oh the nostalgia. Great video Johnny, you just brought back so many great memories to me. It's really a shame that arcade cabinets aren't still around.
Love all your videos Johnny! Always strike a chord with me as I am from the same generation. You said previously you lived in Yorkshire, England. Just wondered where? I live in Hull, East Yorkshire. There were some AMAZING arcades on the coast there...especially Scarborough! All full of bandits, a few racers and the odd HotD now.
So funny your mentioning this. I remember playing street fighter 2 among other arcade games @ 7-11 back in Virginia Beach VA where I was born and lived until I was 13 years old. Great memories playing arcade games at 7-11 for sure my brother.
Great video! Some of my greatest arcade experiences happened in my local 7/11! Candy, chocolate bars, chips, soft drinks, popsicles and arcade games! As a kid, this was heaven! I first experienced Toki in a 7/11! I was always mesmorized by the orbes he fired! The shiny orbes brought the game to life! Double Dragon and Comando were two other memorable games I enjoyed playing in my local 7/11 as well. The one game I totally forgot about was Saint Dragon. Holy crap! That was a blast from the past! Shinobi the arcade game and Ninja Gaiden were both games that I enjoyed very much as a kid! And you are definitely right! Arcade game attracted a crowd of kids! Onlookers would conser you riff raffs! But as teenagers we didn't care! We were all about hanging with the boys and girls, just having a bit of fun!
I never saw coin-op machines at 7-11 stores as a kid in the '90s, but they were at several convenience store chains. One of my local gas stations had a machine for the first "Mortal Kombat", which I put tons of quarters into. The now-defunct grocery chain Minyard's had a few "Street Fighter" machines, which I also saw at "Stop-N-Go" locations, too.
Holy crap, Saint Dragon looks sick! My 7-11 in Pacifica, CA had some great games: Roadblasters, Bad Dudes, Turtles in Time, Street Fighter II. Great times. You know what else is trippy? I used to play Mortal Kombat II at Pay Less Drugs (now its called Rite Aid). So much fun and the old people buying laxatives would stare at me at the front of the store LOL. Great video! I might have to talk about this on a video as well!
Awesome segment man, I'm in japan as I type this and got some food from a 7-11 and thought to myself, I remember when 7-11s had arcade game.....great days. That was literally 2 days ago. In so cal a lot of our street fighter 2 MK days were at 7/11.
Anyways keep up the good work, love getting these videos weekly.
I used to play most of my arcade games as a kid at a little shopping mall by my house called "The Big H" and there were always 4 or 5 arcade games right outside of a Pathmark supermarket. That's where i first played Double Dragon, Altered Beast, Ninja Gaiden and a ton of other classics. There are still a few games i'm still searching for that i played there that i cannot remember the names of. Also i remember the first time i played Mortal Kombat was at a little video rental store and oh boy was i amazed at that game. I can go on forever about this so i will stop here. Love your videos i just started watching recently and i think i seen most of them already.
I had it great back then...I should have appreciated those great times more.
I love that someone else remembers gaming at 7-11 as a happy part of their lives. I can remember playing Gauntlet there and does anyone else remember going to hills? They had that awesome part of the store before you go in that had food and slushies and they had exite bike and rampage. Then you would go in the store and hopefully not have to wait in line to play Mario Bros on the NES they had set up. Only time in my life that my mom couldn't get me out of a store before her. God i miss those days everything was much simpler.
i remember going roller skating in the late 70s and early 80s and they had the classics like Defender, Tempest, and Robotron.
Hell yea! use to play joe n mac, buster bros @ 7/11 in the morning before start of class in junior high :D
...Final Fight, that half stale corn chip smell, the scent of that artificial nacho cheese and the sound of the door dinger....It's all coming back to me again. *flashback*
Those were they days! We had a few grocery stores with arcade machines.
There was this one shop called "Ashique" which was a general food store downstairs with 2 machines but they had a top floor full of machines! Man I used to spend a lot of my weekends and most of my pocket money there. The audio on the machines were loud, I remember when they bought in SF2, all you could hear from downstairs was "HADOOOKEN, SHOORYUKEN!" I was like what is that!!!? ran upstairs and there is was SF2 - RYU vs Ehonda (Ehonda stage) wow I remember games like Wardner, Killer Instinct, Outzone, Shinobi, Golden Axe, King of Fighters, there was this one fighting game - they had a character called bobby who was exactly like Guile from street fighter 2 i cant think of the name of the game!! please if anyone knows let me know. LOL man amazing memories Thanks for your videos its takes me back!
How is it possible you have so many great stories to share?
Thanks a ton! this was entertaining as always.
Oh yes. 7/11 dude big time. First place I saw Mortal Kombat, and Street Fighter 2, Final Fight, etc. Good times. Good memories. Thanks for the vid. :)
One of the many reasons why I'm glad that I grew up in the 80's.
I lived right down the street from a 7/11 for a time. I can't even remember how many quarters I wasted on Mortal Kombat.
When MK3 came out 7/11 was the spot.
Golden Axe was at the Pizza Hut. Loved that game.
Such a great topic. 7/11 stores are not as common in my area any more, but as a kid I would ride my bike to play arcade games and read WWF magazines. I remember playing games like Yie ar kung fu, Terra Cresta, Bomb Jack, Gauntlet II, but the two game simply fell in love with at 7/11 were Ghosts and Goblins and 1942. I spent so much money on these games, and I begged my parents to get me an NES so I could play them at home. Great memories
My Dad used to take me to a 7/11 down the street where they had a Shinobi arcade game. I needed a footstool to reach the cabinet controls properly. Later for Christmas my parents bought me a Master System because it had Shinobi on it. Those were some of my earliest memories I have and were great bonding moments with my dad.
Omg those were the days. If there was a line you knew the game buzzing. Good times. Awesome video. Totally subscribing now
7/11 is where I played Vigilante. My mom used to take me so it was probably '88. Needed the small step stool to reach the controls lol. I'll never forget those times.
I remember so well. It wasnt just 7-11 either! Lots of mom & pops had them too... ahhh, double dragon, choplifter, operation wolf... & you can never forget going up to sev to see if your Ryu can beat the Bison torpedo spammer, or finally getting a dragon punch off ON PURPOSE the first time! Thems was the days!
I was pretty young when arcade cabinets were around but I still have plenty memories of them. My last great memory of just finding arcade games was when I went to wildwood New Jersey and they had an arcade that was just packed with arcade cabinets and not just crane prize games. There is still a Pizza Hut 10 minutes from where I live that has a marvel vs capcom cabinet that has been there since I was really young(I'm 22 now)
7-11 was the place to go for gaming!! So many great games, so many great memories. I remember playing Gauntlet for hours with my cousins while enjoying nachos and cherry slurpees!! Arcade machines were everywhere back then. Liquor stores, supermarkets and even family restaurants. And I'm not talking Chuck E Cheese!! The first time I saw and played Super Mario Brothers was at a Mayfair Supermarket. It was just fantastic entering a 7-11 or any other place of business and discovering a new video game. The 80's and 90's ROCKED!!!
Not only 7/11 arcade machines were everywhere. Laundry mates, gas stations, pizzashops, super markets, roller skating rinks we even had a funeral home that had froger, pacman and space invaders up at the front(it was only for guests tho, probably to distract young kids) kinda wierd that they were in a funeral home, but those were the times.
Weird but every business wanted in on the action. Arcade machines were big money earners.
I remember playing Time Soldier and Smash TV at 711 as well as Street Fighter 2... Those are the best days and like you said you'll find the occasional arcade machine at a pizza joint or a laundromat...
Thank you!! I've been racking my brain for years trying to remember the name of that awesome combat fighting game Hippodrome!! I was beginning to think I had imagined it lol! Thank you for this video, so many great memories playing at 7-11!!
wow, didnt expect muxh but you blew me away. My mind is blownn. I was born in 81 and u remembered just seeing that Toki game as a young kid, but i really recognised it. the mere sight of ot really did somethign for me back then
My local 7/11 had a Killer Instinct, Simpsons and Street Fighter II and I played them often there.
I use to love playing WWF wrestle fest, Final Fight, and street fighfer 2 back in the early 90s
Fantastic video. So many great memories!
I have golden memories about arcade games at my local theme park here in Finland, end of 80´s there was Outrun, Spaltterhouse, Ninja Gaiden, Afterburner, Star Wars, and many more. But those are games i always played there. Damn such a good times.
My favourite memories from my local arcade were Ghost and Goblins, Kung-fu Master, Mrs Pac man and 1942 to name just a few!
There's a ton of memories I have, not so much from 7/11, but just some local mom and pop stores also having arcade games. For example, I discovered 1943 at a local gas station/deli (Which served pretty stinking awesome food!). In addition, I remember there being arcade games at grocery stores like Fred Meyers, Thriftway, IGA, K-Mart, etc. That's where I discovered stuff like TMNT, Crime Fighters, Punch-Oujt (Both playchoice-10 and the "wireframe" version), WWF Superstars, Rolling Thunder, WWF Wrestlefest and yes, Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. I also remember a restaurant within the grocery store having a cocktail version of Ms. Pacman. So, I totally relate to that being the place where you got to play state of the art stuff. There are still a few pizza joints that carry some classikc arcade games in a small room (remember discovering Ninja Gaiden and Golden Axe that way at the local Pizza Hut and the burger joint Fuddruckers) It's most unfortunate that the younger generation won't get a chance to do that. FYI, I apparently WAS the six year old that was told to stay away from you guys. Didn't work. I still stepped up to plunk down the more than occasional quarter into an arcade machine. Though, it's likely mom and dad were watching from afar off. :-)
I remember arcade machines being all over the place, liquor stores, pizza places, video rental stores, bars, gas stations, laundry mats, everywhere. Oh the memories, a time period like that will never happen again. Good times. :)
Just modded my Arcade1up streetfighter Cab.
With light up buttons and better sticks.
Raspberry Pie 4 inside
And boy, im loving all the classic
Capcom
Konami
Neo geo
Classics
Laundromats where also notorious for having arcade games. Corner stores,outside and inside some supermarket grocery stores.
I don't know about nowadays but bowling alleys also had some great stuff. They were everywhere!
I never really played arcades in 7/11, but I remember playing arcades in pizza parlors, bowling alleys, Scandia, and the underground arcade at Harvey's Casino.
I remember spending countless hours playing Street Fighter 2 at 7-11. The memories!
My 7/11 had two arcade cabinets, one was Space Harrier and the other I can't remember. There was also a department store, back in the 80's/90's, called Aides (not really a good name to choose), which, I think, was part of the Ace Hardware brand (not sure), but it had a huge room of arcade cabinets, ranging from SEGA titles, Double Dragon, Ninja Gaiden, and more! I also loved that place because that was where I rented my Super Nintendo games. They later closed down towards the middle of the 90's and I still miss that store.
I remember being amazed playing "Ghosts n Goblins" and "Trojan" at our local 7-11 :)
Ah the good 'ole days!
My local convenience store had 5 or 6 arcade games at a time in the 80's. They had Golden Axe, P-47 Phantom Fighter, Sky Soldiers, Two Crude Dudes, 1943, and Ghosts and Goblins. Good times.
I do! I used to play all kinds of games at my favourite corner stores. Tiger Heli was HUGE!
Great memories playing gauntlet at 7-Eleven with my cousins
They were such good days then...I remember all of us around space ace in the corner of 7/11 drinking slurpys and spending all day in there.....good times...
I remember the 7-11 down the road from our house getting a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cabinet when it just came out, I used to play it all the time. A couple years later they got a Street Fighter II cabinet, good times. The 7-11 I lived by also had a video rental section as well, I still remember renting all kinds of movies from there.
I loved my my 711, that's how I played final fight , sengoku, wwf games. So much memories of me and my friend's rideing r bikes in the country then stopping there afterwards to play n chip n on snacks.
I was born in 91 so I missed out on the majority of arcade genre of games... But fortunately for me I loved fighting games and that was time fighting games were golden.. You had 4 big time fighting games of all time... Alpha 3, Capcom vs Snk2, marvel 2, and third strike... All God like...
I remember the Circle K across the street from where I lived had a Super Street Fighter II machine back in the mid 90s. It was amazing going from one hundred degree weather outside in the summer into a cool store and seeing the wonder that was Super Street Fighter II in all of its glory. The memories still sit inside my head to this day.
My 7-11 in chicago had time killers and arkanoid and then mk2 and killer instinct it was amazing my dad would send us with a note to get him smokes (that was ok back then) and we would also have to get a roll of quarters for the laundry in the apartment and he would let us have 2 dollars each for me and my brother. Thank you for bringing back that amazing memory!
Surely the most loved of the few arcade games I played was Toki, it simply reminds me my childhood. :)
I remember the arcade games at the 7-11 and the laundromat. Playing games like Pac-man, Street Fighter2, and Galaga. In the mid to late 90s i remember alot of the SNK machines poping out all over the place.
Haha, remember these days! Late nights at 7/11 playing Street Fighter 2 and Jurassic Park pinball with my friends. Yep, can relate here and will unfortunately never see this again. Only places i see any games at these days are a few pizza parlors. Couple light gun games and maybe a neo geo multi cabinet once in awhile. Miss those days indeed!