Video games, pinball, and arcades were a big deal during the 70's and 80's. I certainly spent enough time in arcades back then. Read on for a short essay about some of my arcade experiences.
To me, the most important of all the arcades listed here, and the one
I most frequently visited.
The Two-Bit was a rather small arcade in a strip mall on Foothill
Blvd. Inside, it was about half pinball and half video games from
1979 to late 1981, when I noticed the video's were taking over more
space.
The Two-Bit was run by some of the nicest local people you'd meet
anywhere. Right out of the blue they'd come up to you and offer free
games, or perhaps an official Two Bit Arcade T-shirt.
Occasionally, they'd even throw parties for the regulars. There would also
be high score contests, where the player winning the highest score on a
particular game. (There were also "unofficial" contests as well: I
remember one fellow playing Gorf all-day until 10 or 11 p.m. . .)
Of course, the Two-Bit staff also ran a tight ship too. Inside the operator's
booth, there was a list of people banned from the arcade (usually for hitting
games, begging games off people). I once saw some burly, motorcycle-gang type
actually picking up the front end of a pinball, lifting it about two or three feet,
and dropping it with a bang! (The manager kicked him out, and I never saw him
again after that). Smoking was never permitted at the Two-Bit, but
"dipping" was allowed (the management even provided paper cups for snuff users).
The Two-Bit existed until June 1983, when they moved to Pomona (to the space vacated
by "The Arcade" below) due to changing attitudes by the City of La Verne toward
video game arcades. At the new location, the name changed to "Two-Bit Games and
Grinders" and offered snacks (I recall a long list of sandwiches named after various
video games) as well as games. The Two-Bit probably gave up the ghost in
in 1985; I don't recall seeing it after the summer of 1984.
The Bowl closed down around 1986 or 1987; it is now a Muslim school.
This joint opened up in Spring 1981, but faded away not too long after they set up a "contest" among the local high schools in the area: whoever bought the most records within a designated time period would get a special prize (I think it was that the record store would sponsor a school dance, complete with DJ). It turns out that after the contest was over, the store simply awarded a dance to all the schools in question, instead of picking the winner. That bothered a lot of people, who then decided to buy their records (and play games) elsewhere...
In late 1983 or so, the building was torn down to build a shopping center. G.G's moved to another shopping center near Towne and Arrow in Pomona, and was renamed "La-La's Games of Skill". I don't recall if it lasted beyond Summer 1984.
I discovered this place in Spring 1981 or 1982; by early 1984, the "Two-Bit Arcade" (see above) moved into this place for awhile.
But the rule was only fitfully enforced, and your average 17-year old high school student could easily b.s. their way on in, along with an entourage of friends and "dates". Once inside, there was the largest selection of video games in La Verne (Bigger than the Two-Bit!) as well as skee-ball and similar non-video games. I don't recall if they had any pinball, though.
I do remember eating pizza there once; it was rather disappointing.
Chuck E. Cheese eventually left La Verne for some unstated reason (maybe the city jumped on them for letting too many unattended kids in. On the other hand, I recall a lot of their restaurants closing all over by the mid 80's)
The arcade was a fun place, but it was also troublesome for the mall management. The mall wasn't (and isn't) located in the best of neighborhoods to begin with, and the arcade sometimes attracted a rough element. Since the arcade was some distance from the rest of the mall (and usually kept later hours), it was difficult for mall management to police everything that was going on in there (I heard rumors of drug dealing, fights in the parking lot, etc.)
Then there were a few people that went totally berzerk, saying that the flashing red LED's in the ceiling had a "satanic influence" on kids...
Because of all these problems, the arcade closed in 1984. Around early 1986, the arcade reopened in a much smaller location, in a more central part of the mall. For a long while after it closed, though, one could peer through the glass doors and see what was left of the original arcade. All the games were removed, but the decorations, the mirrors, the now de-energized neon lights, were still there, making the space look like a high-tech ghost town.
In fact, most of the Indian Hill Plaza mall became a ghost town over the years, as most of the shops either closed up or moved to the rapidly expanding Montclair Plaza a few miles north (and nearer to the freeway). There was (and is) little left except for a few cheap stores. Recently, the Pomona school district leased or bought most of the property, and part of it is now an elementary school.
Speaking of 1983, that's when I went off to UCSB, taking my arcade habit along with me...(note: in all the following, I.V = Isla Vista, the student area just west of the main UCSB campus).
When I was last in I.V. in late 2004; the arcade and pool hall had been replaced by a bar with no games in it....
There was another arcade in I.V. not too far away from the bank, with just a few games. It too only lasted a few months. (I remember playing a "Tempest" with a very messed-up spinner in there. Not fun).
And of course, there are always the emulators....