Friend of Destructoid -RoG- from i-mockery.com went on a recent Fourth of July adventure that should make any gamer jealous. While journeying through Big Bear in the glorious mountains of Southern California, -RoG- discovered a veritable diamond in the low oxygen rough. Nestled between pine trees and a pack of wild wolves was Super Bear Arcade; frankly, one of the greatest arcades I have ever seen.
You can read all about his adventure here. Trust me, it is totally worth it. The post is funny and full of some absolutely incredible photos. With arcades sadly disappearing each and every day, it is hard to believe this place still exists. Even more astounding is the fact that Super Bear Arcade seems to be thriving in such a remote location.
While some pictures of the arcade made me gasp with nostalgic glee (6-player X-Men!), I have to admit that my favorite thing about the post has to be the lengthy montage of photographs depicting the various prizes you can win. By conquering games like skee ball (the better, older versions sans those annoying 100 point targets in the corners), players can trade tickets for things like a hair scrunchie, The Jungle Book on VHS, or -- my personal favorite -- a 1 1/2 qt. slow cooker crock pot. What the heck?!
As –RoG- mentions, Super Bear Arcade really should be considered a historical landmark. Mark my word: I will be making the surprisingly short three hour drive up to the mountains to visit this amazing retro paradise very soon (Dtoid L.A. road trip!). Not only do I feel like it is my duty as a gamer ... I could also use a good crock pot.
Chad Concelmo is Destructoid's features editor. He loves hanging out with awesome people. That's why Destructoid makes him so happy, since it is full of THE MOST AWESOME PEOPLE OF ALL TIME! Also, dolphins.
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Chad enjoys punching old ladies in the face, Super Metroid, Zelda: A Link to the Past on the SNES (best system ever!), Final Fantasy VI, Day of the Tentacle, Shadow of the Colossus, Mother 3, Beyond Good & Evil, Contra III, Valkyria Chronicles, Punch-Out!!, Half-Life 2, and Super Mario Galaxy 2.
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Contest:
12:29 PM on 07.24.2008
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Simpsons game, 6 player X-men, like 90 arcade cabinets, 10 pinball machines, that 3D hologram arcade game that played like Dragon Lair, Skeeball, and not to mention two old top-down arcade cabinets with Centipede and Pac-Man.
Man...those were the days. Sadly, all arcades have been removed from my hometown and I haven't seen any arcade cabinets in years. Aww, shit, now im all nostaligic and I am seriously wanting to play some Virtual-On...
The biggest we had was called Aladdin's Castle. It was in the local mall. They opened a Chuck E. Cheese's and Aladdin's closed a few months later. I've never even been inside that Chuck E. Cheese's. I still don't see any reason to go there.
Aladdin's only had maybe 20 arcade games or so, but they had a good selection and it was fun. I even had my 10th or 11th birthday party there. I miss it....
Also, 2p coin pusher > than any of the actual video games
Man, what a great find. That Discs of Tron game looks intense.
They really did taste like pizza and the chips almost had a doughy texture when you chewed 'em. These aren't
the Keebler brand, but it's still the exact same stuff. Glad to see they're still in production to some extent."
These are actually available in like all the vending machines where I work/live. Weird. They're okay, but they give me wicked heartburn
Also, I want that Rygar cabinet.
And WWF Superstars! Holy crap, I saw that plenty of times in arcades but have never actually played. This makes me super sad.
And Simpsons Arcade, shooting gallery, neon light ticket game, hockey in a big plastic dome?!! FUUUUCK!!!
p.s.: the crock pot is mine.
why they haven't made an online port of that game for XBLA/PSN is a mystery to me.
maybe i'll make a pilgrimage over the winter. always wanted to ride big bear.
Besides Pac-Man and Galaga, there isn't anything around. Maybe one bowling alley has something. I haven't been there in too long to know. They used to have Time Crisis, but now I have all the Time Crisis games for PS1/2 :P
lol I fucking hate 720. Did you see all those arcades?!?
That place looks like heaven.
Anyone been there before?
this arcade looks awsome
they closed down the last arcade down a few years ago here in my town :-(.
so many good times , so many good memories