I have always seen arcades in movies and TV shows but the closest to an arcade I have ever been to was Chuck E Cheese. But on Saturday, Sept. 12 I went to the Playland Arcade in the Santa Monica Pier. Walking inside with my pocket full of quarters, I felt excited to play the game I played on a small computer screen, Pac-man. The environment was dark but lite with the flashing video game lights, clustered but free to roam inside the games, and noisy but filled with happiness.
Half the arcade was filled with retro video from the ‘80s and ‘90s and the other half was with newer games, played for tickets. Video games from the ‘80s and ‘90s included Pac-Man, Galaga, Mortal Kombat and an old Mario Bros game. These rusty and sticky video games were only played by older player who seemed to be born in the ‘80s or ‘90s. The kids were on the other side which included a 40’ touchscreen TV used for the game fruit ninja, another TV for flappy bird, and other ticket based games to win prizes. The kids were much more interested in getting the tickets while the older players were deep into the older video games.
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I played Pac-man maybe a dozen of times in that arcade but I never got tired of it. The game reminded me of my small computer and my experiences with it when I was 6 or 7 years old. I remember how nervous I was to be caught by the little ghosts and even now when I was played I felt it inside me. Playing in the arcade with the video game boxes fixed with tape was different. The atmosphere was very noisy but as soon as I fell into the game, I didn’t hear a single noise except my sister telling which direction to go to. The video games overall was very different than playing inside a house. Playing the video games in the arcade made the experience much more special.