The Wild West

Every summer for as long I could remember growing up, we would hit Atlantic City. Such a great time. It wasn't Disney Land but it was close for me.

Atlantic City when I was kid meant two things: Lots of swimming, and ARCADES!! When I was young my sister and I were forced to stay in our room when our parents went to gamble, but when we got old enough it was on.

My Mom and Dad would hand each of us a twenty dollar roll of quarters and we both stalked the boardwalk. My sister was lame and played those rip off "crane" games for prizes, or skeetball for tickets. She usually went through her roll pretty quickly with little to show for it. Me? C'Mon Guys you know where I'm going here... STREET FIGHTER 2

Yea, I would play Street Fighter 2 and it's iterations every moment I could. It wasn't just about staying on the longest but also putting your quarter up on the screen and sizing up the comp. Analyzing moves and strategies from the regulars and taking what would work. By the way, early on, it was 50 cents to start, .25 cents to continue....and who didn't continue CAN I GET HOLLA for that?!?! (Until the arcades caught on...) I used to play so much I would get a blister on my ring finger!

All manner of kids were at the arcades, and since each one had their Boardwalk entrance, and little security, the unsavory were rubbing shoulders with the upper class trying to get off their Hadokens and Dragon Punches. Those were the glory days. There were unspoken rules. If you roll up on someone playing the arcade mode, you gave them a chance to beat their opponent. And never Cheese someone out. Unless you want to wear out your welcome....remember those "unsavory" types? They didn't appreciate waiting twenty minutes to get jabbed into oblivion. I'll leave it at that.

Here's a story I'll never forget. I was on deck waiting to play Street Fighter: Champion Edition at Resorts (Wait, you play as the bosses now? SICK). There was one teenage white kid who was on like a 3 fight win streak. He was Bison, and he did two moves ONLY: Bison's Phycho Crusher (the tornado move) and jumping Hard punch. You've probably faced a guy like this. Walk back walk back, BOOM, you're getting up...BOOM. And it really didn't matter if you block cause the chip damage was so high back then. So anyways, we got this kid running the table on some straight cheese. So his opponent wasn't having it after he gave him fourth straight win.

The loser screamed, "WHAT THE FUCK!?" And gave the lighted marquee an overhand right, shattering the plastic...he proceeded to ice grill the cheese head, and he ran out scared shitless. He then casually moved into cheesy's spot and pointed at my quarter and turned to me, "Is this you?" I was shocked no question, but what was I going to bitch out? I just waited 10 minutes! So I put my quarter in and off we went.

That's what it was like back in the day man, The Wild West. Street Fighter was top dog but there was plenty of other arenas to be had. Mortal Kombat at the Taj. Samurai Showdown at Showboat. Time Killers at Cesar's.

Arcades were magical back then because the graphics and gameplay blew away anything you had at home. I truly miss it. Online play captures some of the fun, but I miss the personal nature of heads up Arcade play. There were always local legends you wanted to beat, and outsiders you defended your turf against. I loved hitting up TIME OUT in the food court on my lunch break. Fuck eating, I want to get my Tekken on!

I still love Fighting game the best. FPS's are fun no doubt, but I love the one on one arena. I'm currently rocking Tekken 6, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and Super Street Fighter 4: AC. Can I admit something though? I think I fucking lost a step on the old SF play. I've been playing SF for as long as I can remember, and I don't know guys, I completely suck at it now. I don't know what happened. I could be one of these herbs out there and blame the connection, or my opponents cheap techniques, but I blame myself. I got to put more time into practising. But who has time? Either I'm trying to beat someone down, or playing something else, I can't sit on the training mode for hours on end. Last time I did that was college.

SUNY Purchase baby. You're talking to the two time Tekken 3 SUNY Purchase champion. And then Tekken Tag dropped, and I won that tourney too. One my greatest gaming accomplishments. What was my secret? Lots of free time, pot, and shrinking grades. I used to sit on that trainer mode for hours if I wasn't playing other cats. ALL DAY. Those were the days my friends!

For the record, I main with Law, Paul, Lei, and Hwaroang. Come test me out!

Hey, you guys got any great arcade war stories?  I'd love to hear em. Follow me on Twitter if you like, or hit me up on PSN or XBL. See you out there!

- FLOWORCRASH