Video Game Documentary Series Searching for 1980s Arcade Owners

[Towne Cluber]

Yes, you [[finally!) got me. You're a smart guy, really!

The fact that I didn't know that a Starbucks was now a fried chicken joint, at an intersection I probably pass twice a year "outs me as a complete Trump-like fraud."

Also I'm apparently unaware that said fried chicken joint is somehow related to Huntington Woods and whether or not it's a residential community.

Damn your investigative skills and encyclopedic knowledge [[and apparent hidden GPS tracker)!

This still doesn’t explain all of your other bogus claims about all things big and small.

I guess you don’t go north to Maple [[15 Mile) either, since you didn’t know what you were talking about with Whole Foods.

By the way, the arcade was called Space Station.

[Bham1982]

This still doesn’t explain all of your other bogus claims about all things big and small.

Maybe because you're lying and there are no "bogus" claims, just one desperate stalkerish forumer named TC?

I guess you don’t go north to Maple [[15 Mile) either, since you didn’t know what you were talking about with Whole Foods.

Considering I live a few blocks from Maple, drive it daily, and am in that WF weekly, you would be wrong, yet again.

[Towne Cluber]

Maybe because you're lying and there are no "bogus" claims, just one desperate stalkerish forumer named TC?



Considering I live a few blocks from Maple, drive it daily, and am in that WF weekly, you would be wrong, yet again.

You previously claimed that you live in the 14 Mile area, now you’re claiming that you live in the Maple [[15 Mile) area.

At this point, you just can’t keep all the lies straight.

[Towne Cluber]

Seriously.

I can't tell if this guy travels all over and knows everything or if he is a 100% Grade-A bullshitter, which kinda deserves some respect for how much he's stuck with it.

Imagine the Trump-like scams this guy is out there trying to pull in real life.

[313WX]

Imagine the Trump-like scams this guy is out there trying to pull in real life.

If I remember correctly, he's in real estate.

[Towne Cluber]

If I remember correctly, he's in real estate.

I seem to recall him saying something about being a house flipper in the past but he more recently denied it.

[313WX]

I seem to recall him saying something about being a house flipper in the past but he more recently denied it.

He just confirmed again in another thread that he works in "CRE" [[Commercial Real Estate).

Definitely an interesting parallel with the Very Stable Genius.

[Towne Cluber]

He just confirmed again in another thread that he works in "CRE" [[Commercial Real Estate).

Definitely an interesting parallel with the Very Stable Genius.

He exaggerates and/or lies about everything. Very Trump-like indeed, especially because he brings him up all the time. No doubt he flips houses. I fully expect to see him being chased down by Rob Wolchek for the Hall of Shame at some point.

[yaktown]

WTF? Nice way to derail a thread. Anyway...there used to be an arcade in the 80s and 90s in Waterford at 4443 Dixie Highway. It's now a bingo hall but maybe it has the same owners? Personally I haven't been there since the early 90s when I turned 21 and had no reason to go an arcade any more. The Summit Place Mall also had a pretty good arcade next to the food court at that time. There is a pinball expo coming up in March in Ann Arbor. Obviously not arcade games per se but there could be some crossover. http://vfwpinball.com/?p=128

[MarvelousMarvins]

Alexandra, please email me if you would like

Jeremy@marvin3m.com

My father was Marvin founder of Marvelous Marvins, this was simply his hobby.

We also owned part of an arcade near Vernors and Springwells in the late 70’s.

I have grown up here in Metro Detroit and in the industry so have quite a bit of info.

We have been open since 1979 more or less minus a year the whole mall was redeveloped.

We also had video games in our store on Fenkell near Schaffer in the early 80’s. The city made us have them off during school hours to discourage the kids from skipping school.

Hello All!

My name is Alexandra and I am a producer on a documentary series about the golden age of video games.

I am trying to get in touch with someone who owned an arcade in Detroit in the early 1980s.

Also, does anyone happen to know if any of those arcades still exist? I think most of them––if not all––closed, but it's possible someone knows something I don't!

Please don't hesitate to contact me on here with any information or email me at alexandra.miller@turner.com

Thank you!
Alexandra

[MarvelousMarvins]

Mario was the operating owner.
GREAT guy, kinda looked like Mario from Mario brothers.
He had a large necklace charm made of PacMan and always wore it as that was the first game he made $ with.
I last saw him a year or so after he closed the arcade, I went by his house to buy lots of prizes and stuff he had leftover in his garage from Galaxy Fun Center.

Marvin's is probably the only old arcade left. It's still run by the same family. The original owner just passed away last year.

The big arcade on the east side was called Galaxy in Roseville. It was across the street from Macomb Mall on Gratiot Ave. It closed about 15 years ago, it's now a store called Precision Jewelers. I don't know who the owners were, but it's a place to start looking.

You could check with Big Toys Arcade, which is an arcade game retailer and repair shop in Sterling Heights. They might have some leads on information:
http://www.bigtoysarcade.com/

[MarvelousMarvins]

That was the Space Station. It was owned by the Karcho family, they are still in the area and I talk to them on occasion. Manuel Karcho also is the owner of the famed Silver Bullet from Woodward Drag Racing.

Tim Arnold owned Pinball Pete’s with his brothers and is a legend in the industry. Wealth of knowledge a but eccentric. Lives in Vegas as others have said and has been on a couple History channel shows.

The Starbucks next to the main Beaumont [[13 & Woodward) was an arcade until maybe 15 or so years ago.

[MarvelousMarvins]

That was Area Code 313 Gameroom on Dixie

WTF? Nice way to derail a thread. Anyway...there used to be an arcade in the 80s and 90s in Waterford at 4443 Dixie Highway. It's now a bingo hall but maybe it has the same owners? Personally I haven't been there since the early 90s when I turned 21 and had no reason to go an arcade any more. The Summit Place Mall also had a pretty good arcade next to the food court at that time. There is a pinball expo coming up in March in Ann Arbor. Obviously not arcade games per se but there could be some crossover. http://vfwpinball.com/?p=128

[KJ5]

Nice thread, apart from the deviations from the topic. Doesn't seem like the OP is getting any connections apart from Marvelous Marvin's though.
I, too, can only offer reminiscing, but I can point out an arcade nobody has mentioned yet.
I grew up in the inner Eastside burbs in that era and used to go to Galaxy and Wizzard's, both pointed out by others. But I also spent a bunch of time at an arcade called Olympia. It was in Roseville, on the eastside of Gratiot, just north of the Eastgate shopping center. I'm not sure what the building houses today.
Olympia was pretty small, way smaller than Galaxy and even a bit smaller than Wizzard's. [[Of the 3 I went to Wizzard's the least. I'm trying to remember the size of that place. I should probably have already tapped on that YouTube link to refresh my memory.) They kept Olympia pretty dark and allowed smoking. I remember there was this group of Asian dudes who were almost always there. They wore mostly all black and chain smoked cigarettes. Apart from them it was a very Roseville crowd. A lot of mullets. For it's grand name Olympia was kind of a dump, but I think that's what we liked about it. The cool clique at school wasn't going to be hanging out there. If they went to an arcade it was going to be Galaxy unless they drove out to Barrymore's.

[yaktown]

That was Area Code 313 Gameroom on Dixie

Exactly! I'm old enough to recall when it was called Area Code 313. Obviously they had to change the name when the real area codes split. After that, they just called it Area Code.

[pjbear05]

In the '80's was an arcade in an old record store on Gratiot and Lappin across from Montgomery Ward. I fed a lot of quarters into the machines there, especially Tempest. Ah thoughts of Subdivisions:

"Be cool or be cast out."

[Hypestyles]

what happened to the owners of "The Butterfly" complex?

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-B...04435816292666

[Jimaz]

Here's a new related video. A bit like feather bowling? Looks like fun.

The Last Play-For-Cash Fascination Parlor

On Nantasket Beach, in the seaside town of Hull, Massachusetts, sits the last play-for-cash Fascination Parlor in the world. It's a century-old arcade game, made of relays that click and buzz. There are a few other parlors left in the world: but this is the only one where you're playing for actual money.

• Paragon Boardwalk

[MarvelousMarvins]

OK here is a question for you guys. In the early 80’s my dad backed a friend opening an arcade at Springwells and Gardener. I just talked to him and he does not remember the name, by any chance does anyone have a clue?