Let me tell you something about sleeping behind a bank during the rain: It’s not easy.
In the earliest hours of the morning light, I decided that I’d gotten all the sleep I was going to and headed on my way.
I’d chosen my camping spot because it right behind a nice a shopping district. I could grab some breakfast, take a shower at the gym, and stop into Walmart for any supplies I needed.
And, as it would so happen, I looked like absolute shit. I was worried I’d get thrown out of any arcade I tried to go in, so I did the sensible thing: I bought a hat to cover my “3 hours of sleep” eyes. Walmart only had a single, ugly brown hat. In the three years since this journey, that ugly hat has become my go-to whenever my insomnia is making my eyes look ghoulish.
So today, we’re going to cover two arcades: Both pretty interesting. Neither I feel I have enough to say about as I should.
The Magic Castle is one of those minigolf-and-party type places that every kid wants their birthday held at. Quite an expansive one, at that! On top of a massive 18 hole minigolf course, they offer batting cages and some kind of water balloon game. I didn’t bother to really explore the golf area myself, but it looked cool from what I saw of it.
When I got here, I was stopped at the door. I was worried it was because I looked like a wandering hobo. I was all ready to walk away pissed. I’ve never actually gotten thrown out of an arcade (been yelled at for taking photos a few times, though), but I’m always worried I’m going to.
Thankfully, it turned out that a daycare was just having an event here. It would only last an hour, so I had to mill around until they left. The staff were actually super nice once I got in.
So this is Magic Castle, an old golf-and-games joint built back in 1993. A lot of people who read this blog are only concerned with neo-retro arcades, but I’ve got a soft spot for these older places.
This arcade was too charming for me to pass up on. Maybe it’s my own bias because my “home arcade” growing up was a minigolf place like this, but it’s fun to get a glimpse into places that will go on to define someone’s childhood. Just look at it. They’ve got a whole play zone!
Speaking of personal bias, their party rooms are laid out almost EXACTLY how they were at my childhood arcade. I was getting a bit too old for these sorta of birthday parties by the time they were added at mine, but I do vaguely remember attending one party in them.
But one thing I always love about these places is how hard they go on the theming. Seriously, check out that castle dungeon brick pattern! Fantastic!
But, if you’re reading this blog, you’re probably itching to see what their game lineup looked like. Let’s see, there’s Deal or No Deal… Stacker… A few prize machines…
I’m just kidding.
This is an old arcade from 1993, so of course they’d have some at least a few older games laying around somewhere. And by “somewhere”, I mean they’re up on the top floor, in the back corner.
It’s not much, but it’s nice to see a few 25 year old games still weathering the storm. Fast & Furious, American 18 Wheeler, Star Wars Trilogy Arcade, nothing too unusual…
Wait? What’s that Star Wars Trilogy machine on the right?? That version of the machine isn’t supposed to have a seat! Oh god, this was supposed to be a short blog post, but I ended up going down a rabbit hole trying to dig up information about it. I’ll update the blog post if I find anything conclusive. I’ve got a few theories. In the meantime, have this screenshot of Namco’s arcade website in 2002.
Tucked away in the very back corner was an ancient 1995 Speed Demon ticket machine. This is very likely the oldest machine in the entire arcade. Maybe it’s been sitting here since a few years after the arcade first opened. Maybe they bought it cheap at an auction a couple years ago. Who can say? But it’s fun to imagine!
Here, besides Speed Demon, rests a makeshift trash bucket.
Since I had some extra credits and didn’t intend to stay long, I blew the rest of it on candy from one of the prize games. Come on, these prizes aren’t even equal! What kid is going to pick a roll of Smarties over two sour belts?
Here are the leftovers. You can scroll between them if you want to see.
I made a bit of a fool out of myself by telling a staff member I hadn’t seen the Hungry, Hungry Hippos arcade machine in forever. See, I was confusing it with a different Hungry, Hungry Hippos machine from the 90s and hadn’t seen this one before, so… Well, we can just go ahead and forget that happened. I was tired.
Overall, I don’t regret making the stop. I’m always happy to give people a glimpse into these sorts of places. Especially one with atmosphere as cool as this one. Look at this suit of armor looking over the arcade. You can’t tell me that’s not amazing.
What happened after that was a blur. I remember there being a long walk. I apparently wandered into a random bowling alley, took some photos of the arcade, and left (I’ll make a post someday for all of those throw-away arcades, for completeness). At the time, I don’t think I even remembered where my next destination was. I was just walking to the next pin on my map.
I’d completely forgotten how much I was looking forward to seeing this arcade.
The signs say it’s a used game store. The inside says it’s a used movie and memorabilia store. This is Gameswap!
Wall-to-wall, shelf-to-shelf, the entire store is covered in DVDs, vintage VHS, and vintage merch. You’d be blind not to see they’re going for a retro video rental store vibe here. But the actual result feels more like a cool hybrid of Blockbuster and 00s Gamestop.
The store is littered with standees, posters, and mannequins. The energy reminds me a lot of a local place we used to have in town. You can tell the owner cares a lot about vintage movies and the like.
Sadly, this subject is a bit out of my domain, so I can’t give too much insight about it. I’ve never been much of a movie guy. Don’t expect me to be able to appreciate Gameswap nearly as much as I should, just like I don’t expect people who’ve only been to 3-4 arcades to understand the glory of some of the places I’ve seen.
Let’s do a quick low-commentary tour:
I do know a bit about this shelf here, though. Rummaging through early 00s anime DVDs is always fun, because they used to release EVERYTHING, no matter how obscure. You can’t look at a shelf like this without seeing something you don’t recognize. I’m fond of Kaleido Star, myself. Just the first season, though.
But my backpack was crammed full enough as it is. There would be no purchasing of DVDs today.
What on Earth is this? A bootleg? Some obscure promotional release?
I know what this looks like, but this is the music section. Not the adult videos.
Back here are the old toys and such.
I know it’s called Gameswap, but the only used games are way back in this corner.
Now let’s get to the reason I came:
Yeah, as if this place didn’t have enough going on, it has a pretty decent-sized arcade. At least, for something that’s just shoved in the corner.
Nice arcade. Leans toward Superhero games.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed that quick tour of Gameswap. Again, it was cool as hell, but it’s not really a “me” kind of place. But I’m more than happy to highlight it here. Just because it didn’t resonate with me doesn’t mean there aren’t a hundred people who would lose their shit over it. X-Entertainment (now Dinosaur Dracula) was a huge influence to this blog. I used to be fascinated by his articles in high school. Hell, I don’t think I’d have even started doing this blog if this article hadn’t made my eyes light up with fascination so much.
The guy who runs that site would have a million things to say about Gameswap. But I’m not him.
On my way out, I came to this bizarre sight. It’s an intersection where all of the signals are hung up like some kind of bizarre fishing net. Even the crosswalk signals were hung from it. This is a true feat of human ingenuity.
It’s been a while, but back in the day I used to have a tradition. Every time I traveled, I’d stop at Dunkin’ Donuts and get a Slurpee at 7/11. It made more sense when Dunkin’ Donuts were rare in the Twin Cities and it was impossible to get a Slurpee. Times have changed.
But I suppose there’s no problem with grabbing one for old times’ sake.
Next time… I think I’m done with Dayton. Let’s done a once-over of some of the small arcades I missed.