You know those abusive relationships that you just keep coming back to?Super Arcade is a little like that. Super at first glance seems more like a jp graveyard waiting to be resurrected. J-favorites like Popn' Music, Virtua Strikers and CVS2 stand silent. Super's attendant is always 'cheerfully' suspicious of all partrons and points to the changer with authority when you hand him a dollar bill.

But who am I kidding? Everyone goes to Super! Super's cliental welcomes weabu tourney f@gs and C-pop weatlthy fobs all attending Mt. Suc for an A.A in Parent Moochology. Did I forget to mention I love abusive relationships?

Super's pink neon signage warms every arcade goers heart. It has the only surviving Tekken community in SoCal (Video 94 does too... but I'll cover that in a later review) they have a dedicated  Tekken 6 cabinet w/card reader. Super was also the first to have SF IV in the United States and has it displayed on 2 Wellingston HD TV sets from Bestbuy <3! 

No arcade is without its bread and butter titles like MVC2, 3rd Strike, and DDR which work 50% of the time. You can't complain 80% of Supers games are at 25 cents! The great thing about Super is that sometimes they carry cult fighters like Rage of the Dragons, Last Blade and Garou: Mark of the Wolves. Super will never leave you hungry after hours of token spending. Super is cradled between a delicious chinese bakery that sells cheap pork buns and a tea house that is shrouded with mysteriously tinted windows. And if all else fails you have Jack-in-Box and the gas station if your scared of those places. 

I'm not sure what holds Super Arcade together it's filth or its loyal social outcasts? But one things for sure Super has this charisma that few arcades possess. Super keeps it real! Just make sure that you have that hand sanitizer ready in the car I'm not sure that yellow stuff in bottle is watered down SoftSoap...

Next Review:  Video 94! The littlest arcade ^_^

I'll try to not be biased. Since this is my home arcade and reviewing it is some what difficult. James Games has been around since the arcade boom of the 80s, in fact its the only traditional one left in Inland Empire. What I mean by traditional is that it doesn't have any gimmicks. No redemption machines, no restaurants, no card readers, no animaltronics, no go karts , no golf course and no alcohol. Its existence relies solely on gamer patronage.

James Games is known for its strong fighter scene. Currently James is proudly displaying the following titles on massive 32" american Dynamo cabs: MVC2, 3rd Strike, Melty Blood Ver.B, and GGXX. And yes they have SF IV on 2 Net City Cabs.

James Games also has a healthy selection of rhyme games. It hosts the following: DDR Extreme, ITG2, Drummania 10th, Guitar Freak 11th, Beatmania 7th Append, and Dance Maniacs 2nd. No traditional arcade is without its racing game and James has plenty. They can be found in the back. Depending on your preference they have the fantasy futuristic racers like SF Rush which have no learning curb and Maximum Tune 3 which is more for intermediate racers looking more for  a challenge and enjoy playing Barbie with their cars ^_^. Then there's Battle Gear 3 which is for the Gran Turismo crowd. Very technical and unforgiving. 

Now comes the facts are you ready?I'll try to do it in this fashion for my other reviews.At the end of the facts I will have pros and cons also. 

When I tell people that I run an arcade they usually reply with, " Awesome, really?" or      " There's arcades around here"? The first response is fine but the second upsets me. You'd be surprised how many self proclaimed 'gamers' tell me this. Now I shouldn't jump on all over the console fans but when you say you play MVC,SF and DDR like some God and tell me you play only on console and LIVE that tells me your not hardcore. To me those are practice arenas and the only place where it counts is in front of 'real' people where there are no excuses for lag, bad controls and sloppy fps.  Some arcade goers or would be gamers tell me its too expensive, the controls are worse and the 'real' competition I talk about are... mean, cruel and merciless. Wow... you are a **** this is why you'll never get better , why you'll never play newly released arcade games and this is why your not a true fan.

I could rant and rave more about wannabe gamers, weabus and intenetz ppl but I rather have solutions for all the crying gamers. This month and next  I  will be visiting every arcade in Southern California. My review will have the following to answer your excuses for not attending arcades regularly. 

1. Location ,  Address & Numbers, Avg cost (coin/token)?
2. Gamelist and what sort of arcade are they (retro/modern/j-phile/purikuri etc.)?
3. Whats the competition like?
   

I'm sure in time I'll have more questions but for now I'm just going with these. If you'd like to know more information please comment away. I will be taking pictures and if allowed video of the arcades I visit. Lets cross our fingers that operators don't get all butt hurt about the good publicity... that is if their arcade is decent.  

I hope this will encourage our Unity to support the very much alive arcade scene. Ignorance is the only reason why gamers say, " There's arcades around here"? Be a real fan and play it on the machine it was built for, be hardcore again.

Yours in Gaming,

Arcademaid