This is the first of hopefully many posts based on a reader’s suggestion. alaModest on Twitter suggested we go to the arcade. We thought that was a great idea so we filled our pockets with tokens, checked our maturity at the door and had some good old fashioned fun.

SHE SAID:

Believe it or not, this was my first arcade experience. In the past, I must admit I scoffed at arcades thinking they were childish and a big waste of money. This may still be true, but I no longer scoff. I now salute the flashing lights and loud noises for providing us with so much fun while we waited for our movie one day.

Since arcades only exist within movie theatres where we live (that we know of), it was a convenient and very entertaining way to pass the time while we waited for our movie to open. I think I might have enjoyed the arcade more than the movie that day. There was something about the carnival type atmosphere that made me feel like a kid again. Had there been cotton candy I probably would have bought some.

I found the shooting games to be the most fun, even though I apparently have really bad aim. The basketball throw was also a fun two player games as we frantically threw half deflated balls into the net. The lack of tokens that are supposed to shoot out at the end of the game tells me we’re also not so good at basketball (surprise, surprise). Regardless, we had a blast.

HE SAID:

I remember as a kid going down to the mall with my friend and going to the arcade. For some reason I remember it being incredibly dark and scary, but I’m pretty sure I had fun at the time. My most significant arcade memory though, is going to the arcade on the ferry when we travelled to Prince Edward Island. I loved when dad would take us there and show off his crazy pinball skills. It was a great way to pass the time on the boat.

Since then, arcades have sort of faded from my thoughts. When I go to the theatre I don’t even think about the fact that there is a room full of fun games off to the side. I guess it’s part of “growing up”.

We threw “growing up” out the window the day we went to the arcade, and it was awesome. I still enjoy the more interactive games like the racing games where you actually sit down inside a fake car, or in this case a fake motorcycle.

It doesn’t take much to burn through five dollars of tokens when there are two of you playing the games. We each played one game separately (I did the motorcycle racing game and she did a deer/moose hunting game), but everything else was very couple friendly. We even tried one of those games where you control the claw that comes down and picks out a stuffed animal. Unfortunately they only give you one try so we failed miserably at it.

I didn’t get to try every game, both because of being too cheap to buy more tokens, and because there were actual kids playing the games. I was hoping to give the Guitar Hero game a try, as well as the pinball machines tucked away in the corner. Maybe next time.

We are definitely going back to the arcade. We’ll probably check out different theatres around town to see what games each one has. It was a lot of fun to do something I haven’t done since I was a kid. This was a great suggestion and I’m glad we did it. If you have any arcade memories from your childhood we’d love to hear about it. Also, if you have any suggestions about things you’d like to see us try, please feel free to email or message us on Twitter and let us know.

(Click here if you can’t see the video of us at the arcade)