It’s been some years since arcades were a place where people frequented and kids hung out.?In the ’80s they were a gathering spot for youth to get away from their parents and drop a few bucks in quarters to try to beat the high-score in “Pac Man.”

But a long time has passed since that was the norm and for today’s arcade to try to make any sort of profit, they naturally would need to offer something a little different.?

Which is why I was intrigued when an editor asked me to go do a piece on the 3D Arcade at the Valley Plaza Mall.

3D Arcade??Well, that sounds interesting.?I had some initial speculation on the way a 3D Arcade would operate, such as whether the patron would be handed a pair of glasses on the way in, or if no glasses were required.?

I walked in through a small clique of suspicious teenagers, and inside.?I scanned the room and on first glance there wasn’t much that popped out to me.?

However, a closer look proved that there were some differences between this arcade and your run of the mills.

The proprietor sought to draw in clientele with newer games like “Dance Dance Revolution” and various musical games like “Percussion Freaks 7th Mix.”?

There were a few always-popular games like “Tekken 5” and “Marvel Vs. Capcom 2” that stood out thanks to homemade cabinets and 200-inch projection screens.

I strode over to the latter game, having had some experience back in the day on it, and before long, a young guy wearing skinny pants and a hoody came up and asked if he could play me. I agreed, and he proceeded to beat me in such a fashion that I felt like a newborn child trying to play with the grown-ups. I backed down in shame to survey the rest of the place.?

There were about 30 games in all, but older titles such as “House of the Dead” and “Soulcalibur 3” were ignored largely for the big-screen games and the DDR Machine, on which a teenage boy surged frantically for his friends nodding approval.?

I was impressed, but just watching the display of adrenaline almost made me want to lie down.

I left before these kids made me feel any older, with mixed feelings about the place in general. It would appear that the owner is trying to draw in customers with a name like 3D Arcade to capitalize on the current 3D craze, and if that is in fact the truth it seems sort of desperate.?However, there are a few interesting gimmicks such as the big screens, and at the very least it’s enough to interest a few kids in ditching school and spending their lunch money there.

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