But anyone wanna meet up there sometime for some casuals? The SF4 setup has some large Vizio screens but the sticks/buttons can be pretty shitty every now and again. There’s also one MvC2, one TS cabinet, and a Tekken 5 setup as well (can’t attest to the quality of any of those). I’d mainly be playing SF4, fyi.
Anyways, just wanna check if anyone’s interested. The scene seems to be centered on AI, Denjin, Video 94, Fullerton RTSD, so basically nothing actually near LA where I’m sure a lot of us are located. If there’s enough interest we can setup a date to meet.
Oh also, if more LA-based peeps are interested in some casuals I may start contacting some places in LA for some RTSD style casual practice. There’s a place in Highland Park I’m considering, so if yall are down for that as well let me know.
Little Tokyo Shopping Center
333 S. Alameda Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013-1735
Japan Arcade is, yeah, wonky. Lackluster competition, the sticks/buttons are always going out… at least there are some decent places to eat around there.
If you plan on staying a long time at Japan Arcade (good luck), best not to park at the actual center. Instead, park in the middle of town. There’s a place on 2nd Street that’s $4 flat rate after 4 PM (goes up to $8 if you stay in town past midnight). If you’re only going to be there for a short while (say, one or two hours), then go ahead and park there. I don’t think they validate there, but you can probably get validation from one of the many restaurants that’s in the shopping center.
The buttons and sticks on the 3S cab are pretty decent. Except for the fact that it’s on one machine. A very small machine. Next to other small machines. Making it impossible to really have space to play. But then again, no one’s really gonna play around you, so I wouldn’t worry too much about that.
People only go to Japan Arcade for Initial D 5 and Wangan 3, amongst a few other games, really.
So yeah, like I originally implied, the place is far from great. If anything, I’d think it’d be a nice place for intermediate players to congregate and play/discuss strategies. The sticks/buttons are a crapshoot but from my experience the manager is pretty good about trying to fix shit on the spot of he can.
I’d like to get in contact with the owner and see if he would let players fix the setup. Right now there’s two big cabs housing a vizio screen each and they are linked. If they could set it up so each cab was it’s own entity and they added another set of sticks/buttons to each (the space is there, they’re just not using it) I bet the place will start feeling a lot better for serious play. That’s just a dream though and would require a lot of work…
In terms of parking, I would suggest we play Mon-Sat after 6pm so you can park on the street for free (there’s tons of street parking east of Alameda and right in front of the shopping center. Also, Sunday there’s no meter checking so you can park on the street all day long so that would be a great time as well.
So given all the bad things about this place, if you guys are still interested let me know so we can setup a date for something. There’s a huge need for a hotspot in LA and I hope we can start something somewhere. I’m gonna work today on my other idea for an SF4 meetup spot in LA. I may post another thread about that soon.
At least the Little Tokyo Arcade has games. I head out there whenever I feel bored and/or wanna buy some nicknacks and eat. Restaurants are always good in Little Tokyo.
What about Family Arcade near LACC? I go there from time to time and they have a great setup (Korean cabs I think, the same as the Video 94 setup). Joysticks and buttons are in excellent condition, but whenever I’m there, the competition is barren.
Any sort of meet-up I’m down for, whether it’s an arcade or someone’s home. We need something like this in the LA area.
I’ll check button/stick status tonight. Can’t make it to any meetups this weekend but maybe we can try for something next week, or you guys can just do it on your own.
Oh and if we’re just settling for this place because it’s the only game in town, well I’m working on that. If you’ve ever been to one of Valle’s RTSD events I’m working with a guy right now to have a similar setup. Maybe $5 for all day SF4 (or other fighting game) play. I’ll post another thread on that later.
Went yesterday, buttons are ok. Stick on the left side has no click and feels like it’s stuck in molasses. If you’re at all touchy about your controls, stay away.
MyDingling, how about Family Arcade then? As I mentioned before, it’s got a great setup, only 25 cents more than little Little Tokyo, and not too far from that place.
Yep, the one near LACC. The cabs there are in excellent condition, it’s 75 cents, and not too far from me, or Little Tokyo. Waddya think? Anyone else here down?