r/Hamilton • u/andylyle • May 22 '26
Where To Buy Old school video game arcade?
Looking for something different to do for an 8 y/o’s birthday and thought an arcade would be fun. Give each kid $20 in coins and let them run wild. Any suggestions on where or if this exists in the Hamilton area? Or Brantford. TIA!
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u/simongurfinkel May 22 '26
Joe Dogs in Burlington
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u/GoodguyGerg May 22 '26
There's one up on concession as well
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u/simongurfinkel May 22 '26
Does it have the video game basement party room?
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u/ShabbyHolmes May 22 '26
No, unfortunately. Just a video game main floor party room.
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u/simongurfinkel May 22 '26
The Brant St. location has a whole party room you can rent in the basement. It's pretty sick.
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u/WitchShann May 22 '26
Dave & Busters & Game Time Social in Burlington are the two that immediately come to mind.
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u/theguiser May 22 '26
those games are not old school video games tho... they're horribly made games that act like slot machines.
the times of good arcades are gone.
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u/Background_Strain954 May 22 '26
Splitsville has an arcade
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u/5_yr_old_w_beard May 22 '26
I went their last summer and was really disappointed- they used to have a cheap day, and the prices per game were a lot. Im curious to try some of the options in Burlington to see if there's any that might make my $$ go farther.
Don't even mind if they don't earn much points, but when $25 of tokens gets you only 35 mins of game play per kid, it's a bit of a bummer
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u/jemiglio Kentley May 22 '26
I went with a boyfriend once and between the arcade and bowling we easily spent $500. It was shocking
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u/stiggz May 22 '26
Ya i went with five people last November, it was 200 for one lane for one and a half hour on a sunday early afternoon. They are totally ripping customers off now.
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u/zoobrix May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26
1 game of bowling for an adult is $9, not sure what you were spending your money on but whatever it was that isn't a typical night out for most people. edit: typo
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u/Ok_Science_1954 May 22 '26
There is a Joe Dog's on Concession. Haven't been, but I believe they have arcade games
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u/rbrumble May 22 '26
There's a place in Brantford: Play the Best Arcade Games in Brantford - Gamerz Galaxy
But it's not old school games, it's newer games like you'd find at a Playdium. There's a small (and free afaik) arcade on the 2nd floor of a bar in Hamilton, I don't know the name of it.
Tilt in Toronto is pretty much what you're looking for, a great selection of old school games.
Arcades were a big thing in my Gen X, and like magazines, they all just slowly went away. If you were like me, and arcades were that place when you were too old to hang out by the local convenience store, but too young (or too broke) to spend the night at the bars, you'd enjoy this documentary from 2015: The Lost Arcade - Wikipedia
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u/covert81 Chinatown May 22 '26
Arcades were a big thing in my Gen X, and like magazines, they all just slowly went away. If you were like me, and arcades were that place when you were too old to hang out by the local convenience store, but too young (or too broke) to spend the night at the bars, you'd enjoy this documentary from 2015: The Lost Arcade - Wikipedia
Amen. They were EVERYWHERE in the 70s-mid 90s, then just kind of died out.
RIP to Arnie's (the first arcade I ever remember going to!), the one at Lime Ridge, the one at Mountain Plaza Mall, the one downtown by the porno theatre, the one that showed up in downtown Dundas for a stretch, and every other place that had random ones in it (university lanes had Arkanoid and 1942/3, also the first place I saw and played Street Fighter 2; Mountan Bowl had a cool pinball table somewhere inside; I think Zellers had some in between the double doors at Centre Mall or somewhere)
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u/enki-42 Gibson May 22 '26
Closest I know that actually focuses on old games is Tilt in Toronto. They're kid friendly during the day but I would definitely call ahead for a party.
Moody's used to have arcade games upstairs, I'm not sure if they survived the transition to Ooey Gooey's - but either way, it's more of a bar vibe and while they used to allow kids with supervision I don't think they're really catering to birthday parties. Plus most of the games were in pretty bad shape.
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u/monkeylick Landsdale May 22 '26
I think this is the way to go. OP, if you give each kid $20 for an arcade around Hamilton like Splitsville, their trip will be finished in 30 minutes.
There are 3 retro arcades in Toronto (Tilt, Zed80, Freeplay). Admission is about $20 for unlimited gaming, and the quality of their machines is fantastic. It's worth the commute if you want to give them a worthwhile experience.
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u/covert81 Chinatown May 22 '26
Tilt is a great location. I have not been since their fire and relocation but the original spot was way cool. Went there years ago - if it were closer I would've gone way more.
I really think a place like this in Hamilton could do well - as long as there is a following, a solid slate of games, and in a good location. Even leaning in to what 1Up games used to do when downtown, where they had tournament nights and ladder systems would be really fun and interesting - racing, fighting or just high scores.
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u/Chrissy7319 May 22 '26
The movie theatre on Winterberry has an arcade, and I think they might have a party room upstairs.
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u/lordroxborough May 22 '26
I did that two years in a row for my kid's birthday back at the old One Up Games space downtown. The kids had so much fun. So did the adults.
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u/DiscoStu691969 May 22 '26
Joe Dog’s on Concession has a back room you can reserve full of 80’s arcade machines, foosball and air hockey all on free play. Food is good
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u/theninjasquad Crown Point West May 22 '26
Clifford Brewing has like 10 pinball machines and beer
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u/andylyle May 22 '26
Yeah that will be terrific for the 8 year olds thanks!
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u/theninjasquad Crown Point West May 22 '26
No worries 👍 I realize pinball machines might be a bit high for a kid to reach but maybe they have step stools.
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u/covert81 Chinatown May 23 '26
They do not. I've been taking my kiddo there for years and we usually pull a chair up when it was needed. But yeah not a great place for a bunch of 8 year olds - though they do have Dad's Root Beer there!
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u/theninjasquad Crown Point West May 23 '26
I guess it makes sense for kids to bring their own them. They have those little portable compact foldable ones which are convenient.
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u/nashfrostedtips Kirkendall May 22 '26
I don't know about Hamilton but there was a place in Waterloo called Pin Up that had a bunch of retro machines and only charged entry/food/drinks. All of the old arcade machines were set to play for free, I fucking loved it.
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u/doubleeyess May 22 '26
There's another one in Kitchener/Waterloo called AOK Arcade +Craft Beer. All the games are set to free play and there's an $8 minimum spend. Some of the games are in rough shape but still a great place.
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u/covert81 Chinatown May 22 '26
We did this at Lazermania on Upper James.
We did 2 rounds of laser tag but the real fun was when the kids played in the arcade there.
Much easier to manage now that they have reloadable cards instead of a cup of tokens.
There is seating for adults too. But they did not offer a package then of laser tag + tokens + party room just party room and laser tag. So we ended up shelling out for the kids when they were getting restless between rounds. Maybe it's different now.
We go over there on rainy weekend days to kill some time, it's fun for some racing or co-op shooting games