Vintage Arcade Superstore

The showroom. Vintage Arcade Superstore/used with permission

For anyone over the age of 30, the arcade can be a place full of nostalgia. You may fondly remember pizza grease on your fingers as they mash the colored buttons and jostle the joystick, soda coursing through your veins and a horde of nearby onlookers as you try to reach the top of the leaderboard.

Such love for vintage arcade games, particularly pinball machines, is what spurred Gene Lewin to open Vintage Arcade Superstore, one of the largest and most respected resellers of arcade games and pinball machines in California. Lewin was the owner and operator of several arcades called Pinball Plus throughout the 1980s and ’90s, and wanted to continue to share his love of old-school gaming with the masses.

Behind an unassuming baby blue exterior, the Vintage Arcade Superstore is an 11,000-square-foot facility in Glendale housing hundreds of vintage games including classics like Pac-Man, Street Fighter, and Donkey Kong. The 2,000-square-foot showroom is fitted with 50 arcade games and pinball machines. Whether you’re looking to team up to take on Shredder in Ninja Turtles, or showcase your basketball skills in NBA Jam, or practice your driving in Cruis’n USA, this place has a game to transport you back in time.

Know Before You Go

The showroom and games are available to rent for events or parties, and machines can be purchased to start your own at-home arcade. Renting the showroom costs $200/hour with a two-hour minimum. The price drops to $175/hour after that. All of the machines are on freeplay, meaning no quarters are required. If you'd rather the games come to you, game rentals range in price from $250-400 per game depending on whether it's a classic arcade game, more complex shooter or driver game, or something like air hockey and skeeball.