Arcades In Ottawa By Christopher L. Tumber (a993@freenet.carleton.ca) Last update: September 1, 1993 Inspired by a gaping hole in the rec.games.pinball best.na list and a complete absence of Canadian games lists. If anyone knows of any Ottawa (or Montreal) area auctions, please get in touch! There are some excellent arcades in Toronto and Montreal (and, I hear, Vancouver) but I rarely visit these cities so I'll stick to home. Ottawa is a moderately size city with an urban population of about 350K and regional population of about 600K. Ottawa is also the Nation's Capital. Ottawa has no arcades which could be considered world class. However, there are a number of very good ones, particularly downtown. Ottawa is blessed with four (five until last month, six about a year ago!) arcades within walking distance of one another: (Imperial->Games Room->King Arthur's->Rideau). I've listed all pinball machines, newest video games in arcades, and all video games elsewhere. Why? Because while I mostly play pins, I also enjoy video games and arcades are having a hard enough time surviving without pin/video infighting. Pricing on pins is 50 cents for one play, 75 for two plays and $1.00 for three with three balls per game unless specified otherwise. Video games are 25 cents for older games, 50 cents to start and 25 cents to continue on new machines unless otherwise noted. 25 cents Canadian is approx equal 20 cents U.S. If there are no comments, I didn't play it. Any additions/corrections send email to: aa993@freenet.carleton.ca (Particularly games recently broken/fixed and small establishments [C-Stores, Bars, Laundry mat's etc.]) Personal Favorite: IMPERIAL (327 Bank) Best Pins: GAMES ROOM (202 Bank) IMPERIAL (327 Bank) Best Video: MR. ARCADE (Bank and Alta Vista) RIDEAU ARCADES (372 Dalhousie) Best Bets For: Adams Family: GAMES ROOM (202 Bank) Black Rose: CARLETON UNIVERSITY GAMES ROOM (Uni-Center) Checkpoint: Creature From The Black Lagoon: 7-11 (420 Rideau) Dr. Who: Dracula: THE WIZARD (Billing's Bridge) Fish Tales: Gameshow: RIDEAU ARCADE (372 Dalhousie) High Speed ][: MAC'S (Place Bell Mall) Jurrasic Park: MR. ARCADE (526 Montreal Road) (Bank And Alta Vista) Lethal Weapon 3: THE WIZARD (Billing's Bridge) Phantom Of The Opera: IMPERIAL (327 Bank) Rocky And Bullwinkle: MR. ARCADE (526 Montreal Road) Simpsons: RIDEAU ARCADES (372 Dalhousie) Street Fighter ][: GAMES ROOM (202 Bank) Teed Off: MR. ARCADE (Bank And Alta Vista) Terminator 2: RIDEAU ARCADES (372 Dalhousie) Twilight Zone: IMPERIAL (327 Bank) GAMES ROOM (202 Bank) Whirlwind: GAMES ROOM (202 Bank) Whitewater: IMPERIAL (327 Bank) IMPERIAL (327 Bank) - Several dozen video games, 8 pinball machines. Many video games are REALLY (Homemade cabinets, handwritten rules/ pricing) ugly conversions and some have poor monitors. Mostly forgetable 80's video games (exceptions: an ugly but very playable Twin Cobra and a nice Galaga). Definately a pinball place (Unless they happen to have one of your favorite video games). Staff is usually pretty nice, but there's heavy turnover. The place looks A LOT tougher than it is, and it's right beside a pizza joint and a strip club. A great place to play all night after drinking with the boys or fighting with your girlfriend. I'm still undecided about which TZ I prefer, here or GAMES ROOM (202 Bank). I usually play this one though because it's closer, the hours are better and the game isn't as tough. Tokens are also a big pain in the ass! They took out almost half their (video) machines, the place looks pretty empty now... Maybe there'll be new ones soon... (OPEN 24 HOURS!) Pins: Twilight Zone (Very Easy Tilt) Addams Family (Unknown Problems, Not Played) Whitewater (Very Good) Phantom of the Opera (Very Good) Capt. Fantastic (25 cents, 5 balls. Playfield wear, otherwise great shape) Eightball Deluxe (X2) (25 cents, 5 balls. Right one has better flippers. Both in great shape.) Video (New): Street Fighter ][ championship turbo, NBA Jam, Mortal Kombat, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, World Rally, X-Men, Lethal Enforcer. GAMES ROOM (202 Bank) - Uses (Ugh) tokens. 8 pins, 20 video. Most video games are pretty old. Used to have a Secret Service pinball with replay stuck at 200k (Heh!). I'd recomend playing Twilight Zone here instead of IMPERIAL (327 Bank). The replay is lower, the tilt is more forgiving, and it's a lot faster (the balls have a lot of zip!). Of course, being such a fast game, it's a lot more difficult. The choice is yours... for a real challenge, try going one to the other. The timing is completely different. Pins: Twilight Zone (Excellent! Very fast, liberal tilt, significantly lower replay than Imperial's (50-100k)) Adams Family (Good) Whitewater (Unknown problems, plays ok) Street Fighter ][ (Plays well) Lethal Force Eightball Champ Eightball Deluxe Video (New): NBA Jam, Time Killers, In The Hunt (50 cents). KING ARTHUR COURT (156 Rideau) - Only 2 pinball machines and maybe two dozen video games. Mostly obscure late 80's. Highlights are a nice Galaga and Offroad. Seems to have strange, unpredictable hours. Pins: Creature From The Black Lagoon (50 cents 1 play, $1.50 4 plays, $2.00 8 plays. Unknown problems.) Funhouse (25 cents, 5 balls Very dark, Missing balls (?) -> No multi) Video (New): Mortal Kombat, Capt. America, Virtua Racing, Double Axle, Time Traveller, Guardians Of The Hood. RIDEAU ARCADES (372 Dalhousie) - Uses (Ugh) tokens. About 50 Video Games but only 4 Pinball. No interior lighting and large ceiling fans. The place looks like a cave (or warehouse) and is usually very dark (by midmorning, the only illumination is from video screens). Has a large number of cockpit games (about 10), and a number of (Jamma? Tetris/Ramparts/Outland/Growl/Several more) conversions with oversized monitors (Takes getting used to, but kinda cool.) Very nice Twin Cobra, numerous other goodies. Well, they fixed Simpsons at least, but that's it. Whirlwind is showing increased signs of wear, you often get 'bonus' multiballs when a ball in play 'gets lost' and locked balls are released. I no longer play it. Terminator 2 has kinda grown on me... Pins: Game Show (Very dark, possibly other problems. Not played) Whirlwind (Dark upper playfield, Kickout misfires, Upper drop target doesn't reset, Silly GC, Low Replay) Simpsons (Works) Terminator 2 (Good) Video (New): NBA Jam, Mortal Kombat, Road Riot 4WD, Lethal Enforcer, Steel Talons, Terminator 2, Capt. America. THE WIZARD (Billing's Bridge) - A nice arcade in the world's ugliest mall. About 30 video games of varying ages. Pins: Dracula (Middle jet bumper is flaky-> Intermitantly very weak or dead) Creature From The Black Lagoon (Backglass Video has problems), Cyclone (25 cents, 5 balls. Very Dark, Nice flippers!) Lethal Weapon 3 Video (New): Time Killers, Space Lords, Mortal Kombat, Lethal Enforcer. THE WIZARD (3007 Carling) - Ugh! Crappy pins, crappy video games. Only the presence of Cue Ball Wizard prevented the trip from being a total loss. It seems these people don't even know how to turn their machines off! Fishtales (Off...Actually, on, but coin slots taped over!) Space Station (Coin slots taped over!) Funhouse (Unknown Problems, played okay) Cue Ball Wizard (Nice!!) MR. ARCADE (Bank and Alta Vista) - Absolutely an excellent arcade. Lots of newish video games (20+) and a few good pins. Pins: Jurrasic Park (In great shape, even good flippers!) Adams Family (Flippers only so-so) Teed Off Video (New): Laser Ghost, Slammasters, Mortal Kombat, Golden Axe ][, Lethal enforcer, Punisher, NBA Jam (and lots more..) MR. ARCADE (526 Montreal Road) - They took out that nice Twilight Zone Beta. Jurassic Park seems to be holding up okay. Maybe 20 video games, nothing spectacular here except the ONLY JP I've seen in town. Pins: Card Shark Gold Wing Jurassic Park (Played well) Arena Rocky And Bullwinkle Comet Video (New): NBA Jam, Mortal Kombat, Lethal Enforcer OTTAWA UNIVERSITY GAMES ROOM - A big disapointment! Was far better last time I was there about a year ago. A mediocre selection of video games and three of four pins have problems (could be four of four... didn't stick around long enough to find out!). Maybe it'll get better when classes start. Pins: Fishtales (Unknown Problems: Not played) Adams Family (Unknown Problems: Not played) Terminator 2 (Unknown Problems: Not played) Checkpoint Video (New): Warriors Of Fate, Terminator 2 CARLETON UNIVERSITY GAMES ROOM (Uni-Center) - A bit of a disappointment, but, should get better in September when classes start. Then, this place is packed! Pins: Black Rose Street Fighter ][ Rocky And Bullwinkle Terminator 2 Star Trek 25th Anniversary (Off, Awaiting repair) Video (New): Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter ][ Champ., Indy Heat. CARLETON UNIVERSITY ABSTENTIONS (Commons) - Ugh! Horrid, but will improve when classes start up next month. 'Till then, this place is deserted. Video: Astyana, Offroad, Street Fighter ][, Airwing Carrier. BROKEN CUE (Montreal Road and Vanier Parkway) - Another big disappointment. They've gone downhill since they moved, used to have a few good machines. I got several strange looks for actually PLAYING the machines. Pins: Radical (25 cents, 5 plays for $1.00. Seemed in good working order, was able to get replays despite never seeing it before) High Speed (25 cents, 5 balls. Flippers VERY poor. Upper right flipper quivered pathetically. Impossible to ramp ball. AVOID) Video: Pit Fighter, Pole Position ][, Nibbler (Cocktail), Final Fight, U.S. Classic CAPITAL CITY COMICS (151.A Second Ave.) - A decent comic store, with a video game (changes every couple months) in a REALLY bad place. The game's right in front of the door so you block anyone coming in or out and get jostled constantly. Video: Special Criminal Investigation. BECKER'S (Bank and Third Ave.) Video: Magic Sword 7-11 (1166 Bank) Pin: Lethal Weapon 3 Video: NBA Jam, Hit The Ice, Neo Geo 7-11 (420 Rideau) Pin: Creature From The Black Lagoon (Nice) Video: Mortal Kombat, Operation Thuderbolt 7-11 (Beachwood Ave) - I'm sure this Twilight Zone takes some serious abuse (and no tilt!) but that's no excuse for its condition. Gumball was dead (with powerball inside). Clock was also dead. Trough had trouble feeding plunger and the 'carriage' liked to dump the ball on the left ramp. The left magnet was also very weak (the right one seemed a little off too, but not as bad.) But you know, Twilight Zone is such a great game that despite all this it was still very playable. I was shocked! When I worked at another 7-11, the guy who serviced them took AMAZING care of them. He was in every week to take a look at them, polish the playfield, clean the balls, make adjustments, etc.. I guess they got rid of him/switched suppliers (This WAS several years ago). Pin: Twilight Zone (Numerous Problems) Video: NBA Jam, Clutch Hitter 7-11 (Richmond Road) Video: Vindicators MAC'S (Bank and Fifth Ave.) Video: NBA Jam MAC'S (Place Bell Mall) Pin: High Speed ][ (Getaway) Video: Galaga '88 MAC'S (Montreal Road and Center) Video: Hammerhead Harry MAC'S (210 Laurier East) Video: Street Fighter ][ Turbo Champ CHEESE PIZZA PLUS (1880 Carling) Pin: Fireball IVES GROCETERIA (Rideau and Chapel) Pins: High Speed (25 cents, 5 balls) Swords Of Fury (25 cents, 5 balls) Video: Golden Axe TOTAL MART (Montreal Road and Ducharme) - A real find! I've never really liked Fire (Not much to do and impossible ramps) but this one has nice strong flippers. Replay is really low. Lowered ramps are a little slow raising and occaisionally trap balls. Pin: Fire (25 cents, 5 balls. Nice flippers!) Video: Golden Axe CHAMPLAIN CLEANER'S (Ridea and Chapel) Pin: Captain Jacks Video: Simpsons, WWF, Bottom Of The Ninth, Superman VANIER COIN LAUNDRY (279 Montreal Road) Video: Street Fighter ][ Champ, WrestleWar IDEAL CLEANERS (331 Elgin) - They're old and they look it, but they work. 'Nuff said. Pins: Xenon (25 cents, 5 balls. So-so flippers) Viking (25 cents, 5 balls) Elektra (25 cents, 5 balls) Video: Spy Hunter, Paladin, R-Type, Sly Spy, Jr. Pacman