Only a couple of decades ago, arcades were the place to go for the young and young at heart. Quarters or tokens were consistently being inserted into games such as Galaga, Pac Man and pinball machines, with a flurry of sounds emitting from the machines.
As the demand for video gaming home consoles have soared, conventional arcades have declined at a rapid pace. According to a January 2013 article on theverge.com, in the early 1990s, there were hundreds of arcades in New York City. In 2005, the number dropped to 25 and in 2011, there were fewer than 10.
Currently, the Take II arcade in the Vernon Park Mall — the only arcade in Lenoir County — is usually found vacant, with sounds of nostalgic games coming from the room.
Vernon Park Mall property manager Mike Ingalls doesn’t see a need to get rid of a staple in the mall.
“I’ve been here 12 years and it’s been here that long,” Ingalls said. “For the younger groups of people, it’s a pretty popular attraction. There’s been an arcade here as long as the mall opened its doors since 1970 and I don’t see a need to close this one down.”
Kinston resident Patrice Starkey, 30, hasn’t had the same passion of enjoying the arcade as she had years ago.
“When I was younger I used to go all the time, but nowadays, I don’t go as often,” Starkey said.
Bret Canuette, 23, felt there should be more of a focus toward other endeavors in the city.
“The money could be put to better use, like improving the roads and community,” said Canuette, a Kinston resident. “We need to get Kinston back to where it was in the golden age years ago.”
Pride of Kinston Director Adrian King said there were recent plans to place an arcade in downtown. Daniel Mitchell and Gregory Dunk were in the process of bringing one to North Queen Street with a grand opening set for June.
“Apparently, they ceased the moves they were making to the building,” King said. “It still looks empty with paper over the windows with no activity. They may have abandoned the project.”
King had seen the two with plans to revitalize the now deserted looking building.
“When they were there in the spring, they were busy doing the floors and walls,” King said. “The doors were open and windows clean. The assumption is they abandoned the lease and whether or not they continue to work on the project remains a mystery.”
Neither Mitchell nor Dunk could be reached for contact. King said he hasn’t seen either of them in months, but was interested in the arcade for the plans and what it could do for the community.
“The thing that excited me about it was it was going to be both an arcade and an ice cream bar,” King said. “I think it would have been a safe place where young people could have clean fun. Any amenity attracting young people to enjoy themselves is a good thing.”
The Woodmen Community Center has a mini arcade for its younger members.
“We put that in a couple months after we opened so the kids could have something to do while their parents worked out,” director Kelly Cannon said.
Still, assistant director Earl Keith believes gaming consoles like the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 have taken the excitement away from arcades.
“It’s just the days in time,” Keith said. “You see more people interested in the video games than arcades.”
Northwest Elementary teacher Cathy Hyler wouldn’t object to an arcade in the city, but only if there were rules implemented.
“It has to be well taken care of,” she said. “There has to be good security and strict laws. You can’t have kids running around buck wild.
“The kids need a place to go and need variety.”
Kinston resident Jordan O’Neal, 23, would be fine with an arcade as well.
“I wouldn’t have a problem with a new arcade in Kinston,” O’Neal said. “The one in the mall was great before things broke.”
Ingalls said the games in his arcade have regular maintenance performed.
“Things will always break and will be repaired,” Ingalls said. “It’s common with business. People need to look more at the positives than the negatives. It’s a positive there’s an arcade in the mall and not many places can say they’ve had an arcade around for 43 years.”
Junious Smith III can be reached at 252-559-1077 and Junious.Smith@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JuniousSmithIII.