Arcades 101

New to Portland and itching for some blinking lights, loud noises and battles with mysterious strangers? Look no further, wayward gamer, the Vanguard shall point the way.

Viking Game RoomSmith Memorial Student Union BasementSo, your new dormmates already pawned your console for weed money, did they? Fortunately for you, quality gaming time is close at hand for PSU students. The Viking Game Room boasts 10-foot wide, high-def displays for use with its Xbox 360 machines, a LAN gaming PC room, as well as a separate Nintendo Wii room.

Systems are rented out to players by the hour, at varying costs usually around $6 per hour or less. When your thumbs get sore, the Game Room also features billiard tables and bowling lanes. To further enhance the gaming ambiance, there is a creepy, poorly lit snacking/microwave area around the corner, completely worthy of G.U.E. Tech.

Ground Kontrol511 N.W. Couch St.503-796-9364If you are looking for classic games, Ground Kontrol is the place to be. If you are looking for beer to go with your Galaga and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, stop reading, change your pants and then go. Yes, Ground Kontrol totally goes there, and gives you beer-fuel to enhance your pinball wizardry.Evenings at GK are often enhanced with live DJs and the occasional gaming tournament.

Avalon Theater3451 S.E. Belmont St.503-238-1617The arcade at the Avalon is a mix of good points and bad points.

On the one side, it is a cheap nickel arcade that shares space with an even cheaper second-run theater with bad sound and horrible seating. A lot of the games are outdated or broken or covered with something unpleasantly sticky, and there are often hordes of unruly children running amok.

On the other, it is a cheap nickel arcade that reminds you how fun it is to school your friends at air hockey, or waste damn near $50 in nickels on the Skee-ball machines just so you can earn enough tickets to get a unicorn-decorated desk lamp.

Tilt ArcadeLloyd Center Mall2201 Lloyd Center503-282-7201Arcades like Tilt are increasingly a rarity in large shopping malls across America. Dark, noisy alcoves squeezed between the movie theater and the food court are vanishing faster than your mom’s hitpoint bar.

Fortunately, Lloyd Center has the good sense to keep this one open–probably as a way to distract all you hooligans with your denim jackets and your spiky hair from causing a ruckus at the Orange Julius.

Free entertainment bonus: Dance Dance Revolution masters often stop in here to hold court and show off their insane legwork.

Wunderland4070 S.W. Cedar Hills Blvd.503-626-1665Adrift in the suburban wilds of Beaverton, next to a cheap Chinese restaurant and a comics shop, the Wunderland nickel arcade is alive and well. Much like its sister arcade at the Avalon, the Beaverton venue houses several games from decades of yore, as well as some newer titles and, of course, games that offer up the ever-coveted prize tickets.

Unlike the Avalon, this arcade actually has parking, and the screaming-mongrel-children factor is decidedly lower.