Oh Wow Nickel Arcade — Local services in Fresno

I've been a long time fan of this arcade since I was a teenager and seeing it in such a poor state of disarray and decline is sad. The variety of the games is severely lacking with a majority being redemption machines (ticket games & prize games) that are in need of serious need of repair and upkeep. It's not uncommon to have these games not accept the nickel, dispense tickets, or even work despite them being turned on.

The remaining game that aren't prize & ticket games are the small variety of arcade games. These cabinets have seen better days as their audio and sound will be either poor quality or muted. It's not uncommon to see arcade games with an "out of order" sticker on them and out of commission for an unknown length of time. These machines such as "house of the dead", "Marvel vs capcom 2", and "silent scope should be sold off.

For being a small venue with machines it's very hot in the arcade coupled with bodies crammed in (especially during the pandemic) there's no real covid measures or sanitation taking place. The only reason why this arcade is still around for 20+ is the location, nostalgia, and the cheap cost for a family to play when compared to Blackbeard's, Dave & Busters, Chuck-E-Cheese, Johns Incredible.

It would take a new investor and vision to buy the venue and really revamp and bring the arcade back to being a venue WORTH GOING TO. So if you want to pay $3 a person for games that cost a nickel that may or may not work, in a cramped and small hot venue then by all...

Great value for the price. Plenty of variety of games and they are all for a nickel, two, or three. Most the games only cost one nickel, including most the arcades. The place isn't the cleanest, but it's not any worse than Chucky Cheese and the games there are for all ages, including adults, to have fun. They don't have food there, so get something to eat first. There's a Subway nearby if you like sub sandwiches.

update after coming back a couple years later: several of the machines were out of order, several of the pinball machines, which was a disappointment the skeeball machines were all out of order the motorcycle game wasn't working quite right

I'm sure that they are probably struggling somewhat after COVID hit. I don't think it would be too much for them to raise their entrance charge a couple dollars, per person, to help pay for some more upkeep and maintenance of the equipment.

We still had a lot of fun though, and we'd probably...

It's a very unique and interesting place. An arcade with some of the older games and newer ones too. Most take 3 or 4 nickels to operate. Some machines are broken to put money and others out of service. The place is fun for kids but it's not free it's $4 dollars to enter wether you play or not on top of what you change to play, as you play you earn tickets for prizes they are not worth it and getting tickets turns out to be expensive. Still it's fun for children. The attendants are courteous and prompt to try and fix any issues with the machines when asked to do so. You can't take any snacks or drinks inside and the options to buy are very limited. I recommend you take a coin bag to put your nickels if you visit because if you need something for nickels they sell you a cheap tiny foam cup for 5 cents and it breaks easily. The location is good it's in a place with plenty of parking and there's many amenities and other stores in...