Retro Arcade & Fascination — Local services in Wildwood

Short version? Loved it. This place is a gem, for Fascination alone.

Long version?

I had brief occasion to meet and talk with the owner, Randy Senna, yesterday. This, after some months of learning about him and his love of collecting by way of his YouTube channel. Like many of you, I’d seen the “Hoarders” episode, and read some of the negative reviews here, and thought…is this guy for real? Or, is there something more happening here, under the surface? So I went.

For what it’s worth, I found Randy to be a genuinely polite, hard-working, and deeply knowledgeable guy. You get the feeling he truly wants you and your family to be happy while you’re there, and enjoy yourselves while visiting his arcade.. You can tell, even during the arcade’s slower moments, that he’s a natural as an entertainer, and honestly cares that everyone there has a good time.

Does the store smell? Eh, a little bit, but no more than any other antique store does…and let’s face it, this place truly is filled with actual antiques. Some of these machines are approaching 75 years old or more.

Is he mean to his customers? Not that I saw. I’m sure he might snap at a few people who act like idiots in his store, but he seems like a good guy, once you get to talking with him. My wife, son and I played a bunch of rounds of Fascination…and it’s true. For such a simple game, it’s an oddly deep, almost transcendentally addictive experience. There’s a beautiful element of randomness to it, with just the right touch of chaos.

My biggest take-away? Randy is gifted. Very gifted.

In person, Randy seems very much like the sort of people I work with in my own career path. The high end is filled with people who are cut from an entirely different kind of cloth..They are alarmingly intelligent, technically-minded, often with a very, very short list intensely focused interests. They have a private joy that comes from totally mastering a subject, and then opening that subject up so that it can be shared and enjoyed by others. They are fiercely loyal, highly perceptive of connections other people can’t see, and have an unbreakable sense of ethics and fairness. They, themselves, are honest, almost to a fault… in many cases, too honest, even when sugar-coating the truth would be understandable. They keep it all running…and in a peculiar way, the machines seem to appreciate it.

All of these traits come at a personal cost, however.. But in each case, this type of person has found a way to bend that negative into a positive..they took a thing they struggle with, and found a way for it to fuel their passion.

From what I saw, like the old Gary Numan song, Randy Senna dreams of wires. To the machines, he is their sparkle. A bit eccentric? Sure…but a grumpy boardwalk villain? No.

More superhero than...

Randy's arcade is an amazing place. All sorts of retro games at retro prices. Definitely the best "bang for your buck" in Wildwood.

Is Randy a bit "quirky"? Absolutely!

Is liquor & weed legal in NJ? Absolutely!

Can it be a bit annoying you can't take photos in the store? Absolutely!

But here's the thing, It's Randy's store & polices. If you don't agree thats your right here in America, but it's also Randy's right to refuse these things.

This guy has a genuine love for these games & wants to share it with other people and their family's so they can make the same memories he's so fond of..

Alcohol & drugs kill families physically & emotionally every day across the country. All of those fun stories that happen while drunk or high more often than not aren't very fun for the children & families. It can be enjoyed responsibly but we've all seen the stupid/dangerous people down the shore getting arrested or rolled out on a stretcher & I personally put myself between them and my family because I want to protect them.

I'm sure tons of people come in buzzed or stoned that don't get kicked our by Randy because there not a menace to his store & can consume responsibly. Your probably just not one of them lol.

I brought my family in last summer and we were able to stay & play for over an hour for less than $40. The kids loved it, and are excited to go back! No where else in Wildwood will you be able to spend that kind of money while also having a blast.

So many reviews about machines eating quarters. These machines are old, parts are hard to come by & things happen but it would take less time to tell Randy about it (in person) & get your quarter back than it takes to let him know in his reviews. I worked at Dave & busters for 5 years as a game tech. TO be perfectly honest, more than half of all the "stolen credits" were user error and not even the machines fault! & these machines were only 1-10 years old!

I honestly can't believe Randy still does this, his ENTIRE summer spent keeping the Arcade running just for a bunch of nuts online to bash him. He still comes in though EVERY DAY so he can help other families make the memories he's so grateful to have today.

I know the reviews won't stop, but to all the families that haven't had the pleasure of visiting yet - I hope you don't let them stop you from coming in. You'll have an amazing time! & Randy is actually quite fun to talk to as long as your IQ is higher than...

I really wanted to give this place 5 stars but I think it can be improved upon and I hope the owner takes my review seriously. Randy, the owner, is eccentric but without him collecting this stuff and providing this experience, much of what he has would have ended up in a dumpster. The displays are dusty, but just the fact that the stuff is still there and on display is priceless. I talked to him a little and his stories and information so informative and great. I hope that he can open a museum sometime, but in the meantime I will keep watching his you tube videos. Anyway, I did spend about $50 there in a course of a couple of days playing various games but a lot of fascination. I didn't turn the tickets in for any prize, but the prizes had no ticket values, I didn't need the stuff anyhow, and didn't want to be a bother. He could have the ticket amounts on the prizes to make it easier. Now about playing fascination. I am not sure what the point is except for fun which took away some of the excitement and I think turned some people off because they didn't understand the rules. From playing there, I got that if you play a game for 50 cents you got one ticket. Why get a ticket for just playing, I am not sure. When you when you get tokens for free games but you don't get a prize ticket for those games. I am not sure why and I was confused but did enjoy playing. I didn't see any signs explaining this. Personally, I think it would be better if you paid the 50 cents and the winner got some tickets for prizes. Anyway, there are a lot of neat other games here and one of a kind items. It is a little scattered and lacks some order, but I think that is the type of person Randy is from watching his videos. I would go back and recommend that others go there as well to support this place. I love retro arcades and having one right on the boardwalk...