Movieland Arcade

I’ve spent $ 5 on Time Crisis here twice now. It was worth beating both times. I’ve spent an hour ducking out of the holiday rush while my partner shops for presents, and how I cherish that time. I’ve spent a quarter in the peep show machines, and damn it must have been weird watching porn before VHS tapes.
The vintage pinball machines are cool. There’s a Daytona Racer to play with up to 4 pals. A lot of light gun games as well, even if my favourite one has been out of service for quite a long time.
This place is super weird and super cheap, and I’m not sure how it’s still open. But I really like that it is, and I’ll keep stopping in here whenever I want to play some classic arcade games. Most of them are only 50 cents a play!

Cool place for old school arcade games. They take quarters etc. and there are dirty short movies near the back of this place. Those are also coin operated. If you only have bills, the staff will exchange them for coins.

Oh, what a classic, this is one place where even 2 decades from now, it still won’t change.
This sure brings back memories when high schoolers had nothing else to do other than play street hockey or here: no Playstation back then!
Took a walk through memory lane, started on the right to see the driving games, then the back area with ‘girlie’ stuff, and believe me, when you see how things are falling apart here, it’ll get ya out of that mood lol, then up the left side, where after a few more old arcade games (no Pac man, what’s up with that!), then the infamous pinball games.
Played the Playboy one of course, but sucked, dumped two toonies, no problem haha.
You actually feel safe here, it’s not as seedy as some ppl think it is.
and funny how the manager/​owner just sits there, almost dozing off. Guess nothing needs to be done here, as the machines just accept coins…

a good set of arcades, clean and reasonable price. they got a lot of oldies. but all the machines are american machines with their solid but bad taste joysticks. u can have fun playing classic arcade games, machines seem to all work fine there but definitely not a very nice place. fodbidden under 18. owner is like a fat zombie. better go to espot (best one in vancouver i think) or thq. advantage of this one is its location in the city centre.

Movieland Arcade is awesome. I love the fact that this place hasn’t changed one bit in I don’t know how many decades. Yah, it’s a little greasy, but it’s pretty cool too. They’ve got lots of old school arcade games, retro pinball machines, and a bunch of 1970’s 25 cent porn movies. Oh I’m sorry, they call them Girlie movies.
Something for everyone!

Cheap pinball, including Medieval Madness. The bathroom has a giant hole in the door, which doesn’t close. It’s disgusting. That’s okay. Play some pinball, go somewhere else to grab a beer/​a bite/​a bathroom, come back to play more pinball.

Bit sketchy outside and inside. Not very clean.
I liked seeing some of the older games. The price to play a round of Pinball isn’t bad. 50 cents for one round or $ 2 for five rounds. The guy at the front can exchange for quarters including american $ 1 bills.
Overall I feel like this place could be cleaned up (while keeping the retro feel) but I doubt that will ever happen. That being said it doesn’t hurt to drop a few quarters in a game if your looking for some time to kill.
Also there is an age restriction (18+) due to the adult content in the back.

OMG this is the oldest Arcade that has been around forever. One of the old school arcades that for some reason still manages to do business. It’s a dive, however, on a late night or before a concert I like to get my 80’s arcade and some race car driving action in.
It’s one of those it’s so bad it’s good kinda dive arcade places, like a time capsule as one reviewer affectionately called it.
I come in here on occasion less about the games and more to feel like I am in an episode of Tron, Back to the Future or some bad but good 80’s movie.
Customers who come in can sometimes be questionable but as long as you stick with the one player games, no one will try and join you.

I come from Portland where they have an amazing arcade called Ground Kontrol
please check that link out!
It’s depressing to walk into a place like this after establishing a norm.
The place is greasy, and not in the good kind of video arcade greasy either. Vancouver is hipster enough that we should have a descent arcade thats serves alcohol, has live DDR, rock band competitions, and new pinball machines, and a cool interior… maybe I’ll just open my own. but until then don’t think i’ll go back… theres better pinball machines at random bars around town.

As a kid in the 1990’s, visiting this place was always on my bucket list. Who hasn’t walked around downtown and seen this place, with rows of coin-​op arcade machines and that glitzy neon sign out front.
Parking here is obviously horrendous, though you may find something along Seymour or Howe.
The inside has basically been frozen in time. Daytona USA, House of the Dead, Virtua Cop, and an assortment of pinball machines. This would be a collector’s dream.
The downside? The interior smells like urine, especially as you approach the back half of the premises. I had to hold my breath while playing Virtua Cop, and that wasn’t because I wanted to stabilize my aim. You probably do not want to use the facilities here. Add to the fact that they have «girlie movies» in some booths in the back, and the guy at the door is sitting there waiting with a mop.
As others have mentioned, the guy at the front dishes out quarters too, so you don’t need to hunt for a machine.
Come by for some old school gaming, but be sure to keep your hands in your pockets when not playing so you don’t accidentally touch the various surfaces in here.

Dirty, dingy and not any new arcade games really… Also a lot of machines are out of order. But if you’re into retro games, there is a lot of em!

PINBALL REVIEW
List of Machines:
Creature From the Black Lagoon, Indiana Jones (Stern), Medieval Madness, Pirates of the Caribean, Playboy (Stern), Star Wars: Episode 1, Terminator 2
Not the best selection, and the machines aren’t in great shape, but it is cheapest place to play, although it’s strictly an arcade so no drinks or food. Everyone should experience the peep show booth though.

It’s pretty much the only non-​asian arcade in the city of Vancouver. It has a pretty good collection if you come to play retro games. The pinball collection is what I usually go for as it has Medieval Madness and the Addams Family.
The place is rather sketchy as the washroom are dirty and that there’s peepshows in it. My suggestion is to just remove those peep shows since I don’t think anyone uses them since the internet became public and replace it with more games.
However, since alot of other stores around the Granville area are closing down, I just have a feeling that Movieland will just shut down due to the lack of business. So please support them by playing their games if you can.

Some things you need to know about Movieland:
1. You don’t need to bring quarters — the guy at the front has loads, he’s awesome, tell him if a machine isn’t working too and he’ll stick a sign on it so nobody else loses a quarter. (He’ll refund your money too)
2. In regards to the peep shows, you have to STEP IN and look through the creepy slot. I missed a good 10 secs of the first and last peep show I paid for because nobody mentioned that. btw — it’s all from the 70’s.
3. They have pretty good pinball. At least four machines, usually most of them work too. Try medieval madness and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
4. Dont’ expect to use the washroom and BYOHS (bring your own hand sanitizer)
5. It’s an old dumpy arcade — set your expectations low and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. This place is a gem in the bismal wasteland that is Granville street — enjoy it while you still can.

Movieland is a classic arcade with just a hit of porn.
I love this place, it’s like an arcade time capsule. It’s one of the few places left where you can find decently maintained pinball games along with some retro stand up arcade machines. Don’t expect to find new arcade games here, just be thankful the bathroom is there — I don’t promise you that it’s working.
I’ve been coming here since I’ve lived in Vancouver, since 97 and let me tell you this place has not changed a bit. If you remember a dark dirty arcade you will be happy to know it is still the same.
In the back there is some vintage gentlemen film booths, I can’t say I’ve ever dropped a quarter there but I’m willing to bet the films are probably as old as the arcade.
So if you are in to some retro arcade gaming it’s worth a visit, to me this place is an important piece to the history of the Granville mall and I hope this lasts for many years to come.

I have always been curious about Movieland Arcade and what lies inside ever since I passed by it for the first time and noticing the «18+ only» signs. When I walked passed it before, I only noticed various video game machines and never knew what could be so «18+» about it. Being only about 14 at the time I asked people in the area «what lies inside there?» and the only reply I got was «stay away from that place.» Fast forward afew years and I’m 18 now. I needed to make a trip down to Tom Lee today to pick up some guitar strings and passed by Movieland along the way.
Feeding my curiousity, I decided to head inside. The doorman was reading the Chinese newspaper as he was sitting there so I just looked at him and said «I’m 18.» He nodded his head and went back to reading as I walked in. I decided to explore the place abit as I’ve always wondered what lay behind those arcade games. I walked to the back and noticed the peep show booths but didn’t have any interest in them, but right away it hit me that «aha! that’s why this place is 18+!»
I went into the washroom (as I needed to go) and I noticed that it was so dumpy that the door wouldn’t even lock properly. Not to mention there was rust on various metal parts and the sink leaked! After leaving the washroom, I remembered that the sign said «Games Movies Shooting». Shooting? I didn’t see any pool tables or shooting range in there. Unless they meant shooting video games maybe? That seemed like the most logical explanation. Or do you know if at any time in history there was a shooting range or pool tables there?

Movieland Arcade is the sketchiest arcade ever. There are plenty of arcade games, but in the back, there’s a «theater for men», making it 18+ here.
The guy here let me exchange $ 1 American money for $ 1 Canadian money, which is pretty much the cheapest place to do it anywhere. I likes all the pinball options here. I played the Addam’s Family and Playboy pinball. When I went here a couple years ago, the guy put a quarter in the Playboy machine and tapped my shoulder and said, «you play!!!», which I always thought was funny/​weird.
I always feel really dirty after leaving this place though. It just feels a bit grimey, but I do like the pinball games with no kids around.

Granville Street is looking bright and new these days — walking down the street yesterday, seeing all the construction fences removed and all the shiny shops and restaurants that have popped up, I hardly recognized the place. Movieland, however, is a pleasant den of sketch.
As Cameron said, it’s good for nostalgia. The games are old — but they let us see how far we’ve come. They have a few classic pinball machines — unfortunately, they’re really crammed close together and half of them were out of order, and the one I did want to play was blocked by a guy watching his buddy play. I played the old-​fashioned shooting games (the deer hunting one, while not for the squeamish city kids, is at least good value for the 50c) and the motorcycle/​car racing games.
We stayed away from the back area, though must admit it’s a curiousity. Bring your quarters.