Yifan’s Entertainment Centre

Located across Queen Street’s McDonalds, on the top 4^th floor of a shopping arcade, Yifan’s is a precious, hidden gem in the CBD. Yifan’s opens for really long hours (up to 11pm or 12pm if i’m not mistaken, and for every day!), so you could even go there at 10pm (although going and getting up there would be scarier than actually entering to the place itself for me, so I go there in the afternoon)
It is rather dark and has a gloomy, half-​abandoned feel to it, which makes it feel like you’re going to a dodgy place when you go up the first few escalators to get there. However, it is definitely worth visiting — it has the top floor nearly all to itself, and it has a large amount of arcade games from old school arcade games (the ones with the console stick and a few round buttons) to some newer games (such as Mario Kart and my personal favourite, Pump It Up NX)
Yes, it is not gloriously famous or in perfect condition — the pads on the Pump It Up game doesn’t function well sometimes (which for me is a big bummer) and the person at the counter, who you need to talk to if you want to buy coins using eftpos, often floats away somewhere (you can call him to get him to go back to the counter) and is less than friendly but I personally think, being not so crowded (usually you don’t see over 20 people) in the middle of such a packed place in town, it’s wonderful and is a great place to hang out with friends or remember some old memories of gaming in arcades — not to mention it makes you feel like you know the city better because you found a «secret spot» in the city.

EDIT: As of January 2016, sadly Yifans has closed permanently, the company was bought out, with the new parent company going into receivership, resulting in Yifans closing their doors.
In the new location on the 4^th floor of the Queen Street arcade, Yifans no longer gets anywhere near the level of visitors it used to receive when it was located in the basement level of the building about 4 doors down. During this earlier time, you could go walk down into the arcade as late as midnight and it would still be buzzing with activity with people wandering the rows of games or playing one of the many music games they had.
The new setup is much darker and sadly feels a lot more seedy than its old home, plus there is not as many games as there used to be… or maybe it is just my imagination with the new layout.
That being said, their wide range of games does make up for this to some extent with games ranging from 1980s classics up to modern-​day games such as Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Street Fighter 4, Dance Dance Revolution X3 and more.
Worth a visit, but sadly does not match up to its glory days of the past.

I want to like it. I really do. Video games? Aisle upon aisle of video games? And people who love video games? This should be heaven. What it actually is, however, is the aural equivalent of a Jackson Pollock painting. Every blaring, discordant bit of midi white-​noise created in the last twenty or so years, all fighting against each other. This place is like a petri dish for migraines and as soon as it starts the glare of the pixelated screens gets in on the action. Also, as someone who casually enjoys video games, this is not actually the place for me. I’m too into them to enjoy the silly dancing ones or the many variations on glorified Tetris, but I’m not into them enough to play any of the fighting games with the obsessive, train-​spotting masters who lurk around Street Fighter II and Tekken 6. Unless you know how many frames it takes Kazuya Mishima to connect with his Reverse Neck Throw then you’re of no interest as an opponent to them. It’s a real shame.

On a lunch break in the city with nothing to with my time, I started window shopping through one of the arcades which run to the side of mid Queen Street. For no good reason I decided to go up the escalator, the second floor was noticeably more baron than the first with half the store spaces unoccupied. I jumped on the escalator again expecting the third floor to be completely abandoned but I was surprised to discover a giant video game parlor. I did not see it coming, there are no signs or anything, the only way you would find this place is by accident. This place is a haven of old retro arcade games, row after row of the latest 1980’s technology. I had a very nostalgic browse around, delighting in having my memory jogged to the tune of old midi soundtracks. Amusingly, after 20 years, Street Fighter 2 is still the most popular game in the arcade.

This is one of beautiful Auckland spots that basically leaves you with a cocked head and a furrowed brow as it maniacally laughs back at you, shrugging and howling out «I don’t understand either!» It’s probably Auckland’s most David Lynchian spot. To get there, first you have to wind your way up through this terrifying and utterly deserted mall thing with the most bizarre repertoire of shops in the world. Then you make your way up the the ‘Entertainment Centre’, and allow yourself to be absolutely destroyed by the pained desperation of it all. There’s a foodcourt, with will definitely be empty and is totally totally desolate. There used to be a weird concrete volleyball court for some reason. THERE WAS A VOLLEYBALL COURT! Then there’s the arcade proper which is row upon row of unoccupied games which range from Tetris to Tekken. It’s bloody amazing.
Honestly this is probably the saddest place in Auckland. Definitely one of my top5 cbd spots.

I’ve spent many a long hour between classes playing on Yifan’s awesome selection. Whether it’s Dance Dance Revolution, a cute Asian drum game or a good old car racing game, Yifan has everything an arcade gamer could possibly want. I guess it reveals I’m just a little Asian on the inside, but my favourite ones aren’t even in English.
The guys on duty were sometimes a bit surly, but you soon forget about staff when you’re in the midst of a dance off. (until your favourite game breaks down — shock, horror!) Check it out when you need to kill an hour or two.

One of the best arcades in Auckland, they always had the freshet releases available almost as soon as they were out, which for arcades in New Zealand is a rpetty big deal.
The first in the country to get Tekken 6 and Street Fighter X Tekken, as well as the latest versions of the Guitar Freaks and Drummania series (My faves!), Yifans has always been my favourite place to while away a few hours.
They have recently moved from their basement location and are now on the third floor of 239 Queen Street, and have even added a couple of mini bowling lanes!
The only gripe I have is they’ve now switched to a token system, rather than cash, which is annoying, but still a great time!