Tilt Studio: A Real Mall Arcade! | Retail Archaeology

In this episode we take a look at Tilt Studio, a mall arcade chain with actual arcade and pinball games!
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[@RetailArchaeology]

If your interested in checking out my garage arcade I have an older tour video on my second channel: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j17Emqh4jsh5pK8

[@camree2408]

Awesome collection! Love the Galaga cabinet!

[@retailexplorationwithdanny8070]

Retail Archaeology view Dillard’s in fiesta mall it’s closing

[@MaddawgASMR]

Retail Archaeology you should check out Starfighters Arcade in Mesa Arizona!

[@fireheartgames]

We had a Tilt Arcade in our small mall until 2004. I am not sure if it's the same as Tilt Studios, but I sure miss that arcade for real.

[@Kagatoamv]

I was the manager of a "Tilt" arcade back in the early 90's. I didn't realize the company (or at least the name) was still around.

[@jennfurr]

I worked at a Tilt in the 90s also, and worked for the western service center, which repaired all the broken machines. I was at the laguna hills mall, which was already profiled as a dead mall. They've since torn the mall down.

[@Kagatoamv]

@@jennfurr I was at the Oaks Mall, I think that was in the same region/district as laguna hills.

[@Seaglassandsage]

I worked in a dead Mall that closed six months ago when they finally cut the electricity.The more than the mall declined the worse the arcade got, towards the end they took out all of the regular arcade games and replaced it with those stupid Claw Machines. What kid or adult wants to spend 45 minutes in an arcade playing freaking claw machines that you almost never obtain a prize😣.

[@eugeneketaminekrebs3403]

Dusk Raccoon: They set the strength of the claw machine that way so you can’t win/ so it is hard to win.

[@Iquey]

Misery mines are my name for claw machines.

[@SquishyZoran]

Dusk Raccoon OT but nice icon!

[@MarquisDeSang]

I am a simple man : I see retro arcades, I click.

[@bryanzambrano6859]

I got dissapionted when he turned down the theme of Space Harrier at 0:18.

[@Mitch3D]

I can't believe Arizona Mills Mall is still around. I only remember going to that gameworks once.

[@TWX1138]

It appears to be one of the healthier malls in the area. It's far enough from Tempe Marketplace that it wasn't completely cannibalized for stores when Tempe Marketplace and Mesa Riverivew opened, it's far enough from Chandler Fashion Center to have avoided too much direct competition, and with Fiesta closing the most immediate competition is gone. That mall down along the I-10 on the reservation seems to be mostly outlet stores and lacks an enclosed interior anyway, and likewise downtown Tempe seems to cater to a different clientele. On a side note I'm not surprised that Fiesta closed. Mesa put lipstick on a pig with that street renovation they did, without getting that complex on the northwest corner reopened the area simply can't recover.

[@SoldatCrinale]

Wow when you have Rival Schools...you know your arcade is legit. Def want to go here!

[@lordlucian3007]

I barely remember the mall but I remember when this was a Gameworks that used to be owned by Sega around 2000 as a kid, had a great time there.

[@DangerDoom9000]

I miss the gameworks that was there before this moved in they had way more games than this current arcade

[@andysorensen1737]

I do agree on ticket inflation...my wife and I won ~1,000 tickets at an arcade earlier this year. After deciding on a frisbee for our son, we took turns alternating what types of candy we wanted.

[@ricashbringer9866]

I played that spongbob game recently at peter-piper with my daughter.

[@camree2408]

That’s a beautiful sight all those pinball machines! Some of the mall arcades I’ve seen don’t even have those anymore, or have just one.

[@hermosabelleza]

I love this place! I wish it had mini golf like some of the out of state locations tho, but still great!

[@TheMetalIsNeon]

We used to have a tilt arcade in an 80s looking mall in my area, but it closed down. My grandma bought a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pinball machine from it and still has it.

[@matg9844]

Man, I miss the old school arcades. I was fortunate to have a couple where I lived and vacationed. The campground we went every summer weekend had a couple neo-geo machines, house of the dead, tekken, and primal rage one year, and mortal kombat and killer instinct another. We also had Tilt at the mall, an awesome arcade called Alladin's Castle in the suburbs, a pizza place with tekken 2, TMNT Turtles in Time and the Simpsons (still to this day), and there was an awesome pool hall near my house that doubled as a Mexican restaurant we'd frequent. that one had fatal fury special, X-Men, lethal enforcers, and the Nintendo super system. Good times.

[@TinkyTru]

The food looks really good to be from an arcade

[@12Mantis]

@Star Trek Theory To be fair that video only showed the place at one time, for all we know that could've been a slow day for 'em or perhaps they usually get more business later in the day.

[@Ur2ez4me81]

Man I miss the late 80’s early 90’s... They were the times.

[@SearsCool]

Woah that's a cool arcade, but I've never seen it in a mall

[@kylejames7056]

You guys are a lot of fun. I dig the videos.

[@sonnydacuse7622]

Reminds me of today's version of Round 1 arcade. But I do remember Tilt arcade in the 80s-90s in the malls. Great memories

[@bullitsc]

That was a great video, great quality, direction and footage. Not to mention also consistent narration as usual. Two thumbs way up

[@ThunderFist1978]

I remember those pedestal cabinets. I never knew the proper name for them. I do have an amusing memory playing Street Fighter Alpha 1 on one at the arcade in my local mall back in the day. As anyone who has played that game knows, Chun-Li lets out a super loud scream when she loses. Well, this particular day there were some people playing the game next to Street Fighter Alpha, and there was a lady watching her friend play, standing right next to the SFA speaker. Yep - she got all of Chun-Li’s scream right in her ear when I scored the finishing blow. I don’t know how she kept from jumping.

[@paiganbrady6200]

I have not seen an original killer Instinct arcade game in an extremely long time. That is awesome! Shut up and take all my quarter's!!!!!

[@ein311]

I used to work here when it was a Gameworks 15 years ago. Was curious what happened to it and I am so pleased to have watched your video. It brings back a lot of great memories of that place and I'm happy someone took it over keep mall arcades alive. I 100% agree with you on enjoying this type of arcade over a Dave and Busters type.

[@keith_5584]

0:42 initial D! That brings back memories and makes me happy to see!

[@0fficialdregs]

it's always refreshing seeing the host of the channel and loved ones having true fun and joy

[@pokes986]

Long ago Dallas West End had a multi level arcade that was massive with VR games. But that was a time when West End was "The" place to hang out in downtown Dallas

[@thrasherx2k1]

We are getting this at Cherryvale Mall in Rockford Illinois area. I’m excited!

[@ericbennett5919]

I remember tilt at North town mall

[@thrasherx2k1]

Eric Bennett really??? Was it in the basement there?

[@ericbennett5919]

It was upstairs back in the 90s

[@thrasherx2k1]

Eric Bennett oh nice, I don’t remember that. Course I’m only 33 so yeah

[@thrasherx2k1]

I do remember Cyberstation at Cherryvale and Aladdins Castle at Machesney Park

[@natalie8212]

I also wanted to mention that my mom is the most badass pinball player I've ever seen. In fact, my parents _met_ in the 70s at an arcade called Pinball Wizard. My dad was the manager. What a love story!

[@commandtheline]

this is just what i needed tonight. I'm working in my home arcade on a pair of Cruis'n World. Also putting together a deal on either a GTI club or Sky Target. I actually bought my 2nd pair of machines from the Tilt in Bellingham, WA. they are Rush the Rock

[@plushbatfan]

We went to that arcade place just recently for the cubs championship. The results from both Teams Peanut Butter and Jelly were tied from both sessions. First session: both teams scored 9,083 tickets each & second session: both teams scored 4,356 tickets each.

[@LittleRockElevators]

I remember Park Plaza Mall having Tilt arcades. That arcade had three pinball machines, some classic games, and a few prize redemption games. It later added Pump It Up Perfect Collection in 2000.

[@arbutuswatcher]

Growing-up in the Midwest, we had a more traditional Tilt Arcade (think Flynn's Arcade from Tron), as well as a competing arcade called "Electronic Experience". Today, they are a distant memory, but they'll always be a staple of my youth. I'm happy to see Tilt still survives, and appears to be thriving. Never saw one with a restaurant that serves beer. Interesting sobriety test!

[@AustinHansen]

That pan shot of the pinball machines gave me chills.

[@Shwalker07]

Disappearing ink is a classic along with those finger traps and spinning whistles.

[@Gus_Chiggins]

There used to be an arcade in Champaign,IL called Tilt at the mall, I bought a Killer Instinct 2 machine from them. Damn good times..

[@MattMcIrvin]

The Canobie Lake Park pinball arcade has a huge collection of those pitch-and-bat games going back at least to the 1960s. Unfortunately most of them are not necessarily working at any given time.

[@briangriffith4574]

I used to have my birthday parties as a kid at the tilt arcade before it closed down. Lots of golden axe, NBA jam, heavy barrel, and four man super off road!

[@dam9505]

The funny thing is there was a mall in my hometown Indianapolis that had a gameworks studio, but it also became a Tilt studio around 2010. My guess is Tilt must have bought gameworks some time ago. Big piece of my childhood though.

[@andysorensen1737]

[DAM] There’s actually a Gameworks at the Mall of America so they’re still around.

[@eatmysalt291]

Here in Fort Wayne we had an arcade in the mall in the 90’s called simply Tilt.

[@dam9505]

Psy Klone Fort Wayne eh? Is the arcade still around?

[@SplashtheOtter]

We used to have a tilt in our Illinois town. It had the usual ticket games but it also had quite a few fighting games as well. My friend and I would play a lot of SNK vs Capcom and the cabinets were for sale towards the end of the arcade's life. I should have bought one...

[@arqivist2077]

There used to be a TILT at the Oaks Mall in Gainesville FL, which got replaced with some ghetto clothing store. It was rather small and aging from the times I remember going there near the end of its life, but I still had a great time. Mom and I would frequently use the Skee Ball machines. Someone had once left a credit in a Neo Geo that they didn't play, so I took that opportunity to try Metal Slug. Great game it was, in spite of how loose the joystick was. My favorite thing there, being a fan of the early 80s arcade games, was Namco Classic Collection 2. Very unusual combination from the Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga machines you see everywhere. Pac-Man, Rally X and Dig Dug all on the same machine, plus new "Arrangement" remakes of the games, which added lots of interesting new mechanics, worlds, powerups, enemies, bosses, even 2 player co-op! Every winter they would put their games up for sale, and naturally before they went out of business they had a big blowout. After TILT closed down, sometime in the early or mid 2010s, I even managed to see that same Namco collection turn up at a Beef O'Brady's, before that too went out of business. Knowing that I'd never find another arcade that good around here again, I invested in a home arcade joystick. It's the best I can get to that experience without leaving home, but still an experience that isn't easy to replace.

[@spectroman71]

HOLY PINBALL! That was amazing to see. The last time I saw that many in Arizona was at Castles & Coasters circa about 1995.

[@72polara]

Nice to see all the pins. There is a place I get lunch every month or so that has a couple of pinball machines still so I always play. The play is so much faster than on my old ones from the 50's and 60's.

[@STILuVa]

Oh man this video brings back good memories. In northwest Austin Texas we had a cool,funky one story mall called north cross mall. It had a skating rink in the center and even an antique shop (oh the smell)!! On one side we had a TILT arcade,I didn't even know there were other ones. An oshmans sporting goods on another side and a bunch of other little shops. It also had one of the first video game stores where I could buy and sell games!!! My friends and I could get dropped off and just be kids/teens for hours !!! Good times

[@cantinadesigns1]

I love this Chanel ♥️

[@gekiohshootingking]

Great choice of background music around the 2 minute mark, I love Faxanadu on NES.

[@Ram-2112]

I used to love going to that gameworks back in the day. Happy to see another company take it over, ill have to make my way down there sometime soon. Dave and busters at tempe marketplace is usually the go to anymore.

[@plushbatfan]

Went there last night for a quarterfinals holiday challenge. The teams were Peanut Butter versus Jelly. The challenge results: Peanut Butter earned 8,579 tickets & Jelly earned 9,607 tickets (total 18,186).

[@suelee3391]

Good for you!

[@aaronz9687]

Glad it's still open. I remember the basketball game was really the most fun for me there .

[@nashvillan4lif]

I help manage an arcade database of locations just like this one. Keep up the good work! :)

[@natalie8212]

This video was an absolute blast! I wish there was a Tilt in my town. The city I used to live in had two Barcades that were really awesome though, one with standard machines and one with some machines, but the rest was big couches with different game consoles. They had a game menu that was pretty packed. You just paid a cover and the games were free. There should be more places like that!

[@craigmanning2439]

That was a pretty good selection of pinball machines.

[@sunchaser999]

Refreshing to see a real mall arcade...nostalgia to the max.

[@Plasmawarrior]

I've been involved with arcades for nearly 30 years. If you're going to be a 'single play' arcade, where you pay for each game you play rather than one-flat rate for all-you-can-play, THIS is how you should do it. A great mix of old and new gaming machines. Pinball next to Transformers next to Soul Calibur 2. It's super expensive but also super worth it.

[@gamewizardks]

Love the Space Harrier BG Music. I play the Main Theme in my car all the time. LOL.

[@dr666demento]

The reason you don't see many pinball machines is 3 of the 4 major companies in pinball are gone. Gottlieb folded in the early 90's, Bally and Williams merged about the same time and switched to casino machines. Stern is the only survivor still making pinballs.

[@YaowBucketHEAD]

It's unfortunate, but I remember reading an article a while back about how well business is for them. People will always love pinball. Some are really passionate about it. So the orders will (hopefully) keep coming through for more tables.

[@Eric-mw8xt]

Check out the castles and coasters arcade! Not as big as this, but still nice.

[@cancel.lgbtq.6892]

Such an awesome arcade! Vegas needs one of this beside the expensive one on the strip for tourists.

[@RAE10182504]

Area 51 was my addiction back in the day.

[@YaowBucketHEAD]

*MAXIMUM FORCE*

[@iheartmiho]

I regularly go to this arcade. I appreciate the older machines and pinball there!

[@MasterMayhem78]

Hey! It's Gameworks! Edit: I haven't been in that mall for over ten years. I only just recently moved back to AZ. It was really neat seeing the exit from the arcade at the end. Brings back memories.

[@nathanrichards7930]

Interesting fact, Tilt Studio is owned by Celina-based Nickels and Dimes Incorporated, also the owners of the original Tilt Arcade concept. Craig Singer is the founder of Nickels and Dimes. Also, this Tilt Studio location was Tilt's third time acquiring a former GameWorks location, first acquisition of the former GameWorks location was at the Puente Hills Mall in City of Industry, California back in the 2000s, but the first acquired former GameWorks location opened up as a Tilt Arcade, years before the Tilt Studio concept was introduced, which later closed down in the late 2000s, and the second acquisition was at the former GameWorks Studio location at Circle Centre in Indianapolis, Indiana back in 2010, and which became the first ever Tilt Studio location, and as of 2019, its still open.

[@ScottyPhoton]

Very cool. Gunblade.. NBA Jam... nice! My area is getting a Tilt Studio in our one surviving mall, so that's going to be awesome. It will take the spot a Sears was in.

[@retrodealer6495]

Memories like the way they used to be😭 😂😆

[@basshead2003]

Seeing that Williams Slugfest machine brought back a lot of memories. I used to play it all the time when I was in junior high at a local arcade called Fantasy 2000. I still have all the baseball cards that I won from that game.

[@TheKurtsPlaceChannel]

Very cool video. Thanks for posting and have a nice day too.

[@one4allall4one91]

I miss those days in the 80's. Every mall had an arcade. This is so nostalgic. Its a dream.

[@chrismyghostwriter]

Growing up, I remember playing video games at a Tilt in the Tucson Mall. Unfortunately, that one is long gone. I didn't realize Tilt was still a thing.

[@videogamevegasYeOldeAccount]

Awesome look at this arcade! You can tell it was a GameWorks, especially in the restaurant area. The one that used to be in Las Vegas looked identical. Man, I miss classic arcades. vgv

[@cbthethird]

From the early 90's till a few years ago our mall (Lake Square Leesburg) had a tilt replete with pinball.

[@tmoney399]

historians will appreciate these videos in the future

[@ReksVolstgalph]

That is so crazy!! I went to that mall tons of times and never even noticed that place!

[@_PrimetimePranks]

We had a Tilt back in the early 90s at Northcross Mall here in Austin. Their crane machines were easy to work, always won a prize ! Had lots of classic titles there too.

[@soinelle85]

Where the pinball machines are was a multi player F1 racer when it was Game Works. It had around 10 cabs linked with F1 Style cockpit seats.. One of the Game Works staff members was a race announcer. In the center of the main floor used to have a multi level arcade that had seats that moves up and down facing a screen that spanned from floor to ceiling.

[@dragongamer2670]

Hope you go back to this mall again! would be interested to see how it is holding out this summer

[@OutdoorsWithShawn]

There used to be a TILT in the Riverwalk in New Orleans and it used to be packed. Sadly with the Riverwalk's decline, the arcade left. Great video! It's hard to find a decent arcade in my area.

[@Nikademus1969]

Back in the day, one of the malls by me had a Tilt arcade. It was my favorite, because it had games you could not find anywhere else in the area.

[@jasonleman1396]

thanks for a killer video! Addams family pinball, and nba jam were the best and I spent way too much money, was horrible at, but worth every quarter I spent!

[@stuckatthefrontdesk5009]

YOOOOOO, My towns Arcade! Still go down there on Fridays to play a few Pinball games!

[@johnny-becker]

In town, we have a pinball museum that has games that date back to the 50's (20's, 30's and 40's on display but not operational) as well as some modern Stern branded ones.

[@sson386]

Oh Arizona mills is practically right next to my apartment in ahwatukee. Time to give this place a visit!

[@luckyexplorer1053]

I loved going to GameWorks when I was young in Arizona Mills. I would always go there with my parents. I loved always loved the design of the arcade and how it looked. I hope they will keep everything the same in that arcade.

[@martinbaxter2616]

Mighty Zeus's favor shines down upon us!

[@midnightkitty8172]

Thank you for posting this, Retail Archeology; I really love classic arcade games and I miss the old arcades where you would find them. Most of what's in modern arcades doesn't excite me.

[@cameronyeager7635]

Glad that they still have an arcade there since I vividly remember Gameworks. 🥰 Definitely gonna have to visit next time and try out some of the pinballs and shooters granted I'm all about Time Crisis! Any time I'm at a medium to big size arcade though, I always gotta see if there's a Guitar Hero machine. 😁

[@jtlovescodelyoko]

We use to have a "Tilt" Arcade at La Palmera. It even had a beautiful Tilt Neon Sign

[@FlipLiquid13]

I used to go there frequently when it was Gameworks just to play Beatmania and the old Tetris, then have a beer break at the bar upstairs.

[@TrentTheCreator]

I never got to play pin ball machines growing up.In Chicago we had Chuckie Cheese,Odyssey Fun world, and Haunted Trails.

[@shadowgtr5710]

I was definitely taken in by the number of pinball machines that Tilt has over at AZ Mills. My favorite machine there is the Ghostbusters pinball. I also enjoy playing the Sega UFO claw machines. If you work them just right, getting more than one prize is highly possible. BTW, if you want to see a place with a bunch of pinball machines here in AZ, Starfighters Arcade is hands down one of the best places for it. They easily have like 30+ pinball machines and are always getting more in: both old and newer machines. You should check them out if you haven't already.

[@unchainedwiththecapt]

I used to work in a fairly large arcade. We called the coin pushers "cascade" machines. Just FYI.

[@rcrobbins1423]

that tilt studio has some VERY RARE arcade games like dance masters 3ddx dance super station that can only be found in china along with T drums ex drum masters and initial D arcade stage 6 AA witch can only be found in japan but it is slightly older than the most recent initial D arcade stage zero ver.2. a seriously GREAt place to play games.

[@mlk4life]

wow that place looks awesome

[@kristendithomas3522]

A great arcade to check out is starfighters arcade in mesa, az. Such a fun place.

[@StrainXv]

I remember when it used to be Gameworks. They had a really cool vintage Arcade section.

[@DigitalExtacy]

Not a bad happy medium for a modern arcade.

[@pierredelectojr6340]

That’s not a “real” mall arcade. That’s just a D&B with a different name. The authentic mall arcade experience was a small, dark room with a couple dozen machine. And depending on which mall you were at, may or may not have a few seedy people hanging around.

[@Keezawea]

boomer comment

[@matg9844]

Accurate. I remember being a kid, maybe 8 or 9 rocking X-Men with my brother at this Mexican restaurant. some guy walks up with a beer, says 'alright boys, lets kick some ass' and kept pumping quarters til we beat the game.

[@Gogettor]

I remember when women wouldn't dare enter arcades back in the 90s

[@beakerwick646]

Diner pinball, one of my favs

[@AssassinKillua15]

Its sad because there was an arcade by me that closed down because it wasn't getting the customers and some of the people that did go in would be on their phones playing an app. I'd take nice arcade machines over phone games any day. Hopefully this one gets the customers it deserves.

[@7ten]

Initial D 6, and especially Dance Super Station at 00:48 are ultra rare! Dance Station is a rip off from Pump It Up and has many unlicensed Kpop songs but it's a fantastic game to freestyle to. Crazy to see the amount of 2D fighters and pinball. I recently stepped down from managing an arcade in Central London, UK, where traditional video games can do just fine, profitable if you blast social media and run regular events. However the industry is run by people who don't play games and only care about a quick buck profit on redemption. It's an incredibly frustrating situation to work in. It was even hard to get techs to do maintenance, as they'll turn a steering wheel, press a dance pad or fighting game button and say it works so it's OK. But to a player, it's not, we can tell the difference. So I was always confronting this kind of attitude. I love the Spongebob game too, have all the cards! It's one of the only ticket games I like lol. Great video.

[@kurisu7885]

There was a Gameworks arcade in Great Lakes Crossing mall not far from my home, then it closed and is now an Aquarium, then more recently in 2017 Round 1 opened in that mall where a Dick's sporting goods used to be. It's great when new arcades open. Cool to see that this place has Initial D.

[@JAG214]

I remember Tilt at the West End Marketplace in Dallas, Texas back in the day which is no longer around