Fun N Games arcade, Willowbrook Mall 11/17/07

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We visited the Fun N Games arcade at Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, NJ, on Saturday, November 17, 2007, one week before it shut down.

Although Fun N Games is part of the mall, the entrance is on the outside. There was a table set up with small TVs and people playing Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike for the Sega Dreamcast. There was also:

an air hockey table near the entrance

a basketball free throw game in the back corner

racing games:
Daytona USA 2: Battle on the Edge
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Indy 500
Initial D Ver. 3
Midnight: Maximum Tune 2
etc.

light gun games:
Crisis Zone
The House of the Dead III
Police Trainer 2
Silent Scope EX
Time Crisis 3
Time Crisis 4
etc.

rhythm games:
Dance Dance Revolution Extreme Plus
DrumMania 10th Mix
In the Groove 2
etc.

one-on-one fighting games:
Capcom Vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001
Marvel Vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes
Street Fighter Anniversary Edition
etc.

pinball machines:
The Lord of the Rings
Pirates of the Caribbean
The Simpsons Pinball Party

and other games:
Beach Head 2002
Derby Owners Club: World Edition
The Grid
Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga
Virtua Tennis 2
etc.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• fun
• games
• arcade
• willowbrook
• mall
• wayne
• nj
• new
• jersey
• video

[klisk]

@MasterWok7 I sent you private messages a while back, but you never responded. Shame. :<

[MasterWok7]

@klisk We live in Georgia now, but I don't see any reason why my dad wouldn't answer some of your questions. :) It obviously wasn't my business; I'm just telling you what he told me.

[MasterWok7]

@klisk There was no mystery, you guys just weren't told about it. The business had a good run, but it ended with a whimper. I'm not trolling, it's actually me. :p

[MasterWok7]

@klisk I don't know what happened to a lot of the employees, to be honest. The only one I'm sure about is Hussein, who manages Subways. I was told once that Andy (the guy there on Sundays) is retired; he had a second job. As for the newer cabinets, I'm not sure. I could ask my dad, but they might have gotten some good deals on cabinets before the auction.

[MasterWok7]

@klisk The owners did not tell the employees that they were going to close until several months before it was actually going to happen because they didn't want all of them to all "abandon ship" and have nobody to work.  They still gave the employees more than reasonable notice. I don't see any reason why they should have told all the customers far in advance that it was closing; it was their decision, and it was time to move on.

[MasterWok7]

@klisk There were people in the arcade (employees) who were considering re-opening at another location. I think they realized after talking to the owners that it would be a terrible idea, since the arcade business was practically dead. On top of that, I'm not sure if they had the money or the time (many had other jobs) to undertake such a feat.

[klisk]

@MasterWok7 Still, the whole situation ended with such mystery, and I have been trying to hunt down this interview for years now. Why did FnG close so abruptly, right after getting new cabinets? Why did the website disappear, after getting many updates about relocating to a new place (Wayne Towne Center being one example. Unfortunately, reconstruction was halted due to land contamination.) What REALLY happened with the new owners/lease/crowd? Or are you just trolling?

[klisk]

@MasterWok7 I am a published Journalist, btw. If you are telling the truth about your father owning FnG, then is there any way that I could set up an interview with him, his brother, etc? These are all people I am sure I have met, and spoken with, many times over the years while FnG was alive.

There are many unanswered questions. We, the community, love FnG. We want to know the truth, the full details. I would only write positively about it.

[klisk]

@MasterWok7 Are you sure? I have been investigating the closing of FnG for years now, and have been led down many stray paths (like your father owning the Casey O'Tooles on Hamburg Turnpike), and have eventually hit many dead ends. However, when I finally did get in touch with Saif I was told that the arcade closed because the new owners of the Willowbrook Mall (which was sold just 2 years prior) wanted to eliminate the "unsavory crowd". Also that the arcade was still very profitable.

[sumyumguy214]

@MasterWok7 This place helped defined my childhood I had been going to this place since 96 up until its closing in 07. Now Im 18 years old and see this vid and it brings back so many memories of when I use to rock all the rail shooters. I thank your dad and other people like him who owned this dying industry known as Arcades and wish a revival will happen soon