James Games

Wish I’d had one of these in my home town when I was in high school. The owner was really cool and offered to pay for my game when it crashed on me.

Super fun, old school games. Cheap. A little hot inside though.

Keep the old school arcades alive!
This place hosts arcades that take actual quarters, not those obnoxious cards with ambiguous credit quantities so you never know how much you’re spending. The owner of the place is this super nice and friendly guy who talks to me every time I go in and explains how the less familiar games work.
This is an awesome place to take your kids or to go for a goofy date. It doesn’t host those Dave n Buster style ticket games or prizes– these are the tried and true classics and racing games that kids need to be introduced to.
Give this place your business because they deserve it.

A very friendly place during the day, and for the most part a safe friendly atmosphere in the late evenings. You will definitely get your bang for your buck. With roughly 4 dollars you can keep yourself entertained for at least an hour. I love it because of the nostalgic feelings you get when you come in here. Despite Round One there are no other arcade places like this. Being a product of the ’90’s I grew up playing Tekken 2, MVC 1 and 2, Initial D, and House of the Dead. Just some but not all of the games you can find there. My only complaint is some the games need to be refurbished due to missing buttons or stuck controls.

After watching the Pixels movie my gamer son wanted to try all those ‘old school’ games, so I looked to my fellow Unilocalers and found James Games. It really is a throwback arcade, all quarters all the games we played as kids. We really enjoyed playing Donkey Kong and Street Fighter. We brought all of our piggy bank change and had a fun afternoon. I will definitely return again soon.

Went to this place last night and I didn’t get a chance to write a review. You know what that means… I was to busy having a blast, I thought places like this were long extinct but the owner, can’t say what is already shown by his character. Great place for friends and parties. A classic nod to retro gamers. Felt like a kid again here

FUN FUN FUN!
I was unsure as what to do for 4^th of July, so I went on Unilocal and found James Games. Inside it was small BUT who knew you could have so much fun. Old school games, pool tables, music, hockey table, snack machines. Myself, my hubby and my two daughters LOVED IT and come to find out that it’s right across the street from upland high school where they had a fire work show. WOOT WOOT

James Games is simply a good time. I’m going to keep this short and sweet, James Games is a fantastic little arcade that anyone one can enjoy. Kids, teens, oldies or whoever can have a fun time here. James Games has a nice community of people from street fighter IV tournament fighters to make a name for themselves to casual pinball players looking to set that high score, but there’s one thing that it does stumble on is its game library. After a hour or hour in a half you can find yourself at a point where you’ve play everything in the place. Other than that it’s a awesome place to play some games with your closest friends.

I have to been to a few arcades and when I’m at other arcades I’m thinking in my head «this place is no James Games» that’s cus James Games is the tightest arcade in Southern California. They got a gang of fighting games here and they are for the most part $ 0.25, they have initial d 3 and 4 and my favorite Wangam midnight 3. Come with your homies and show em up with some air hockey too.
This place is tight, the games are cool, the staff is cool, they got some vending machines if you’re trying to get your snack on. Got a jukebox too (it has some soulja boy in it, so tight).
Tl;dr I fuck with James games.

Most baller arcade. Other places might be nicer or have newer games but james games has all the games I like. They have third strike, marvel vs capcom 2 and most importantly Initial D and Gal’s Panic. They also have the option of renting time on a console to play any of the newer games they have. Almost all the games are a quarter. They used to have streamed tournaments but I don’t think they are doing that anymore. Me and my foo’s end up here all the time when we are bored and it’s always tight. The owner and the staff are also really nice and helpful.

I have been going to James Games for years. My sons and their friends also go to the arcade. There are a lot of old school games that are my speed and I can actually play.
This establishment is kept clean and the staff is very nice and upfront. Throughout the place it states no refunds. So make sure you put your money in the correct slot and add enough coins. Don’t get rude and upset at the staff if you can’t read the sign.
Glad this place is still around after all these years and have old school games. If you don’t like all the old school games there’s always D&B or Gameworks.
Thanks Rick :-)

Freakin looooove this place. Its next to a couple good restaurants so its good for dates. The games are cheap and their well kept. The customer service isnt bad either. The only bad thing i can think of with this place is that its next to a high school. But thats really not that bad

This place is a gem that has Initial D 3 and 4 plus I have been searching all over for a place that has Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3 for over a year. The only thing stopping me from being here all of the time is I need a New card for my rx7 soon and cannot let it expire without replacement.

This place is a hidden gem in the So-​cal region. Not many arcades have stood the test of time and James Games is doing pretty well for itself considering. They have a generally wide selection of games, with an emphasis on fighting and racing games. They host special game nights usually on the weekends and the staff is pretty damn friendly. worth a visit

So I got reported to Unilocal and my first review got removed; so I’ll post another review that isn’t so harsh.
The staff sucks. Plain and simple. Don’t bother asking for help because you will get treated as a low life and a burden as to whatever they are doing.
The arcades suck. Most of the buttons are either jammed or don’t respond to inputs. Not really something you want when playing a fighting game with your friends.
Jukebox sucks. Everything on there is a joke. Seems like whoever put together the music didn’t bother to check out the usual crowd and decided to put whatever they felt like putting.
Everything in this place sucks in general. My earlier review was way more accurate, but since it hurt someone’s little feelings, it got removed. Do yourself a favor and find it because it really put a good perspective on this place.

First off Rick (Owner) is a great guy! He’s always so nice and helpful plus he knows are names… Me & my Hubby try to go here at least once a week. He’s obsessed with the drifting games like Namco & Initial D… There open until 2 a.m. so its never to late to stop by :) I always look forward to coming to James Games! See you next week!!!

This is a cool local place in upland with old school arcade games been in here a couple times they also have a pool table … If ur nearby this place is always cool to stroll in and play a couple games… only downfall they only take cash no card and there is no ATM there

The last true remaining arcade! Has all the favorites, including Marvel Vs Capcom and Killer Instinct!
I have spent hours at this place! Bring the kids and nerdy or geeky adults!

(The following review contains terminology and or names that may be deemed «nerdish» but seemed necessary.)
Color me «impressed».
This establishment has been located here in Upland since the 80’s from what I understand. I feel sad that I have never visited it until now, but I am truly happy because this place has given me such arcadish delight.
James Games is one of the last in a dying breed of classic style arcades. I used to frequent Arcade Infinity back in the day and have been to Super Arcade and Japan Arcade. While Arcade Infinity will always be my favorite I really dig James Games. This place is set up pretty much like AI was and Super Arcade currently is. Like Super Arcade in Walnut, they have a great selection of various fighting games (Street Fighter II, Third Strike, SF IV, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, BlazBlu) and also host tournaments. Other notable additions here include Midnight Tuner, Dance Maniax 2, Puzzle Fighter, Puzzle Bobble, Gals Panic 2 (this game is NOT for kids btw), and my personal fav– In The Groove.
(Just a brief history on ITG– around the Dance Dance Revolution Extreme era, DDR simulation on the PC was exploding. The biggest emulation software was by far Stepmania. A company called Roxor created an arcade game that was based on the Stepmania emulation software called In The Groove. ITG was known for its generally harder stepcharts in comparison to DDR. Unfortunately, ITG only saw two different version releases before DDR owning company Konomi tried to sue then eventually buy Roxor to gain the rights to ITG only to do absolutely nothing w/​it so it would die off. Now finding any ITG machine is extremely rare.)
The ITG machine here is actually installed inside a DDR cabinet (Max2 I believe) thus the pads are also different (DDR and ITG arrow spacing on the pads are slightly different.) The best thing about it is that it has USB support so u can download thousands of custom song and stepcharts from ur computer at home and bring them in to play at the arcade. In fact, theres a sign they have actually posted on the machine informing patrons they can do just that.
This place also has two billiard tables, an air hockey table, vending machines, and all the games generally take about 1 or 2 quarters. Yes, quarters. No tokens or game cards here.
Staff was also very helpful (My friend and I attempted to first play Dance Maniax only to have the game freeze soon after. I alerted the gal at the counter who gladly game over and rebooted the machine and put money back in for us. She looked like she actually gave a crap, so that was appreciated.
Be on the lookout– I noticed some of the games were actually installed inside cabinets for very different games. A perfect example would be a tennis game playing on a cabinet that read something along the lines of «Zombie Attack». It would’ve been cool if it was some sort of Zombie Attack on Tennis, but no dice.
This little diamond in the rough is located towards the back of a strip mall and can get crowded on weekends/​weekend nights, especially if they are having a tournament. They also stay open pretty late like Round One– til about 2am (on weekends). James certainly has some great Games and I’m happy I’ve found a new arcade to visit. I’d willingly drop my quarters here any day over 9,000 laundry mats (It’s over 9,000!!!)

I’ve been here as long as I can remember. They are ONE of the few remaining independent arcades left in SoCal unfortunately. Arcade Infinity was one of the best until they closed down, then you got Family Fun Arcade out in Granada Hills which is out in the Valley, and now all we have left standing is James Games and Super Arcade. It is definitely by far the only independent arcade standing in the IE, and I gave it another * for longevity.
Because of the distance, I can only come here like once/​twice a month to relax, unwind, and play my games. This is perhaps the ONLY arcade that’s open 365 days a year and open on all major holidays! They are open as late as 1am during the week and either 2 or 3am near the weekend. If you’re bored at whatever time of the day, you can come here and enjoy yourself!
They have a good variety of games from fighting games, racing games, dancing and music simulation games, old school arcade games, a game for practically anyone. Parking isn’t that bad during the week, except the weekend evenings when this place gets packed. A lot of players from the fighting game scene come here or Super Arcade to play, so keep that in mind when you do decide to come here.
What else? They do have 2 pool tables if you like to play pool, an air hockey table, a vending machine for drinks and snacks, really what more can you ask for? Rick, the owner who I’ve spoke to a few times does his best to keep all his games maintained and in working order. How he manages to keep his business in business despite the economic collapse of 2008 is beyond me, talk to him he’s a pretty chill guy. And he has 2 employees in Cherrie and Mike who have been here for years now who provide good customer service, this arcade does whatever it does to keep the gaming community alive with tournaments for the fighting games and racing games.
If you’re in the area, give this place a shot! Support your local independent arcades, because corporate run arcades like Gameworks care about is profits at the end of the day and not so much customer service and maintaining their machines like James Games does. Independent arcades like this one are a dying breed, let’s keep the ones that are still left standing alive!