A mini-SC3 event was hosted at The Frida Cinema to celebrate its showing of Video Games: The Movie on July 19, 2014. Several moviegoers and video game fans, including a large number of families with young children, were in attendance. SC3 provided seven home consoles and two arcade machines – Donkey Kong and Track & Field – briefly recreating the glory days when real arcade cabinets could be found in all theater lobbies. While not as large as a typical SC3 event, this was a unique opportunity for us to showcase classic games in front of a different audience. We lost count of the number of people who were wowed by their first-ever sight of a Vectrex, and seeing young kids willingly play E.T. for the 2600 is a rare treat. Plus, after witnessing N64 and Xbox 360 games played on a theater-sized screen, we absolutely NEED to see a ColecoVision game blown up to that size. Someday we'll make it happen.

Photos of the event can be seen on Frida's Facebook VIDEO GAME DAY post.

SC3 will be on hand during The Frida Cinema's Video Game Day, headlined by the new documentary Video Games: The Movie, in Santa Ana on July 19, 2014. Frida Cinema is a "community-based, mission-driven, non-profit Art House theatre dedicated to enriching, connecting, and educating communities through the art of cinema" located in downtown Santa Ana. Once they secured the rights to screen VGTM, they decided to make a larger event of it. They're holding a game character cosplay contest. They're bringing in a band (The Grinning Ghosts). But they thought: why only watch films about games when you can play them? That's where SC3 comes in. We'll be on hand Saturday only, with a miniaturized version of the goodies we normally bring to SC3 events. We plan to have about a half-dozen classic home consoles and 2-3 arcade cabinets available for free play from 1 - 6 p.m. on Saturday. Frida is also hosting big-screen (as in theater-sized-screen) gaming, featuring modern games. Come early, play some games, listen to some tunes, eat some popcorn, then watch VGTM!

SC3 will be on site Saturday only. Doors open at 1 p.m. The band and the big-screen gaming starts at 4. At 6 p.m. the gaming and band will wind down for the cosplay contest. Video Games: The Movie will screen at 7:30 p.m., after which time the band will play another set.

Admission: $10 General, $8 Students and Seniors, $7 Frida Members and Cosplay Characters

Please note that is a Frida Cinema event; SC3 is just helping out. Please don't expect the normal SC3 blowout party with tons of machines crammed everywhere; the cinema just doesn't have that kind of space. In particular there will be no space available for buying, selling or trading games. This time it's all about playing and celebrating games. Our normal festivities will return for the next SC3 arcade party, which will likely be sometime around November.

The Frida Cinema and SC3 hope to see you there! For more information, visit Frida's web site.

April 26, 2014 marked the fourteenth arcade party SC3 has put on since 2006, and the second at The Last Arcade on the Planet – a Santa Ana facility fully stocked with over fifty classic arcade cabinets. About 175 people showed up for SC3's trademark mix of retro arcade and console gaming and trading. Overall the event went off very well, with a lot of satisfied players all around. But thanks to a bizarre mishap with an equipment rental service, it nearly didn't. Find out all about it in our April 26 Event Recap.

The next SC3 arcade party has yet to be scheduled, but if things work out as we expect, it'll be sometime around November in Claremont. As always, keep an eye on this site and our Facebook page for announcements. Until then, keep gaming!

It's time for the first SC3 event of 2014! Our next Arcade Party will take place on Saturday, April 26, at The Last Arcade on the Planet, a private facility jam-packed with '80s arcade classics in Santa Ana. If you attended our June event last year, you already know The Last Arcade. The owner, Juan, has hosted numerous parties and events there in addition to SC3's. It's a perfect fit for us. The Last Arcade features over 50 classic cabinets (and 5 pinball machines) representing the best titles from the Golden Age of Arcades. SC3 is bringing our usual complement of classic home console games and maybe a cabinet or two of our own. It'll be another great evening of games, games and more games!

Event Schedule

The April 26th party opens at 6 p.m. and lasts until 12 midnight. Home consoles and the game trading area will be stationed outside. GameGavel.com will be on hand, conducting their usual raffle jam-packed with retro gaming goodies.

Food Schedule

Drinks will be available at this event, but entrees will not be provided. We are attempting to line up on-site food vendors, but have no commitments as of yet. We'll post updates as soon as we know more. There are also a number of restaurants (both fast food and fast casual) in the area.

Donations Are Appreciated!

With over 50 machines, electric bills are expected to be quite high. Your donations fund all SC3 events and are greatly appreciated. If all adult attendees chip in just $5, that should cover our expenses. Thank you!

RSVP Today!

If you want to attend, you must fill out this RSVP form. If your registration is accepted, you will be informed via email. Simple! Remember, it's essential that you RSVP ahead of time – this location can accommodate a big crowd, but we still need an accurate headcount!

Please keep an eye on this site and SC3's Facebook page for more announcements, and we hope to see you April 26th!

Amazingly, the November 9, 2013 SC3 arcade party marked the tenth occurrence of our now-legendary "back yard" parties in Claremont, CA. Factoring in our events at other venues, we've actually been in the double-digits for some time now. Hard to believe. But luckily the crowd keeps showing up, as over 160 attendees braved holiday-weekend SoCal traffic to play dozens of classic-coin ops, home consoles, computers and electronic handheld games. There were even a couple pinball machines this time around. Read all about it in our Nov. 9, 2013 Event Recap.

The next SC3 arcade party has yet to be announced, but if our normal schedule holds, we'll be looking at sometime around spring 2014. As always, keep an eye on this site and our Facebook page for announcements. Until then, keep gaming!