At the outskirts of Pontiac, Waterford, Michigan is home of Summit Place Mall the mall I practically grew up in. In its heyday I used to go to Summit Place at least once a week during the summers when I was a kid. I went primarily for two things: Babbage’s and arcades.

Summit Place Mall on Merchant Circle

Most importantly was the Babbage’s computer store. An Electronics Boutique opened in the mall a short time later. I liked EB but I never loved it as much as I loved Babbage’s. From about age 8 to 15 Babbage’s was paradise for me. I fondly remember buying several Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, and PC games from them: Ghostbusters, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, and so on. I used to go to the store and look at the box covers of just about every single game there, even for systems I didn’t have. I think the smartest thing Babbage’s used to have was pre-recorded loop of in-game footage for a handful of games. I would stand around and watch the medley of game clips loop over and over. The funny thing was they never had a sale. Games rarely dropped in price like they do now, especially not as fast. Back in the day (late 80s or early 90s) games cost $50 and stayed $50 for a very long time. Nowadays a hit game will drop from full retail within a few months.

Second, they had two sweet arcades. Summit Place had a generic arcade in the food court and another arcade called Aladdin’s Castle. I didn’t go to Aladdin’s Castle much because it was only in the mall for a couple years and it was on the far side of the mall near Montgomery Ward. I went to a few birthday parties there which was awesome because one friend of mine rented out the entire arcade so we could play all the games for free. The employees there had to open the machines and give credits or set them to free play. Twenty years later I still look back on that birthday party with fond memories. Aladdin’s Castle had a few games I rarely saw anywhere else like Ninja Warriors and Strider. The generic arcade was also quite good. I fondly remember wasting lots of money there playing Final Fight, 720 degrees, Operation Wolf, Hard Drivin’, APB, Ninja Gaiden, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Outrun, and P.O.W. there. I forgot to mention Wrestlemania, Punch-Out, After Burner, Rolling Thunder, Midnight Resistance, Ikari Warriors, Off Road, Championship Sprint and Double Dragon. Just remembering this list of great arcade games leaves me yearning. Thank goodness for MAME.

Summit Place was one of many playgrounds in my consumerist youth. Even though it has been reduced to a craphole I will remember it fondly.