# ARCADE REPORT: YESTERcades - Westfield, NJ (September 2019)

**Source:** Knapp Arcade  
**Type:** article  
**Published:** 2019-09-01  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.knapparcade.org/arcade-report-yestercades-westfield-nj-september-2019

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## Analysis

Knapp Arcade visited the Yestercades location in Westfield, NJ in September 2019. The venue charges $8.50/hour for free-play gaming and features a mix of arcade and pinball machines in generally playable condition, though some machines showed wear compared to other venues. The author sampled several pinball titles including Twister, Royal Rumble, and Dirty Harry.

### Key Claims

- [MEDIUM] Yestercades Westfield location charges $8.50 per hour for free-play gaming — _Author states 'They charged by the hour to play, $8.50/hour I believe' — slight uncertainty indicated by 'I believe'_
- [HIGH] Machine condition at Westfield was not as good as The Morristown Game Vault — _Direct comparison: 'The games weren't in as good condition as say The Morristown Game Vault'_
- [HIGH] Some classic arcade machines at the location had LCDs instead of CRTs — _Author notes 'some classics had LCDs instead of CRTs'_
- [HIGH] Dirty Harry, Royal Rumble, and Twister pinball machines were working well — _Author states 'All three pins were working pretty well and were very fun'_

### Notable Quotes

> "The games weren't in as good condition as say The Morristown Game Vault, some classics had LCDs instead of CRTs and a few of the pins weren't playing great, but overall there was still lots of games to play."
> — **Knapp Arcade (author)**
> _Provides qualified assessment of machine condition and playability at the venue_

> "It was definitely worth the trip."
> — **Knapp Arcade (author)**
> _Overall positive endorsement of the arcade despite some condition issues_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Yestercades | organization | Arcade/pinball venue operator with multiple locations; Westfield, NJ location visited |
| Westfield, NJ | location | Town in New Jersey hosting a Yestercades arcade venue |
| The Morristown Game Vault | location | Arcade venue in Morristown, NJ used as comparative benchmark for machine condition |
| Six Flags Great Adventure Safari | location | Amusement park where author's son had a cross country meet; approximately 2 hours from author's home |
| Dirty Harry | game | Pinball machine played at Yestercades Westfield location |
| Royal Rumble | game | Arcade/pinball game played at Yestercades Westfield location |
| Twister | game | Pinball machine played at Yestercades Westfield location |
| Knapp Arcade | person | Arcade enthusiast/reviewer who visited Yestercades Westfield; maintains Instagram account @knapparcade |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Arcade venue review, Pinball machine condition and playability, Yestercades location network
- **Secondary:** Free-play arcade business model, Arcade preservation (LCD vs CRT replacements)

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.72) — Author finds the venue worthwhile despite acknowledging some maintenance/condition issues. Tone is appreciative and encouraging toward venue exploration. Qualified positivity rather than enthusiastic endorsement.

### Signals

- **[event_signal]** Knapp Arcade actively documents and reviews arcade locations, contributing to community knowledge of regional venues (confidence: high) — Author maintains Instagram account @knapparcade dedicated to arcade reporting and documentation
- **[market_signal]** Yestercades operating free-play hourly rental model ($8.50/hr) as business strategy for arcade operations (confidence: high) — Westfield location charges by the hour for free-play access rather than traditional quarter/token play

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## Transcript

My oldest son had a cross country meet at Six Flags Great Adventure Safari today, which is almost two hours from my house. I made the journey down to watch him and thought to myself, “I wonder if there’s any arcades that I haven’t been to yet on the way home?” Sure enough, a mere fifteen minutes out of the way was the newest Yestercades location in Westfield, NJ.

Westfield is a neat town with a ton of cool looking restaurants. The games at the Yestercades location were set to Free Play. They charged by the hour to play, $8.50/hour I believe.

The games weren’t in as good condition as say The Morristown Game Vault, some classics had LCDs instead of CRTs and a few of the pins weren’t playing great, but overall there was still lots of games to play. It was definitely worth the trip. When I go to arcades, I try to play things that I haven’t played before, so I played a ton of Twister, Royal Rumble and Dirty Harry pinball. All three pins were working pretty well and were very fun.

Here’s the max 40 pictures that Facebook will allow. There’s a lot more than that, so make sure to visit the @knapparcade Instagram account to see the rest.

_(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 2072508c-d8d6-42cd-86ad-23b01779fd58*