During the years 1982 and 1983 this very popular arcade existed in San Jose, California, both on Del Mar Avenue and later moving to downtown.
Over time the following video games were in the arcade (including the dates). Those without ending dates were in the arcade until it closed.
Tempest - March 19, 1982 - May 16, 1983
Berzerk - March 24, 1982 - April 26, 1983
Centipede - March 26
Donkey Kong (1) - April 5 - October 19
Stargate - April 12
Donkey Kong (2) - April 19
Head On - May 5 - June 24
Dig-Dug - May 6
Ms Pac-Man - May 25
Zaxxon - May 25 - November 13
Tron - August 12
Donkey Kong Jr - August 31
Jungle King - September 8 - May 9, 1983
Tutankham - October 7 - March 20, 1983
Galaga - October 20
Moon Patrol - November 1
Joust - November 23
Burgertime - December 1 - March 14, 1983
Pole Position - sitdown (1) - December 10 - March 17, 1983
Pole Position - sitdown (2) - December 17
Popeye - January 21, 1983 - April 28
Pacman Plus - February 4
Xevious - March 9 - removed within 30 days - date unknown
Bump 'N' Jump - March 14
Bagman - March 18
Zoo Keeper - April 6
Mappy - April 6
Sinistar - April 12
Wacko - April 26 - May 16
Guzzler - May 11
Dragon's Lair - (dates unknown)
Millipede - (dates unknown)
Mario Brothers (dates unknown)
Star Wars (dates unknown)
The arcade started with one game, Tempest, which collected just 25 cents on the first day.
At first the arcade operated days and evenings but eventually was open 24-hours a day.
Click HERE to see photos of the arcade in July, 1982. At the time the arcade had 9 games. Ultimately it expanded to at least 20 games. We added six more photos on April 10, 2011.
We also had an Atari 800 computer (seen in the photos referenced above). Games available to play were: Pac-Man, Missile Command, Star Raiders and Space Invaders.
The 1983 Twin Galaxies "Video Game Masters Tournament" was held at Video Paradise at the downtown location. We have two photos of the competitors and more information about the competition HERE.
The two highest scores on Pole Position were made on the Video Paradise games. See HERE for a news photo of Les Lagier, taken on the weekend he set the ultimate high score. Mike Klug has the second highest score, just slightly behind Les' score. These two scores have weathered the decades and it is unlikely these scores will ever be matched or beaten. From the time we added Pole Position to the arcade until the arcade closed, Pole Position was the most played game every single week, no exceptions.
Our wonderful employees helped make the arcade a great success:
Del Mar Avenue
Chris Howard
John Arvay
Brian Buckley
Brian Sanfillipo
Mike Klug
Peter Johnson
Steve Cirimele
Manuel Michel
Mike Sands
Rick Alameda
Chad Phillips
Jeff VanderZweep
Tim VanderZweep
Rob VanderZweep
Jeanann Buckley
Brett Woods
Brian Hager
Downtown
Mike Klug
Rick Alameda
Buzz Ringer
John Stagi
Tom Colla
Troy Kindred
Dave Pett
Mike Ternasky
Dave Rogers
Rick Fernandez
To publicize both arcade locations we printed flyers to advertise them. HERE are the flyers.
During a little over a year we had four power outages at the Del Mar Avenue location. They weren't during bad weather, the power just went out! San Jose was (obviously) not a place of reliable electricity.
HERE is a list of the Twin Galaxies International Scoreboard high scores made at Video Paradise as of June 11, 1983. It was supplied by Walter Day of the Scoreboard at that time. On that page is a link to the entire 218-game Twin Galaxies International Scoreboard as of June 17, 1983.
We are looking for photographs and other recollections of the Del Mar location. If you have anything to add, please let us know by sending an email to us HERE.
This site was established in March, 2011.
