Received our TR-1 (w/light gun kit) and this arcade lives up to all the hype! Amazing game selection than spans everything from the 1970s until the early 2000s. The controls and experience (sound, visuals, feedback) is spot on - this device is 100% "arcade" quality. I've already had many fun late nights playing with friends and family - yet still have so much more to discover and play. Unlimited quarters means you can get to game levels you've only dreamed of! With that being said, good things come to those who wait... If you are expecting to receive your arcade quickly - you'll need to adjust your expectations and be patient. However, I can assure you that even if you have to wait a couple months - you are not going to be disappointed in the end. Thanks Brian & Creative Arcade Staff for coming through big time! read more

Creative Arcades - Arcades Near Me - Lake Forest, California

Buyer Beware! Creative Arcades LLC advertises "best-in-class" arcade machines, but in reality sells cheaply made, poor-quality imports from China. I purchased their TR2 Virtual Pinball Machine | Full Force Feedback Package on March 26, 2025. After months of delays, excuses, and misleading communication, they finally delivered the machine on August 11, 2025--completely non-functional. This product should never have left their shop, yet it now sits in my home as nothing more than an expensive piece of dead weight. It isn't even playable. Brian, the owner, has offered nothing but excuses instead of solutions. Worse yet, the machine does not match the specifications advertised on their website. What you see online is not what you actually get. If you want to waste time and money while being strung along with empty promises, then buy from Creative Arcades. If you want a working, quality product--look elsewhere. UPDATE: The saga is finally over, but not without a fight. I had to file a credit card dispute just to get them to agree to pick up the machine. They even went so far as to threaten me with legal action over this review. Let me be clear: nothing in this review is false. I have screenshots showing that all the system devices are in Chinese, and the installed version of Windows 10 is also the Chinese edition. As for the owner's response? It's not genuine. Take a look at the other 1-star reviews--they all get the same copy-paste replies. In some cases, they didn't even bother to change out the placeholder variable: %Business Name% is still showing instead of their actual company name. That alone tells you everything you need to know. read more

Unfortunately I can't offer a review of the arcade game that I purchased on 11/24/2025 because this Christmas gift, that I was assured would arrive by Christmas, has still not arrived as of 1/2/2026. The owner, Brian, subsequently continued to be deceitful; The shipping company only picked up the machine on December 30th. Even after several calls during December, Brian even told me that the machine was being put on a truck 12/11 and I would receive a call on 12/18 to schedule delivery by Christmas. I purchased the machine on 11/24, so why would the machine not have been shipped immediately; the payment was taken immediately. The Machine was supposed to ship from California to PA for pre Christmas delivery. If timing is an issue, you will want to consider sourcing this machine elsewhere . read more

My husband found Creative Arcades online and thought what a great addition a slim video game would be for our lake house next to our vintage pinball machine. My hubby asked me to coordinate with them to provide artwork for our video game machine, and I worked with Travis to provide him multiple photos of the life size zoo animals that we have in our many gardens. I literally just sent him a bunch of random pictures and he then provided me artwork that was so fabulous there was no need to make a single change! We were able to coordinate delivery easily for when we were scheduled to be back at our lake house, and the two delivery guys were very careful bringing it down a challenging steep part of our backyard to install it on the lower level. We had full white glove treatment! When they took off the protective plastic wrap we both gasped - the game looked absolutely GORGEOUS! Top notch design which looked even better in person. We oohed and ahhh'd when they showed us that we could change the 'neon' banding colors with a remote control, which could stay on one color or cycle through all the colors. We dove in and enjoyed many games of our youth, and we know our kids and grandkids will be obsessed with the machine when they visit us this summer. We are extremely satisfied with our purchase and highly recommend Creative Arcades and all of the wonderful folks that work there! read more

See all

Do not use!! I bought 4 machines from them after months of delays and after the owner admitted to me that they had been lying to me just to appease me. Two of them showed up and did not work and were not even the correct machines; the other 2 stopped working in under a month. The owner said he would take them back and refund my money in full, and then he ghosted me, not returning emails text or phone calls. I have tried to resolve this with the owner but don't think it can be done without a court now. read more

Placed order and was promised it would be manufactured and shipped in 6 weeks. After 2 months I asked for an update and was ignored. After another week I asked the owner of the company for an update and he promptly responded with a lame excuse for the delay. When asked for a definitive timeline I was ignored again. After another week, nearly 10 weeks after I placed my order I asked for a cancelation and a refund and the owner agreed. Didn't see a refund after another 2 weeks so I filed a dispute with my bank. After over 15 weeks from the time I placed my order I finally received my refund through a bank dispute. Bottom line is they couldn't deliver what they promised and had no intention of giving me a refund. read more

i purchase arcade from creative arcade ,the proccess was easy and now I enjoy myself on the arcade. The Staffs were open and friendly. Am glad i made a great choice. read more

They were super helpful. Their systems were awesome. We have two arcades in our house. This is our third machine we're buying now. The staff is very helpful and very considerate. Also, the graphic art was awesome. read more

Creative Arcades - 6.0 sniper with guns 10,000 games - Arcades Near Me - Lake Forest, California

After a year of excuses and sending the wrong machine. No replacement insight, now the owner is not returning any messages. Contacted the company and they tell you to contact the owner. Do not buy anything from this company. read more

I work for a multi-family developer in Florida, and we purchased an electronic pinball machine from this company for our apartment community's clubroom, and unfortunately, it has been a major disappointment. The machine worked for only about three months before completely failing. With the help of their team over FaceTime, I personally replaced the internal computer and multiple parts, a process that took weeks, as each component was mailed individually from California. While it briefly worked again, the machine stopped functioning just a couple of months later. We requested a replacement or a refund as the unit cost over $4,000 and were told it would take about four weeks to receive. That was in March 2025, and as of today, we still haven't received the replacement. Over time, we've heard multiple explanations including tariffs, damaged replacement in transit, the second replacement also ran into tariff issues, but now the company has gone completely silent. Neither I nor our furniture procurement partner (CI Group) have received any response to emails or phone calls in months. At this point, the issue remains unresolved, and the lack of communication has been extremely disappointing. I would strongly caution others against purchasing from this company as they do not stand behind their products or communicate with their customers once issues arise. Do not waste your hard-earned money here. read more

Don't bother with a warranty. They might be able to ship everywhere, but they can't coordinate repair. After a year of back and forth, they win and I give up. read more

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! This company is a scam. Months of delays, terrible communication & lies. We received some machines and those are failing. We disputed the ones we didn't receive with our credit card company. Do not do business with Creative Arcades or any company that Brian Horowitz is involved in. read more

I'm very happy with creative arcade! We purchased an awesome arcade machine with hundreds of games, the classics! It's perfect for our vacation rental in Palm Springs which they do service that area also. The customer support has been awesome, especially Mike! I highly recommend using creative arcade for your business or home. I purchased originally through Amazon and it was delivered within a few days and professionally installed. I had a technical issue the other day and it was addressed quickly and professionally and covered by the warranty. read more

I have purchased 3 video arcade games for my man cave, and absolutely love these guys. I dealt with both Travis and someone else (I think his name is Brian) and both were absolutely great with both my questions before and after buying the game consoles, and delivery went smooth as can be. Now I'm looking at the driving console (yes, I might have a problem and need to enter a 11 step program for purchasing game consoles )Haha Anyway, can't recommend these guys enough. read more

Don't buy from them. You will experience nothing but misery. They screwed up from beginning to end and are incapable of the simplest tasks. Lies, excuses and apologies, without any resolution, is what you can expect. Their machines are also overpriced and malfunction over time. They are incompetence perfected. Save yourself the anger and frustration: Stay far away from them. read more

The unit didn't come with all of the promised features, and most importantly was missing the guns that were supposed to be part of the package (I was really looking forward to those games). Received promises that there would be a solution, including through multiple discussions with Brian, the owner. But over a year went by and still nothing happened, and Brian stopped answering calls. I'm not going to down to 1 star, solely because the artwork department was top notch. Just bummed to pay so much and not receive everything that was promised, and to ultimately be ignored. read more

I ordered a custom arcade for my Bonus Room. Worth the money and wait. Super happy with my purchase.

Do your research. Call Brian (the owner) and go with your gut instinct. Has promised my 6k return for over 3 months.

Ordered 4 months ago & still haven't received my item. Worst Communication I have ever experienced 10/20 - Ordered Pinball Cabinet & automatic email advised it should take 4-5 weeks to ship out 11/21 - I sent an email to check on ETA & was told it was schedule to ship out 12/7 12/12 - No shipping notification or email so I reached back out through email - never received a response 12/17 - I reached out again & this time I was told it was scheduled to be shipped out at the end of the week. 12/30 - No shipping notification or email so I reached back out - Told No ETA but they would check into it & get back to me 1/13 - Still no hearing anything I reached out by email. NO RESPONSE 1/13 - Reached out by phone & email. I was told someone would call me back. I received an email later saying they attempted to call but I didn't have voicemail (I can confirm I have voicemail & did not have any missed calls). I was told 10 days & that they were so sorry for the delays. 2/4 - Never heard anything after 10 days. Reached back out & was told it s scheduled to ship out the 16th 2/17 - I reached out as once again I have not heard anything. I received an email stating it is scheduled for the 24th... To Summarize I am now on the edge of 4 months since I PAID for a pinball cabinet. I have been given 5 different ship dates, all of which have been missed with NO ONE ever reaching out to advise me of the delay & provide a new date. Every false date I have been given was due to me reaching out & on several occasions having to reach out multiple times to get a response. Check out other reviews & you will see similar complaints. While this company makes great products you have to understand the risk that you can drop $5k+ on a product & 4 months later still not have the product & have no idea when/if you will receive it. The risk is yours. read more

Paid in full, never received products! Multiple promises from company, still no product after months of assurances our order would be delivered. read more

This is a fabulous unit and I highly recommend it. Though the order took around 12 weeks to arrive, rather the proposed lead time of 4-6 weeks the cocktail unit came as described on their web site and is a wonderfully designed and engineered unit. But I did order the unit over the summer which always slows orders down. It was packed and shipped immaculately and set up was easy. Plug in and away you go. I customized the artwork on the top of the instrument which looks fantastic. The chairs are fine for the cocktail table too and take two minutes to put together. Though I haven't tested all of the games yet, all do seem to be in good working order. No glitches. The unit loads up very quickly when you turn it on. I have only found a couple of downsides so far which I am yet to figure out. 1- Once a game loads up, one has to turn the whole machine off and on again to load a new one. Which is time consuming and aggravating. Maybe I haven't figure out how to toggle between games. 2- The sound is fantastic but I can only get it on the games played on the long side of the three sided unit, not the ends. 3- Some games aren't what they seem. I expected the "Star Wars" game to be the Atari version from 1983. It isn't. read more

Great customer service from start to finish! My questions were answered in a timely manner. The coordinated delivery process was seamless and the owner and staff provided exceptional support throughout the process. Upon arrival I noted that my barrel arcade was well packed and intact. You can see that Creative Arcade takes pride in constructing an outstanding product. The great detailed workmanship of the arcade is evident. I have received compliments about the quality of this arcade. Easy plug in and start up of the arcade and we are enjoying every minute of it! Definitely worth the money! I would recommend Creative Arcade to anyone looking for a well crafted arcade system that will bring you hours of enjoyment! read more

Purchased TR2, an $8k unit. Is fine until there is a problem. Motherboard fried. Warranty doesn't seem to matter since parts come from overseas and they could care less. Problem has been going on for so many months at this point. They'll say it's been shipped via air, then they'll say it's been put on a ship to get here. I can't get a call back now a month after they said parts would arrive. Stay far away if you care about your money. read more

Over the last 10+ years, I have left many positive reviews for companies. Unfortunately, I feel that my interactions with this company merit only my second ever unfavourable review. I ordered a specific smaller size arcade from this company over the phone. I was clear that I needed the smaller size arcade (versus the full-size model) as the larger size would not fit in my basement. I received an email confirmation that stated the order was for the smaller model. Later, an employee contacted me by email with a question. I responded with the answer and also reminded him that I need the smaller size machine, which he acknowledged. The company sent the larger machine, which was unable to fit in my home arcade. I had several conversations with the owner and an employee over the weeks that followed. They admitted their mistake and assured me that they would resolve it if I gave them more time. My preference was to return the larger model (that I didn't order and that doesn't fit in the space) and I kept all packaging to facilitate a return. However, it became apparent that the owner was unwilling to do an exchange (due to high shipping costs and "logistical challenges" with shipping outside the country). Instead, they urged me to either hire a handyperson to remove baseboards and mouldings and wedge it in, or put it somewhere else in the house. I was sympathetic and grudgingly agreed to consider a partial refund rather than a return/exchange which would be too expensive for them. However, the owner offered me only $300 (on a unit that cost over $6,000)! The company stopped taking my calls and answering my emails and I had to file a dispute with my credit card company. There were two additional issues. The arcade was supposed to come with 36 free game downloads - it did not. Also, the price was supposed to include all shipping and duty/customs charges. I was charged $465 for duty/customs. The company admitted this mistake and on two separate occasions told me they had processed a return that would appear on my credit card in 7-10 business days (the first time) and 3-4 business days (the second time). I never received this refund and the company is unresponsive. I would be happy to remove this unfavourable review if the company contacts me and agrees to (and actually follows through with) a reasonable resolution. read more

Purchased a virtual pinball machine which had problems, so the company picked it up for repair. Bye-Bye because it never came back. Called several times and was told it's being returned in a few days. Now they're not responding to my messages. read more

I paid for a unit in November for Xmas delivery. I called 2 days before xmas to ask when it would arrive only to be told they didn't even have any units. they promised me upgrades including a delivery upgrades to make up for it. and said it would be shipping "in two weeks". it is now mid March and they've been telling me "two weeks" every two to three weeks. worst thing is they never actually update me. I have to call to ask when it will ship and they've thought up a new excuse. TL/DR they've had my money since thanksgiving and I have no arcade. it's supposedly shipping tomorrow (without the delivery upgrade I was promised. I'll update my review if and when my arcade shows up working read more

Can't say enough about the TR-2 Stand Up Arcade we have! 9,043 games in one cabinet. It's incredible! And the guns work perfect! Really a great way to connect with the kids! read more

We really like the unit that we got from Creative Arcades. Really good quality machine. Very impressed by how many games are on it. They were easy to communicate with and have provided excellent support. Highly recommend. read more

If I could give this company zero stars I would. Long story short, if you spend 3-4 thousand dollars on something you expect better customer service. I purchased the two player slim model from this company almost nine weeks ago. I contacted the sales rep who sold me the machine and even contacted the owner of the company to figure out where my product is. Still no answers. Not what I was expecting from a proclaimed veteran own/veteran run company. Spare yourself the headache I am going through and find another company. Oh... and by the way they are not Better Business Bureau accredited. read more

This machine took a long time to get but was well worth the wait! Creative arcades was super helpful in suggesting their 3 sided machine. It is the best machine for two players to play head to head or turn based. My wife and I play Ms. Pacman on the cocktail ends and we have a blast trying to beat each others score as of today she has the high score but not for long. My neighbor comes over and we switch the screen to act like a stand up machine and we do battle on Street Fighter. Prior to this machine I had purchased a couple of arcade 1 up machines Donkey Kong and Ms Pacman and they ran me 500 each and were fun to play but they are literally toys compared to this machine. The only complaint i had was that Robotron was not using two joysticks but a quick call to Tech Support and Mike was able to help me remap the controls and Robotron was just like the arcade machine. Pinball machine is next to add to our gameroom and if you are looking for one of these games, do yourself a favor and give them a call as you will not be disappointed. Wonderful Job Creative Arcades and keep up the good work!!! read more

Creative Arcades - Arcades Near Me - Lake Forest, California

See all