If you live in or near Algonquin, Illinois then there is a new arcade near you to check out. Called No Limit Arcade, they are following a pattern similar to what Galloping Ghost Arcade has done in Brookfield, IL – it’s all-you-can-play for a flat entry fee. There is 3200 sq. ft. of space and about 60 games at the moment, ranging from retro to new. Soem of the games I have caught a glimpse of through photos: Asteroids Deluxe, Crystal Castles, Track And Field, Frogger, Hard Drivin’, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Revolution X, Robotron 2084, Venture, Samurai Shodown 64, Sega Strike Fighter, Ballistics, Discs of TRON, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Toobin’, PGA Golf, Big Buck Hunter, Balloon & Balloon, Carnival King, Cyber Sled, Ms. Pac-Man, Rush The Rock, Gyruss, Madden Season 2, Pump It Up The O.B.G., Artic Thunder and much more; they also have some pinball machines like Johnny Mnemonic, Road Kings and Theatre of Magic. Overall it looks like a collection of games that can keep anyone occupied for sometime.
The store appears to have done a soft opening earlier this month but will be holding a grand opening in February. You can see more over at their Facebook page and we wish them the best of luck in their business!
[Via The Daily Herald]
Hmm, interesting. Too bad I’m not anywhere nearby. I love anytime there’s a flat fee. Used to the places that only let you have unlimited play for an hour or whatever, though. How much does the entry fee for a place like this usually cost?
They are charging a flat rate of $20. When I was a kid, no moms would ever drop their children off at an arcade with $20, and I think that’s the crowd they are going for. To put this into perspective, Galloping Ghost is $15, they are normally open until 2am (I believe), and their games appeal to a specific generation of people who grew up on arcades.
No Limit “ARCADE”, is an over priced establishment, with a random selection of generic arcade shlock. The games available aren’t new enough to cater to the Call of Duty generation, nor are the games rare or interesting enough to appeal to hard core game enthusiasts. They don’t have a clear goal who there audience is, and with a niche business such as this, they need one.
For this place to be successful at all, they need to drop the price drastically, or work on a system that allows patrons to pay only something like $5 for a specific amount of time (as $5 was the amount that most kids got when I was young). I know that having an arcade is expensive, but gouging your patrons is not how to net a profit; the only thing it will do is create a revolving door.
BUT – we do not have anything like this in the area. $20 is VERY reasonable to me – Brunswick XL charges close to $2.00 per game on the weekends. Just saying.
Mendoza, you’re a bit out of touch. Just so you know, gas isn’t 50 cents a gallon anymore either. Personally, I used to buy one of those $20 swipe cards for my son at Brunswick and he’d go through the card in 15 minutes, and then be asking for another $20. According to their website, I could go into this place with my 11 year old son and pay $20 for both of us, which really comes out to $10 for each of us. From what I read in the Daily Herald, it sounds Like No Limit Arcade has a wide array of classic arcade machines as well as the simulators that the kids like. Call of Duty is nice but I’m sure it can’t hold a candle to the F-18 Strike Fighter simulator that was also pictured in the Daily Herald. BTW, I’m thinking that “Mendoza” is working for some other arcade, and is the kind of person who used to hide in the trunk to avoid paying for drive-in movies.
I remember being able to buy a bag of candy for a quarter when I was a kid, but I don’t go around saying places are overpriced when they charge more than a quarter for a single piece of candy. Stuff costs more these days. According to http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/ , it takes 59 cents to buy what 25 cents in would buy in 1982, during the heyday of arcades. That makes places that still charge 25 cents, like Ground Kontrol, even more amazing. 🙂
For the selection of games that they have in this arcade, the price is too much. It’s really nothing to write home about, and not worth playing 20 dollars just to play.
I don”t know where some of these people are getting their information but although $20 for a full day playtime would still be a bargin, the all day addmission at this place is actually $15, which you can see right on their website nolimitarcades.com. Someone above also said it should be $5 like when “he was a kid.” What an idiotic comment! Kids don’t spend everyday hanging out at an arcade after school anymore, they might go once a month when there is nothing worth seeing at the movies.