As we get ready to sign off on 2011, what better way to compliment the ending of the old year and the beginning of a new one with yet another story on a new arcade location opening it’s doors. I can’t recall a time where we’ve had this many stories on new locations opening up in such a short period of time, although I am sure that there are many out there that we don’t hear about until well after the fact.
This newest one is called Arcade Odyssey and is now open in Miami, FL. The owner, Rick Medina is quite the video game collector in fact, Arcade Odyssey was originally going to start off as dual purpose museum for both arcades and consoles but due to economic restraints just the arcade is opening for now. Check out this post on the AtariAge forums showing his substantial game collection that spans not only arcades but consoles as well, and how that transformed from personal gameroom collection to public arcade. The thread is quite good and I would recommend it to anyone doing research in the field of opening their own arcade as he covers the trails faced in such an endeavor, many of which I know first hand.
The collection of games available to play is quite impressive and features several rarities. It should fit the tastes of many a hardcore gamer including: Spawn, X-Men (6 player), The Act: An Interactive Comedy, Planet Harriers, Star Wars Trilogy Arcade, Ikaruga, Trouble Witches, Metal Slug 6, Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition (Japanese ver), House of the Dead 2, 3 & 4, Artic Thunder, Crazy Taxi, Mushihimesama Futari Black Label, Dance Maniax 2nd Mix Jap Append, Melty Blood Actress Again, Terminator pinball (both 2 & 3), Virtua On, Pump It Up NX, Hydro Thunder, King of Fighters XIII and more. There is also a console room that features modern console gaming to play.
Interesting to note that he has The Act – that is a very rare game and until now I was the only public access arcade I knew of that had one. So now if you’re in Miami you can experience a very unique game, among the many others he has. Here’s an old review I made of it for those of you who missed this gem from 2007.
Like everyone else getting their start, we wish them the best of luck in business and if you are in the vicinity of any of these new arcades we’ve been bringing up this past week, give them your support by making a visit!
[Arcade Odyssey Facebook page / Yelp Page]
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masterLEON
I’ve never been to Miami, but I lived in Orlando. If I ever get the chance to visit Florida again, I really gotta make some time to check this place out!
I played the Act before, but at the time I didn’t know how rare it was. It showed up in a local pool hall in my old neighborhood, in Astoria, Queens, during the time I was living in Florida, somewhere in the mid-2000’s. Historically, I’ve always known the place to cycle in new and interesting arcade and pinball games (by the beginning of the 2000’s and up, not so much). It took me about $6 to play it through at $1/credit. It was funny, ambitious, and the unique dial control kinda made a lot of sense when interacting with the lady.
Whoever’s got the rights to the game should try to get it converted to a smartphone game or something. They can’t just let this super rare game fade into obscurity!