(Thanks to George for the tip)
About a year ago we had news of a new bar+arcade venue opening their doors in Columbus, OH and today we have news about their expansion.
The 16-Bit Bar+Arcade is ready to open their doors in Lakewood, OH, which is considered part of the Greater Cleveland Metropolitan area. The only thing holding the grand opening up has been necessary inspections but that is supposed to be completed by this weekend. They use a payment model of you buy the drinks and the games are on free play. For the games one can expect to find at the new location: Baby Pac-Man, Double Dragon (I & II), Ice Cold Beer, Kick Man, Kung Fu Master, Mario Bros, Stargate, Popeye, Quick ‘N Crash, Slick Shot, Spy Hunter, Bad Dudes Vs. Dragon Ninja, Crusin USA, Golden Axe, a Nintendo Vs. cabinet, Jungle Hunt, Lethal Enforcers, Radikal Bikers, Thundercade, Arch Rivals, Killer Instinct 2 and the venerable Donkey Kong. They also will have several pinball machines including The Simpsons Pinball Party, The Who’s Pinball Wizard, Fish Tales, Attck From Mars and more. Given this is a second location, I am sure games will be switched between this and the Columbus location as needed. It is great to see any arcade business expand, especially so soon after the first location opened.
Read more about the new location @ Cleveland.com
I am really curious if this payment model will work, referring to the “free play” of the arcade games. Sure, a bar is a bar, but the games are what makes this bar stand out and draw people that might not have normally come. Setting games to Free play changes the psychology of arcade games completely. There is no longer an “investment” in the game, no sense of real loss when you loose, or victory when you reach a milestone. You can simply press the start button and try again. I akin this to how people first dive into Mame, and download all their favorite games, only to switch between each game every 1-5 minutes and find they do not enjoy it the way they used to, and eventually get bored and stop.
Barcade still charges an original 25 cents per play, which is spot on, and they are successful. So I’m curious how this free play model will compare to Barcade.