It has been a little while since we took our last look at new arcades opening their doors but several have popped up out there to share – enough that I almost have thought about splitting the post up!
Before getting to that however, just a note for businesses in Florida that are closing up shop with the coming hurricane – Replay Magazine reports that major FL based manufacturers like Benchmark Games, Bobs Space Racers and others are heeding evacuation orders and preparing for the worst. Granted the storm may turn another direction and miss a lot of these places but no one knows for sure yet to prepare as best as possible.
Now, onto the locations:
Fear The Walking Dead Survival (Las Vegas, NV)
Ok, for starters we’re going to stretch things just a little bit as this isn’t exactly an arcade, more of an out-of-home entertainment attraction. But that’s close enough. TrioTech Entertainment, makers of popular games like the Typhoon motion simulator and the XD Theater has been moving up to more theme park style attraction pieces over the past few years. Those efforts are culminating with a new Fear The Walking Dead Survival attraction on Fremont Street in Las Vegas. For more details you can download the press release here (PDF file) or if you are in Vegas, drop by Fremont Street and check it out! It is certainly a more elaborate take than the arcade machine (not that the arcade machine is shabby by any means). Here’s an image slider showing some of what is offered at the attraction
POP + Offworld Arcade Opens Up In Detroit, MI
Opening today, let's start with a new bar/arcade that is opening up in the Northern part of the US, Detroit, MI. Setup above the Checker Bar in the downtown area, they offer more than just adult beverages with pizza complimenting the food side and classic arcades providing entertainment. Those games include: Asteroids, Donkey Kong, Elevator Action, Paperboy, Rampage, TMNT, TRON and more. Check out the article on HipInDetroit.com for more info (thanks to PixieStarrz on Twitter for the tip)
Rev'd Up Fun Coming To Suburban Detroit This December
It's quite the newsday for Detroit I guess! There are many empty storefronts across the US that used to house a Kmart store so for some business owners, that is an opportunity for setting up a new FEC. Such is the case in Woodhaven, MI as a 30,000 sq. ft. FEC is in the works by the name of Rev'd up Fun. They will offer various attractions as FECs tend to do, with a focus on serving food, children's play areas, a rope course, 2-story laser tag arena, a zipline and of course an arcade. There is no list of what arcade games will be on-hand although in a Facebook post where they asked about it, many responses show classic games. It is unusual for FECs to got he retrogame route but you never know; otherwise I'm sure they'll have many more modern titles that fit with their automotive theme. Their Facebook page is here; an article about them in The News Herald can be found here
Emporium San Francisco Finally Set To Open In October
It has been quite a while since we mentioned The Emporium San Francisco- and by a while I mean May 2015. Sometimes "life happens" and opening a new business is not a straight forward endeavor. Since this site was first announced, the bar/arcade scene in San Francisco has grown to include the SF Brewcade and CoinOp Game Room in the area. But as SF Eater mentions, whatever challenges the Emporium has been facing have been overcome as games have been moved into their distinctive building. They also have a theater stage that lets them stand out with the ability to offer live events. The game selection from what I have seen includes: Crystal Castles, Defender, Dig Dug, Donkey Kong, Galaga, Gyruss, Ice Cold Beer, Make Trax, Moon Patrol, Ms. Pac-Man, NFL Blitz, Pac-Man, San Francisco Rush: Alcatraz Edition and more. More also includes pinball like Star Trek The Next Generation, Terminator 2 and others. Check them out on Facebook, here. (Thanks to Michael L. for the tip)
Aeon Mall Garden Center Jakarta (Indonesia)
If you find yourself in Jakarta, whether it is your home or a travel destination, then a new mall that is aiming to open there by September 30th should be of interest to you. Called The Aeon Mall Garden Center, it is a hybrid mall/theme park from the looks of it, sporting a large ferris wheel and various entertainment options including an arcade. Unfortunately I couldn't find any details on what the arcade is supposed to feature but I imagine it will have newer games from the Japanese and maybe American markets. You can read more about this location here.
VR World
Last but not least for today is another VR/arcade by the name of VR World, now open in New York. They say that they are "New York's first virtual reality center" and have 50 different VR experiences to try. They have some of your typical wired VR booths but also have a few items that are a little more elaborate than just throwing an HTC Vive in a spot and calling it a day. That includes something that looks like a hang-glider simulator and some racing games. In a way, this is similar to Namco's VR Zone, albiet without the exclusive licensed games like Mario Kart VR.
Take a trip into virtual reality at this VR arcade pic.twitter.com/Gw3bcVOs23
— Mashable (@mashable) September 2, 2017
That's all for now - I also had a couple of news items of locations opening in 2018 but we'll save those for later. If you are near any of these places when they are open, be sure to stop by and give them more than a kind word, buy tokens or game cards and give them some real support!
