It’s high time that we had another new locations post, isn’t it? This one is a little more international than usual, so let’s get started with Germany:
GameOn Berlin Open In Germany
By what little I understand about opening a small entertainment business in Germany, it’s task that is much more challenging than normal. As a testament to that, we first mentioned GameOn Berlin nearly four years ago, when they were first seeking crowdfunding to bring their ambitious plan to fruition. Now, that has finally come to pass, at least as an “exclusive events venue” (aka, they are not a facility you can just walk into and play whenever). If you do book an event or attend one of their open functions, then you can enjoy console, PC, VR and board games along with video arcade titles. Those include several titles imported from Japan: Dariusburst Another Chronicle EX, Gundam pods, H2Overdrive, Taiko No Tatsujin and more. Visit their website here.
Round1USA Opens At Greatlakes Mall, Mentor, OH
Fans of Japanese arcade gaming in Ohio now have a Round1USA location to head to for such delights. That does include everything you would expect at other R1USA locations, including bowling, ping pong, food, karaoke and of course, an amazing arcade floor:
https://twitter.com/Round1USA/status/980852983444398080
GameOn! Arcade Now Open In Auckland (New Zealand)
Thanks to Nathan for the tip on this one last month. New Zealand isn’t a place that we hear about too many arcades opening their doors but if you are in or near Auckland, you can get your arcade fix with the new GameOn!. Not related to GameOn Berlin (as far as I know). They are operating a modern arcade that is mixed with both redemption, video games and even amusement VR such as We Play VR (Namco) and Overtake VR. For the standard arcade machines, they have DDR (2017), Maximum Tune 5DX+, Pump It Up Prime 2018, The Walking Dead and more. Check out their website here.
Quarters Arcade Bar Opens In Salt Lake City, UT
This is one mentioned back in January and a couple of weeks ago, they finally opened their doors. Their game selection includes around 15 titles such as Area 51, Big Buck Wild, Golden Axe, the first two Mortal Kombats, NBA Jam, Rampage, Street Fighter II, X-Men and the illustrious Killer Queen. They also have several pinball machines, including three different Star Treks from 1979 to 2013 (they must really be fans), Game Of Thrones Pro, Hook, Spider-Man Vault Edition, and Stargate among others. Their Facebook page can be found here and if I can find the time, I’ll drop by there one of these days.
New The Rec Room Headed To Winnipeg (Manitoba, Canada)
Brady Starburst (a major distributor in Canada), continues to expand their location operations within the country, announcing another Rec Room establishment, this time in Winnipeg. The Rec Room will be a part of Seasons Of Tuxedo, a major shopping district in the city. The facility will feature 40,000 sq. ft. of out-of-home amusements, including various food options, VR, bowling, ping pong and the hottest new trend in FECs, axe throwing. The venue will have 110 arcade games, judging by other Rec Rooms, you’re probably looking at everything being recent. Read more about it at Blooloop.
Coming Soon
For a couple of items of approaching openings, Dave & Busters’ SLC location has been announced as opening on May 14th. It is down at the Gateway Mall as the first part of a major $100 million renovation of said mall.
Mentioned back in February, construction has begun on the 810 Conway FEC in Conway, SC.
An FEC is coming to Nagpur, India but details are very scant at this point.
That’s all I’ve managed to find for now. If you find yourself near any of these facilities (such as myself with the two mentioned locations in Utah), then be sure to hit them up as soon as you can!
We finally have a Round1 in Northeast Ohio! That’s really exciting!
WE ACTUALLY HAVE AN OPENING DATE FOR D&B! man oh man i hope it lasts. GameWorks didn’t do very well, and I want a good arcade, not Boondocks. I heard The Rush up in Syracuse has a decent arcade floor, but I haven’t been to Syracuse since junior high… we’ll see, I guess.
Yes, it’s hard to do a video game arcade in Germany. The market is very small. We usually only have slot machines and pool billiards here, and maybe some old pinball tables. Until the middle of the 90’s we had many video games, too.