Location Watch: Bass Pro Shops; Secret Pinball Room at MOM’s; Transmission Arcade+Bar; The Original Dinerant & More

It’s time for another update on the latest arcade locations to open their doors up out there around the world. Let’s get to it!

Bass Pro Shops / Uncle Buck’s FishBowl & Grill restaurants (Multiple Locations)

Distributor Player One Amusement Group sent out a press release on this major effort to provide a chain of restaurants with some cutting edge game rooms. The new arcades began to open up last year, and the relationship will continue to provide locations with “customized experiences in the new family fun centers.” To further quote from the press release:

The first three family fun centers opened in late 2018 at Bass Pro Shops locations in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Destin, Florida and Round Rock, Texas, quickly becoming popular new attractions for guests of all ages. Several additional family fun centers are planned to open at various Bass Pro Shops locations in the coming months and years.

We’ll certainly keep an eye out for those to report in future posts; while we don’t have a games list for all of the locations, you can see an example of how these are designed (redemption & video mix) from one of the locations with this image.

Big Cedar Lodge property in Ridgedale, Missouri

The Hidden Pinball Room At A Grocery Store (College Park, MD)

Thanks to Knapp Arcade for this one. While the story at Atlas Obscura doesn’t show a date, this does look recent.

While you can end up finding arcade machines at a variety of businesses that have waiting areas or other empty spaces, grocery stores don’t always come to mind these days (they used to, back in the 80’s). In modern times, such places will have a bulk vending rack and maybe a merchandiser by the doors, but arcade machines? There isn’t a single place I can think of that does. Much less pinball.

If you are in College Park, MD and hit up the MOM’s Organic Market on Rhode Island Ave. You’ll have to be vigilant though…like a secret base or fort for a kid, many clients can go into this store without knowing that they have 25 pinball machines available to play. This is because the room is found behind an unassuming, unmarked entrance that most people would assume is one of those “Employees Only” doors.

If you venture beyond there, you won’t get yelled at by a manager, you’ll instead get a delightful surprise of a well-kept pinball parlor. Some of the games you can expect to find include: AC/DC, Batman 66′, Dr. Dude and His Excellent Ray, Flash Gordon, Game of Thrones, Hot Tip, The Hobbit, The Simpsons Pinball Party, Total Nuclear Annihilation and many more.  Check out Atlas Obscura for more.

Cinergy Entertainment (Tulsa, OK)

H/T to Replay Magazine on this one. A new multi-million dollar FEC is set to open it’s doors on April 9th in Tulsa, bringing 60,000 sq. ft of amusement entertainment to the area. That includes a “90-game arcade” (assuming a modern redemption/video mix), bowling, luxury movie theaters, escape rooms, VR, and a bar. This marks the first time that this company is expanding outside of Texas; their primary website is here. You can read more about this particular location at Tulsa World.

Transmission Arcade +Bar (Columbia, SC)

For the latest arcade/bar on the horizon, look to Columbia in South Carolina. This one is taking a slightly different route than what we tend to see for such locations; they are not beginning with a physical location. Instead, they will be doing temporary “pop-up” arcades at different bars in the area while they work out a lease on a set location. Once open, they intend on having “10-15 pinball machines” along with 15-20 classic video games and four Skeeball games. This one was also detailed by Replay; you can find Transmission on Facebook here.

The Dinercade at The Original Dinerant (Portland, OR)

A popular diner in downtown Portland has added arcade to their location, filling up their upper mezzanine space with “a selection of new and vintage arcade games and pinball machines.” I haven’t found a games list, and the only photo of the arcade I’ve found is in this Portland Eater article. Also a hat tip to Replay on this one.

Round 1 USA Updates

There are a few Round 1 USA locations to mention, as the company kicks things into high gear with their expansion across the United States. You can find several other venues listed as “Coming Soon” according to their locations page. For the three places that are open now or within the next week:

Northridge Mall, Salinas, CA on March 8th

Holyoke, MA on March 23rd

Temecula, CA on March 30th

Japan Location Updates

Here’s an update on new stores that have or will open in Japan, which is also appearing to enjoy some growth, judging by the last time we compiled their progress.

Sega Collab Cafe Okayama

AMipara – Could be translation confusion, but this one sounds like multiple store locations

Mitsui LaLa

Taito F Station Yume Town Beppu

Taito F Station Taniyama

That’s all I’ve gathered for now. If you find yourself anywhere near these locations, be sure to pay them a visit and buy some tokens or cards and enjoy some of the games they have to offer. To those businesses, we wish you all the best in your new operations!