Welcome to Location Watch, a series of posts that highlight brand new arcade locations that have recently opened their doors. Covering different parts of the world, I strive to highlight as many as I can, but there are locations that get overlooked at times, as I just don’t hear about them. If you recently opened a location or will be opening soon, please let me know!
For the last Location Watch, click here.
I’m going to start separating all of these out by region; We’ll start with UK & EU since most locations right now are opening there.
Before we get into all of that, just a highlight on a new locator page that has been set up by Arcade Belgium. This is specifically for locating exA-Arcadia machines, but it needs user input to grow. Most exAs are in Japan, still, it might help you find a place that maybe you didn’t know about near you.
Europe/UK
Gamestate #9 (Brussels, Belgium)
European chain Gamestate continues its expansion, heading out of The Netherlands and into Belgium. This location opened on December 3rd, bringing some of these games (and more) to the area with two floors of fun: Atari PONG Table; Deadpool pinball; Dicey Jump; Game of Thrones pinball; Hot Wheels pinball; Hot Wheels: King of the Road; Mario & Sonic Olympics 2020; Mario Kart Arcade GP DX; MotoGP; SpaceWarp 66; Vader Immortal Lightsaber Dojo (first I’ve heard of one in Europe); & World’s Largest Pac-Man. Find them here.
Funland (London, UK)
The name Funland carries with it plenty of nostalgia and arcade memories in London, given that “The Funland at Trocadero” was an essential amusement location in the UK for so many years. While this new location is not bringing arcades back to the Troc, it is helping resupply London with some arcade goodness. Located at the Brunswick Centre, this location has an FEC mix of games, meaning video games, pinball redemption, and other prize pieces. Most of the titles on the amusement-only side are pinball, with operator Electrocoin setting up the likes of The Beatles, Godzilla, Jurassic Park, Led Zeppelin, The Mandalorian, Stranger Things, and the newer TMNT. Video games include MotoGP and Electrocoin’s new Skill Shooter; There’s also a pic of a DDR dance pad, but no clue which version of the software is being used. See more details at Pinballnews.com.
Hollywood Bowl (Birmingham, UK)
Sporting 26,500sq. ft. and opening at a venue called Resorts World, this is a new FEC that joins the already large Hollywood Bowl family. Since most of their focus is on bowling, details on the arcade are a little tough to come by, but I did find some pictures showing some titles like Cruis’n Blast, Jurassic Park, Storm VR, Super Bikes 3, and videmption games like Grand Piano Keys, Lane Master, and Nerf Arcade. The official page for the location is found here.
USA
Wizard’s Pinball Palace (Kalamazoo, MI)
Pinball and beer seem to mix well together, hence a brewing business adding on a new wing of pinball and arcade machines. The selection features around 50 pins and 20 video titles, some of which include: Addams Family; Batman ’66; Bram Stoker’s Dracula; Bride of Pinbot; Demolition Man; Family Guy; Fish Tales; Funhouse; Godzilla; Guardians of the Galaxy; Guns’ N Roses JJP; No Fear; Star Trek: TNG; Whirlwind; X-Men and plenty more. Video pieces include Big Buck Hunter Pro; Gauntlet Legends; Let’s Go Jungle upright (these are uncommon); Road Burners; Spider-man; Star Wars Trilogy; Street Fighter II; TMNT’89, among others. Find them on Facebook under One Well Brewing.
Palace Social (Houston, TX)
This new FEC in Texas boasts 29,000 sq. ft. of entertainment, which includes an arcade with “dozens” of games. Checking their Facebook, they have newer titles such as Cruis’n Blast, FnF super Cars, Jurassic Park Arcade, MotoGP, Terminator Salvation, Virtual Rabbids, and The Walking Dead among others. They also have a new XD Theater, an Omni Arena VR, and even a LAN center, among the many other attractions. Their main website is here.
Arcadeshock (Gardena, CA)
This isn’t exactly an arcade – although they did have some Capcom 25″ cabs on hand (it isn’t clear to me if those are permanently on location or were just for the grand opening). This is a storefront for the popular arcade fight stick supplier, Arcadeshock. Here’s the announcement on Facebook.
Funky’s Arcade Bar Opens In Danville, VA – I could find very little info on the arcade itself, which is a part of a restaurant, probably set up by an operator who prefers to remain low-key.
Japan/Asia/Oceania/Middle East
Archie Brothers Cirque Electriq (Queensland, Australia)
This circus-themed FEC just opened, although I couldn’t find much about the arcade apart from this pic of some people using a Virtual Rabbids. Looks like there are some Mario Kart Arcade GP DXs in the background too…
Sala Hub (Riyadh, SA)
I also couldn’t find out much about the arcade for this large FEC that just opened up in Saudi Arabia’s capital city. They do have an arcade with video games, redemption, and VR, but I can’t find any pictures of that part. Here’s a story providing text details.
Genda Takes Over Operations Of 3 Sega Arcades In Taiwan – I didn’t know Sega had arcades there…
Namco Seven Park Amami Store, – Opened back on Nov. 17th, but looks more like a crane/prize place than a video arcade.
Soyu Game Field inside of the Aeon Town Noshiro
The Alby Brings Pinball To Canberra, Australia
Coming Soon
Elev8 Fun Center Coming To Sanford, FL – I actually had a chance to visit this facility during IAAPA, but still unsure when it is opening. They had an impressive-looking arcade, although the whole place was still under construction. Here’s a video of the said arcade:
Aloha Fun Center #3, Santa Barbara, CA
Arcade Garage Coming “Very Soon” To Melbourne, Australia
Artie To Open At The Site Of An Old Sega World Shizuoka In February – Translation mentions “game center (the term they use for arcades in Japan) will also be revived”
Boom Battle Bar Eyes Big Expansion In The UK
Carousel Arcade Bar to open in Huddersfield, UK in early 2022
Be Kind & Rewind Coming To San Antonia, TX Next Spring – No, it’s not a VHS rental place, but an arcade/bar with an 80s/90s theme
The Emporium Arcade Bar Is Expanding Into New Orleans
Chuck E. Cheeses Working on International Expansion – Particularly into South America
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