Location Watch January 2022: New Arcades In FL, CA, VT, IA, TX, Canada, The UK, India & Australia

Welcome to the first Location Watch of 2022. This is an on-going series of posts which highlight new locations that have opened their doors recently (or semi-recently), curated from news around the ‘net. Granted, I can only cover what I hear about and I do try to cover them all, but sometimes things slip through – such as one entry which opened their doors back in 2019.  Also, there are still areas in the world where arcades are at the bottom of the re-opening list, such as in Denmark. As always, if you are able and have an arcade near you, please support them with more than just lip service.

H/T To Replay Magazine for a few of the sites below.

If you own one of the sites mentioned below and I get any of the details wrong, please let me know and I’ll fix it.

Onto the new arcades, separated out by region.

North America

Elev8 Fun (Sanford, FL)

Here’s a new FEC that I got to visit when at IAAPA this past November, although it was still under construction at the time. I got a sneak peek at it though, where most of the arcade was already setup and ready to go. As it occupies a formers Sears building in a mall so it had a lot of space to fill, which it does with 12 bowling lanes, a big ropes course, climbing walls, 2-level go-kart track, laser tag and an arcade with 150~ games. That’s too many to list out, but this video shows much of the space and how it’s a modern FEC mix with a lot of brand new titles (minus the lower level which had several classic games being setup when I visited, including a 6-player X-Men, Mortal Kombat 4 and more). They also had a unique line-up of kids games (Kiki Arcade I believe they are called, all mini cabinets with unique, kid-made games on them) and have an Omni Arena VR setup.  You can find them here; Also as a note, the arcade was designed by one of our advertisers, PrimeTime Amusements (who are also principle partners in the facility). They are also presently developing a second Elev8 location that will open up in Tampa in the near future.

Revenge Of (Los Angeles, CA)

This one has a slightly odd name, which says “Revenge of Comics” on their Twitter but the website is just “Revenge Of.” As that part of the name implies, they’re a comic book shop but tucked away inside is a really cool looking space where you have a great selection of pinball machines (at least 18 of them that I can see in the photo below).  That pinball space looks like a spaceship or space station from an old sci-fi movie(something I need to do with my own space which has an astro name now). Visit their website here.

Gamebird Arcade Bar (Ludlow, VT)

There are some states which attract a lot of arcade locations, while others it seems to be a rare bit of news. Vermont is one place where I’ve never reported on a new location gracing their boundaries (although I’m sure there have been a few that just escaped my radar). This arcade bar has a mix of old and new titles ranging from 1942, Centipede, NBA Jam, Tetris and such, to Guitar Hero Arcade, Pac-Man Battle Royale and more. You can find them here.

The Dakota Center (Vermillion, IA)

This new arcade took over a defunct bowling alley in Iowa, but I can’t find out much more about it than what this brief story says (which includes a quick look at the pair of Mario Kart Arcade GP DX machines that they have).

Kung Fu Saloon #7 (San Antonio, TX)

I mentioned this growing chain of bar/arcades last May and as you may guess by this entry, they’re continuing to grow. I can’t find any mention of the games on hand as their site focuses more on the drinks, but this story does mention a blend of old and new titles. Find this location on their main website, here.

Catch Panda (Saskatoon, Canada)

Crane-focused arcades are a big thing in Japan, but it can be unusual to find such places out West. Here’s an entry for one place where I don’t believe I’ve ever reported on as having an arcade – Saskatoon in Canada. They just appear to have crane machines and a few redemption pieces, but maybe they’ll add some video games one day. Find them on Instagram.

Europe & UK

New Wave Gaming Arcade (North Yorkshire, UK)

Filing this under “better late than never,” the owner reached out to me after reading the last location watch post. I’m glad to see that they’ve survived the pandemic; In addition to an arcade they also offer console sales and PC repair services. For the arcade they currently list 11 games as being active, which are played via flat rate fee. Those games are: Big Buck Hunter Pro; Golden Tee Supreme; Gunblade; Neo Geo MVS (a 1-slot & a 4-slot); Power Putt; Ridge Racer; Sega 18 Wheeler; Sega New Net City; Sports Shooting USA; and Street Fighter II. Check them out here.

Carousel (Huddersfield, UK)

This one is actually opening tomorrow but it’s close enough. Themed after a classic theme park carousel, this arcade keeps some things classic, such as using tokens, but the game selection is mostly new. From the photos, it appears to have a few newer Sega games (Daytona Championship USA & Jet Blaster), but in one pic it shows a Time Crisis 3, among some sports games. Check out their website here.

Gravity #14 (Leipzig, Germany)

This UK-owned chain has just opened their first location in Europe, putting another spot on the map that includes Germany. I can’t find a games list, but in the photo from outside the building, you can see some newer arcade games (looks like redemption/videmption stuff) inside. News story here.

Japan/Asia/Oceania/Middle East

The Game Garden (Mumbai, India)

For those visiting the Seawoods Grand Central Mall in Mumbai, they can now enjoy the presence of an “Indoor Amusement Centre” which is the first time I’ve heard that term thrown around – in the States, we call those FECs. This one features pro-size bowling lanes, mini-golf, a soccer & cricket simulator (the latter I imagine is common in India but I’ve never heard of one setup anywhere else), billiards and of course, an arcade. It’s a newer arcade that features a mix of games from companies like ICE, Raw Thrills, Sega, Touch Magix and more, although in the brief story I saw on LinkedIn, it didn’t detail how large the space is and how many games are on hand. This was out together by a company called CSML India; More info is found on LinkedIn.

Funtura (Bengalaru, India)

Also by CSML is a new FEC over in Bengalaru, where it is said to be “India’s largest indoor entertainment zone,” located inside of the LuLu Global Mall. That mall is pretty nice looking place and it just opened this past October. Like the Game Garden above, they have a number of attractions and a modern arcade setup, it just sounds like it is larger. More details are also found on LinkedIn.

Arcade Garage (Northcote, Australia)

This one is an arcade repair shop that has expanded their service to include a traditional pay-per-play arcade. The selection is mostly older, with Crazy Taxi High Roller, Cruis’n USA, DDR Supernova 2, Daytona USA, The House of the Dead 2, Lethal Enforcers,  several Street Fighter machines (three versions of SF2, an SFIV, X-Men Vs. Street Fighter), TMNT, The Simpsons and plenty of others to enjoy on site. Find them on Facebook here.

Taito F Station Kichijoji JOY Store In Japan; Bandai Namco to reach 400 toy capsule vending locations in Japan next week.

Also as a note, Subpar in San Francisco just did a major game expansion, but I’ll have to include photos of that in the next LW post 🙂

Be sure to support these venues if you happen to live near any of them.

Know about an arcade that has recently opened its doors? Please let me know so I can include it in the next Location Watch!