Welcome to Location Watch, a series of posts that focus on brand new arcade businesses that have opened their doors recently. We cover them from any part of the world, splitting the news up between different world regions. Growth in this regard seems steady but given what I’ve seen from my business this summer, I hope that it’s been good for everyone, including the newcomers to the scene (this has been the slowest start to a summer I’ve seen in years, excepting 2020). We’re also seeing more openings for this Watch in Europe than in the US, so it seems that some of the electrical issues that were slamming ops last year might have subsided.
Find the last Location Watch here; big thanks to everyone who sends in links about these as well as stories from Replay Magazine and InterGame Online. If you have a new venue that recently opened that we haven’t covered before, please let us know!
North America
Quasars (Corpus Christi, TX)
Gamers looking for some classic arcade gaming in Southern Texas can rest easy now that Quasars Arcade has completed their move and opened a new location. Some of those games include Area 51/Maximum Force, Blitz ’99, CarnEvil, Gauntlet Dark Legacy, Guitar Hero Arcade, Mario Kart Arcade GP, Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, Time Crisis 3, and plenty more. Find them online here.
Point Break Arcade (Panama City, FL)
Also in retroish arcades with the free play model, but over in Florida is the newly opened Point Break Arcade. They are in the heart of the city, “just half a block from city hall,” and have two floors, although from a recent post on their Facebook page, that floor is mostly sparse at the moment. They also aren’t strictly classic games, finding a mix of old and new including one of Konami’s Bishi Bashi games, Centipede, Crazy Taxi, Donkey Kong 3, Initial D3, Jubeat, KLAX, StepManiaX (one of the few newer titles), Time Crisis 3, Turtles In Time and several pinball machines (007, Deadpool, Ghost Busters, The Mandalorian, The Simpsons Pinball Party, Total Nuclear Annihilation, etc).
Past Times Arcade (Girard, OH)
I’d seen Retro Ralph mention this place recently, an impressive venue that opened with a whopping 600 games. With that many titles I won’t bother listing some out but if you’re looking for some world class retro gaming and can’t make the trip to Galloping Ghost, this is the place to be. They use the free play model and for now, don’t charge any extra to play the pinball machines (some venues with this business model do so, due to higher maintenance costs). They are also closed Mon-Wed, so that is something to keep in mind if you are planning to visit. Find their website here and check out the guide video below:
West Seattle Arcade (Seattle, WA)
I caught word of this arcade right after publishing, so throwing it in quick. They have a mix of video games and redemption, with some Japanese candy cabs spiced in there along with an Asphalt 9 Legends Arcade DX. Find them on Facebook.
Realms Arcade (Boise, ID)
When I saw the words “all ages” and “family friendly” for this new bar/arcade, I was assuming that there might be some restrictions on hours or something but in looking over their website, I can’t find any – or if the arcade area is sectioned off from the bar or something. I still wouldn’t assume that they’d be serving alcohol to those underage, it’s just that most bar/arcades tend to have some posted stipulations about that. Anyways, their game selection looks somewhat like the Point Break Arcade above, where they have classics (Area 51, Asteroids, Berzerk, Defender, Joust, Mortal Kombat II, Ms. Pac-Man, Point Blank 2, Smash TV, etc), pinball (Aliens, Dracula, Lord of the Rings, Revenge From Mars, Star Trek, many others), but also feature some newer Japanese titles (Chunithm, Groove Coaster, Sound Voltex, etc). They also have a bunch of console games available, including the Dreamcast, PS2, GameCube, Switch and more. There’s also this news article that gets into more detail about the venue, if you are interested.
Level One Arcade Bar (Mesa, AZ)
Replay Magazine mentions that this is location #2 for this arcade bar company, the first being found in downtown Gilbert, AZ. Their selection is heavy on pinball and the classics, as you can read about here. The rarest game from that list is Sega’s M.V.P., which I’ve never seen in-person and never played; I also don’t recall seeing it listed at another arcade (although I wouldn’t be surprised if Galloping Ghost has one).
Level Up Pinball Bar @ Wild Axe Throwing (Beavercreek, OH)
Replay also reports that an axe throwing business recently decided to elevate their offerings (you could say, level up, har har) with the addition of a pinball section. There are 23 pins to play, including the rare Aliens, and 12 arcade games, which includes an Ice Cold Beer (not sure if it’s the Taito original or the new remake). Find their website, here.
FEC Openings & Updates
Galloping Ghost Arcade Expands – This had been mentioned on a previous Newsbytes but reposting in case you had missed it.
Family Entertainment Group Adds Three More Texas Locations To Their Portfolio – The company has taken over the existing arcade rooms in this situation, looking to expand the entertainment options with “state-of-the-art” games and a redemption desk.
Chuck E. Cheeses Invests $6.8M Into Re-energizing Houston Area Locations; $1.1M into their two Memphis locations.
Chuck E. Cheeses Celebrates 200th Remodeled Location – In case you didn’t know, CEC is the largest arcade chain in the world, with several times more locations than Dave & Busters and Round1USA combined
New Chuck E. Cheeses For Union, NJ – Jdevy also found a video walk-around of this location. Surprisingly, the video side of things is a little more grown-up than you might expect from a CEC these days (they have 2x Halo cabs, 4x Nitro Trucks, a Transformers HA, etc.).
Peter Piper Pizzeria Opens In Kansas City – While these appear to be focusing more on food than games, they still have the latter.
Main Event Opens In Greensville, SC
Dave & Busters Expanding Into India & Australia – India in particular has been exploding with new locations so this is an interesting move on their part.
Arcade Time USA Opens At The Falls Mall In Miami – Their website is here and also mentions that a Ft. Lauderdale location is coming soon.
Starport Arcade Rebrands As Levels Arcade
EVO Entertainment Opens In San Antonio – InterGame says they’ve opened, although their website still says “Coming Soon”
Top Golf Coming To West Des Moines – They don’t have an arcade, although it wouldn’t hurt for them to grab a Golden Tee at least
Europe
NQ64 (Shoreditch, Bristol & Manchester, UK)
One company that continues to grow by leaps and bounds is NQ64 over in the UK. Since our last location watch they’ll have opened three new spots (the Manchester location will open on August 1st), expanding the bar/arcade scene there with their unique art style and setup. Here’s a tweet about the Bristol location (although it was mentioned last time). Our friend Toby Na Nakhorn recently visited the site in Shoreditch, calling it “huge”. Below is one of his pics from that location:
High Score (Poole, Bournemouth, UK)
This fellow fast-growing UK chain just opened their fifth location there. This is a free play, reservation-only venue with over 80 games. The reservation nature of it does mean that you have to book online in advance, although the FAQ mentions that you can show up, book, and if they have capacity, you can get in. Some of the games include a modded version of Deadstorm Pirates, Guitar Hero Arcade, Jet Blaster, Mission: Impossible Arcade SDX, Skill Shooter, 4x Speed Driver 5, World’s Largest Pac-Man and plenty more. Visit them here.
Flipper- und Arcademuseum (Seligenstadt, Germany)
The last time I posted a Location Watch, I was contacted by someone from this venue, where they stated that they have “around 250 Pinball and Arcade machines on two Floors.” That large selection includes video games from the West as well as Japan, although I cannot find a list of titles. One stipulation is that they are only open “once a month, every first Saturday in the month” – by how I understand it, laws involving arcades in Germany tend to be quite restrictive but it might be easier to do it this way and as a museum. Visit their website here.
Game Night (Kerpin, Germany)
Since we’re talking about Germany, here’s another new one called Game Night. Located outside of Cologne, they are an FEC with a wide variety of new games, they even have some pinball machines. Some of their new video titles include Hot Wheels: King of the Road, Pump It Up, Space Invaders Frenzy, Storm Racer G, Storm Rider 2, Wicked Tuna and more. Visit their website here.
We’ve got two locations that have the same or a very similar name here but are in different parts of Europe and are not operated by the same company (as far as I can tell). These would also be different from High Scores Arcade that is located in California (and is soon opening another location).
High Score (KIJKDUIN, The Hague, The Netherlands)
Technically this one isn’t open yet but it’s close enough (opening in August) that I’ll put in here. I’m not sure what the exact game mix will be but they state on their site that it will have around 150 games. Looking at their other location, it’s all new stuff with video games, videmption, redemption and sports – a typical FEC mix. I’m just not sure how typical this kind of location is in The Netherlands. Visit their website here.
Game State #13 (Bratislava, Slovakia)
Slovakia is not a country that pops up on the Location Watch radar very often (I think this is the first time I’ve ever mentioned them), and for the thirteenth location for Game State, it’s also the chain’s first location for the country. The selection is typical of what Game State offers (new stuff although the games aren’t packed into the spaces), along with keeping the look the same. The announcement can be found on LinkedIn.
Asia/Middle East/Oceania
Not much independent arcade action here, but a lot of chains have been making big investments (though not necessarily into strictly video game arcades either). We start off with some locations opening in Japan.
GiGO Shibuya (Tokyo, Japan)
After a spate of closures Shibuya has became one of the lesser-prominent regions in Tokyo, compared to the likes of Akihabara, Ikebukuro and Shinjuku. But GiGO seem to be trying to turn that around with this new location now. The venue isn’t particularly big or anything (only the top floor has video games, with those being Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, Taiko, etc), though fans of console series like Undertale will be pleased to know they have a collaboration café and store for those.
Game Panic Osu (Nagoya, Japan)
A less prominent chain in Japan right is Game Panic, despite them originating with Atlus of all companies and reopening the famous Shinjuku Playland Carnival location in 2021 after its closure due to COVID pressures the previous year. They’re now expanding more outside of Japan with this new location in Nagoya, which has a lot of cranes but also rhythm games, reflecting their involvement with Konami’s Bemani Pro League where their team competes against those from others.
Glitch (Dubai, UAE)
A little further to the West from India is a new indoor theme park that has opened in Dubai, featuring a bunch of large and medium-scale attractions – and an arcade. This reel shows a quick selection of the amusements there but there isn’t too much shown for the arcade. Find their main website, here.
FEC Openings & Updates
A Family-Friendly Namco In Hamakita
MastiZone Continues Their India Expansion
TimeZone Opens In India As Well
TimeZone In The Philippines #1
TimeZone In The Philippines #2
Genda Opens Their First GiGO in China
Captain-1 Super Arena (Changsha)
Are any of these locations near you? Then be sure to go out and visit them! Doors can’t stay open on the basis of likes and hashtags.
Coming Soon
Bandai Namco Cross Store Opening In Camden, UK In August – It does have an arcade, reportedly focused on Western titles instead of Japanese ones.
El Portal Coming To Las Vegas On A $4m Investment
Arcade Monsters To OPen 5th Location In Orlando, FL
Velocity eSports Is Also Coming To Orlando
Activate Games Opening In East Rutherford, NJ Next Month
High Scores Arcade Expanding In California
The opening times of the museum in Seligenstadt are not caused by laws but by staffing reasons. In theory you could open a place like this 24/7.
But this club is entirely run by volunteers that also have normal jobs and it is more or less in a residential area.
Not sure how you can translate all the legal stuff in English. German laws regarding clubs are quite complex.
But normally in Germany clubs like the museum are registered associations and charitable organizations.
You and at least 6 friends can form a club. The purpose of your club is something like “the preservation of arcade culture”. The reason for making your club a registered association is that it becomes a legal body that can make its own contracts for things like renting a warehouse.
Now for the charitable part. You open your warehouse from time to time for the general public to educate them on arcade culture. That allows you e.g. to receive donations that are tax deductible for the donor.