Welcome to Location Watch, an occasional series of posts on Arcade Heroes 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.
Two months into 2025 means it is high time for our first fully fledged example of these; last month we had a special edition by a true blue AH site friend focusing on locations in the Aeon Malls of Japan, which if you missed we still highly recommend giving a read. There are also a few locations from late 2024 that we missed… our bad on those (they are included below).
Find the previous regular Location Watch from December 2024 here – big thanks to everyone who has helped compile this post sending in links about these places via our comments and discussion groups on Facebook and Discord, as well as the rolling updates from RePlay Magazine and InterGame Online. If you have a new venue that recently opened which we haven’t covered before, please let us know!
North America
Quarter Drop Arcade (Cottage Grove, OR)
Let’s kick things off with a location that has been very prominent with making its own content in the run up to its opening last month. Over the past year several of our readers have been keeping track of Quarter Drop Arcade’s progress, and have even noted they shouted us at AH out from time to time – so what better way to return the favor than put them up top here? This video from them to celebrate their opening covers the place well, alongside this report by the Eugene Register-Guard.
Bandai Namco Cross Store (Brooklyn, NY)
A couple years back, the West got its first taste of the Bandai Namco Cross Store concept (effectively all of the company’s output in merchandise and arcades under one roof – although not all locations have the latter part) in London. That place has been a success by the looks of things, as now the US is getting its own flagship location for the first time. What’s noteworthy about this one is that it does have more of the arcade games that we know Bandai Namco for than London’s… including the first official arcade appearance of the Gundam Extreme VS games out West, even if offline. Huge thanks to S1ckHnds for getting a tour of the place on its packed opening day, which is still going on as this is being typed:
Game On Arcade & Bar (Lafayette, IN)
Now for the first couple of several bar arcade locations here, which just haven’t stopped opening up of late. It’s to the point where some wonder of they can continue on like this (there have been discussions to that effect on The LBX Show and Sound Off recently), and there has been one or two high profile closure announcements for the likes of Barcade Jersey City, but the formula is clearly working for Game On Arcade & Bar, who opened a couple months back and have a positive report from their local news.
Game Time Sports Bar & Arcade (Minneapolis, MN)
This next bar arcade in Minneapolis has the added bonus of being a sports bar, and with it being one of those there is inevitably a few sports games, e.g. Midway’s Blitz 99 visible in the first photo of this article. Right next to it is a Donkey Kong in a converted Sega cabinet… which is a pretty surreal sight.
Rhythm Lounge (Detroit, MI)
In the last Location Watch, we mentioned the opening of Varcade PvP Arena, a small location with some VAR BOX VR kiosks and a few nice candy cabinets. Make that slightly less small now, as adjacent to it (and the Sparks Pinball Museum) in the same mall is now this new sister outlet focused entirely on games of the rhythm variety. A real community effort has helped this one come together, with Psychic Drive (who furnished Varcade’s candies) and Thunderdome Game Center collaborating to bring together some rare titles like Para Para Paradise, and Sega’s Flash Beats among others.
Free Play Bar Arcade #3 (Taunton, MA)
This location for Taunton, Massachusetts is the third bearing the Free Play Bar Arcade name to come along (the others being in Providence, RI and Worcester). It is receiving its soft opening in just one day’s time, so instead of going in the coming soon section at the end of the post it should really get a place here. The website page promises arcade games both old and new, from the classics to newer rhythm game imports, as well as a healthy lineup of pinballs.
Q25 Arcade Lounge (Lodi, CA)
Marking a second location marketing itself as a lounge (this time rather than a plain old bar), Q25 Arcade in downtown Lodi has 35 games. Younger arcade-goers may be disappointed to find they have an over 21s only rule, owing to the alcohol, but those who can go should expect to find a solid lineup of “pinball, skee-ball, Ms. Pac-Man, Street Fighter and classic Atari titles”, according to this story.
The 1UP Arcade Bar #4 (Denver, CO)
Another bar arcade brings us to Denver, for the fourth location in this business’ portfolio. Their new Denver, Colorado opening has 55 games, with a wider mix of both retro and newer games not seen in a few other bar arcades mentioned here; thanks to Henri Zimenoff for sending rolling updates on this one in the AH Discord server.
Night City Arcade (Volo, IL)
This new opening is right by AH site friend Ryte, who was pleased to see the news of it in our Discord server. Continuing the running theme here of either bar arcades or small boutique locations dedicated in large part to rhythm games, this one falls squarely into the latter, with imported Maimai, Jubeat and DDR cabinets. Check out their official website here.
Gamescape (El Paso, CX)
Cinema arcades can vary from small to big, and this one at the Cinemarks in El Paso is definitely on the larger side. As is typical with locations of this type their game selection is very contemporary, with a whole host of redemption and the likes of FnF Arcade, Air Strike, Jurassic Park and Asphalt Moto Blitz DX for the video side of things.
River City Arcade (Danville, VA)
Though the name may first put you in mind of Technos’ much-loved beat’em up series, it is now also being used for this new freeplay arcade with 45 games in Danville, Virginia. It opened in late 2024 after several delays due to permits and zoning issues, and even then went under our radar in the final Location Watch of last year, but a little independent location like this one deserves a belated mention than none at all. Thanks to Jdevy for the tip on this one; find them on Facebook here.
Ikigai Arcade (Pittsburgh, PA)
Even more rhythm gaming fun now with this location dedicated to newer imports of the genre (Beatmania IIDX, Wacca, and much more), as well as a few other Japanese games you don’t see too often (Densha De Go etc) and a sprinkling of UFO Catchers to keep the lights on. They have been going in a private capacity for a little while by the sounds of things but have finally graduated to being a proper location with this spot – we wish them the best of luck! Check out their official website and Instagram page here + here.
Select Start (Winnipeg, Canada)
Lastly, an unusual opening for Canada here: a bar arcade which from the looks of their social media have more Japanese design influences than American. Those aren’t completely unheard of, but they are less common. They still have the US version of Mario Kart Arcade GP DX though… find them at Instagram here.
FEC Openings & Updates
Dave & Busters Opening Another New York Location Next Week
Round1USA Opens In Humble, TX + Chandler, AZ + Elizabeth, NJ
Main Event Comes To Montclair, CA – Full Tour Here
New In The Game Location From FEG For Las Vegas
San Antonio Gets A Cranecade With DragonClaw
Illinois Taproom Chain Of Bars Gets Into Arcades
Knotts Berry Farm Reopens Their Arcade
NxGn Arena Opens With Sacoca In Edgewater, NJ
Splitsville Bowling Alley & Arcade Opens In Ottawa
PINSTACK North Rim, San Antonio – One we missed from late 2024
Europe
Most of the openings here come from the UK again, and are almost entirely freeplay arcades sharing similar lineups of big experience cabinets – if there are any we missed on the continent that haven’t been promoted as much, do let us know…
The Arcade Warehouse #5 (Gainsborough, England)
The UK has a few rising freeplay arcades in their ranks, and this one just opened their fifth location last month. Their strategy with location picks seems interesting as all bar one appear to be in the same broad area of the country (Yorkshire), but it will keep cross-site maintenance more simple at least. Check out their website’s dedicated page for more photos besides the below, which interestingly shows a Speed of Light and Sonic Sports Basketball that must be in amusement mode:
Insanity Gaming Arcade #2 (Newton Abbot, England)
Another UK freeplay arcade has just opened a sister location to its existing one in Poole. This one also looks to be in the south of England, this time its Devon area. They have a nice selection of Namco and Sega racers and shooters (HOTD, Point Blank 2, Time Crisis II, OutRun 2 SP, F355 Challenge) from this photo alone, with several others also posted on their Facebook page showing further examples of them as well as Dead or Alive, Golden Tee, Donkey Kong Jr., and much more.
Freeplay Gaming Arcade (Portland, England)
Making for not one but two South England openings, this time on the tiny Isle of Portland, Freeplay Gaming Arcade has a similar lineup and name to the one just gone, but does have different ownership. The Dorset Echo has coverage here; also find them on Facebook, Instagram, and at their website.
GAMM Game Museum (Rome, Italy)
Last but not least isn’t a proper arcade as such, but definitely has a healthy amount of them. The GAMM Game Museum, which started opening up in December last year, has got a room dedicated to coin-op, from classic examples to newer machines like a Namco Noir running Tekken Tag Tournament 2.
FEC Openings & Updates
Hollywood Bowl Opens 2025 With Strong Financial Reports – The only downer for them is a few mini golf locations that didn’t go as planned
Full Tour Of Urban Fun Reading By Sega Amusements’ Matthew Page
Buzz Swansea, Wales Gets A Small Arcade Room
The Puzzle Room Moves And Reopens As F.A Entertainment
Llandudno Pier & Arcade, Wales, Reopens After Storm Damage
Airtastic Entertainment Centre Reopening In Northern Ireland
Nikito Franconville Opens In Paris Suburb – Mentioned previously in the HOTD SD theater story
Asia/Middle East/Oceania
Game Chubu (Toyama, Japan)
After all the usual doom and gloom of a few beloved video game-focused locations closing down in Japan, it’s good to see this new independent example opening up. Though small and only open on Saturdays for now, behind this unassuming entrance the dozen titles that Game Chubu have pack impressive punch. Its game list in full: Gradius III and IV, Tatsujin, the Tetris Grand Master series games, and a whole host of exA-Arcadia works on two of their cabinets – Cambria Sword AC, Batsugun EXA Label Ver 1.5, Dodonpachi Saidaioujou EXA Label, Touhou Perfect Sakura Fantastica, Touhou Scarlet Diablo, P-47 ACES Mk. II, and Donut Dodo Do. If you’re ever in Toyama City at the right time, be sure to drop by and give them a visit!
MotorGeeks (Yokohama, Japan)
Japan gets its own equivalent of the F1 Arcade locations previously mentioned in this series with MotorGeeks, a new bar and café venue for core racing game fans to hit up in Yokohama. Though largely focused on similar racing simulator setups to those F1 joints, it does have at least one true arcade racing game that makes it warrant an inclusion here – namely the fourth and final instalment of the fairly niche but much-missed Battle Gear series by Taito, using a fan-made revival server.
Toys Arcade (Incheon, South Korea)
It’s not very often we hear about new openings in South Korea, let alone ones with such a vast array of video games like this one. Toys Arcade in Incheon is apparently the second of its type to suddenly over there of late, housing simply a few mini cranes, a Raizing Storm, and then rows upon rows of Viewlix cabinets. Some look official, others look like they could be ‘Chewlixes’ – but are any of them running official versions of their games… likely not, according to this post.
TimeZone (Agartala, India + Bekasi, Indonesia)
As proof was what was mentioned in the last trade show post about India’s amusement industry still being very much on the updraft, TimeZone have recently made several another new openings over there, gracing the Polo Mall in Agartala. Alongside it TZ have also been expanding into Indonesia more and more, including this second location in Bekasi’s Grand Wisata with a number of attractions and recent arcade releases like Maimai DX Prism and Animal Kaiser Plus.
FEC Openings & Updates
Taito Opens New Bootverse Sportainment Location In Tama City + Reopens Taito Station Aeon Mall Kushiro With “Taito Stadium” – Both on the same day as this post. Nice to see that this all looks like a success for them
HARE Hep Five In Osaka Opens A Limited Time Candy Cab Corner
GiGO Launches New Art-Inspired Location Concept In Kawagoe
Another Two New Taito Stations For Tai Po + Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Wahlap Open New Flagship Location + Cross Store-Like Shop
DREAMFUNS Open Baby King Tongzhou Beijing In China
India’s Masti Zone Opens In Amayra Emporio, Mohali + Noida & Kahar
1UP Arcade Australia Sadly Closes Down After 8 Years Of Operations
Are any of these new arcades 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
Chuck E. Cheese Plans To Open New Retro-Style “Chuck’s Arcade” At Two Locations
Dave & Busters Are Coming To Mexico Soon With 10 Proposed Venues
D&B Also Look To Open Not One, Not Two, But Three SF Bay Area Stores
Zap Zone XL Scheme Up A Large Michigan FEC With Go-Karting
Next UK Bandai Namco Cross Store Coming To Birmingham
Superbowl UK & Sega Prize Zone For Wolverhampton + Basingstoke
New Funstation Location Up For Leeds, England
NQ64 Finally Opening In Nottingham, England
Gravity Max Are Coming To Cardiff, Wales Next
