Welcome to Location Watch, an occasional 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.
Find the last Location Watch here; Big thanks to everyone e.g. nsm, jdevy, Ted, shilofax, S1ckH4nds, and idris, who have helped compile this post sending in links about these places via our comments and the Arcade Heroes Discord chat, as well as the rolling updates 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!
There are quite a few bar/arcades on today’s list.
North America
Lucky Cat Arcade [Little Rock, AR]
Are you in Little Rock and want to enjoy some Japanese arcade gaming? Then Lucky Cat Arcade is for you. In addition to fighting games installed into candy cabs, they have a number of rhythm games, such as Gitadora and a recent version of Dance Dance Revolution. There isn’t a list of their games and I only see one photo (below), but you can visit their website, here.
Captain Crazy’s Paradise [Foley, AL]
This new free play arcade has an expansive mix of games, from Blasteroids, Ms. Pac-man, and NBA Jam to InitialD8, MaiMai Finale, Groove Coaster and more. They also have sixteen pinball machines which span the ages from the 80s up until now. Visit their website here.
Broad Leaf Brewery [Grand Rapids, MI]
Here’s the first of several new bar/arcades on our list, as a brewery has added a mix of “15 to 20 video game and pinball machines” to further enhance the draw to their location. It sounds like a mix of old and new; Perhaps they’ll be able to expand the numbers if successful.
A Gamechanger [Conroe, TX]
This bar/arcade comes with two floors of drinks, food, and games. The games require an entry fee and appears to mainly focus on classic video games, but like Broad Leaf above, there are newer titles and several pinball machines. Visit their main website here.
The Pinball Basement @ The ACME Pie Company [Arlington, VA]
It’s been ages since I have seen a pie restaurant, at least in my local area, but if you are anywhere near Arlington, there’s now two reasons to hit up this joint: pie & pinball. The pinball side is run on a membership platform, charging either $10/day or $40/mo for unlimited pinball goodness. They are not open every day of the week, but open probably during the busier hours & days. Games include: Cactus Canyon, Deadpool, Elvira & The Party Monsters, Goldeneye 007, JAWS, Jurassic Park [Stern], RUSH, Ultraman, and plenty more. Find them here.
Game Over [Alton, IL]
This bar/arcade has a large section of games that spans the ages from the 80s until now, with Pac-Man sitting across from linked Cruis’n Blasts, or an Arch Rivals across from some Snocross machines. There’s an article with a bunch of pics here, or this Facebook post, although I have not been able to find a website for them yet.
Retro Replay Arcade [Peoria, IL]
Here’s one that isn’t a bar/arcade, stating that it is a “true 90s arcade paradise.” Their mix of 30~ games features ’90s titles like Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam, and San Francisco Rush, but they do have some ’80s games like Ms. Pac-Man, Robotron 2084 and The Getaway pinball. Check them out on Facebook.
The Club House Bar [Red Deer, Canada]
For a bar/arcade up North, there’s the new Club House, which features a little over 50 games, although neither their social media nor the news articles about it mention what those games are.
Brundage Swap Meet Arcade [Bakersfield, CA]
If you’re visiting the swap meet mentioned above and want to stop by for the likes of Area 51, then this should scratch that itch. I’m not sure if they have more space to expand into though:
Icon of the Seas [Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship]
This was mentioned on the AH Discord, where a new arcade has opened on the largest cruise ship in the world. It’s not a huge arcade however, and has a bit of redemption. There are a few video games there from what this photo shows, including what looks like it might be Sega’s ATV Slam.
FEC Openings & Updates
Round1 USA Opens in Glendale, AZ
Spare Time Arcade Opens in Omaha, NE
Nitro Zone Opens in Dowagiac, MI
MB2 Entertainment Opens In Bakersfield, CA
Barcade Opens Their ‘Philly’ Location
Surge Entertainment Opens in Baton Rogue, LA
A New Arcade For Rollhouse Entertainment in North Olmsted, OH
Power Up Action Park Opens In Ft. Wayne, IN
Play Boston Opens In Boston, MA – The list of arcade games isn’t huge and most of it is redemption, but perhaps it is more expansive than what they say on their site.
Pecan Lake Entertainment Opens In Queen Creek, AZ – I can’t find evidence of an arcade room, although they certainly would be classified as an FEC with all of the other attractions they have.
Europe
A Sega Arcade Opens…At A Wendy’s [Hull, England]
The first Wendy’s fast food restaurant in Hull has a soft play area…and a Sega branded arcade. There is little info on the arcade, although one X user did catch the news as well. He said he would pay the site a visit but checking his feed, he hasn’t done so as of this writing.
Panenka Bar [Sheffield, UK]
The US isn’t the only place getting a ton of bar/arcade love. Sheffield is getting some too thanks to the opening of Panenka. Looking at their Facebook page, most of the photos are focused on the bar aspect, but you can catch some video games like the older Fast & Furious or Terminator Salvation too.
FEC Openings & Updates
Preston Palace Opens In Almelo, The Netherlands – A little difficult to find the mention of an arcade, but it has one
MI12 Fun Center Opens Second Location In Belgium
New FEC For Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which includes a video arcade and the AR BattleKart
Asia/Middle East/Oceania
Tiger Town [Sulaymaniyah, Iraq]
I’m pretty sure that this is the first time I’ve reported on an arcade opening up in Iraq. It appears to have been furnished by Chinese game maker Yuto Games, who picked up all of the InJoy Motion IP. Here’s a video:
New GiGO Location Opens In Susukino, Japan
LED Game Zone FEC Opens In Rajasthan, India
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
Elev8 Fun Center #4 Coming To Miami
Jackpot Pinball Arcade Opening Next Month In Purcellville, VA
Dave & Busters Coming To Shaumburg, IL
G3 Entertainment Coming To Carthage, MO In March
Bad Axe RetroCade Coming To Bad Axe, MI
Tortuga Island FEC Coming To Nigeria
Slick City Action Park Coming To Milwaukee, WI
Levity To Open With A Tumble Gym In West Fargo, ND
New Playdium Coming To Toronto Later This Year
FEC Coming To Lake Ozark, MO In 2025
Closures
Perhaps it is worthwhile to mention closures – I don’t normally do that, but in case anyone is interested in knowing about who has closed (as it seems like closures always generate more attention on social media than openings do).
Rock The Mall Video Pinball in Rockaway, NJ
Ozone Laser Tag in Owensboro, KY
KidZania in London (Not an arcade but an attractions facility)
The post Location Watch January 2024: New Arcades See Grand Openings appeared first on Arcade Heroes.
