September 2023 Arcade Openings Worldwide

September’s location round-up tracks newly opened, relocated and reopened arcades, barcades, pinball rooms and family entertainment centres across North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Oceania. The month also brings several useful lessons about venue design, game mix and the realities of operating a public arcade.

For wider industry coverage, readers can follow Replay Magazine and InterGame Online.

North America

Burgercade — Riverhead, New York

Burgercade combines fast-food-style burgers and Philly cheesesteaks with a games room featuring High Speed pinball, Killer Instinct, Mortal Kombat, Super Mario Bros., The Simpsons, X-Men and other titles. The venue shares updates through its Facebook page.

Starcade — St Paul, Minnesota

After moving to a new site, Starcade now promotes more than 150 machines spread across two floors, describing the collection as Minnesota’s largest classic arcade. The line-up is strongly focused on retro games, with pinball and numerous Japanese-style candy cabinets also present.

Notable machines include Atari/Namco’s TX-1, Bally’s Mystic Marathon and Off The Wall, Gottlieb’s Reactor, Namco’s Prop Cycle, Sega’s Flicky and Mister Viking, and Taito’s Air Inferno. The venue has also highlighted its collection on its website.

Last Level Bar & Games — Fenton, Michigan

This barcade opened with about 30 arcade games, alongside board and card games. Its machines include Aliens Extermination, Big Buck Safari, Guitar Hero Arcade, House of the Dead 4, Killer Queen Arcade and Pac-Man Battle Royale DX. Most games are free play, while selected titles, pinball machines and prize cranes require payment. Details are available from Last Level.

I Scream Arcade — Breckenridge, Colorado

A gelato shop has expanded upstairs with a dedicated arcade containing new video and redemption games. The reported line-up includes Big Buck Hunter Reloaded, King Kong of Skull Island, Jurassic Park Arcade, Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, Super Bikes 3, The Walking Dead and Wicked Tuna. The available space appears to leave room for future additions.

Levels Arcade — Morgantown, West Virginia

This new barcade leans towards contemporary equipment, including Asphalt 9 Legends Arcade DX, the assault model of Halo: Fireteam Raven, Minecraft Dungeons Arcade and VR Agent. Its pinball selection includes Foo Fighters, Godzilla and Jurassic Park.

Timeline Arcade — Hanover, Pennsylvania

Timeline Arcade is a reopening rather than a first-time launch. One section has been renovated in the style of a classic Time Out arcade. The operator’s description suggests more than 300 games across two locations, although the precise total at Hanover is unclear. The venue appears to combine retro machines and pinball with newer releases.

Reset Arcade Bar ATX — Austin, Texas

Opened during the summer, this Austin arcade bar places classic and modern games together, including NBA Jam, Turtles in Time, Guitar Hero Arcade, Galaga Assault and World’s Largest Pac-Man.

Kirby’s Flipside — Wichita, Kansas

Kirby’s Flipside is a compact 600-square-foot pinball parlour operated by a collector who rotates machines through the space. Its selection includes both older and newer tables.

Radioactive Pinball — Aiken, South Carolina

This larger pinball venue has around 50 machines, ranging from a Gottlieb table made in 1949 to current Stern and Spooky Pinball releases. Several video games, including examples from the 1980s and 1990s, are also available. The current list does not show Jersey Jack or American Pinball machines.

Partea #2 — Union Square, New York

The second Partea combines bubble tea and fried chicken with an arcade that appears to be weighted towards crane machines. The concept has a Taiwan connection and reflects an arcade style commonly seen there.

Family entertainment updates

FEG Group joins forces with PrimeTime Amusements. PrimeTime continues its sales operations; the change concerns its Florida locations and operations, including I-Drive NASCAR, the world’s largest McDonald’s on International Drive and hotel arcades at Universal.
Quake Family Fun Center opened in Kennewick, Washington.
Dave & Buster’s opened in West Des Moines, Iowa, and added a location in Mirage, California. Its Friendswood, Texas venue reopened after renovations.
Bowlero opened at Valley Fair Mall in San Jose, California.
FEG opened The Game Liberty Center in Cincinnati and an In The Game venue in Liberty Township, Ohio.
Holey Mackerel mini-golf opened in Wisconsin; Cape Square Entertainment opened in Rio Grande, New Jersey, with a 3,000-square-foot arcade; and The Palace arrived in London, Kentucky.
Pizza Ranch opened a new Sioux Falls, South Dakota location; 1UP Entertainment + Social continued in Tampa; and Funfair opened in Florence, Alabama with several unfamiliar Chinese arcade machines.
Shankz Black Light Mini-Golf moved to a new Washington location, Spare Time Madison opened in Madison, Wisconsin, and Brunswick, Georgia gained a Strike Zone 10.
Chuck E. Cheese opened its 88th international franchise location in Chile. GENDA also acquired Kiddleton in the United States.
Seattle moved towards removing an amusement-device fee, potentially making future arcade and pinball venues easier to operate.
Triotech launched a large interactive roller coaster and dark ride at Lagoon in Utah.

Europe

European openings were quieter this month, although IAAPA Expo Europe exceeded the event’s previous attendance record.

Bandai Namco Cross Store — Camden, London

Bandai Namco’s official Cross Store sells merchandise, including products connected with the One Piece card game, and includes a small arcade area. Early reactions to the arcade were mixed, with feedback being sought for possible improvements. Further coverage is available in this report.

A significant UK closure

Fife Street Working Men’s Club closed after 91 years. Shortly before closing, it was reported to have the United Kingdom’s largest publicly playable pinball collection. The closure underlines that pinball alone cannot guarantee a venue’s success: local culture, audience size and sustainable repeat visitation remain essential.

Asia, the Middle East and Oceania

GiGO Main Store — Ikebukuro, Japan

GiGO has opened a large flagship in the four-floor Rokumaru Gate building, following the closure of the major Sega Ikebukuro venue and several smaller replacements opened in 2021 and 2022.

The store contains more than 200 crane machines. Its upper floor focuses on driving and shooting games such as Maximum Tune, Initial D and House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn, while the basement features rhythm games, card battlers and Gundam Extreme Versus. GiGO also opened a smaller, varied venue in Shinjo.

Game Apina — Tomiya City, Japan

Game Apina is a significant participant in Konami’s Bemani Pro League esports tournaments. Although the new venue may initially appear dominated by cranes and prizes, it also contains video games, including Bemani machines.

Funland — Rosh Ha’Ayin and Haifa, Israel

Funland Israel opened in Rosh Ha’Ayin in July and another venue in Haifa in August, following a Karmi’el opening earlier in the year. Reported Rosh Ha’Ayin titles include Overtake DX, Speed Rider 3 and Pump It Up.

Regional FEC activity

TimeZone opened venues at Festival Mall Alabang and SM Aura, and refurbished its original Philippine location in Cebu.
Cow Play Cow Moo expanded in Vietnam. Its name is a sound-based play on “Kao Beh Kao Bu”, referring to someone who makes a lot of noise.
Clicktra opened at Phoenix Citadel Mall in central India, combining a selfie theme park, VR arcade and silent disco.
Masti Zone opened at Shalimar Mall in Lucknow, Puno Advance launched in Puno, and TimeZone added another Delhi location.
The Game Luxe opened in Mumbai, while City Password opened in Guangzhou, HARUZONE expanded with crane-heavy and video arcade areas, and Fun Space opened in Beijing.
Cool Play Space opened in Dongying with a bright venue and a strong selection of driving games. Amazone also opened in Indonesia.
New video footage from Tokyo Joypolis shows the venue continuing to operate. A Mission: Impossible Arcade attraction had been discussed, but no such attraction was visible in the available material.

Coming soon

A barcade was under construction in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Tecmopia Zama in Japan was scheduled to open the following month with an arcade.
Round1USA planned a San Francisco, California location.
Circle Bowl & Entertainment in Piscataway, New Jersey, was expected to arrive in autumn.
Canteen Golf & Billiards was scheduled to open in Clinton Township, Michigan, on Veterans Day; its arcade offering was unconfirmed.
Gametime Lanes & Entertainment planned a second site in Peabody, Massachusetts, for 2024.
Extreme Rush Fun Center targeted January 2024 for Chubbuck, Idaho.
A Louisville, Kentucky laundromat with an arcade was planned for the following year.
The Arcade Era planned a second location in Easton, Pennsylvania, “soon”.
Sol’s Arcade + Taproom was planned for Fayetteville, North Carolina, in early 2024.

For Australian operators and home collectors, the same principles apply whether a venue is built around retro cabinets, racing machines, pinball or redemption: the game mix must suit the local audience. RETROCADE’s arcade blog, arcade machine buying guide and arcade repair service offer practical starting points for building and maintaining a machine collection.