Arcade venues continued appearing across North America, Europe and Asia during May 2022. This round-up covers dedicated retro arcades, barcades and family entertainment centres (FECs), along with several larger venues announced for the months ahead.
The locations range from free-play classic gaming rooms to modern redemption floors, virtual-reality attractions, bowling centres and mixed-use entertainment venues. For Australian arcade fans, they also offer a useful snapshot of the formats shaping the international coin-operated entertainment industry.
North America and the United States
Shorty’s Pins x Pints — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Shorty’s Pins x Pints opened in February after delays that began when its original 2020 plans were interrupted. The venue places more emphasis on duckpins, foosball, bocce, shuffleboard and pinball than on video arcades, but it still includes five arcade games and ten pinball machines.
A second location was reportedly in development. Visitors can check the venue’s North Shore information page.
Retro City Arcade — Pembroke, North Carolina
This retro arcade opened in April with an entry-fee, free-play model. Its opening line-up contained 25 games, including Daytona USA, Fisherman’s Bait, Jambo Safari, Ladybug, Point Blank, Steel Gunner and Street Fighter III 3rd Strike.
A local news report provides the available background on the venue.
Sprockets Fun Foundry — Keystone, South Dakota
Keystone is a small town with a population in the low triple digits, but its proximity to Mount Rushmore brings substantial tourist traffic. That visitor base supports this newly opened FEC, which launched in May.
The venue combines food and drinks with a strong virtual-reality programme featuring Hologate and Hyperdeck. Its arcade leans towards newer video games and redemption equipment; photographs showed Jurassic Park Arcade and Minecraft among the attractions.
Further details were available through the Sprockets website and its Facebook page. A later visit also produced the following venue images.
Panama Barcade — Boquete, Panama
Boquete gained an adult-focused arcade venue with the opening of Panama Barcade. Alongside its drinks selection, the venue offers a substantial collection of classic and modern arcade games.
The reported line-up includes Asteroids, Dance Dance Revolution X2, Gauntlet Legends, Golden Tee 2019, Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker, Mortal Kombat II, Ms. Pac-Man, a six-slot Neo Geo MVS cabinet and The Simpsons. More information was available through the venue’s Tumblr page and Twitter account.
BIG: Best In Games — Ypsilanti, Michigan
BIG opened a 74,000-square-foot FEC in Michigan, with a large arcade combining current releases and a smaller selection of classic games. The third floor includes a dedicated area with 16 retro machines.
Other attractions include bumper cars, an adventure course, go-karts, axe throwing and laser tag. The venue also features the Grave Digger VR ride from DOF Robotics. Its official website has further information.
The Beer Research Institute Taproom & Arcade — Mesa, Arizona
This 4,000-square-foot venue describes itself as Downtown Mesa’s first and only arcade bar. Its collection includes 40 arcade games and several pinball machines.
Video titles include 1942, Centipede, all three original Donkey Kong arcade releases, Galaga, Mortal Kombat II and Street Fighter II. The pinball selection includes Comet, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dracula, Super Mario Bros. and Tales from the Crypt. Venue details are available here.
Kudos Taproom & Fieldhouse — Taylor, Michigan
Kudos combines a retro arcade with field games including cornhole, football bowling and axe throwing. The venue also provides hammocks for guests. Available photographs did not clearly identify the arcade machines, but location details can be found on the venue website and its Facebook page.
Double Tap — Iowa City, Iowa
Double Tap opened in April as a bar and arcade operated by the wider Paramount Barco group. Its promotional description mentions 50 retro-to-current video games and pinball machines, spanning “Asteroids to Killer Queen”. At the time, the venue website was not active, although a basic Facebook page was available.
Pirate Pete’s Family Adventures — Pevely, Missouri
This pirate-themed FEC focuses on mini-golf and Nerf Wars, while its arcade area adds air hockey, basketball, crane machines and other redemption games. No dedicated video-only titles were identified, although Taito’s rare Pirate Pete would suit the theme. The venue’s website has visitor information.
Sports & Social #12 — Allentown, Pennsylvania
The twelfth Sports & Social venue includes arcade-style entertainment alongside its sports-bar activities. Confirmed attractions included skeeball, foosball and beer pong, while the full game line-up was not available.
Other North American openings
- The second Dave & Buster’s venue in Brooklyn opened to the public after a two-year delay.
- A new Main Event venue opened recently in Waco, Texas.
Europe and the United Kingdom
Korekuta No Hakoniwa — Béthune, France
Korekuta No Hakoniwa is a Japanese-themed street location rather than a conventional arcade. Its wider business includes a Japanese grocery store and manga sales, while the games area contains Japanese candy cabinets running original hardware, plus Aliens Extermination.
The collection appears to cover JAMMA titles from the late 1980s and 1990s, including Final Fight and Super Street Fighter II Turbo, as well as Neo Geo hardware. Its official website provides more detail.
Gametown — Les Landes de Gascogne, France
Gametown added its 43rd location to the European network operated by the Veltmeijer Group, which also runs GameState and GameCity-branded venues. The available image showed part of the arcade, but it was unclear whether the pictured room represented the complete site.
NQ64 Soho — London, United Kingdom
NQ64 expanded to its eighth venue with a Soho location in London. Like other sites in the chain, it uses extensive ultraviolet artwork themed around space, planets, moons and nebulae.
The reported games include Daytona USA, Guitar Hero Arcade, Mario Kart Arcade GP — apparently the second edition — OutRun 2, Space Invaders, Tetris and Time Crisis 1, 2 and 3. Pinball is represented by Stern’s Star Wars and Avengers Infinity Quest. Details were available on the Soho venue page and Instagram.
Asia
Shott — Andheri West, Mumbai, India
Shott opened as a new FEC featuring bowling enhanced by Touch Magix’s Spark Experience and more than 70 arcade games. The floor includes products from India-based Touch Magix, Raw Thrills, Sega, ICE, Bay Tek and LAI, with Intercard used for the game-card system.
Timezone — Oberoi Mall, Mumbai, India
This Mumbai venue was described as Timezone’s 54th location in India. Across Singapore, Australia and other Southeast Asian markets, the wider Timezone network had well over 200 locations — possibly more than 300 — at the time.
The Oberoi Mall venue offers the familiar Timezone mix of a large modern arcade, bowling and additional entertainment. Its location page remains the best source for venue information.
Further openings and projects to watch
- Tokyo Leisure Land’s Kichijoji store opened on 27 April 2022.
- GiGO Ikebukuro Building No. 3 opened on 10 May 2022.
- China received its third Sega Joypolis venue.
- Arcade Club Blackpool was scheduled to open on 9 June 2022.
- Another Main Event venue was planned for Texas.
- Arcade Legacy in Ohio planned to consolidate two locations into one later in 2022.
- Dave & Buster’s announced an August opening in Augusta, Georgia, on 22 July.
- Stars & Strikes planned its sixteenth venue for Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
- Gravity Active Entertainment was planned for Liverpool, United Kingdom, in winter.
- GameState aimed to open what it described as the largest arcade in mainland Europe in Potsdamer Platz, Germany, during summer.
- An FEC was nearing completion in Spokane Valley, Washington, for an opening the following year.
- EVO Entertainment Group planned an FEC in San Antonio, Texas, for December.
- Redcar in the United Kingdom was also set to receive an FEC.
- Respawn Arcade, Pinball and E-Sports was planned for Alexander City, Alabama, in June or July.
- Quarters Arcade Bar was expected to open a second venue in Sugar House, Salt Lake City, Utah.
For Australian readers planning a home setup, the same mix of classic cabinets, modern video games, pinball and racing attractions can be adapted on a smaller scale. RETROCADE’s arcade machine buying guide explains the key decisions, while the upright arcade range, racing arcades and virtual pinball machines cover several popular home formats.
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