Forum - View topicINTEREST: Namco Brings Pac-Man to Suburban Chicago With A Barcade
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bulwhark
Posts: 7 |
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When's it gonna open? I work half a mile away and gotta check it out.
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Tenchi
 Posts: 4555 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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Ooh, this barcade is next to a Sears!
I wonder which one will go out of business first? spoiler[Probably the Sears.] EDIT: Or, to put a more positive spin on it, "Hey, if this barcade is located next to a Sears, it's going to have a lot of room to expand very, very soon!" |
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Beatdigga
 Posts: 4632 Location: New York |
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That place is massive. I think barcade, I think of that relatively small bar in St. Marks. Coincidentally, it's across the street from a really good ramen place.
I like the concept but wonder if it's too niche. |
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Raikuro
Posts: 347 |
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Dave & Busters manages to stay in business so it can't be that niche.
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ANN_Bamboo
ANN Contributor
 Posts: 3904 Location: CO |
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Early 2015. I thought I mentioned it but I guess I didn't. D: |
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Mr. Oshawott
 Posts: 6773 |
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It's times like this I wish there was a barcade that's within my vicinity...
What better way to make the stand-by time go fast with a few plays of an arcade title? |
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leafy sea dragon
 Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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I can already tell which two pinball machines are NOT going to be at this place: Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man and Baby Pac-Man, as it's run and owned by Namco. Pinheads going there hoping to play these titles will be disappointed, as Bandai-Namco has bad blood with Bally, the company Namco commissioned to make them. (That's because Bally went off and made their own Pac-Man video games without Namco's permission--in other words, every subsequent Pac-Man game made by Bally after Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man are mass-produced bootlegs, including Baby Pac-Man.)
A bummer, as Baby Pac-Man is something I personally think is worth trying for anyone who enjoys classic Pac-Man to see what it's like. It's a fusion of pinball and video gaming that wound up annoying both sides because they were at odds with each other back in 1982. The ridiculous aggressiveness of the ghosts will probably be infuriating though--Blinky, in particular, moves faster than you and can use the wrap-around paths. Persoally, I enjoyed Baby Pac-Man, but I know I'm at the rare intersection of people good at both pinball and Pac-Man. |
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Beatdigga
Posts: 4632 Location: New York |
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Baby Pac Man from what I hear is supposed to be massively difficult, and the old Pac-Man pinball is supposed to have numerous issues with using the grid minigame to score. So I'm not sure how many people will be that upset.
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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The thing is that they were the only two Pac-Man-based pinball machines, so I'd bet there'd be a number of people who had at least heard of these rare machines and expect a Pac-Man-themed barcade to have them, especially as it's owned by Namco.
Yeah, Baby Pac-Man is ridiculous. There's one available for public play I sometimes visit, and I made the high score list on the run when I reached the third maze. I know all about how difficult it is. Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man is...weird. Personally, I don't like it much, but the Internet Pinball Database has a 7.1 out of 10 for it, so there are a number of people who like it. Professor Pac-Man would be absent too...I'd love to try one of those out. It was an arcade machine where you answered trivia questions or solved visual puzzles, and it's the earliest game I know of to have expansion packs. |
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yotsubafanfan
 Posts: 653 |
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Back in the early 2000's (and possibly earlier) they had a place like this in Orlando Florida. Instead of it being a bar though it was an arcade/Pizza place. It had a museum in it as well. My family went there for Lunch when we went to the area to get pictures of the Giant Toy's at the old FAO Schwartz building. The pizza was even missing a slice so it looked like Pacman! It was such a cool place! Too bad they closed it (and tore down the giant toy's ) and made it into a Little Italy. But I'm glad to see Namco still has some hope in good O'l Pacman, next time I'm in Chicago I have to pay a visit.
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Chrno2
 Posts: 6172 Location: USA |
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This is a surprise. Arcades need to come back.
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Barcades are rising in popularity, with several in all of North America's biggest cities, along with arcade-themed museums.
A big thing about all this is that many places still have laws against arcade machines or have only recently overturned them. San Francisco, for instance, had a ban on any machine where you put in money in order to play a game, as arcade machines got lumped in with gambling machines, that was just lifted in August 2014. (Some establishments got around that by charging admission with all of the games set to free-play, however.) |
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