Cincinnati gets two barcades this year

[gliptitude]

Well it's news if you live in Cincinnati like I do.

We've had a couple retro arcades here for a while but never a barcade. There is one that just opened, called 16 Bit and another one (in my neighborhood!) that is still under construction but has a lot of games that you can see in the window, so probably opening soon.

I'm kind of impressed with both of them. They both have better game lineups than i expected.

16 Bit is free to get in and free to play. Alcohol sales are the only business. The crowd was a little too sexy for me, but the staff was nice and it is a cool space. Highlights include Asteroids Deluxe, Battlezone, Defender, Gorf, X-Men, Marvel V Capcom and Joust. The cabinets were generally in great shape, better than what I am used to for sure. Also had a couple TVs for consoles, nES and N64 when i was there.

The one in my neighborhood will be a "bar edition" of a retro arcade that has existed for a long time, called Arcade Legacy. I haven't got a very clear idea yet but everything I saw in the window looked like classic stuff, which is not what their original arcade seemed to be based on, (mostly Jamma and with only a few exceptions the classic stuff was always for sale and rotated out of the arcade quickly). .. In the window of the bar edition i saw a cockpit Sinistar.

.. I guess these barcades popping up all over are all tending to be heavy on the classics?

[VectorX]

Jun 18, 2015 18:21:58 GMT -5 gliptitude said:

We've had a couple retro arcades here for a while but never a barcade. There is one that just opened, called 16 Bit and another one (in my neighborhood!)

Bit of a coincidence, as I bombed the house today for pests (roaches, ants, etc.) and had to leave for several hours. Even though I've barely seen squat as far as movies go for the last several years, surprisingly there was nothing I wanted to see at the second-run theatre. So, I just drove around a bit, one area being my former neighborhood when I lived on my own/where I worked my first real job. Wow, really depressing how much they built up the damn place. Yes, I live in the fourth largest city in my country, but this is out a bit west, outside of city limits and it usually isn't so freaking crowded. Well, surprisingly, I found an indoor racing/golf course/laser tag/arcade area that is there where the old K-Mart was! I didn't go in or know what games they have or anything, but it's nice (and surprising) that that's there.

Jun 18, 2015 18:21:58 GMT -5 gliptitude said:

Highlights include Asteroids Deluxe, Battlezone, Defender, Gorf, X-Men, Marvel V Capcom and Joust.

Sounds good

[gliptitude]

Jun 18, 2015 19:20:30 GMT -5 VectorX said:

Wow, really depressing how much they built up the damn place.

I definitely know that feeling. The area where i work is becoming undriveable, which is particularly tough when you have a delivery job. .. I somehow managed to get my shift covered this weekend when there will be some sort of giant slip n' slide event shutting down the street our store is on and bringing several thousand visitors into the immediate area. .. Parking is ridiculous on average days so this will be a complete nightmare.

.. They keep building more off campus housing for students, tearing down all the stuff that actually has flavor and history. Each new building makes traffic worse and the neighborhood more ugly. The architecture and design of what they keep building makes it feel like the newer afluent suburbs, absolutely devoid of culture. RestUrants that have been around for 50 years are being replaced by Forever 21 and various upscale chain restaurants.

[VectorX]

You pretty much hit the nail on the head with the second paragraph: in order to take in all the new stuff (to me, anyway) yesterday, I would've had to either drive about 10 mph or pull into each and every parking lot to read all the signs and all to figure out what was where. Only the go-kart/laser tag place for the most part would've been worth pulling over for; the others, not so much.