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| - Ok...I'm gonna say this...
I'm a full-fledged 80's kid. And that means playing with Star Wars figures, eating Smurf Berry Crunch to see if it really did turn my poop red and blue, and secretly lip-syncing "What a Feeling" from my sister's Flashdance album when nobody was around. I grew up at MetroCenter when it had that downstairs ice rink. I saw ALIENS at Ciné Capri...you get the idea.
So needless to say I had a huge boner for this place before it even opened. I went on opening weekend and couldn't get enough. And free arcade games? YES! The owners handled inserting this new hotspot into the downtown scene very, very well. Then things changed slightly.
For a bit the games continued to be free, but after some alleged and vague contention surrounding the taxation of video games and such, they've gone the route of the pay-to-play option. Which is their right. And game tokens with the bar's name and logo on them are a fantastic gimmick. From what I've seen, they regularly rotate games in 'n out to offer a constantly changing vista of nostalgic classics available. In addition, the bar regularly features cartoons and feature films from the 80's on two widescreen LED televisions. Total radness. Not to mention that the atmosphere and color tones at the bar remind one of the carbon freezing chamber from The Empire Strikes Back. Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks that...
My first big gripe? The music. Occasionally they have remixed classics from the 80's spun expertly (and no...I'm not suggesting an 80's themed video arcade can play only this). Unfortunately most nights I've gone there, this is not the case. Far too often I've been treated to an auditory onslaught of thug rap screaming about who's going to shoot who, who's going to f**k who, and who's gonna find some bitches. And the punchline? A bunch of mostly white, middle class college kids standing around ordering Fireball® shots while numbly bopping to the beat either because they're not really listening, or because they feel obligated to try to act like it's cool. It's kind of silly. And not really conducive to a fun atmosphere. Like...I just wanna play Q-Bert...not cringe because I just heard the 'N' word 40 times in the last 30 seconds in one song. Most of the DJ's there leave much to be desired, unfortunately. I think the management needs to make more dynamic, imaginative choices for music. The Princess Bride and gangster rap don't really mix, ya know? How about we give that a rest. It really gets old fast.
The other gripe? The drinks are rather pricey. You're going to pay an average of 7-10 bucks for a standard drink. And for a bar very obviously trying to build on its college patronage, I'd say that's a bad choice. Especially with having to pay for games on top of that. Let's remember this is still Phoenix...not Williamsburg. Could you maybe offset the student loan epidemic and offer folks cheaper drinks now and then?
This place has massive potential. If it broadens its scope outside of catering to what seems like the college crowd, it could be a really great destination downtown. Some more pinball games wouldn't hurt, either.
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