Arcade Locations, Collection Tracking, News and more!

While many sources continually declare arcades as dead, Game Grid Arcade in West Valley City, Utah, is bucking the trend as it looks to put five candles on its birthday cake this June.

Adam Pratt opened Game Grid Arcade June 8, 2008, and, surprisingly, during this time he still had competition from multiple sources near his location. As Pratt entered unfamiliar territory with his new business, he admitted he had high expectations.

"Overblown expectations is probably a good way to describe it," he said. "I had read that it's very easy for new business owners to have rose-colored glasses on. They assume that they will do very well out of the gate, but that is rare. 'Build it and they will come' only takes you so far as they need to come back more than once. So even thinking I was holding back, reality was still far below what I expected. It was more difficult than I thought and I learned more after opening about what games people really wanted."

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When Galloping Ghost Arcade first opened its doors Aug. 14, 2010, it became clear gamers were still attracted to the coin-op titles they grew up with. As gamers come and go, a certain segment of the arcade's player base stays hungry for the pursuit of high scores and is first in line when a new arcade cabinet is installed on the floor. This segment continues to grow each year at the arcade, and with this mind, Galloping Ghost Arcade unveiled its Gamer of the Year Award at its first-anniversary event.

The winners of the award have since been immortalized at the arcade and have received a plaque for their dedication and contributions, but, more importantly, in the most recent year since its introduction, it has arguably brought something more prestigious to the arcade - a chase for the accolade and a tight-knit community that frequents the hobby hotspot.

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Although the spotlight often shines on the classics of the '80s when it comes to high scoring, when you dig past the surface, you'll find plenty of talented gamers hungry for top scores in even the most obscure game titles.

One of Galloping Ghost Arcade's recent score wars saw multiple gamers vying for the title in the low-key release Metal Black. The game was released in the United States in 1991 by Taito and was even quietly tucked away in the Taito Legends 2 compilation package released roughly 15 years later for home consoles in the previous generation. A horizontal shooter in the same vein as Taito's own Darius series, the title's outstanding mechanics include building up weapon power to unleash a massive beam and an impressive-for-its-time bonus stage that has players locking on to enemies.

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Super Crap Tournament V!!!

When: May 6th-12th 2013
Format: STREAMING FOOL!!!
Alternate Format: None, STREAMING FOOL!!!
Those invited: STREAMING FOOLS

For rules and all that jazz : http://aurcade.com/forums/default.aspx?a=top&id=3203

Sh!t's about to get real!

http://www.aurcade.com/events/tournament.aspx?id=128

Weirs Beach, NH, 4/18/2013 – The Funspot Family Entertainment Center and The American Classic Arcade Museum (ACAM) are pleased to announce the 15th Annual International Classic Video Game Tournament will take place Thursday May 30th through Sunday, June 2nd 2013 at the Funspot Family Entertainment Center on Route 3 in Weirs Beach, NH.

The tournament will take place from Thursday, May 30th through Sunday, June 2nd, 2013. Tournament hours are Thursday Noon-10pm, Friday and Saturday 10am-11pm and Sunday 10am-5pm. Admission to compete in the tournament is $60 and includes 250 game tokens. This year's tournament is sponsored in part by Mix 94.1FM, The Planet 100.1, New Country 106.9 & Gamer Soda.

The first 100 registrants will receive a commemorative T-shirt and goodie bag. Registration is at the door only. The tournament features competitive play on 15 classic game titles and 5 games in the annual Manufacturer’s Challenge. This event brings the best competitive arcade gamers from around the world. To keep the playing field as competitive as possible, the tournament games will not be announced until the first day of the event.

In addition to the prizes awarded for the Tournament and the Manufacturer’s Challenge, a new set of prizes will be awarded for the top score set on each of the 15 main tournament games and the 5 manufacturer’s tournament games. The monetary prize awards will also include a commemorative trophy as well. The prizes are as follows:

1st place Main Tournament: $750.00
2nd place Main Tournament: $500.00
3rd place Main Tournament: $250.00
1st place Manufacturer’s Challenge: $500.00
2nd place Manufacturer’s Challenge: $250.00
3rd place Manufacturer’s Challenge: $100.00
4 daily Mystery Game winners: $50 each
Top Score for 15 main tourney games and 5 manufacturer’s games: $25 each

Over the years, the tournament has become an event that draws people from all over the world. “This has become so much more than a tournament’” says Funspot owner and General Manager, Bob Lawton, “It is an annual meeting of friends, a reunion of competitive players and a fun time for people who love classic games.”

This year, Funspot and ACAM are adding to the festive international event with two musical acts that play chip tune music. The popular band D&D Sluggers will headline a concert to be held during the event. D&D Sluggers utilize traditional rock instruments like electric guitars and synthesizers. They also create musical sounds from home video game consoles in a style known as chip tune. Formed in March 2010, D&D Sluggers have been making a name for themselves up and down the east coast. Having been tapped to play such massive festivals as Hopscotch 2011, Nerd-a-palooza 2012, The Escapist Expo 2012, MAGFest 11 and SXSW 2012 their style has helped to bridge the gap between chip tune and rock. True lovers of the genre, they have even published a guide to getting started making chip tunes. Their show at the tournament will take place inside The American Classic Arcade Museum at Funspot and admission to the performance is free.

Gary Vincent, President of ACAM, is pleased to have musical acts appear during the tournament. “This is the 15th anniversary of our tournament, and we wanted to do something different, but more importantly, something fun. Having met D&D Sluggers at the Escapist Expo convention last year, we thought they were a great choice to join us. We could not be more enthusiastic to have this fun musical group perform at our event.”

"We are proud to be performing during the ACAM competition this year,” said Tim White and Dustin Overcash of D&D Sluggers. “Just thinking about playing our music in the largest arcade in the world surrounded by the games that helped inspire our sound gets us EXCITED!!!"

Opening for D&D Sluggers is CrunkWitch, a New Hampshire-based band with a similar chiptune/rock/pop style as D&D Sluggers.

Hailed as “The Mecca of Classic Gaming” by MSNBC, The American Classic Arcade Museum at Funspot is the first 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and displaying vintage coin-operated amusements and their history. Located on the third floor of the immense Funspot Family Entertainment Super Center, the museum celebrates the origins of the arcade industry with popular games from the past. Asteroids, Pac-Man, Centipede and Gorgar are just a few of the over 300 games inside ACAM. The museum also contains static displays of game history.

The Funspot Family Entertainment Super Center is located on Route 3 in Weirs Beach, NH. The facility was founded in 1952 by Bob Lawton and has been continuously operated by him and his family ever since. The 60,000 square foot center features over 500 games, 20 bowling lanes, an outdoor miniature golf course, a 400-seat Bingo hall, a restaurant, the D.A. Long Tavern, and an indoor retro 9-hole miniature golf course. Monkey Trunks Extreme zip lines course is also located on the property. In June 2008, Guinness World Records named Funspot the largest arcade in the world.

Funspot and The American Classic Arcade Museum are open year-round.

More information can be found at www.FunspotNH.com and www.ClassicArcadeMuseum.org.

American Classic Arcade Museum @ Funspot
579 Endicott Street North
Laconia, NH 03246