If you live in the western half of the United States and have an urge an old-school video game such as Galaxia, you’re in luck — an arcade that specializes in retro games has opened along Route 66 in Williams, Arizona.
Andrew Hughes and Maxwell Williams opened D-Pad Retro Gaming at 117 W. Route 66, according to the Williams News.
D-Pad’s gaming room has upright and tabletop style vintage arcade games. Each classic game costs the original .25 cents to play. Their current inventory includes Multicade, Majestic Twelve, Arkanoid, Paperboy, Galaxia and Neo-Geo.
Hughes and Williams have plans to purchase and refurbish more arcade cabinets, and either sell them or rotate them in the inventory.
The two are also providing space to purchase and trade game cartridges and sell gaming equipment.
The newspaper reports that arcades in Japan are seeing a resurgence in popularity, and some business owners are trying to start that wave in the United States.
The retro arcade in Williams isn’t the first on or near Route 66. American Pride Amusements opened such a store in downtown McLean, Illinois, The same owner also opened the Route 66 Arcade Museum in downtown Atlanta, Illinois.
(Image of a Space Invaders game by Sergio Calleja via Flickr)
Interesting. i was just reading through the Illinois Route 66 Visitors Guide, and noticed several places listing vintage(?) arcade games as an attraction. I knew there was a group of enthusiasts for them, and those who liked to rebuild/update them for home use, but did not know the old fashioned(?) video game arcade was making a comeback of sorts.
As you can tell, having grown up with these games, I’m not yet comfortable with terms like vintage, and old fashioned! LOL