New Arcade opened in my local mall
I've been going to this mall since I was born, and earlier this year they put in an arcade on the 1st floor that is even larger than the arcade the mall once had in its heyday. Round 1 is a chain all across the USA, but this is my first time visiting one. It is pretty awesome to have this place in my neck of the woods. I am very happy the arcade industry is revived. Here are a few pictures I took of some of the stuff they have. Perhaps the coolest part is the collection of Japanese arcade games
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Round 1's are at least twice as good as Dave and Busters. They are usually well stocked with either rows of Candy Cabs or Head 2 Head cabs with tons of SHMUPs and fighting games, and they actually maintain the cabs. Plus it's quite often they import new selections of arcades, usually monthly.
We have a Round 1 in our largest mall in WA here...which is only a short trip by freeway. I've actually been wanting to go to it. I've also wanted to go to the Dave and Busters that opened up a few months ago in the mall down the hill from where I live.
I see someone's said Round 1 is better...is it worth trying Dave and Busters or not? They're much closer to me but if they're so-so...I might just elect to try Round 1 first.
I've seen a lot of people in Japan post videos about Round 1 (specifically their UFO catchers and claw games and how you can actually win them) so I've always wanted to go...
I see someone's said Round 1 is better...is it worth trying Dave and Busters or not? They're much closer to me but if they're so-so...I might just elect to try Round 1 first.
I've seen a lot of people in Japan post videos about Round 1 (specifically their UFO catchers and claw games and how you can actually win them) so I've always wanted to go...
I'd definitely recommend go to Round 1 first. Dave and Busters selection is honestly pretty lacking outside of ticket games, racing games, and arcade style shooting. Round 1 has actual variety and tons of unique games.
The UFO catchers there are pretty awesome, and they even have a video on loop that teaches you how to win them. Tons of variety in prizes, gameplay, and they seem quite fair.
And for any question of Dave and Busters versus ANY other similarly spec'd arcade... I'd go with the "not Dave and Busters" option.
They are merely "OK", and anyone with pinball machines is going to be better.
EDIT: also, was out at Santa Cruz recently, on an off day when most of the boardwalk was closed.
Their arcade is really good, and priced to play. $1/game for modern pinball feels like a steal.
They also have bowling, kareoke, food and bar in there, they are also open until 2AM, it is 18+ after 10:00 PM, and 21+ after midnight, so if you wanna play Mario Kart with the hot teenage chicks you gotta go early
No coins or tokens, you print out a credit card at the kiosk the first time you go and then preload cash/credit onto the card and it turns it into points. You can come and go as you please, keep your extra points loaded for another day... Like yesterday I went for the 3rd or 4th time in the last few weeks so I only put $5 on, and that gave me 20.0 points....I think a game of Mario Kart DX takes 5.7 points to play a race maybe? And then definitely certain dollar tiers start giving you free points, like I think if you load your card with $30, it gives you $40 worth of points. It's really simple to do. You can see one of the kiosks to the right of the Tomb Raider machine in my picture.
They also have bowling, kareoke, food and bar in there, they are also open until 2AM, it is 18+ after 10:00 PM, and 21+ after midnight, so if you wanna play Mario Kart with the hot teenage chicks you gotta go early
OK. I really hate the "points" model, especially when they do fractional points that make it impossible to clean out a card.
The place I visited in Santa Cruz did swipe cards, but the machines were priced clearly in dollars. (almost everything was a buck, surprisingly, with some only $0.50)
Locally, we have a Tilt in our mall that opened a year, or so, ago, that does swipe cards and prices in "points" -- but their points scheme is completely whack.
(it averages out to a little over $2/game for cab-shooters) I suspect their "saving grace" is that they have a lot of claw-games that likely charge enough to play that they are programmed for a high win rate.
Dave and Busters was just a slightly better version of our Tilt, the time I visited one.
At least in both of those cases, though, if you hit them off-peak-hours (like grabbing weekday lunch at the mall), the machines are all half-priced.
So the dynamic pricing for card swipes is cool -- I just think the fractional point scheme is borderline unethical. (i.e. you fill a card, but basically always get stuck with "residue" you can't spend)
All of those noir cabinets, those are all an even 5.0 and easily the best deal because you stay when you win. I probably sat at Dead or Alive 2, Final Fight and SNK vs Capcom for over an hour, beat each and spent less than $5 during that 2 hours.
Originally posted by: arch_8ngel
And for any question of Dave and Busters versus ANY other similarly spec'd arcade... I'd go with the "not Dave and Busters" option.
They are merely "OK", and anyone with pinball machines is going to be better.
D&B is 100% garbage IMO. Nothing but ticket machines.
This looks like a fairly good arcade. It's ~an hour from me, so maybe I'll check it out.
The timed machines looked cool.
Would love to see some more old school cabinets mixed in, but hey... can't be choosy. Cool stuff!
I've never seen one of those 3D Pong games in person so that would be sweet. And the giant Pac Man looked cool.
Originally posted by: AirVillain
And the giant Pac Man looked cool.
That also is a Galaga machine, it's so hard when it's so huge and you're that close! I could only get to Stage 4 on a regular credit
https://www.round1usa.com/location/
Definitely curious what is this Dark Escape 4D?
Also, how much is it to play for an hour?