Back in the day, arcades were a popular hang out spot for people of all ages. Then came game consoles for our homes and the arcade idea seemed more of an inconvenience. While the technology of current game consoles is advanced, it seemed people started missing the social ambiance of the arcade spots of the past. This prompted certain business owners to create a grown up “hang out spot” and the merge of bar/arcade initiated. As a result, vintage arcade game bars have become quite the novelty in big cities like Los Angeles featuring the most popular games from the 80s. Given the competitive nature of these games, sport bars seem to have adapted well to the addition.
Some of these bars are equipped with a couple of vintage table-top games that have at least 30 old school video games on them (thin Pacman and the very popular Don King Kong). This is a way of automatically saving space while making room for what else a restaurant/bar includes.
Other ones specialize in certain types of food or alcoholic beverage, but they sure seem to be growing in popularity. Good food, drinks, music and games in practically a grown up’s indoor playground.
OUR CLIENT: 82 ARCADE (pictured above)
We were fortunate enough to be able to work in one of these bars before they opened earlier this year. 82 Arcade in Los Angeles is centrally located in Los Angeles in the Arts District of Downtown LA and it includes a full bar featuring a rotating collection of 40 restored, playable arcade and pinball machines from the 1970s-90s. It has a shaded patio, nightly DJs and a craft cocktail program…grown up paradise.
We provided a complete audio visual system for this establishment consisting: QSC brand K-Series and Acoustic Design series speakers. Three video projectors were installed to allow the client to project live video gameplay above the bar. The system processing is handled by the award winning Q-Sys Digital Signal Processor. We provided a custom design control interface that is run from an iPad and can also be loaded onto a PC for full audio system control and input switching to the projector.
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