For State College/Penn State visitors in central PA there's a new place to play pinball, video games, pool, and beer pong. Champs Downtown--with a ground floor restaurant and sports bar and a basement barcade--has just opened on Allen Street just two blocks from campus.
There are a dozen pins at 50 cents apiece, 8 pool tables at a buck apiece, and a dozen video games (not sure what they cost).
Pins are:
Eight Ball
Scared Stiff
Lethal Weapon 3
Rescue 911
Medieval Madness (remake)
Getaway, High Speed II
Hook
Roller Coaster Tycoon
Royal Rumble
Harley Davidson
South Park
Revenge from Mars
Vids include:
Centipede
Street Fighter 2
Centuri
Galaga
Donkey Kong Junior
Several of the Pac-man family
Madden
All pins are LEDed and working 100% at the moment, but they'll certainly get trashed over time. As far as a pin playing atmosphere, the pins are loud, the music even louder, and the students even louder, so at peak drinking times it's not very practical to play. Still, the lineup is good and it's nice to see pins out in the wild again in State College, which many pinheads remember from the days of Playland and Campus Casino. Also in State College just a few blocks from Champs is Chronic Town/Music Underground--a hookah lounge/music store/eatery with 6 high-end pins always out to play in a much more mellow atmosphere.
Just thought the community should know about this new place. A few pix from Champs follow.
I'll be interested to hear what others think about the place and about barcades in general. Because of the pool tables, beer, and proximity to Penn State, this business will rake in the dough.