(Topic ID: 180441)

New Barcade Open in State College, PA (Penn State)

By JOESCHALL

7 years ago


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  • 17 posts
  • 10 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 5 years ago by stevevt
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    #1 7 years ago

    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.

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    #2 7 years ago

    looks awesome.. My dream to have that much space in NY.

    #3 7 years ago

    I remember Playland and Campus Casino. Back then when I was there (81-85), I played video games mostly. Did play a few pins but I sucked so bad I got better value playing the vids.

    I'll check it out next time I get back.

    #4 7 years ago

    Bump for a Penn State alum, class of '93. Playland was the fo-shizzle...playing head to head Suzuka 8 hours after the bars closed. If I only knew then what I know now....

    #5 7 years ago

    I have owned 4 of those pinball titles!
    Sounds like a fun place!

    #6 7 years ago

    Bump for Playland & Campus Casino; they were so awesome back in the late 70's early 80's as there were new games coming in almost every week!

    #7 7 years ago

    And the basement of the HUB on campus actually had pins then as well. That's when I got hooked on Taxi, which turned out to be my first pin purchase a decade later.

    #8 7 years ago

    Anyone can toss a bunch of pins and vids in a concrete room. Barcades needs tons of taps and most importantly the atmosphere that makes people want to come back. Also they need to have cheaper prices to move volume compared to other bars in the area.

    Best of luck!

    #9 7 years ago

    50 beers on tap. No smokin'.

    2 weeks later
    #10 7 years ago

    Barcade has added some more titles:

    Addams Family
    Fish Tales
    Theatre of Magic
    Twilight Zone
    Junk Yard
    Cirqus Voltaire
    The Walking Dead

    All LEDed--all 50 cents.

    Removed Lethal Weapon 3 and Rescue 911.

    A few more vids added as well.

    5 months later
    #11 6 years ago

    With school back in session and it being six months since I started this thread, I just thought I'd do an update on this barcade in State College, PA (Penn State). I have a relationship with the barcade owner and occasionally I make a list of anything wrong with the pins and he passes it on to the tech. I did a check two weeks ago and made a list of a dozen problems, and all were fixed as of a few days ago. Below are the pins in the barcade--all at 50 cents and all LEDed. They should all be 100% working or very close to it, though you have to be able to tolerate their volume being turned up loud (some much more than others). The best time to play is on a Sunday afternoon--virtually no one else is there.

    Addams Family
    Fish Tales
    Theatre of Magic
    Twilight Zone
    Junk Yard
    Cirqus Voltaire
    The Walking Dead
    Eight Ball (Bally, 1977--annoying LED ghosting)
    Scared Stiff
    Medieval Madness (remake)
    Getaway, High Speed II
    Hook
    Roller Coaster Tycoon
    Royal Rumble
    Harley Davidson
    South Park
    Revenge from Mars

    Enjoy!

    #12 6 years ago

    I'm hoping to try this tomorrow night.

    #13 6 years ago
    Quoted from Pinballomatic:

    I'm hoping to try this tomorrow night.

    Cool--enjoy. The games closest to the bar (TAF and TZ in particular) are way too loud, and the games further from the bar are loud but the volume is at least more reasonable. If you're an MMR fan, the game is still in great condition--I sold it to the barcade vendor after about 300 plays at home. The TWD is in great shape and plays well, but does not have the latest code, unfortunately.

    #14 6 years ago

    BTW, just a few blocks away is a hookah lounge/music store that's also a great place to play:

    http://www.chronictownusa.com/#home

    Current lineup is six pins, 100% working (I help to maintain them):

    Hobbit
    WOZ
    GoT
    Metallica
    Iron Man
    LOTR

    Prices are 75 cents and $1.

    6 months later
    #15 6 years ago

    Bump, I will be on campus twice in April what's the line up look like?

    3 weeks later
    #16 5 years ago

    Bump

    Line up still the same, .50 games which is nice but almost all of the machines has a problem or 2. MMR played the best TAF was solid. Also $2 beers made it nice, I may stop back again next week.

    Dave

    Addams Family
    Fish Tales
    Theatre of Magic
    Twilight Zone
    Junk Yard
    Cirqus Voltaire
    The Walking Dead
    Eight Ball (Bally, 1977--annoying LED ghosting)
    Scared Stiff
    Medieval Madness (remake)
    Getaway, High Speed II
    Hook
    Roller Coaster Tycoon
    Royal Rumble
    Harley Davidson
    South Park
    Revenge from Mars

    #17 5 years ago
    Quoted from daveddd14:

    .50 games...almost all of the machines has a problem or 2...$2 beers

    Perhaps there's a correlation here.

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