Recently my lovely significant other and I visited Raleigh, NC and
found a bit of nostalgia. Back in the day, a person could go into an arcade
with a fist full of quarters and play either for the fun of it or to show their
dominance with a controller. For the most part, these days are gone for the
stand alone arcade.
Enter the arcade hybrid. While figuring
out which restaurant to grab dinner at, we stumbled across a place called
Boxcar Bar and Arcade. The place had a range of video games such as Aliens, the
first few Mortal Kombat titles as well as ski ball and various pinball games.
Additionally, the place had, as the name suggests, a bar as well to grab drinks
or a bit of popcorn.
Although we didn't indulge in a beverage,
I can see where a big source of income would be drawn from in terms of a bar or
restaurant. Most games were only a quarter or 50 cents, which a player had to
use tokens instead of tokens. None of games generated tickets redeemable for
prizes. As a gamer, although winning a prize can be fun but there is almost a
certain purity to the game without a prize carrot.
The crowd was predominantly a college
crowd with the occasional over 40 something or kids tagging along. With a
couple games, people politely offered a 2 person challenge without copping an
elite attitude. One woman seemed to be a pinball enthusiast and was open to
challenging me to a round or two of Dr. Who and was critical of one person
being rude for being in the way of other players. The highlight of
the time spent at Boxcar was challenging the misses to Air Hockey and Ski Ball.
However, we had to call it quits
and head over for food. I look forward to visiting again for round 2.
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