Welcome to Location Watch, a series here on Arcade Heroes that endeavors to track and report on new arcade location openings from all around the world. This will be our final look at new locations for 2024, while also giving us a preview of some locations that are new and fresh for 2025. Our last Location Watch was at the end of October;<\/a> H\/T to various users on our Discord server channel (#arcade-locations) and social media pages who share news on these locations, as well as RePlay Magazine<\/a> and InterGame Online<\/a>; if you have any new arcades we\u2019ve missed, be sure to let us know and they will be added.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll get into this more in the upcoming end-of-year post, but all in all this year has been a bumpy ride for the industry. Openings were slow in November, only to pick up in December. But that\u2019s then been slightly offset by strife on the indie\/fighting game community side of things, where there has sadly been a few high-profile closures just announced this month<\/a> that players have been reeling from. However, use it or lose it does unfortunately apply, and these posts are all about giving the next generation of locations exposure for a reason. Let\u2019s get fully caught up with all the new arcade openings for late 2024\u2026<\/p>\n Just before we get to those, I want to quickly highlight two new arcade locators that have recently begun operations online. The first is the Insert Coin App<\/a>, which does work find on a desktop browser(it was also mainly made for iOS<\/a> and Android<\/a> devices). It looks to offer up all arcades out there around the world, but is lacking a lot of venues as it needs user input for all that; the second is more niche with Retro Arcade Hunter<\/a>. Not sure if they require only retro games and what the cut-off date for \u201cretro\u201d is (everyone seems to have their own arbitrary date in mind), but it\u2019s safe to assume that any place focused on the 80s is a sure bet there.<\/p>\n Our friends at No Cash Value LLC have been busy, now opening a venue at the Oakland Mall that features the VARBOX VR system, and a few Blast City cabinets running some older arcade titles, uniting two generations of compact video amusement into one place. I\u2019ve seen the VARBOX at IAAPA a few times, but never have seen a location that has one. Check them out on Facebook<\/a> or their website<\/a>.<\/p>\n This new opening for Brooklyn has its arcade attached to an adventure playground. This oddly has various Asian imports, with Japanese ones including Chunithm, Ongeki, Wacca, and Initial D Arcade Stage 8 (offline). Their Zenius-i-vanisher.com listing can be found here.<\/a> Hopefully this can take out some of the sting from the upcoming closure of Brooklyn Games & Arcade (scroll down for more on that).<\/p>\n Another new Brooklyn opening here, this one being an example of what arcades there can do that others can\u2019t by opening for 24 hours round the clock. Party Time<\/a> offers a modern mix of what looks to be all Chinese games, mixing prize, redemption, and video games into a bright family environment. The motion version of Deadstorm Pirates and the non-US version of Dinosaur Era are the only games I recognize at a glance though. I\u2019m guessing this is in a Chinatown area of the city, but someone who knows the area this is at will have to fill me in if that\u2019s incorrect.<\/p>\n Starting off as a pinball servicing and rental shop, Mana has switched over to also operating them as an arcade. They operate using a free play model, and sounds like they have a wide selection of games that get rotated out on a regular basis. Find them here.<\/a><\/p>\n Seattle is getting more arcade love<\/a> from this company as they have just opened their second location, now in West Seattle. Gary\u2019s Place is dedicated to Gary Cichi, an arcade operator who was a fixture of the scene in the region. This arcade is co-operated by one of Gary\u2019s sons, Matt. If you\u2019re in the area, you\u2019ll find an ecclectic mix of old and new games, from beloved classics (Asteroids, Donkey Kong, Ms. Pac-Man) to a row of pinball machines to newer video stuff \u2013 including some exA-Arcadia ARC-32 cabs<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n![\"Location](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/arcadeheroes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/arcade-heroes-location-watch-2.png?ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\nNew Arcade Finders<\/h2>\n
North America<\/h2>\n
Varcade PVP Arena (Detroit, MI)<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nMax Funland (Brooklyn, NY)<\/h3>\n
Party Time (Brooklyn, NY)<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nMana Pinball (Ontario, Canada)<\/h3>\n
Gary\u2019s Place #2 (Seattle, WA)<\/h3>\n