Austin, TX meet up thread

[wip3outguy7]

I think the hours are fine. Who the hell is going to go to the arcade before 3pm on a weekday?

...yeah...only a loser would do that. Heh. heh.

Quiet you.

[indecks]

. Who the hell is going to go to the arcade before 3pm on a weekday?

Well, apparently 8 guys in a group and a few other people that showed up when we were there. All turned away on opening week.

Also:

People who don't work until after 3.
Kids that aren't in school for whatever reason.
People who are off that day or days of the week.
Someone on their lunch break.
Someone driving by that happens to see it and is happy that Austin has an arcade that isn't down town.

There are plenty of people that would go to an arcade during the week days. Not everyone works 8-5 Monday through Friday.

[wip3outguy7]

There are plenty of people that would go to an arcade during the week days. Not everyone works 8-5 Monday through Friday.

Preaching to the choir here. I'm 32 and I have maybe worked an 8 to 5 a total of 2 months in my adult life. And don't even get me started on how outdated the 10am to 9pm retail hours concept is. So on a certain level, I totally agree with you here.

I'm just saying... from an amusement business standpoint, their hours make sense. If they are going after the mommy and daddy, birthdays and weekender crowd - these are solid hours.

I will be there around 6pm if any of you guys are thinking about going. I'm going to call them around 3 to ensure they are actually going to be opened normal business hours today. I will post what I find out here.

[phaedrus]

Yeah the hours are wonky. Though seeing as the state of arcades is what it is we gotta accept that until things pick up and see what goes. possibly after the cafe opens. Wouldn't hold my breath.

[Redline9]

To put things into perspective:

Even Arcade UFO doesn't open until 3pm Sunday through Thursday. Granted, they are open 7 days a week, but they are an established arcade near the largest college campus in Texas. (Plus, they are a much smaller operation. 99 times out of 100, there is a single attendant on the clock.)

Speaking of Arcade UFO, I think they finally found a TMNT PCB. Recently from their twitter feed:
http://twitpic.com/39m0tl

[wip3outguy7]

phaedrus and I checked Pinballz out tonight. Thanks again for introducing us to this place, Redline9. Goddamn, it felt good to play some REAL Virtual On.

The arcade is shockingly large, but easy to navigate.

Pinball:
I honestly have never seen this many pinball machines in a single location. Lots of machines from my childhood. But I won't pretend to be a pinball connoisseur. Everything was in incredible shape. No sleepy flippers or busted switches. phaedrus is the expert and he was very pleased.

The cabs:
The arcade cabs are a mixed bag. We ran into sticky coin mechs. This meant tracking down staff (who were more than happy to help) to get a credit plugged in. It appears that there are more games than are listed on Pinballz's site. All of the sticks and buttons are in good shape.

Lots of multicades but lots of original hardware, too. It was the first time I had ever seen a Zombie Revenge cab. Original buttons and sticks (they were analog). One of the staff went out of his way to open the ZR cab up so we could check out the hardware inside. Some of the games could use more volume (the Virtual On set had the usual blown sub/amp issue). The lighting in the racing area could use dimming as games were a little difficult to play because of the glare. Pricing on nearly all of the cabs (I played) was misslabeled. Many 25 cent marked games were actually 50 cents. Even then pricing was very fair. There were also many cabs that were powered on but marked with "coming soon" signs. They did not appear to be ready for play.


I know some of the above paragraph may sound grim. LOL, I'm just critiquing. We talked with the owner a bit. He was very enthusiastic about the business and it was obvious this is a labor of love. He explained that they were not officially going to open until the beginning of next year but decided to have a soft opening to see what it was going to take to run the place. He wants to see what kind of wear and tear the machines will get and make sure things can be repaired. I counted at least 3 mechanics who were readying cabinets for floor use and making minor repairs. I have no doubt that my concerns will be addressed by the grand opening.

I counted at least one decent sized party room. There was an air hockey table in it. I forgot to ask about pricing. They were selling snacks, however the cafe does not appear to be open for business. I doubt it will be before the grand opening.

They have made it very easy to stay at the arcade for extended periods of time. There are random tables and bar stools about to allow you to lounge. My wife and I had no trouble spending 2 hours there. Parking appears adequate.

Definitely swing by and check them out! They will be open for Thanksgiving!

[Redline9]

Great write-up! I agree that the lights should be dimmed to reduce glare on the screens. Arcades should be dark places! Plus, they would save money on electricity.

[wip3outguy7]

Screw it. I'm heading over there after work. I think phaedrus will be there most of the night.

[wip3outguy7]

phaedrus and I played for another few hours. He had already been there for a couple of hours and had played just about everything in the place. He was reporting busted coin mechs and control issues to the staff.

We thought we broke the Virtual On machine. It started randomly giving out free credits after 20 mins of hard play. One of the mechanics told us it had been giving him issues. LOL Still plays fine, though. phaedrus finally got a match or two on me.

The 4 slot MVS is an official SNK cab. The memory card slot and headphone ports were under the deck. They had been painted over with black paint, but it is official hardware. Now if only they would replace that nasty Dell display. I have hope. The cab was still disabled for play and there was a "coming soon" sign on it.

The lights in the racing area have been dimmed.

We kept coming back to Zombie Revenge and phaedrus realized this was because there was a serious lack of beat em' ups. Sure there were multicades, but I would love to see some 4 player Simpsons and Turtles cabs.

Please go check these guys out. Support!

Greensheet is located on the top floor of the office building Pinballz occupies. The lights were out but things are in boxes and it appears they are moving out. If the arcade takes the top floor... things are going to be insane.

The one party room that I have actually seen is a good size and would be great for a meet up. We would be bringing our own TVs and there would probably be a small payment required. Even then, if we held the meet up at Game Over, this place is only about 5 mins away.

Let me know what you guys think.

[Hobie-wan]

Sounds like it would be cool to meet there as long as the cost isn't too much for the room.