While in Vegas over the weekend I got to check out Insert Coin(s), the retro arcade located just off Freemont Street. I'm working on a longer, more polished post about the place for my blog later this week, but here's a brief rundown, review, and collection of random thoughts.
Insert Coin(s) is on Freemont Street, about a block and a half away from the Freemont Experience. It's amazing how scary downtown Vegas becomes when you take a few steps away from the bright lights. Things went from partying tourists to scary homeless people in about 10 feet.
We got to Insert Coin(s) at 9:45pm and were told that they start charging a cover charge at 10pm. I was with three people who couldn't care less about arcade games. If there had been a cover, we wouldn't have gone in. Also, the cover is $5 for locals and $10 for out of state visitors. I'm sure there's some logic to their thinking, but that seemed a bit like bullshit to me.
Arcades of the 1980s were dark scary places. Insert Coin(s) is a dark scary place. Most modern arcades are well lit with bright lights and cool decorations. Insert Coin(s) is not. It's dark and I couldn't see anything for a few minutes.
The first thing I noticed was the big screen televisions. Jesus, man. There must be 50 of them. Down the right hand side of the arcade are booths. Each booth had two giant flat screen televisions facing away from them. From what I understand, if you order at least $25 in drinks, you get a booth and they turn the TVs around and you can play console video games for free.
The middle of the place is a gigantic bar with a clear bartop that changes colors. We didn't order any drinks (we were on the 10 minute tour) but there seemed to be plenty of bartenders on hand.
The left hand side of the bar had all the machines. 50 in all, according to their website. You can look at the list of machines on the website, but I would estimate it was 90% retro and 10% newish (late 90s/early 00s).
In the back of the bar was a big dance area. According to their website they have DJs there regularly. They were playing loud music and there were two drunk girls back there dancing.
http://www.insertcoinslv.com/
While in Vegas over the weekend I got to check out Insert Coin(s), the retro arcade located just off Freemont Street. I'm working on a longer, more polished post about the place for my blog later this week, but here's a brief rundown, review, and collection of random thoughts.
Insert Coin(s) is on Freemont Street, about a block and a half away from the Freemont Experience. It's amazing how scary downtown Vegas becomes when you take a few steps away from the bright lights. Things went from partying tourists to scary homeless people in about 10 feet.
We got to Insert Coin(s) at 9:45pm and were told that they start charging a cover charge at 10pm. I was with three people who couldn't care less about arcade games. If there had been a cover, we wouldn't have gone in. Also, the cover is $5 for locals and $10 for out of state visitors. I'm sure there's some logic to their thinking, but that seemed a bit like bullshit to me.
Arcades of the 1980s were dark scary places. Insert Coin(s) is a dark scary place. Most modern arcades are well lit with bright lights and cool decorations. Insert Coin(s) is not. It's dark and I couldn't see anything for a few minutes.
The first thing I noticed was the big screen televisions. Jesus, man. There must be 50 of them. Down the right hand side of the arcade are booths. Each booth had two giant flat screen televisions facing away from them. From what I understand, if you order at least $25 in drinks, you get a booth and they turn the TVs around and you can play console video games for free.
The middle of the place is a gigantic bar with a clear bartop that changes colors. We didn't order any drinks (we were on the 10 minute tour) but there seemed to be plenty of bartenders on hand.
The left hand side of the bar had all the machines. 50 in all, according to their website. You can look at the list of machines on the website, but I would estimate it was 90% retro and 10% newish (late 90s/early 00s).
In the back of the bar was a big dance area. According to their website they have DJs there regularly. They were playing loud music and there were two drunk girls back there dancing.
http://www.insertcoinslv.com/
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[img]http://www.robohara.com/pix/junk/ic2.jpg[/img]