"But wait," we hear you say from the other side of the Internet. "Isn't the American arcade scene dead? Haven't coin-op establishments gone the way of the dodo? What kind of fool do you take me for? Hey I'm talkin' to you!"
Chill, friend! It's true that the American arcade is not as prolific as it once was, but the scene is far from dead. In fact, the U.S. of A.'s fighting game community has gone to great lengths to preserve its arcade heritage, and the scene is doing so well that Namco Bandai will be testing the latest entry in the Tekken series across our amber waves of grain.
Announced during Northeast Championship XII, the Tekken Tag Tournament 2 field test will take place in 5 different arcades across the nation: Next Level Arcade in New York City, Round One Entertainment in City of Industry, CA, Super Arcade in Walnut, CA, Fun Works in Honolulu, HI and Arcade UFO in Austin, TX.
As Austin is positively bursting with Joystiq editors, we'll be keeping an eye out for scheduling information as it becomes available. For now, we're just going to sit back and daydream about punching a robot with a bear. Mmmmm, satisfying.
Reader Comments (8)
Posted: Dec 4th 2011 4:41PM Walter White said
I'm shocked there are still arcades left in the US.
The only arcade near me is a retro arcade. A Tron Legacy pinball machine is the only game they have that's been made in the past 10 years.
The only arcade near me is a retro arcade. A Tron Legacy pinball machine is the only game they have that's been made in the past 10 years.
Posted: Dec 4th 2011 5:08PM RickGhastly said
@Walter White
Yeah, 5 years ago you could halfheartedly joke "Arcades are still alive?" but perhaps think of a couple (as scraggly and hopeless as they were). Now, I can't think of a single one outside of touristy areas like Disney Quest in Orlando. Who knows, maybe I'm just not in large enough cities.
Reply
Yeah, 5 years ago you could halfheartedly joke "Arcades are still alive?" but perhaps think of a couple (as scraggly and hopeless as they were). Now, I can't think of a single one outside of touristy areas like Disney Quest in Orlando. Who knows, maybe I'm just not in large enough cities.
Posted: Dec 4th 2011 9:28PM CoconutSkittle said
@Walter White
Sure, there are "arcades" in movie theaters and pizza joints that consist of a couple arcade cabinets with fighting and light gun games, but I don't know of a single dedicated arcade anywhere.
Reply
Sure, there are "arcades" in movie theaters and pizza joints that consist of a couple arcade cabinets with fighting and light gun games, but I don't know of a single dedicated arcade anywhere.
Posted: Dec 4th 2011 5:10PM DarkTetsuya said
I remember seeing reports that some of those arcades listed were sent server testing stuff... so I'm assuming all those locations will have all the online features in TTT2 enabled.
Posted: Dec 4th 2011 5:13PM The Aquacharger said
We have 4 arcades in my city that all do pretty good.
Posted: Dec 4th 2011 6:24PM ReadingRambo said
There are US arcades?
Damnit...already said.
Damnit...already said.
Posted: Dec 5th 2011 8:14AM smidget said
Went to Round 1 for the first time a few weeks back. Amaaazing arcade.
Posted: Dec 5th 2011 3:24PM (Unverified) said
Next Level Arcade in New York will NOT be one of the test locations.




