The gameworks in Michigan at great lakes crossing mall was similar with three stories. Only difference is, we had the hot air balloon game. It was like a power tower type thrill ride/game. The objective was to pop your opponents hot air balloon. 5 players in a row and each chair 💺 could rise up to like four stories or drop super fast. 😭😭 Kind of scary.
the hot air balloon game was wicked fun , just seeing it be played around peak hours really set the whole atmosphere for a classic "gameworks" experience!
Aw, been awhile since I popped in here--glad it's still going (now under new management). A couple perspectives from an old timer: 1) Yes, they expanded the prize area (and took out a few games in the process). 2) "Gameworks Gear" is a remnant from the early early days when GW had a gift shop. 3) The wood-paneled classics are another remnant: originally, there was a whole corridor on the ground floor, with a lot of classics kept together--looks like they're down to their last 3 (or maybe the others are just in storage). Definitely more emphasis on ticket games than there used to be, but I guess that's the norm these days.
Damn, I thought GameWorks was completely dead. Crazy that this one's still pulling through. I still remember the first time I went to GameWorks in the Las Vegas strip back in 2005 (I think?). At the time it was the craziest arcade I've been to. Saw so many games I've heard of but never got to play like Mortal Kombat 4. It was also the first place I played House of the Dead III, which I was so psyched about. We had one here in Long Beach, CA that I tried going to every chance I got, even had a birthday there. Still miss that place. GameWorks was always not only a great blend of both old and new games, but also a great place to try out completely new arcade experiences or see games you never even heard of. When I saw the first floor in this video, I was a little skeptical because it was full of all the stuff you'd see in your local Dave and Busters, like ticket redemption games, Raw Thrills games (never was a fan of their light gun/on rails shooters), or mobile games ported into cabinets. But it's nice to see some older and rare games still here too!
I went to that Long Beach store right before it closed. It was a great location. The new one in Vegas closed. Not the old strip one but the new one at that mall nearby. It’s now called “velocity e sports” and they have nearly all the same stuff as the GameWorks. I have a tour of it on my channel if you want to check it out