ESFI World

The US arcade scene has been a rollercoaster of emotion over the past weeks with a slew of announcements and rumors of arcade closures and moves. There has been a lot of confusion regarding some of the information, so let's take a look. 

Things started when rumors surfaced regarding the closure of SoCal-based Arcade Infinity, one of the most popular arcades in the US. However, shortly thereafter an announcement went up on Arcade Infinity's facebook page:

AI is being saved by the owners of Diamond Plaza. After seeing all of the public outcry over the closing, and how active this particular event page has been since the announcement, they've worked out a deal with AI to significantly help their operating costs and keep the arcade open for an unspecified period of time [...] Also just to clarify a bit on the closing of the arcade, while a good portion of it had to do with earnings (or lack thereof) the nail in the coffin was actually delivered by the city of Rowland Heights. AI's business license was to expire in December, and the costs that they originally wanted the Tao brothers to pay to keep things open was just completely unreasonable for how much money the arcade was pulling in. The landlords have since worked with the City to make their license renewal a possibility, and have secured them an extension.

However, as February rolled around Arcade Infinity announced it would be closing its doors for good on February 26th and that they would be selling off all their arcade equipment. This is seemingly the end of the road for Arcade Infinity.

GameZone created an excellent mini-documentary behind the magic of Arcade Infinity where he calls out to players to support their local arcades. 

Hubert Cheng created a wonderful video tribute on Arcade Infinity. 

Yet things were not over quite yet. Rumors quickly began swirling in the middle of February around the possible closure of famed NYC arcade Chinatown Fair. Bowery Boogie provides a good explanation on the rumors along with a video from Henry Cen on the dififculty of making money in arcades. Rumors quickly became fact as one week later Chinatown Fair closed. 

Seb at Frame-Advantage.com provided a heart-felt and emotional Ode to Chinatown Fair. It really shows how important arcades are to the community, and it goes beyond just the game. 

However, all is not lost! Chinatown Fair was able to relocate to a new location in Williamsburg. NerdJosh uploaded some footage of the new location; it is not complete yet but they do have their Arcade Edition cabinets up. 

So for now Chinatown Fair lives on. However, things do not look good for the American arcade scene. California's Arcade Infinity closing down spells a loss for America that may never be regained. Only time will tell if 2011 will be looked at as the year American arcades died.