Our town just got a Dave & Buster's

[MegaManFan]

I knew about this place from attending a gaming con in Texas a few years ago ($10 off coupons were being handed out like candy) but as we were leaving to bo back to Omaha and we didn't have one here, they were pretty useless. We took note of the coupons and said to ourselves "this place sounds interesting, it's too bad we don't have one."

Long story short, there's a building on 132nd in Omaha that used to be a Gordman's, but they didn't like the cost of the rent so they sold it and packed up to build a new store out West. Instead of tearing the building down, Dave & Buster's moved in and remodeled it. After months and months of work, they finally opened last night. Driving by I saw that the joint was jumping, realized it was opening day, and went home to tell the Mrs. We went back to see how long the wait was for a table, 45 minutes. Kinda long, but they have an arcade right? So we go over to play for a while and kill some time.

Here's where my perception of what Dave & Buster's was and the reality of what it is came face to face. Those of you who've been there already know this and can skip ahead, those like me who've never been there may want to hear it. When you first go in you'll see a booth with a sign that reads like a typical arcade. $1 = x tokens, $5 = X + a bonus, $10 = ... so on and so on. What I didn't realize though is they DON'T GIVE YOU ACTUAL TOKENS. They give you a POWER CARD. Confused? So was I. What they do is charge the amount of tokens to your card, and you use it like a debit card in the arcade. Every game in the place, from skee-ball to Daytona USA to Pac-Man all has a card swipe machine, like the kind you use at a grocery or convenience store, only smaller and placed over where the coin acceptor would be.

Now at first I'm thinking okay, this isn't such a bad idea. It's always a pain to carry around a big bulging pocket full of tokens or quarters, much as I'm nostalgic for the feel from my youth it's not something I'm THAT gung ho about. I can always go to one of the other arcades in town (Family Fun Center on 72nd and Dodge for one) if I want that. So I go over to a Namco anniversary cab and swipe my card, and the readout on the card acceptor says that my current balance is xx.x - some fraction of a whole number. I'm like HOW IN DE HAIL? When I'm done playing I look down at the machine and the readout says that it costs 3.7 to play. HOLY FREAK. Playing one game of Ms. Pac-Man just cost me the equivalent of a dollar worth of tokens. I've heard of inflation but I'll be damned if I think that's a good deal when across town I can play it for a quarter and even at the pizza parlor near where I live the anniversary cab only costs 50 cents.

Every game in the house is x.x credits, never an even amount. Skee-ball is 2.2. Old school video games are 3.7. If you do any environmental games, llike driving, racing, VR or surround cabinets, they're five points and up. I'm suddenly realizing just how much I'm going to enjoy my MAME cab when it's finished, because quite frankly the only stuff I really want to play in an arcade is old school games and D&B really doesn't half enough in their midway. A whole half of the arcade is dedicated to those "games of chance" ticket spitters like Colorama and Wheel of Fortune. Two-thirds of the other half is the environmental games. A small island in the middle of that had a Taito machine, a Namco machine, and a Nintendo machine. The most fun I had the entire night was setting the high score on Space Invaders - which obviously wasn't getting too much play since it was not "modern" like everything else but which suited me just fine since I felt like I ALMOST got my 3.7 credit's worth on a 15 minute session.

I don't mean to sound like a grumpy old man. I like the idea of the place, a classy sit-down restaurant with an arcade for adults on the other side. And when I say adults I mean it - they have cocktail waitresses serving drinks in there, just like if you were in a Vegas casino. Plus we found out from dining they offer "power combos" where if you order a meal that's $10 or $11 to begin with, for $2 more you get a card with $10 of credit to play in the arcade. That's probably the best deal in the place, because even though the games are overpriced to begin with you're coming out $8 ahead or as my wife said "playing with house money" as opposed to shelling out a lot of your own. I'd probably go there again to eat alone, the food was really good (the service left a little something to be desired, but we cut them slack since it was opening night). But if you've never been to an arcade that runs on credit cards, be prepared for MAJOR culture shock. An hour later I was still weirded out by it.

[Masco73]

I had the same feeling on the credit card power card at first. The games were quite pricey and not much retro stuff. I went to one in Chicago and althought the cost is a little high, where else can you go to an arcade and walk around drinking beer from game to game?? Since there is such a lack of any gaming type arcade in my area, I was happy to pay a little extra. You also can avoid annoying kids by going later at night.

[NE146]

Yep.. cards are how it's BEEN going at Sega Gameworks, Dave and Buster's, and various others for a while now. However I do only play the retro games if they have any and unless it's a large ultracade crap machine or something, they tend to be a lot cheaper (as far as the card points go) than the regular fare there. I kind of just suck it up and fork it out all in the name of playing a nice game of Defender in an arcade setting w/ actual controls :)

[Queen Of The Felines]

Did yours have a gigantic Wild West-themed automatronic shooting gallery?

Kristine

[RangerG]

If you have one in town and plan to come back, get the card for $40 and you get a much better deal on it than if you put only $5 or $10. I did that and then used it over at least three trips To D&B when I was visiting Jacksonville over two weekends because my wife was at a conference and I just went along. It is still expensive, but the place is clean and fun.

[Avatard]

I've been to the one in Jacksonville, and it wasn't very much fun. The wild west shooting gallery was kinda neat, and really the only game I enjoyed playing the whole night was Crimson Skies, and it was hidden as an option to play on one of the flight VR sim whatevers. I still have a hard with credits I haven't used, I just couldn't find anything to play. Oh, and I like the Time Crisis line of games, but only with a friend.

Maybe if I partake of the bar first, then the games would be interesting.

[Ed Oscuro]

I'd say the classic stuff is what I'd want to try, that and gun games/motion sensing games (yay swords). I can't imagine I'd put much into a Space Invaders machine, though.

[Yago]

Chicago had a couple of locations. They used to force a dress code and everything. But when they got rid of the dress code it became a joke. So, I went to Gameworks in Schaumburg. Gameworks is exaclty like D&B. However, at 10pm or so they kick the kids out. Anyone under 18 unless with an adult, has to leave. This makes it far much nicer to play as you don't have to deal with bratty teens. Plus the bar is a ton better than D&B. Because Sega runs Gameworks, the games are far better than the ones at D&B. Their is a D&B here in Denver, but I have not gone to it yet.

[SoulBlazer]

There's one here in Providence I go to about once a month.

I've said this in other places, but I like it a lot. It's defentily geared for adults. At night they ask for ID when you enter and won't let you in if you're under 18 and don't have a adult. I'm surprised you'rs did'nt but you did say it was brand new.

Also, the games have TWO prices -- a normal one and a Power Club one. If you get a Power Card and put at least $10 on it, you can get the lower prices. It helps.

And some games are cheaper depending on the day and time that they are played.

The food is indeed good -- large portions, not that expensive, and a nice selection of drinks. Mine also has a bar, a pool table room, and a 'sports bar'. It's fun if you go with other people. I mostly go to play games that never got released in a home port.

[MegaManFan]

To answer a lot of different questions simultaneously:

* Yes they had some sort of Wild West set-up, but I wasn't paying much attention to it.
* No sadly they didn't have an Ultracade. All their retro machines were 2-3 games.
* They also had some sort of horse racing horse betting game I didn't get (or even try).
* No pool tables at this location. The employees told us most other D&B's had pool, as did the restaurant placemats.
* The place had a lot of security, including cops at the door, but I don't know if they kicked the kids out at 10.
* The ticket prize redemption center was pretty decent compared to most. They even had highball glasses.

I'd definitely "charge" more to my power card if I went back, because a bigger bonus on credits is the only way to make up for the exorbitant cost of the games on the card reader. All I had to drink was one 20 ounce beer, but I was on the dining room side. I wonder if it's cheaper in the bar or in the arcade, but I would dig the idea of having a cold one with me on that side. More would impair my judgment and/or my ability to get home. :P

[SoulBlazer]

No pool tables? That sucks.

That may have been Sega's Derby horse racing game you saw. A REALLY fun game and one I wish had a home version. You get a card with your horses info on it. I've even some people breed horses and sell them on EBay for good profits. :)

Yes, the ticket area is quite good. They have a large ammount of stuff, and some of it is actually resonable in what it would cost you. A toaster for 500, for example, or a eletric can opener for 300. Since some of the games allow you to win 200 or so at a pop if you're really lucky, it's not all that bad.

During the day and late at night it's all adults. You see kids early in the evening.

[MegaManFan]

No pool tables? That sucks.

You don't have to tell me twice, I'm a pool junkie. Some of you may have seen the photos of me at last year's CGE playing pool at a bar in San Jose. :D



That may have been Sega's Derby horse racing game you saw. A REALLY fun game and one I wish had a home version. You get a card with your horses info on it. I've even some people breed horses and sell them on EBay for good profits. :)

Hmm, it does sound more interesting based on that description. Now I've got to go back and see if it was a Sega game and perhaps give it a try.



Yes, the ticket area is quite good. They have a large ammount of stuff, and some of it is actually resonable in what it would cost you. A toaster for 500, for example, or a eletric can opener for 300. Since some of the games allow you to win 200 or so at a pop if you're really lucky, it's not all that bad.

I almost got the fondue pot for 300 points, but instead we settled for some D&B schwag (with their logo on it, like the glasses and shotglasses) and still had 600 points left over.



During the day and late at night it's all adults. You see kids early in the evening.

Well we were definitely there during peak kid hours though, because it was between 7 and 9 and a lot of rugrats were running around. In fact my wife was trying to get help with a machine and one of the employees blew her off with "I'm sorry ma'am we can't help you we're looking for a lost kid."

[Videogamerdaryll]

Nice read thanks..


those like me who've never been there may want to hear it.

Yup,that's me.. :D

I've must of passé by the entrance of this place a dozen times yet have never went in..
My sister in Law goes there a lot and tells me I should check it out(Arcade) ,yet never gives me details about the place..
I just want to check out the Arcade..

I like putting quarters in machines but I can deal with the card swiping..

My question is:..Do they charge to get into the place..?or can I just go into the Arcade..?

[mgriff]

I've been going to D & B in the palisades mall since it opened, my D & B Powercard is now some sort of gold card because of how many credits i've played on it over the years, I think it entitles me to like 10 or 20 percent discount of chips off of each game or something like that.

[WanganRunner]

It's definitely a bad deal for older games.

But you don't really GO to D&B to play older games, that's not what it's for. You go to play Virtua Cop 3, linked F355 Challenge, Initial D, etc..., while getting smashed off Red Bull & Vodkas 8-)

I only go there if I'm going to grab food & booze along with gaming, otherwise it's too expensive to be dropping in every few days just to play a few games.

[UnInformer]

I read about in the paper, and your description does not sound appealing to me. Think I will stick to Family Fun Center for my arcade needs, thanks for saving me a trip!

Ah hell, maybe I'll still see it for myself anyway.