Welcome to another Feelgood Friday edition of The Keystone newsletter.
Though the Super Bowl is coming up Sunday, we’re going to kick off today’s newsletter talking about another type of game: video games.
The video game world of today—with custom gaming chairs, headsets, and apps for communicating—is markedly different from the one I grew up with in the ’80s.
Back in my day (I cannot believe I just said that), if you had an Atari or Caleco Vision system, you were instantly the most popular kid in the neighborhood. And if your town had an arcade (or at least a pizza joint or grocery store vestibule with a Pac-Man and/or pinball machine), that’s where you spent a lot of your free time—and quarters.
The classic arcade has made a comeback in recent years. Some are monuments to arcade history, with classic games like Ms. Pac-Man and Mario Bros., and throwback pinball machines starring everyone from Dolly Parton to Charlie’s Angels. Other arcades fill their spaces with more modern games and offer full bars for adults, while also providing space to host parties for kids and adults alike.
The Philadelphia area gets the high score with the amount of arcades concentrated in one area, and our food and travel writer Kalena Thomhave is highlighting some of the most popular ones.