Post #1 · Posted at 2024-08-18 09:57:46am 12.1 months ago
 LABcrab | |
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Member |
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| Reg. 2015-05-26 | |
I have noticed that Round1 USA, Dave & Buster's and some other American arcade chains have had their naming style revisited and updated on Zenius earlier this year. Meanwhile, Canada has hundreds of arcades and over 100 dance machines, yet at times, the naming style is inconsistent. Therefore, I suggest we adopt similar changes. My suggestions are below, but I am open to other advice.
Cineplex owned-and-operated arcades
• Xscape has 81 Canadian locations. This includes 49 premium arcades, with a prize counter, and 32 enhanced arcades, without a prize counter. 10 to 15 years ago, Xscape used to be marketed as a gamer brand with dance games, Guitar Hero, racing games and more. Nowadays, almost every location features ticket-based games. Few locations offer dance games or a good choice of traditional games. As much as the game selection can be disappointing, and sometimes of poor quality, I still suggest listing all 81 Xscape arcades.
In general, I suggest to list these as: Xscape (Full Cineplex Location Name). Examples: Xscape (Cineplex Cinemas Scarborough), Xscape (Cinéma Starcité Montréal) and more. I don't suggest using Xscape's full name. It is called Centre de divertissement Xscape in French, so if we just say Xscape, then it's the first word. Also, only the X should be capitalized. Using "XSCAPE" is pointless.
Only two exceptions: SilverCity Newmarket Cinemas and Xscape Entertainment Centre and SilverCity CrossIron Mills Cinemas and Xscape Entertainment Centre. These have Xscape Entertainment Centre in their names, so only these two should be listed as such.
(There is also a Mall of America location, known as Xscape Entertainment Center. I'm unsure if MoA should be changed on Zenius.)
• Cineplex Junxion has two locations. These are Xscape locations, and should be treated as such.
• Cinescape and Cinévasion are in use at some of the 156 Cineplex-owned theatres, namely some (but not all) 75 non-Xscape theatres. I suggest Cinescape (Full Cineplex Location Name) for these, although in Québec, the name is Cinévasion instead.
• The Rec Room has 10 locations. I suggest The Rec Room (Official Venue Name) for these.
• Playdium has 3 locations. This is a kids/teens version of The Rec Room. I suggest Playdium (Official Venue Name) for these.
Independent arcades with P1AG agreements
At these locations, some or all games are provided by Player One Amusement Group (P1AG), a company sold off by Cineplex on Feb. 1, 2024, though Cineplex still has agreements with P1AG. These arcades may or may not have a revenue share with P1AG, the prizes may or may not be provided by P1AG, and so forth. At most venues, a game card is location-specific. This is not an exhaustive list.
If an arcade has multiple locations, then generally, Arcade Name Chain (Official Venue Name) is the preferred naming style.
• Arkad Amusement has one location at Sainte-Catherine Ouest. The second location, Sainte-Catherine Est, is closed.
• Canada's Wonderland has 3 arcades, one which is coming soon, accoding to M. Meister on YT. Should these three arcades have one combined listing, or three separate ones? In any event, I'm not aware of any good dance machines remaining.
• GameTime has 2 Canadian locations: GameTime Eatery & Entertainment (Mississauga) and GameTime Social (Burlington).
• Great Wolf Lodge has 2 locations: Niagara Falls and Cornwall, with the latter under construction. (I believe Niagara uses P1AG.)
• La Ronde has 2 arcades at its park: Arcade Ultime, the large arcade, and l'Antre du Démon, a small arcade near the Démon ride. The latter two links are my videos from 2018. Sadly, DDR Extreme and most of the good games shown have since been removed. According to okaeri on Zenius, Pump It Up 2023 Phoenix is now available, and a new gaming company is providing games. While both arcades currently have one Zenius listing, should this remain the case, or should Ultime and Démon receive separate listings?
• Merivale Bowling has an arcade in Ottawa.
• Putting Edge has 8 locations in Canada, and 3 in the United States.
• Splitsville has 14 locations, of which 2 are coming soon.
• West Edmonton Mall has 1 or 2 arcades with P1AG, but operating separately from Xscape.
Other arcades
These do not have an agreement with P1AG, to my knowledge.
Again, if an arcade has multiple locations, Arcade Name Chain (Official Venue Name) is the preferred naming style.
• Cinémas Guzzo has 10 locations in the Greater Montréal Area. I only visited one arcade.
• Dave & Buster's has 2 locations. I would only suggest that Dave & Buster's (Oakville Entertainment Centrum) be renamed to Dave & Buster's (Oakville) as is the most commonly used name, and it is Vaughan's naming style. Vaughan formerly had a Centrum, too.
• eSpot has 2 locations: the main eSpot location, and the Tsawwassen Mills Arcade with two rooms.
• Greta has 4 locations. I believe that Greta owns its games, new and old. The prizes at Greta Toronto are Greta prizes.
Notes
I would prefer to see the base price of a game listed somewhere on the Games page. One arcade may charge 12 credits, but another 250 credits, for the same or similar game. Yet, in Canadian dollars, the "250 credits" arcade may cost less! For this reason, I suggest that for the first entry of a specific credit price, list the base dollar price. (This is by buying the lowest-priced card.) For example:
12 credits; base price is:
$3.10 for 2 songs
250 credits; base price is:
$2.50 for 3 songs
When Cinescape was the main arcade chain in Canada, it was easier to compare prices. Most games took three tokens, normally sold for a dollar, so just writing CA$1.00 was enough. (One token is CA$0.34, two cost CA$0.67, etc.) These days, different chains have different pricing, so for a better cost comparison, a base price summary would help.
Arcades that have no dance or music games would benefit from being marked as such. I did try a Bell with Slash emoji 🔕 on a few arcade names, but I don't know if all arcades should have this. I'd prefer to see Zenius implement this, or a similar feature.
That's all for now. I did my best to keep this post as accurate as possible, but if I need to make any corrections, please let me know! I'd like to see the arcade scene in Canada improve this decade and beyond.
Cineplex owned-and-operated arcades
• Xscape has 81 Canadian locations. This includes 49 premium arcades, with a prize counter, and 32 enhanced arcades, without a prize counter. 10 to 15 years ago, Xscape used to be marketed as a gamer brand with dance games, Guitar Hero, racing games and more. Nowadays, almost every location features ticket-based games. Few locations offer dance games or a good choice of traditional games. As much as the game selection can be disappointing, and sometimes of poor quality, I still suggest listing all 81 Xscape arcades.
In general, I suggest to list these as: Xscape (Full Cineplex Location Name). Examples: Xscape (Cineplex Cinemas Scarborough), Xscape (Cinéma Starcité Montréal) and more. I don't suggest using Xscape's full name. It is called Centre de divertissement Xscape in French, so if we just say Xscape, then it's the first word. Also, only the X should be capitalized. Using "XSCAPE" is pointless.
Only two exceptions: SilverCity Newmarket Cinemas and Xscape Entertainment Centre and SilverCity CrossIron Mills Cinemas and Xscape Entertainment Centre. These have Xscape Entertainment Centre in their names, so only these two should be listed as such.
(There is also a Mall of America location, known as Xscape Entertainment Center. I'm unsure if MoA should be changed on Zenius.)
• Cineplex Junxion has two locations. These are Xscape locations, and should be treated as such.
• Cinescape and Cinévasion are in use at some of the 156 Cineplex-owned theatres, namely some (but not all) 75 non-Xscape theatres. I suggest Cinescape (Full Cineplex Location Name) for these, although in Québec, the name is Cinévasion instead.
• The Rec Room has 10 locations. I suggest The Rec Room (Official Venue Name) for these.
• Playdium has 3 locations. This is a kids/teens version of The Rec Room. I suggest Playdium (Official Venue Name) for these.
Independent arcades with P1AG agreements
At these locations, some or all games are provided by Player One Amusement Group (P1AG), a company sold off by Cineplex on Feb. 1, 2024, though Cineplex still has agreements with P1AG. These arcades may or may not have a revenue share with P1AG, the prizes may or may not be provided by P1AG, and so forth. At most venues, a game card is location-specific. This is not an exhaustive list.
If an arcade has multiple locations, then generally, Arcade Name Chain (Official Venue Name) is the preferred naming style.
• Arkad Amusement has one location at Sainte-Catherine Ouest. The second location, Sainte-Catherine Est, is closed.
• Canada's Wonderland has 3 arcades, one which is coming soon, accoding to M. Meister on YT. Should these three arcades have one combined listing, or three separate ones? In any event, I'm not aware of any good dance machines remaining.
• GameTime has 2 Canadian locations: GameTime Eatery & Entertainment (Mississauga) and GameTime Social (Burlington).
• Great Wolf Lodge has 2 locations: Niagara Falls and Cornwall, with the latter under construction. (I believe Niagara uses P1AG.)
• La Ronde has 2 arcades at its park: Arcade Ultime, the large arcade, and l'Antre du Démon, a small arcade near the Démon ride. The latter two links are my videos from 2018. Sadly, DDR Extreme and most of the good games shown have since been removed. According to okaeri on Zenius, Pump It Up 2023 Phoenix is now available, and a new gaming company is providing games. While both arcades currently have one Zenius listing, should this remain the case, or should Ultime and Démon receive separate listings?
• Merivale Bowling has an arcade in Ottawa.
• Putting Edge has 8 locations in Canada, and 3 in the United States.
• Splitsville has 14 locations, of which 2 are coming soon.
• West Edmonton Mall has 1 or 2 arcades with P1AG, but operating separately from Xscape.
Other arcades
These do not have an agreement with P1AG, to my knowledge.
Again, if an arcade has multiple locations, Arcade Name Chain (Official Venue Name) is the preferred naming style.
• Cinémas Guzzo has 10 locations in the Greater Montréal Area. I only visited one arcade.
• Dave & Buster's has 2 locations. I would only suggest that Dave & Buster's (Oakville Entertainment Centrum) be renamed to Dave & Buster's (Oakville) as is the most commonly used name, and it is Vaughan's naming style. Vaughan formerly had a Centrum, too.
• eSpot has 2 locations: the main eSpot location, and the Tsawwassen Mills Arcade with two rooms.
• Greta has 4 locations. I believe that Greta owns its games, new and old. The prizes at Greta Toronto are Greta prizes.
Notes
I would prefer to see the base price of a game listed somewhere on the Games page. One arcade may charge 12 credits, but another 250 credits, for the same or similar game. Yet, in Canadian dollars, the "250 credits" arcade may cost less! For this reason, I suggest that for the first entry of a specific credit price, list the base dollar price. (This is by buying the lowest-priced card.) For example:
12 credits; base price is:
$3.10 for 2 songs
250 credits; base price is:
$2.50 for 3 songs
When Cinescape was the main arcade chain in Canada, it was easier to compare prices. Most games took three tokens, normally sold for a dollar, so just writing CA$1.00 was enough. (One token is CA$0.34, two cost CA$0.67, etc.) These days, different chains have different pricing, so for a better cost comparison, a base price summary would help.
Arcades that have no dance or music games would benefit from being marked as such. I did try a Bell with Slash emoji 🔕 on a few arcade names, but I don't know if all arcades should have this. I'd prefer to see Zenius implement this, or a similar feature.
That's all for now. I did my best to keep this post as accurate as possible, but if I need to make any corrections, please let me know! I'd like to see the arcade scene in Canada improve this decade and beyond.