Just a few years ago, the video arcade seemed ready to go the way of Atari's 1983 adaptation of “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” (generally considered the worst video game ever made) in an uncharted landfill somewhere.

Today, however, the arcade seems to be making a comeback. But these are more than just video arcades and pinball parlors. Today's versions need something extra — a bar, a cafe, a game shop, even a museum.

“The arcade games themselves aren't enough to carry a business,” says Joe Dukovich, 32, of Beaver, owner of the new Victory Pointe on the South Side. “What you see is combining arcade games with something else. Generally, food or alcohol — people like a way to socialize while playing games. Dave & Busters created an entire chain out of that.”

The Kickback Pinball Cafe in Lawrenceville, for example, is a coffee and sandwich shop, with pinball games (wipe your hands first, though).

Sometimes, they're off the beaten path, where rents are reasonable for something that requires a lot of space.

Near Victory Pointe on the South Side are the Bradish Street Pinball Parlour and Games N' At, which has everything from arcade games to Skee Ball to duckpin bowling.

Because many gamers are of drinking age, the combination of beer and games is a popular one. From Barcade in Brooklyn to 16-Bit Bar+Arcade in Columbus, Ohio, players can quaff a craft beer and play games like “Frogger,” “Donkey Kong,” “Dig Dug” and “Ms. Pac-Man.”

McDain's in Monroeville, reopening after a long hiatus, is trying this approach, with Broadway Bar and Arcade attached to the main bar and restaurant.

“A member of my staff had seen such facilities in different cities,” says McDain's and Broadway owner Mike Vuick, 68, of Swissvale. “They have been successful for, well, it's been going on for 10 years.

“We reopened, and our demographic was older than what we have now. They were stunned by the machines.”

There was one major problem, though. “The incompatibility of prime rib and arcade games,” Vuick says. “We reduced the menu and made it simple.”

At Victory Pointe, manager Allegra Fisher, 24, of Penn Hills is working on setting up a kitchen with game-themed dishes like Hoards of Gold (lentil and quinoa salad with grilled chicken) and Farmer Maggot's Mushroom Fries. They hope to have it ready by Victory Pointe's grand-opening party in late September.

“I'd say that most of our clientele is in their 20s and 30s and grew up when arcades were still popular. Some come with children who've never seen something like this,” Fisher says.

“These games never went away,” says Chris Akin, 46, vice president of the Pennsylvania Coin Operated Gaming Hall of Fame and Museum in Hopewell, Beaver County. That place has hundreds of games (and thousands more in storage).

“Most of them are as big as refrigerators. A lot of times, people didn't throw them away — they put them in their garages,” he says. “Now that pop culture is doing its cyclical swing, it's coming back into being cool again.”

Sure, many classic pinball and video games can be downloaded at little cost. But it's not quite the same.

“It's certainly fun to play ‘Space Invaders' or ‘Asteroids' on your iPad,” Akin says. “But ... there's something about standing in the arcade, playing with friends, talking smack about getting killed by the flying saucer. It doesn't translate to the more modern games today.”

“The physical, social aspect of it virtually disappeared since the late '90s,” Dukovich says. “I really missed that. Having human competition, people next to me rather than people I only know from the Internet.”

But if you want to open an arcade in this day and age, it's going to be a labor of love — emphasis on the labor.

At Victory Pointe, “the arcade games are on the first floor — some are very heavy,” Fisher says. “It's always a bit of a comedy show when we get a new game. It's like playing Tetris.”

Victory Pointe's games range from vintage 50-year-old pinball machines to a gigantic “Alien Armageddon” first-person shooter with life-size assault rifles, and “Batman Arcade,” in which you drive the Batmobile after the Joker and his henchmen. Upstairs is a room dedicated to board games and sci-fi war gaming, which is typically played with elaborately painted miniatures. “Magic: The Gathering,” played with specialized cards, is another major driver of traffic to Victory Pointe.

Nostalgia is clearly a factor.

“People who grew up in the late '70s and early '80s, we're watching kids play these new games; that kind pushed us out of the loop. We want to play these old games again. That's why I think there's been a retro (gaming) resurgence. Well, it's not so much the game-play itself, especially, that people our age are looking for — it's recapturing a piece of our youth that you can't do downloading.”

OK, so it's not really “the kids” who are driving the arcade's resurgence. But they do seem interested in the social aspects of gaming and even what must appear to be hopelessly primitive technology. Yet, novelty — the lure of games yet unplayed — is always a draw.

For example, one specialty at Victory Pointe is Japanese arcade games. A large percentage of games are designed in Japan, and there are thousands made entirely for that market.

Dukovich says “Ninja Baseball Bat Man” is a favorite. “It's a bit of a cult classic — a Japanese response to ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.' It's one of the most surreal games ever made,” he says. “It was released in the U.S., but only 40 or so copies. It's extremely unusual.”

There's also a growing competitive gaming circuit, as witnessed by the World Pinball Championships, held annually at a warehouse in Scott.

“Competition only counts if it's face to face,” Dukovich says. “On the Internet, you can blame the connection, among other things. You have a lot of excuses. People who are competitors in ‘Mortal Kombat,' they'll come here to play, where they're on equal footing.”

Michael Machosky is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at mmachosky@tribweb.com or 412-320-7901.

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