Potentially good news...Dave & Buster's in Indy
Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 11:33 am
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a ... S/81014025
Our GameWorks Studio was the first DDR community hot spot back in the day. I can remember spending hours there every week--often more than once--back in 2001. Of course early on it was quite simply the only choice for DDR in the area.
Later that year the torch passed to Block Party under the direction of the fantastic managers Ken and Troy who really went out of their way to welcome DDRers. They offered an environment much like a full-fledged GameWorks (not a Studio) with more entertainment options while waiting to play (or things for those less interested in DDR that tagged along with us) and food...yes, glorious food! They had great food at really reasonable prices. It was probably the most complete hangout location we've had here as a DDR community. Unfortunately, shady ownership eventually led to its closure.
Jillian's is a similar style of venue. It had so much potential when it opened. Restaurant, games, billiards, and even bowling in a club-like atmosphere. Their food is also quite good though more expensive. Unfortunately, they've never had any type of dance or music game at our location since they've opened. Even more frustrating, as of my last visit earlier this year, I would say the majority of the games in the game room are the same ones that were there when they opened almost 10 years ago. I generally like the place and would love to have a reason to go there...but they have failed to give me one.
Dave & Busters, for those of you not familiar with it, is yet another entertainment venue in this same vein. Every location I've been to (I think three of the them) has included a Pump It Up machine and that's certainly fine by me. None of them have had DDR or any other kind of music game, but I don't know if other locations do. The Castleton location is both good and bad in my view. It's certainly a retail hotspot with lots of other major businesses around, but it can also be a traffic nightmare and the location mentioned in the article is right in the thick of it.
I would love to see this place spur a resurgence of our flagging live community. So much has changed since the days when Indy regularly gathered around a DDR machine in a location such as this. Even the likes of Superfun, Rascals, and Westside now seem like distant memories. I imagine any community that may form around D&B will look quite a bit different. I just hope that it will be good.
Our GameWorks Studio was the first DDR community hot spot back in the day. I can remember spending hours there every week--often more than once--back in 2001. Of course early on it was quite simply the only choice for DDR in the area.
Later that year the torch passed to Block Party under the direction of the fantastic managers Ken and Troy who really went out of their way to welcome DDRers. They offered an environment much like a full-fledged GameWorks (not a Studio) with more entertainment options while waiting to play (or things for those less interested in DDR that tagged along with us) and food...yes, glorious food! They had great food at really reasonable prices. It was probably the most complete hangout location we've had here as a DDR community. Unfortunately, shady ownership eventually led to its closure.
Jillian's is a similar style of venue. It had so much potential when it opened. Restaurant, games, billiards, and even bowling in a club-like atmosphere. Their food is also quite good though more expensive. Unfortunately, they've never had any type of dance or music game at our location since they've opened. Even more frustrating, as of my last visit earlier this year, I would say the majority of the games in the game room are the same ones that were there when they opened almost 10 years ago. I generally like the place and would love to have a reason to go there...but they have failed to give me one.
Dave & Busters, for those of you not familiar with it, is yet another entertainment venue in this same vein. Every location I've been to (I think three of the them) has included a Pump It Up machine and that's certainly fine by me. None of them have had DDR or any other kind of music game, but I don't know if other locations do. The Castleton location is both good and bad in my view. It's certainly a retail hotspot with lots of other major businesses around, but it can also be a traffic nightmare and the location mentioned in the article is right in the thick of it.
I would love to see this place spur a resurgence of our flagging live community. So much has changed since the days when Indy regularly gathered around a DDR machine in a location such as this. Even the likes of Superfun, Rascals, and Westside now seem like distant memories. I imagine any community that may form around D&B will look quite a bit different. I just hope that it will be good.