Background[]
Construction for the Joysticks Arcade Lounge and Retro Bar began in 2015, resulting with it opening in February, 2017. Located on the second floor at 69 East Pine in Orlando, Florida, the Lounge is owned by Addie Hassel (who doubles as the bar manager) with Jeffrey Stelter serving as a design consultant/”head of games”. Its usual hours are from 7 p. m. to 2 a. m. Tuesday through Saturday and from 4 p. m. until midnight Sunday for people aged 21 and over.
Joysticks also has several video and miscellaneous games.
Lounge/bar[]
Upon ascending the stairs to Joysticks when entering from the first floor, the walls have a montage filled with various retro entertainment enterprises, such as images from the Ghostbusters movie/tv series, G. I. Joe, Star Trek, Smurfs, etc. Similar decor is found in the lounge itself, such as MTV references on the stage, a replica of a Little Shop of Horrors plant in a lounge area, etc. Full-themed areas can be rented out for special events, such as The Goonies (the Never Say Die Lounge) and the Star Wars areas (Lightsaber Lounge), both of which have photos and recreations of various items from said movies. There are also the similar-themed Haunted Mansion, Barbie and Jaws areas as well.
Music (mostly from the 1980s) is played over a P. A. system unless a live band is performing.
The Lounge also hosts a singles night every Tuesday (The Dating Game), karaoke every Wednesday night, the occasional live band will play, along with some seasonal events such as Halloween parties are also held.
Game themes/decor[]
Video game- (and entertainment-themed) drinks are available at the bar, such as The Frogger. There are many game-related neon signs that adorn the Lounge, such as Flynn's arcade (from the Tron movies) and Atari, along with decorations and reproduced video games and/or characters among the walls and atop of games themselves, such as the first level of Donkey Kong being reproduced as a wall moziac, a Q*Bert figure, etc.
There is also a handheld games display and an updated high score board for video games in the Lounge.
Known games, video[]
The games are set on free play for the most part, although there may be a cover charge for certain events/bands.
- After Burner
- Asteroids
- Battle Shark
- Battlezone
- Burger Time
- Centipede
- Donkey Kong
- Donkey Kong Jr.
- Elevator Action
- Galaga
- Mario Brothers
- Moon Patrol
- Mortal Kombat
- Ms. Pac-Man
- NBA Jam (four player model)
- Pac-Man
- Rampage
- Space Invaders
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (four player model)
- Tron
- X-Men
(others)[]
- Atari 2600 with games
- Dynamo (air hockey table)
- Fire Storm (air hockey)
- NES/games
- Star Wars (Data East pinball)
Links[]
- Official website/Facebook account
- Official promo video (no sound)
- Several brief videos of the Lounge can be seen on Stephen Krogman's YouTube channel, along with a review from GamerThumbTV
This arcade was featured in November, 2017.