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#40 Free Play Bar Arcade - The Classic Pinball Podcast

PodcastAnalysis updated 2d ago1 hr 18 min listenBy George
From the creator

In this podcast George and Dave interview the owner of Free Play Bar Arcade. We talk about his current location in Providence, Rhode Island and his soon to open location in Worcester, MA. This...

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Highlights

  • Freeplay Providence opened August 11, 2017, over three years ago from the time of this recording
  • The first Arcade Revival pop-up event drew approximately 400 people over a three-day weekend
  • Freeplay Providence has 20 pinball machines; Worcester location has 17-18
  • Providence location has 150 total games available
  • Pinball maintenance is the single most expensive maintenance category at Freeplay
  • The first pinball machine Jay Leone purchased was a Valley 'Whodunit'
  • Second Arcade Revival event brought approximately 90 games and double the attendance of the first
  • Pricing is $5 weekday admission and $10 weekend admission for unlimited play
  • Freeplay is 21+ only due to the bar component
  • Family days were introduced about 6 months after opening Providence and became biweekly events

Notable quotes

“One game turned into two, turned into ten, turned into hundreds. I have no idea how that goes. Nobody does.”
Jay Leone
“I want the game to work, I want it to work well, and I want other people to enjoy it just the way I would want to enjoy it is the number one principle”
Jay Leone
“If you build it, they will come. They will come.”
Dave (co-host)
“I remember the Saturday night during the second arcade revival, I looked around, and every game in the entire place was being played.”
Jay Leone
“To have a collection of 20 pins that are just getting hammered, you know, because there's no charge, you don't have to put a dollar in or whatever it may be... they probably get more abuse in a free play environment like this than in just a regular standalone pay-as-you-go arcade.”
Jay Leone
“These pinballs are commanding that kind of cash now? That's crazy.”
George (co-host)
“I didn't really grow up playing pinball too much growing up, but I played mostly video games.”
Jay Leone
“We would actually do, you know, our normal hours are we open at 5 p.m., so we would do an 11 to 4 [family day]. And that would give us an hour to kind of like get folks, you know, out and clean.”
Jay Leone

Entities

  • Arcade Revival· event
  • Adams Family (pinball)· game
  • Attack from Mars (pinball)· game
  • Creature from the Black Lagoon (pinball)· game
  • Donkey Kong· game
  • Dr. Dude (pinball)· game
  • Mortal Kombat· game
  • Pirates of the Caribbean (pinball)· game
  • R-Type· game
  • Street Fighter 2· game
  • Terminator 2 (pinball)· game
  • Theater of Magic (pinball)· game
  • Whodunit (Valley pinball)· game
  • The Classic Pinball Podcast· organization
  • Dave· person
  • George· person
  • Jay Leone· person
  • Freeplay Arcade - Providence· venue
  • Freeplay Arcade - Worcester· venue
  • Fun and Games Arcade· venue
  • Rewind· venue

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