Dave and Busters off of NYSE?

[Cassidy Nolen]

I usually check the stocks daily and I have not seen this one for a while. I don't have any shares but wondering if anyone knows why its not in the Washington Post...

 

Yet another place I like down the tubes...

 

 

Cassidy

[Albert]

Eek, there's one here in Austin that probably opened about five years ago. I went there periodically when it first opened, but the restaurant isn't really that good and the games are WAY too expensive. They did donate a TON of $5 gift cards for our Austin show in 2003 (I think 1,000 of them?), which was nice. But given how expensive they are, I would not be surprised if they are going down the tubes. Seems they grew pretty quickly, but haven't done much to keep drawing people in.

 

Interestingly, another place similar to Dave & Busters, but much larger, opened herei n Austin recently. It's called "Main Event Entertainment". Looks like there are five of them in Texas:

 

http://www.maineventusa.net/newsite/broadb...stin/index.html

 

I saw the building one day (on 183 here in Austin) and had no idea what it was--looks like a movie theater from the outside, but no marquee with the movie names so that was a bit odd. Curiosity finally got the best of me and I eventually looked it up online. I even stopped in one day.. They have a few things D&B does not, like a bowling alley, a big rock climbing room, and laser tag. It was pretty busy when I stopped in during the day.

 

..Al

[NovaXpress]

Here's the answer. They were bought out last month

D&B Approves Buyout

[Flojomojo]

All the gory details are laid out at their site if you're into that sort of thing.

 

I was really excited the first time I saw Dave and Buster's many years ago, but have since been indifferent about the place. The games are the same Dreamcast-ready arcade machines that were there when they opened, the food is average, and the cost for game cards is prohibitively high.

 

Alas, no one could make money off an arcade designed to amuse me ... cheaply. I guess that's why there's MAME.

[ninjarabbit]

I concur with the others, D&B has crappy food for what it costs and the games are overpriced but then again it was built to cater more towards the Madden crowd than the gamer geek crowd.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

We don't have a Dave & Buster's in the Ok area that I know of. But I did check out the one here in Denver about 3 weeks ago. The food was okay, but bland is the best I can describe it. Just didn't seem to be anything special at all. The games were all dreamcast arcade conversions which I found to be very disappointing.

 

However we have pizza place here that runs a buffet style all you can eat for a decent price. And they also have games. They tend to have newer racing games from Sega, but also have a few DDR machines setup and other games. Most of it tailors to children but still a fun place to go. It also operates the games based on credit card buy credits on type system.

 

However, being as religious oriented as they tend to be (They put up bible versus on their marquee), they haven't been very receptive to sponsoring the OVGE at all...which is a real shame.

[NovaXpress]

D&B pretty much sucks. I was very hyped about their arrival in Omaha and enjoyed my first visit, but I quickly saw through the gimmick. Maybe it's the 74 cents which it costs to play Space Invaders and over $2 for anything with a seat. Their overpriced food sucks worse than Hooters. The one and only point of interest is that its an arcade you can drink and smoke in. That thrill wears off quickly.

[Lord Helmet]

However we have pizza place here that runs a buffet style all you can eat for a decent price. And they also have games. They tend to have newer racing games from Sega, but also have a few DDR machines setup and other games. Most of it tailors to children but still a fun place to go. It also operates the games based on credit card buy credits on type system.

 

Are you referring to Incredible Pizza?

http://www.incrediblepizza.com/

 

We ave one in OKC. It has buffet style pizza plus video games (mostly racing, but they have a couple of classics) go karts, bowling...etc. The price is pretty reasonable. The company buys the old Wal-Marts that have been abondoned by Wal-Mart in favor of the newer Super Centers. the one here doesn't put anything "bible" on their marquee though.

Edited March 21, 2006 by Lord Helmet

[JagFan422]

The D&B in Pittsburgh is great. The food is comparable to TGI Fridays or Chilis and the games i don't feel are expensive at all. I bought a $25 power card and it lasted me about 2 hours.

[NovaXpress]

The D&B in Pittsburgh is great. The food is comparable to TGI Fridays or Chilis and the games i don't feel are expensive at all. I bought a $25 power card and it lasted me about 2 hours.

Did you do the math on it? I figured out that 1.7 credits equals about 74 cents. So 1 game of Space Invaders or Galaga is 74 cents, three times what it should be. Sit-downs like Star Wars are $2.25 instead of 75 cents-1 dollar. This is a rip-off.

 

The reason that D&B uses a card is so that unwise consumers won't figure this out. And why set up weird charges like 2.3 or 9.7 credits unless you're trying to fool people? You're paying two to four times regular price for the magical experience of playing in an arcade with a beer-soaked carpet. Screw them.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Lord Helmet,

 

Yeap...I was talking about the Incredible Pizza Co. The pizza is above average for this type of place...and the one in Tulsa also has bowling, min-golf, bumper cars, go-karts, and just added the paint ball arena. The one here was built into what used to be a BigK. But that store only lasted about 2 years before going under along will almost all the other K-marts except for like one or two.

 

Anyway, the one here frequently has some passage from the bible displaying on the Marquee. Not that it really bothers me, but it seems kinda stupid to do if the place is really trying to tailor to all families...

 

Afterall, Tulsa ain't that damn small?!

[Flojomojo]

Incredible Pizza sounds interesting. The pics look just like http://www.cicispizza.com/ which is all the crap pizza you can eat for 4 bucks, plus they have a Hydro Thunder in the back!

 

Dave and Buster's came out of the last days of the "high-end" arcade, where everything had to be a networked simulator with hydraulics at four bucks a play. With Namco and Sega focusing almost exclusively on home games, this model is pretty archaic -- is anyone really playing those Initial D games? Or Outrun 2 when we can have it at home? Give us cheapo "Namco Class of 1982" machines in airports and pizzerias and stop worrying about making money!

Edited March 21, 2006 by Flojomojo

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Incredible Pizza is a bit different in that they have "themed" dining rooms like one that shows old 50s movies featuring Elvis and the like. And one they call the Living room that is supposed to be styled off a 50s living room family setting. And then the 50's diner...etc. So it is kinda odd to walk down to the arcade area and suddenly see 4 daytona networked machines, or the VR like machines they have. The games are actually not too bad at the Incredible Pizza. I think most of them are about .50 cents to play with a few of the higher end ones being about a $1.00 a play. Again they give out barcode cards that you buy credits on and then swipe on the machines to play the games.

 

The pizza itself is actually pretty good. I like it at least and usually stock up about 3 times to the buffet. CiCis we have also...but the pizza just sucks. However, they are both better than Chucky Cheese...course anything is better than that ehh?

[Atari-Jess]

I went to the D&B in Toronto, I spent >200 at their arcade (company money, not mine)

 

I had a blast.

 

I enjoyed the buffet too, the food was really good, especially for a buffet.

 

(Although I regret having to walk home 20km because there weren't any clocks in the building warning me it was close to midnight....)

[ninjarabbit]

I had Cici's pizza for dinner today. The pizza was crappy but for all you can eat for $4 it was almost worth it. They had an arcade with a few racing games and NFL Blitz but it was overpriced, the air hockey table cost a $1`to play. Plus there were too many annoying cheerleader-type of teenage girls working there and it got on my nerves.

Edited March 21, 2006 by ninjarabbit

[NovaXpress]

Plus there were too many annoying cheerleader-type of teenage girls working there

Where is this place again?

[Bruce Tomlin]

Did you do the math on it? I figured out that 1.7 credits equals about 74 cents. So 1 game of Space Invaders or Galaga is 74 cents, three times what it should be. Sit-downs like Star Wars are $2.25 instead of 75 cents-1 dollar. This is a rip-off.

 

The reason that D&B uses a card is so that unwise consumers won't figure this out. And why set up weird charges like 2.3 or 9.7 credits unless you're trying to fool people? You're paying two to four times regular price for the magical experience of playing in an arcade with a beer-soaked carpet. Screw them.

Well, it does give them the ability to give you a discount after you've pushed enough credits through one card. The problem is that if you do something that includes a free $5 card (like a lunch special), it has to be a fresh card, so you can't accumulate the points on your old card.

 

I had Cici's pizza for dinner today. The pizza was crappy but for all you can eat for $4 it was almost worth it. They had an arcade with a few racing games and NFL Blitz but it was overpriced, the air hockey table cost a $1 to play. Plus there were too many annoying cheerleader-type of teenage girls working there and it got on my nerves.

The pizza was definitely worse back when it was $3 for the buffet. Now it's just mediocre. I love that "Olé" pizza, though. Also, most Cici's locations outside of Dallas are pretty boring inside. (There's one in Austin with a Dallas layout now, though.)

 

And it seems like they always have a Simpson's arcade machine of some sort in back at every Cici's. Not that I find anything back there worth playing.

[Atari-Jess]

Plus there were too many annoying cheerleader-type of teenage girls working there and it got on my nerves.

 

They weren't there for you to date, so get over yourself.

[SteveW]

There's a Cici's Pizza down the street from where I work, and it's pizza is fairly good. Not great, but good. But the one thing that stands out about the place are their buttery cinnamon rolls. They're incredible. I usually go there mainly so I can top off my meal with some. And even though they only have four or five arcade games, in the past they've had fairly good ones. I haven't gone there in a while, mainly because I never seem to be able to get away from work for too long. And whenever I get there, they are always out of pepperoni pizza on the buffet table.

[Flojomojo]

The reason that D&B uses a card is so that unwise consumers won't figure this out. And why set up weird charges like 2.3 or 9.7 credits unless you're trying to fool people?

The other reason they do this is so they can vary the exchange rate. Games are cheaper in the off-peak hours. Go there on a Tuesday afternoon and you'll spend a lot less money than on a Friday or Saturday night.

 

It's an interesting business concept, but a shitty arcade.