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Newly opened arcade in Alliston provides a blast from the past

October 28, 2022   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

It’s an exciting, neon-splashed room filled with some really fun games, including a few you probably haven’t seen for a while.

Playcade in downtown Alliston provides arcade entertainment with a modern format as well as some old-school additions.

Arcades were big in the 80s and 90s, but as home video games became more advanced, many people stayed home to play on their computers.

Playcade is looking to bring back playing at the arcade with bigger and flashier games you can’t play on a home computer.

The arcade officially opened on Oct. 8.

Owner, Quintan Anthoni, said that after moving to the Mansfield area, he noticed there was not much for kids to do locally.

“I’m a family man myself, I have three boys,” Quintan explained. “When we moved there, I noticed the town doesn’t have anything for the kids to do. We have some retro games and some new games. We’ve got Daytona, Pump it Up, which the girls really like. We’ve got Halo, Super Bike. We have basketball and skeeball, and bowling which is really popular. We have around 45 games in here.”

The games are token based. You can buy tokens at the counter or from a machine. Each game requires a certain number of tokens to play.

There’s a photo booth, air hockey, and table soccer. The room is lit up in neon colours from the games, which provides an exciting atmosphere.

The arcade even has a couple of pinball machines for those that like a throwback to the 50s, but these machines are modern and brand new.

You can get a motorcycle and ride around a race course, or practice your dance moves on the Pump it Up game.

Some games will provide tickets, and you can turn in your tickets at the front counter for a prize.

“In my school days, I used to spend a lot of time in arcades and really enjoyed it,” Quintan explained.

He said he enjoyed the experience and thought others in Alliston would enjoy it as well.

The response has been very good with many people dropping in to play the arcade’s various games.

Playcade is seeing quite a few parents and grandparents bringing younger children in for an afternoon of fun, according to Quintan. 

Playcade is located at 44 Victoria Street, Alliston.

Quintan is also a local business owner and runs A&G Concepts Stone Surfaces in Alliston.

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