You know how it is with kids. You leave on vacation and next thing you know they’ve turned your failing small business into a nightlife enterprise. Classic 80s teen movie stuff, that. In Arcade Paradise, you’ll help Ashley do just that while her dad Gerald is off in the Riviera, who’s voiced by none other than Doug Cockle of Geralt of Rivia fame. More than just a collection of cabinet classics, Nosebleed Interactive say, Arcade Paradise will have you manage the laundry’s transition from old hole in the wall to booming hotspot.
I admit I wasn’t too drawn by Arcade Paradise’s name at first, but the reveal trailer piqued my interest. I wasn’t an arcade kid myself, but man that oldie telephone ring never fails to catch my ear. That, and the voice message from Ashley’s dad Gerald had me thinking there’s more here than your usual manage ’em up. Apparently that really is Doug Cockle’s voice but man I’d have never guessed so on my own. Gerald’s a far cry from a Witcher, for sure.
The story behind the arcade screen is that Ashley’s working a dead-end job at her dad’s laundry, doing all the garbage chores that one gets stuck with in doing so. As it turns out, Nosebleed CEO Andreas Firnigl explains during the Wired Direct show, there are a couple old arcade machines in the back room that are actually bringing in more cash than the laundromat itself.
With that knowledge in hand, Ashley goes from taking out the trash to raking in the cash. “Stay one step ahead of your father, manage and invest profits, and build your very own Arcade Paradise,” Nosebleed say. Of course they are arcade machines, so you can indeed play some arcade games. Firnigl says there are more than 35 arcade games to play in between your chores.
Firnigl mentions during the livestream that the game has roots in his own memories of spending lunch money in dingey old arcades in the early 90s. Nosebleed are clearly unabashedly chasing those last-century vibes between the jukebox of 90s hits and the dial up computer connection they mention on the game’s Steam page.
Nosebleed Interactive say that Arcade Paradise will launch this year over on Steam. You’ll also be able to find it on PS4 and PS5, Xboxes One/X/S, and the Nintendo Switch.