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Friday, December 23, 2011

Nightlife / Nerd / Last Night / #1 Fan Add-a-Ball!!!

Posted by Mike Nipper on Fri, Dec 23, 2011 at 1:01 PM

Okay, so I just moved to Fremont, up the hill and EAST of 99, natch, and last night was the first time I had a chance to go out and exactly what the fuck did I find? ADD-A-BALL!! An ARCADE?! In godamn FREMONT?! Yup, AND...by the way, they serves the beer, so 21 and over, kids. In fact, Add-a Ball ain't nothing but an arcade, it's NOT a club with an arcade, it is solely an arcade. Right, so, holy shit I had fun, even tho' I royally SUCK balls when it comes to video games. Um, as I'm a record nerd I dunno exactly the huge awesomeness of the games they evidently have, but the "World Cup Soccer" game was some serious kick ass. The jams were sweet too, they had their RADIO dial set to 104.5, so both Spirit AND the Sonics buzzed my ears. The atmosphere is "perfect hang out." It's the basement you wish you could'a had when you were 14, if you were 14 in 1983, AND with a beer option, so, a TOP CLASS HANG OUT all 'round.

As for any other details...um, well, I was quite wasted when I showed up so I have no idea their hours or shit like that, but I can tell you where AaB is located...it's BEHIND, and under, Piece of Mind (315 N. 36th St.) in Fremont. Just head down the hill, parking lot/taco truck side, towards the alley look to your right and you'll see a real bright blue and red sign that says "Arcade". Okay?! Dig?! Now go, hang, and be stoked.

Comments (9) RSS

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Alright, I'm totally stoked

Posted by Dahby Do

on December 23, 2011 at 2:17 PM

Link to facebook? Fuck that, link to their real website.

Posted by Westlake, son! on December 23, 2011 at 2:42 PM

Their site is pretty rad.

Posted by Grant Brissey

on December 23, 2011 at 3:12 PM

If you mention their website they will give you 2 free balloons! And they are having a tournament on Xmas. This place sounds so awesome!

Posted by JonnyH on December 23, 2011 at 4:49 PM

I went by that place not long after they opened and they had this really cool kitty who likes to sit on top of the pinball glass while you're playing and try to bat at the balls through the glass. I hope that kitty is still around - he was quite charming.

Posted by Glaucon on December 23, 2011 at 4:54 PM

The owner is a nice guy from Texas. They have Shiner Bock and a hacked Mario Brothers machine. It's pretty righteous.

Cash only, so bring greenbacks.

Posted by kitschnsync on December 23, 2011 at 6:43 PM

the 12 dreams of Dr. Mario

Posted by Chewy123 on December 23, 2011 at 8:01 PM

Don't encourage this. The guy is a genius scooter repair dude. And Shiner Bock is nothing more than an inside joke.

Posted by biffp on December 23, 2011 at 9:52 PM

Hours are typically 11-11. The hacked Mario game is called Super Skate Bros. The cool kitty is named Pepe and has been there since I started hanging out there in 2009 the first time they were a pinball arcade. She brings her own pinball challenge modes with her! Sprawl Mode: She sprawls out on the playfield glass and you get to work around that. Swat Mode: If your hands are too active they will get swatted! But most of the time she's content to hang out on top of a backbox. I imagine a backbox is nice and warm and high up to a kitty.
Brad isn't just a genius scooter repair dude, he's a genius pinball repair dude too! Especially on the pre-1980s games! He services all those games himself!
A number of the serious pinheads in Seattle go there now as Brad has been a Seattle Pinball Tribe member in good standing for years. Shorty's is all right but things aren't the same there now as they used to be last year.

Posted by LaughingOtter on December 25, 2011 at 9:58 AM