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Friday, June 9, 2017

The Mondern Arcade PLAYlive Nation

On a trip to the Northridge mall, that consisted of a friend flirting with a Macy's employee and some Orange Julius, I found the modern arcade and it needs some decent air conditioning. Dark, humid and only allowing the Xbox One to be played, there it was, PLAYlive Nation. The "greatly" named store had me at first thinking it was a hooka or vape lounge, but as I went inside I found myself in a darkly lit, reclining chair paradise, if you want to only play Xbox or card games.

Yeah, the only have Xbox One, I guess to simplify it for themselves. All of them are hooked up at the counter, hidden wires go out to HD TV screens with luxury recliners. So you pay upfront, choose your game and maybe buy snacks from their wide selection of all the different mountain dews and a bag of doritos.

When it comes to gaming you can pay $9.99 an hour. $18-per day for unlimited play Mon-Thurs and then they have monthly payments and a year plan.

They do tournaments as well, from FIFA to Fight Clubs, which can be any fighter out there to whatever has just come out.

Tables in the middle allow a space for Magic, Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh with enough space that the two types of gamers don't bother each other.

The same goes for spacing of game units to TV's. You'll be near someone, but they won't be in your way.

You can, of course, get seating near the entrance made for co-op and fighting games. So you and a friend can battle it out.

This might be a great place just to test out a game you might want to get instead of paying full price or at least getting a taste of a game you've wanted to try.

As I said in the beginning, it didn't feel like the air conditioner was on in there and with a full house it could be sweltering.

The other obvious problem is only having the Xbox in, no PS4 or no Switch makes for a little less reason to go as Xbox is missing some games and some series.

If you want to have the same experience you get when you go to the movies with the reclining seats, this is it.

PLAYlive Nation Northridge
9301 Tampa Ave
Northridge CA 91324
Hours of Operation