Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Insert coin. Now dance!

New arcade focuses on rare rhythm games

Gemini Arcade

April Corbin

Steven Beverly (left) plays “In The Groove” at Gemini Arcade.

Details

  • What: Gemini Arcade
  • Where: 3805 E Flamingo Rd, Las Vegas
  • When: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday

Beyond the Sun

"He got a 100 percent!"

As soon as Julie Murphy hears this, she interrupts herself and what she was telling me — which was that she, her husband and son opened Gemini Arcade exactly two weeks ago — and quickly heads in the direction of the In The Groove machine. She is in awe and gushes to me, "You have to see this!"

When we get to the glowing machine in the center of the room, Steven Beverly's friends are taking photos of his accomplishment with their cell phones. He is sweating and panting, his accomplishment of a perfect score on the highest level of this arcade game hard earned. Though Murphy barely knows Beverly, she congratulates him as if she's known him all his life and is mentally scrapbooking this very moment. You can tell she's a mother and a former computer teacher who's used to being around kids.

Beverly is a regular here — as regular as you can be when the place has only been open for two weeks, anyway. The dance-game enthusiast has played at other Vegas arcades and complains management rarely wants kids like him there. Perhaps it's because they're too good at the games and don't feed in enough quarters, or maybe it has to do with the fact that their level of skill is impressive enough to draw a crowd, which means people are watching others instead of playing games themselves. Whatever their beefs are, Murphy's Gemini Arcade doesn't have one.

Here, the owners have encouraged their new customers to get involved by offering feedback. During their first week, a few kids suggested a better arrangement of the machines, so they might cut down on overlapping music. Murphy listened. Kids volunteered to help move the machines. Already, Beverly is starting to organize an In The Groove tournament for New Year's Eve. He says people from other countries are interested in coming out for it. Having three of these machines in one arcade is unheard of, especially because the game machines are no longer in production.

Click to enlarge photo

One of Gemini Arcade's two Taiko No Tatsujin machines.

Having three ITG machines isn't the only rarity in the arcade. Their two Taiko No Tatsujin machines are specially ordered; Murphy says only one other arcade — located in California — has it. The Namco rhythm game uses a Japanese taiko drum and isn't subtitled in English, which means, if you happen to land yourself in the Hall of Fame, be prepared to translate your own name into Japanese characters. Or selecting at random works, too.

In addition to Gemini's Taiko and ITG machines, other machines unique to the arcade include DDR Disney and DDR X machine. "We wanted to get rare machines," explains Murphy.

Though a casual observer might not appreciate the steps taken by the Murphy family, Julie knows the diehards will. She's hoping that they'll find a haven at Gemini and that its customer base will continue to grow among the subculture through word of mouth and grassroots projects like Beverly's proposed tournament. She has faith, because she knows firsthand how fun these rhythm-based games can be.

Murphy and her family first were introduced to such games in Sydney, Australia, during the 2000 Summer Olympics, which her husband (a systems engineer) was working on. "We tried one, and we realized we thought we could spend our whole lives on the machine."

— Originally published on LasVegasWeekly.com

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