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Two local video-game collectors have had their dream of opening Montreal’s first ‘barcade’ put on hold.

As Papa Cassette, Dominic Bourret and Martin Hébert have refurbished about 15 classic coin-operated machines from the ’80s and ’90s. For the past year, they have been organizing private arcade parties with a BYOB format under the name Arcade MTL, first in a cramped apartment and now in a larger office space on Moreau St.

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The pair are looking to open a fully licensed bar lined with arcade cabinets in either the Ville-Marie or Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve boroughs. The tandem bar-arcade concept, which began in Brooklyn in 2004, would seem like a logical fit in a city with a flourishing gaming industry, but regulations have thus far prevented them from moving forward with the project.

By virtue of having more than three arcade machines in their space, the business would be designated as an amusement hall. Any establishment permitted to sell alcoholic beverages needs to be at least 25 metres away from an amusement hall, so it’s not possible to have have both coexisting in the same room under current guidelines. They were told by employees at both borough offices there was no way around the municipal bylaws.