The arcade industry is dead in the United States—everyone knows it—done in by a combination of rapidly advancing home consoles and rapidly expanding suburbanization in the late '80s and early '90s. The only people not in on this bit of conventional wisdom are the ones who happen to be opening a surprising number of successful new arcades around the country.

Adam Pratt, who runs industry website Arcade Heroes when he isn't managing his own arcade in West Valley City, Utah, tracked at least 12 major, dedicated, independent US arcades opening their doors in 2011, with 10 more opening so far this year. That might not be enough to rival numbers from the golden age of arcades, but it's a notable expansion from the years before.

"I have missed plenty of locations, but despite that, there really has been an increase over the past two years or so," Pratt told me. "News occasionally comes along of a place closing, but it is far outweighed by openings." And almost all of these locations are thriving, based on what Pratt has been hearing.

Could the trend continue? "I guarantee you're going to see at least two or three [arcades] in every city in this country within the next 10 to 15 years," said Chris Laporte, founder of Las Vegas arcade Insert Coin(s), which recently announced an expansion to a second location in downtown Minneapolis. "That's because the geeks have inherited the earth. People who grew up on this stuff have now grown up, but they're not really grown-ups, you know what I mean?"

Bar + arcade = Barcade

Classic arcade games might seem like a tough sell in the middle of the glitz and glamor of Vegas, but in the 15 months since Insert Coin(s) opened, Laporte said the location has grown to fill its 298-person capacity every night—and often has 45 minutes lines to get in. Those customers aren't just there for the arcade games, though. The Fremont street location also offers a full-service bar (with table service that includes loaner systems ranging from the NES to the Xbox 360), a DJ-equipped dance floor, events like a Halloween costume contest, and frequent musical guests including De La Soul and Talib Kweli.

Expanding from a pure arcade into what Laporte calls "interactive nightlife" is an economic necessity. "As a businessman, you really have to supplement [the arcade machines] with another form of entertainment," he said. "You're not going to make money off of a dollar of credit. You're not going to pay the rent with that... I'm buying refurbished machines for $1,500 to $2,000 a pop. New machines with new technology, you're looking at eight to 12 grand—how are you making your money back on that? Financially, it's difficult to do it in and of itself because the popularity isn't there yet, but I can see it coming."

That's a perspective shared by Doug Marks, who recently opened the Emporium bar/arcade in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood after seeing the success his brother had managing Brooklyn's Barcade. "What makes us unique is the games—they're fun and people still play them. But after a while, if you don't have a good bar, you're not going to have people keep coming back," he said. "I think it could even be more important to get the bar aspect right than the arcade aspect, because it has to be a place people enjoy going for more than one reason. After a while they've played all the games... but if it's a place they know they can get as good a beer as any place in the city and [also] play games, then that's what makes it stand out."

That doesn't mean Emporium's customers treat the games as an afterthought to the alcohol, though. "We could be completely full to capacity and all of our tables will be open—no one is at the tables because everyone is out playing games," Marks said. "Any other bar I've ever been to in my life, the tables are the prime real estate, not the games.

"One of the messages we get from a lot of the people that are here is that they've never been to a bar where people are so happy before. It's a very laid back, fun atmosphere where people are just running around with big smiles on their faces playing any games they can get hands on because they're just having a good time."

But the recent boom in arcade openings isn't just among places that use games as an excuse to serve alcohol. "Our intention was more to be a resource for young people in the community," said Jeromy Darling, who opened ZAP arcade in the Minneapolis suburb of Jordan as a way to keep the town's young people occupied. "There's really nothing for youth there. There's a water tower, a lake, a creek... it's small. That was really our intention when we opened, to be a safe resource for kids, to offer something in the community that was just sort of cheap fun."

Instead of quarters, ZAP charges customers a $5 door fee that grants unlimited play for the entire day, along with $15 monthly memberships that Darling compared to "going to the gym." The idea is to give parents a place they can feel comfortable leaving their children while they go out and do something on their own. "I don't necessarily want to be a babysitter, but... you can trust kids to be safe here, and they can stay and play."