MIKE LAWRENCE / COURIER & PRESS Elden Sanders, 6 years-old, blasts dinosaurs playing "The Lost World" with his mom Tara Sanders at the Secret Headquarters at 4225 North First Ave. in Evansville. The game/comic book store that opened Thursday features a retro arcade/video game buffet where you pay one price per hour to play, March 18, 2016.

SHARE MIKE LAWRENCE / COURIER & PRESS Nathan Vanover, Boonville, tries his hand with a "Ms Pac-Man" game in the retro game arcade at the newly opened Secret Headquarters on North First Ave. in Evansville, March 18, 2016. MIKE LAWRENCE / COURIER & PRESS With a giant handmade Millennium Falcon hanging on the wall in the Secret Headquarters lounge area, Adam Sokeland plays Pokeman on his handheld game console, March 18, 2016. MIKE LAWRENCE / COURIER & PRESS Comic books for sale at the newly opened Secret Headquarters on N. First Ave. in Evansville, March 18, 2016. MIKE LAWRENCE / COURIER & PRESS Secret Headquarters owner Jeff Osborne starts up some of the old school home game consoles available for play at the newly opened comic, toys, gaming and arcade at 4225 N. First Ave. in Evansville, March 18, 2016.

By Zach Evans of the Courier and Press

There's not much better than being a 10-year-old, Jeff Osborne says.

"All you had to think about was candy, toys and television," 46-year-old Osborne said.

Tapping into that nostalgia is a reason why he opened Secret Headquarters, Evansville's new arcade/video game café/comic shop.

The store, at 4225 N. First Ave., opened Thursday, and it's been a busy weekend, he said. Games considered vintage or retro are speaking to old and new generations.

"I think people in their 30s and 40s are reliving what made them happy," he said.

Gone are the days of shoving quarters and tokens into arcade cabinets — for $5, a person can play as many games as they want in the arcade stocked with old stand-up arcade games like Gorf, Ms. Pac Man and Area 51.

Also for $5, two people can sit at the video game café and have their pick of dozens of games from classic 80s and 90s consoles like Sega, Nintendo and Super Nintendo.

Parents who can't beat their kids on a PS4 can get the job done with one button and one joy stick, he said.

"We had some father and son combos in here last night (Saturday) and they were breaking a sweat over NBA Jam (an arcade and console game from 1993)," he said. "It's fun to see a dad walking out of the arcade raising his hands in victory after beating an 11-year-old."

Secret Headquarters will host birthday parties, too. And it's not limited to kids -- Osborne's already talked with people in their 30s about hosting their birthday party.

There's also hundreds of comic books, a smorgasbord of old toys still in and out of blister packs and other merchandise that will take people back to their childhood, he said.

Fueling nostalgia are people pining for the pre-Internet days of gaming, and reignited interest in comic and sci-fi pop culture like "The Avengers," the upcoming "Batman V. Superman" movie and the scads of Star Wars movies Disney is planning over the next decade.

Secret Headquarters has a wall-sized version of the legendary Star Wars ship Millennium Falcon mounted in the rear of the building.

"That's never coming down again," Osborne joked.

Osborne grew up in the 1970s, becoming infatuated with the Six Million Dollar Man, Star Wars and professional wrestling.

Osborne eventually became a professional wrestler.

Now at 46, Osborne wants to spark creativity in kids and adults like pop culture did when he was young.

"I just want to have something fun in town. ... There's nothing like this in Evansville or within three hours of here," he said.