Getting ready for the arcade bar spinoff that’s about to come to Illinois.
Analog II promises twice the space with two stories and many new games.
Work is getting finished on the arcade bar this week in downtown Moline.
As the last games get moved in and programmed, they’re ready to welcome players in to experience something from their childhood.
Analog’s Moline venue is opening nearly three after the launch of the Davenport arcade bar.
The three of the Analog owners told Local Four News they’ve been looking at a second location for some time but started pursuing it seriously this summer.
By September, they got the building on Fifth Avenue in Moline, but it’s not just about preserving a love for the arcade games that’s behind the bar’s mission.
Co-owner Devon Wiese said, “It’s pretty hectic right now.”
The launch is just around the corner.
Co-owner Rich Cooksey said, “It’s always exciting when you get right up to the end.”
The ambiance is set and now just the final touches to bring version two online.
Co-owner Dan Bush said, “Cleaning and game fixing I think are the biggest two. The games, I mean. They’re like infants. You’ve got to constantly watch them and get them working.”
Dan Bush, Rich Cooksey and Devon Wiese, three of the minds behind this place for the young at heart, catching their breath after all they’ve created in a few short months.
Cooksey said, “Like with Analog I, we want to rekindle their past, that game they played when they were 20 years old. Maybe they’re 40 years old now.”
Atari, Pacman, and pinball is only the start when it comes to what’s welcoming players.
About 80 percent of the games are new titles that aren’t founding in the Davenport venue.
But it’s not just the old games.
Cooksey said, “The building, we instantly saw the history of it.”
They’re restoring this place they will now call home.
Wiese said, “Rich went to town on it. The lights. He drove to Louisville, Kentucky to pick these up because they’re perfect. Cost him more in gas than to buy the lights.”
When they open the doors, this old school fun might be the draw, but the business also hopes to leave a high score in Moline’s downtown.
Wiese said, “We felt like we could bring what we brought to downtown Davenport to downtown Moline and make it kind of rocking over here again.”
That is all about the love of the game.
Cooksey said, “They’re works of art, and it’s a labor of love.”
The owners told Local Four News the smaller space at the Davenport site also limits the physical size of the games they can bring in.
That’s not as much as of an issue in Moline with two floors allowing for larger and multi-player communal games.
Analog was on the front end of the arcade bar trend that’s seen them open around the United States.
“It’s been fun. We were on the early, kind of the first wave of arcade bars in the county and now in the last three years we’ve seen so many pop up across the country, and that’s great that other people are catching on and we’ve beat even bigger cities to the punch, which is cool,” Bush said.
Analog Moline will hold their grand opening Sunday, Dec. 30 starting at 7 p.m. It will continue Monday, New Year’s Eve.
They’re closed New Year’s Day but open regular hours starting January 2.
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