re: arcade cafe ideas
one way to reconcile the hangout/boisterous vibe is to have the two spaces be separate, but not entirely. something cool about arcades is looking over people’s shoulders and seeing how they are doing, right? well, imagine a space where the coffee shop area is in the center, raised like five feet high, with a thin bar/table running along its perimeter, looking out; and all around it, below, are the arcade machines, facing toward the coffee shop area. like the manager’s office in a factory production line, but fun. there could be glass separating the two areas, or not. so you’re basically spectating a bunch of games happening at once while chillin with your coffee, and if you’re in a group you can take turns chilling/playing or all do one thing and then the other. it also encourages interaction with other people as you’re all seeing each other play. a lot of bowling alleys have that raised spectator area. this is the same idea, but smaller scale, and with a square or round shape so the machines all surround the coffee shop area. hope this explanation makes sense lol
maybe you could have cameras above the machines that record the gameplay live and simultaneously project it on the wall above them. maybe that’s too club-like, but idk, nothing wrong with a darker, cozier coffee shop.
i’d call it… The Hard Core - Game Cafe (?) idk :P
