Exploregon: Ground Kontrol

Most weekdays I just stay in because I don't really know the area.  But Alex starts pestering me about finding my soul mate immediately earlier today and how I'll die a lonely man if I don't get out of the house.  At first I shrugged it off, because I don't like people telling me what to do (real reason is I'm scared).  But there's only so  much Starcraft one can play with their younger cousins before your mind begins to rot.

So I hop onto Yelp and search Nightlife in Portland.  Bookmarked a bunch of 4.5 stars and started reading up on them.  Came across this place called Ground Kontrol.  It's a barcade.  What's that you ask?  By now you probably figured out.  Yep, it's a Bar and an Arcade.  Sweet.  Sounds like a good Thursday night.  Even better! every last Thursday of the month they host a Nintendo event! With Nintendo trivia, and tournaments.  Awesome, perfect timing thanks to Alex.  

I would have gone alone, but I called up my pal Joey to go with.  We end up somewhere downtown, and Joey complains about the narrow lanes.  I didn't notice because it felt just like SF downtown lanes.  I actually felt kinda nostalgic haha.  Apparently GK was located in a shady part of town, but it felt pretty damn safe to me.  The inside of GK looked a lot like the arcade in the movie TRON.  They even had the game TRON! (i sucked miserably).

As I slowly got tipsy sipping on my 2 dollar PBR I fed the following machines:

• Simpsons Arcade - went further than I ever went using only 50 cents!
• Gauntlet Legends - Spent most of our time and money on this one.  One of Joey's Nostalgia games.  It was pretty fun, but Gamespot gave it a 2/5 stars?
• Frogger - you gotta play frogger,  but I was a disappointment holy crap.  I killed 6 frogs within 1 minute.  Couldnt get past the river at all wtf. 
• Tron - It was the tanks game, and I believe I do not know how to play, similar experience to Frogger
• Demolition Man Pinball - their entire top floor was filled with all kinds of pinball machines.  I love playing pinball, and the one that caught my eye was the one with Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes in.. DEMOLITION MAN.  I lost all 3 balls within 1 minute. -_-
• Pirates of the Caribbean Pinball - This is probably my favorite pinball machine.  Probably because they had the exact same one in Davis.  Pew Pew Pew I lasted 3 minutes. 

Man while were absorbed in the world of Gauntlet Legends, they were holding Goldeneye and Mario Kart 64 tourneys.  I so wanted to do the Mario Kart tournament but my character was level 8! So much hard work, I couldn't just leave and die!

I would definitely go back here, cheap beers, nostalgic games and a chill crowd.  Now to check my Yelp bookmark list for the next installment of Exploregon.