# Arcades are still ALIVE ... And they serve BEER - 1up Denver, CO **Source:** RetroRalph **Type:** video **Published:** 2019-01-10 **Duration:** 7m 55s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMKwkdnt00w --- ## Analysis Retro Ralph visits 1UP, a retro arcade bar in downtown Denver that serves beer and features a curated collection of classic arcade games and pinball machines. The venue uses quarters instead of modern card systems, includes beer holders at each machine, and appeals to both nostalgic older gamers and younger audiences discovering these games for the first time. Ralph highlights the authentic selection of games spanning the 1970s-1990s and recommends the venue for Denver visitors. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] The bartender reported that many younger people (23-25 year-olds) visit 1UP and play these games despite never having encountered them before — _Direct quote from bartender conversation about younger demographic engagement_ - [HIGH] 1UP maintains authentic quarter-based gameplay instead of modernizing to card systems — _Ralph repeatedly emphasizes 'they take quarters' and praises this design choice_ - [HIGH] The bar features beer holders installed at each arcade/pinball machine for player convenience — _Ralph explicitly notes 'every single machine has beer holders' allowing players to enjoy drinks while playing_ - [HIGH] 1UP's game collection spans multiple decades of arcade history from the 1970s through 1990s — _Ralph catalogs games from Frogger, Pac-Man, Centipede (70s), through X-Men, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat (90s)_ ### Notable Quotes > "you'd be surprised how many 25-year-olds, 23, come in here, and they've never seen any of these games, but they have a lot of fun with them" > — **1UP bartender**, ~3:20 > _Demonstrates younger demographic discovery of retro gaming at barcade venues_ > "Guys, this place is like heaven on earth. They have everything cool here. Literally every cool game from your childhood is here." > — **Retro Ralph**, ~8:45 > _Ralph's enthusiastic assessment of the venue's comprehensive game selection_ > "They decided not to do cards. They didn't modernize the games to cards, which some of these places do. They take quarters. That's right, baby." > — **Retro Ralph**, ~11:20 > _Highlights 1UP's distinction in maintaining authentic quarter-based gameplay versus modern card systems_ > "The bar is so cool because they have a Cold Beer video game. they converted into taps. I don't know if you can see that." > — **Retro Ralph**, ~9:50 > _Unique creative conversion of a classic arcade game cabinet into a functional kegerator_ > "They take quarters, which is awesome. There's a coin machine, so it keeps it authentic. And the other thing that's really cool about it is every single machine has beer holders, so you can get your beer and put it right next to your machine and play." > — **Retro Ralph**, ~12:30 > _Summary of 1UP's key operational and quality-of-life features_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Retro Ralph | person | Pinball/arcade content creator and podcast host; visited 1UP Denver to document the venue for his YouTube audience | | 1UP (Denver) | venue | Retro arcade bar/barcade in downtown Denver, Colorado featuring classic arcade games, pinball machines, and beer service with quarter-based gameplay | | Arcade1Up | company | Arcade cabinet manufacturer mentioned as successful due to appealing to younger audiences who haven't experienced classic games | | X-Men (arcade game) | game | Classic quarter-fed arcade game featured at 1UP; Ralph played and praised it as a childhood favorite | | The Simpsons Pinball Party | game | Pinball machine available at 1UP; Ralph identified it as one of his favorites at the venue | | Mortal Kombat | game | Multiple versions (MK2, MK3) available at 1UP; mentioned as Arcade1Up upcoming release | | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (arcade) | game | Classic quarter-fed arcade game available at 1UP; mentioned in context of Arcade1Up product line | | Terminator 2 | game | Both arcade and pinball versions mentioned as absent from 1UP; Ralph expressed desire to play these | | Street Fighter 2 Turbo | game | Arcade game available at 1UP | | NFL Blitz | game | Sports arcade game at 1UP; mentioned as a game audiences hoped Arcade1Up would produce | | Donkey Kong | game | Classic arcade game available at 1UP | | Pac-Man | game | Classic arcade game available at 1UP | | Frogger | game | Vintage arcade game available at 1UP | | Centipede | game | Classic arcade game available at 1UP | | Tron | game | Classic arcade game that Ralph mentions hearing about frequently in community discussions | | Denver, Colorado | location | Location where Ralph traveled for work and visited 1UP venue; subject of his video review series | ### Topics - **Primary:** Barcade venue design and operations, Classic arcade game preservation and accessibility, Younger demographic engagement with retro gaming - **Secondary:** Pinball machines in commercial venues, Arcade1Up product strategy and market success, Quarter-based vs. card-based arcade payment systems, Content creator travel and venue documentation - **Mentioned:** Game preservation and history ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.92) — Ralph expresses consistent enthusiasm and praise for 1UP throughout the video, using superlatives like 'heaven on earth' and 'really, really cool' repeatedly. His only minor criticism is the absence of Terminator 2 arcade/pinball games and some screen condition issues on older machines (which he frames as adding nostalgic value). The overall tone is highly favorable and recommendatory. ### Signals - **[community_signal]** 1UP Denver demonstrates successful model for engaging younger demographics (23-25 year-olds) with classic arcade games, suggesting viable market for retro gaming venues in urban areas with younger populations (confidence: high) — Bartender confirmed many younger visitors who have never played these games before enjoy them; Ralph notes Arcade1Up's commercial success is due to appealing to audiences unfamiliar with classic games - **[event_signal]** Content creator beginning a series documenting retro arcade/barcade venues across different cities during work travel (confidence: high) — Ralph explicitly announces intent to create a series visiting barcades in different cities: 'I'm actually going to try to make a series because I travel for work' - **[market_signal]** Barcade venues maintaining authentic quarter-based systems (vs. modernized card systems) as a competitive differentiator and draw for nostalgic players (confidence: high) — Ralph emphasizes 1UP's choice to use quarters instead of cards as a key feature; explicitly praises this decision multiple times as 'authentic' and superior to other barcades - **[product_strategy]** Venue-level innovations like integrated beer holders at each machine and creative cabinet conversions (Cold Beer kegerator) enhance user experience and differentiate barcade offerings (confidence: medium) — Ralph highlights beer holders at every machine and the converted Cold Beer cabinet-to-kegerator as distinctive features worth noting --- ## Transcript Hey guys, this is Retro Ralph on location in downtown Denver. I'm actually about to check out a bar, and if you can see it behind me, it's actually called The One Up. So, I'm actually going to try to make a series because I travel for work. So, I don't know if you guys know this, I'm freezing my ass off because I'm from Arizona. So, and I'm not really used to this cold Carl Weathers. But I'm going to be here today to check this out. I'll give you guys some video from inside the place, but it seems pretty promising. It's one of those newer, you know, retro bars that have popped up and showed up in different cities. So I'm going to try to, as I make travels for work, go and check these out and give you guys reviews so that maybe when you're in Denver, you can go ahead and check some of these places out too. So sit back, relax, and enjoy 1UP. Okay, so I'm here inside 1UP. This place is really, really cool. So on one side of the wall, they have pins. So on this side of the room, they have pins. They also have X-Men right behind me and original X-Men. It's a really, really cool place. I haven't really had a chance to scope out all the games yet, but I'm going to take a little brief walk around the place so you can kind of see what's going on. But I just talked to the bartender. The owner's not here. And I was asking him, I said, hey, being a place that's in an area of the city that there's a lot of younger folks, do a lot of the younger people come in and experience these games, and what do they think? And he said, you'd be surprised how many 25-year-olds, 23, come in here, and they've never seen any of these games, but they have a lot of fun with them. So it's no surprise that Arcade 1-Up is having the success that they are right now, because they're appealing to an audience that hasn't played these games before. So anyways I really excited to start playing some games I gonna take you around really quick I gonna flip the camera around in a minute and show you what else they have here Alright so guys I apologize that the audio conditions aren the best and the lighting isn the best but we are absolutely in an arcade and they serve beer which is awesome So I'm having an IPA while I walk around and show you guys. Over here they got NFL Blitz. I know that a lot of people were hoping that Arcade 1-Up would make that at some point. They got a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the corner, which is awesome. It's too bad we didn't get that in Wave 2, but maybe it'll come. We got Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros., Contra, Ghostbusters. I've actually never played that Ghostbusters, I don't think. I want to say I might have played that on the Commodore 64, I'm not sure. This is Street Fighter Turbo, I don't know if you can see that. Let's see, I'll adjust the camera real quick. Street Fighter 2 Turbo. Hey, look at this guy! It's our Mortal Kombat that we're getting. We're getting an arcade one-up Mortal Kombat, which is cool. And, you know, it's going to have Ultimate on it, too. So, you know, we got Ultimate. I don't know if you guys love this game, but I absolutely love Moonwalker, so I am going to play that while I'm here. They have these really cool quarter machines. And, guys, this is awesome. They've got the old-school X-Men. I remember playing this as a kid. This game is really, really cool. Big, big fan of X-Men. Look how badass that is. It looks like they might need to replace the screens in this thing, but hey, it adds to the nostalgic value. And they've got pinballs all over the place. So this whole wall is all pinball machines. They got your Simpsons right here. Guys, this place is like heaven on earth. They have everything cool here. Literally every cool game from your childhood is here. And then they have some modern stuff. If you walk over here they got Pac which is obviously the big Pac If you seen this they have some Dave and Busters and stuff They got an old punch out They got basically all my favorite games so I pretty pumped up So I going to go play some games really quick and then I give you guys my assessment of the place you know, after I'm out of here. But if you're in Denver, I'm going to think this is going to be a suggestion, but I'll give you the skinny once I'm done playing around. There's the bar right there. The bar is so cool because they have a cold beer video game. they converted into taps. I don't know if you can see that. So if I zoom in, check that out. It's a cold beer arcade machine that they converted into a kegerator of some sort. So pretty cool place, guys. All right, I'm going to check it out. Okay, so I've been playing a couple games. I went and played the original X-Men. Super fun. And the one thing that I love about this place, this is so cool, is that they decided not to do cards. They didn't modernize the games to cards, which some of these places do. They take quarters. That's right, baby. Okay, I just geeked out hard on some Ninja Turtles, but I wanted to show you guys what's going on over here. They just have some little nostalgia cabinet with some cool stuff in it. I was talking to the bartender again. He said the owner has a lot of his stuff in here, so he takes all his collectibles he brings them in but he's got a lot of cool stuff I don't know if you guys ever had a calico vision but pretty fun system this whole bar is riddled with cool stuff there's like some cool posters over here you've got uh he's got his older machines like the classics over here starting with frogger which I've actually don't remember what this cabinet used to look like um got paper boy double dragon I know a lot of you guys like Tron I've heard Tron come up a lot Centipede, Galaga, Pac-Man basically all the games that you expect over there in an old school arcade but this place is awesome It got good beer you got good games I do my final wrap up when I ready to go but I just love this place man you guys would really dig it. Okay guys so I'm gonna do my full assessment of 1UP the barcade. So first of all they take quarters, they got coin machines everywhere. Sorry there's a firetruck going by. They take quarters, which is awesome. There's a coin machine, so it keeps it authentic. And the other thing that's really cool about it is every single machine has beer holders, so you can get your beer and put it right next to your machine and play. They have a very good selection of authentic arcade games. Some of the notables were the original X-Men. They had Simpsons. They had Mortal Kombat 3, Mortal Kombat 2. They had Super Street Fighter 2. So that's just a few. They had a game I really love, which is the Simpsons Pinball Party. That's a really cool game. The only thing I was kind of bummed that they didn't have is they didn't have a Terminator 2 arcade game, and they didn't have a Terminator 2 pinball machine. I love those games. But they had Frogger, they had Centipede, they had Asteroids, they had pretty much everything to make both a retro gamer old school and someone that might have been into gaming in the 90s. So they covered everything, 70s, 80s, 90s. Really cool place. So if you're in Denver, I suggest you check it out. I'll leave the address in the description field. I appreciate you guys watching please if you like this video please subscribe to the channel please like the video and as always thanks for watching guys take care _(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 407709ad-8da0-419d-bfdb-0acfc9446c71*