Amid all the talk about the failing retail economy and big box stores going out of business, San Francisco’s Stonestown Galleria has discovered the irresistible pull of individual competition, and its fortunes may be changed as a result.
On Sunday, the mall was busy with shoppers looking for holiday gifts. But there was something else going on there, and to find it you have to go into the basement to what used to be a Nordstrom department store.
There you’ll find Round 1, a cavernous amusement arcade owned by a Japanese company that understands the American drive to win. From shooting “Bad Guys” to winning the car race, to shooting balls into a basket, the place exudes an atmosphere of competition that can be hard to resist.
“I really like arcade games,” says 20-year-old Sanna Su. “My cousin introduced me to round 1 and since then I couldn’t stop. Well, I could stop, but it’s quite addictive when you don’t know when to stop.”
Round 1 kicked off in Stonestown in November and is the fourth location in the Bay Area. It offers family bowling, air hockey and even a full bar for adults. But it’s in the middle of the room and takes up a page from Las Vegas. Set up like slot machines, a huge collection of claw games have people spending money to try and take home a filled prize.
But as Ethan Wei discovered, it’s not exactly a game of skill.
“The claw’s strength is quite arbitrary,” he said, as a stuffed shark easily slipped from the claw’s grasp. “Sometimes you get a stronger claw and you just take it. It’s not really a trick, it’s just a bit of luck. Sometimes it’s cheaper to buy this than just pay a hundred bucks to win these things. I don’t. Do you know how much they cost? They’re probably about $10?”
How much did he pay for the three prizes in his hand?
“I don’t know, I’d say around $50, a little over 50,” Wei said.
Ivan Guillermo discovered the same thing when he and his son Dylan tried to win a sleepy cat plush, but it slipped away at the last minute.
“It definitely feels like you’re in a casino,” he said, laughing. ‘The house always wins. You’re spending more than what it’s probably worth, yes.’
“The claw almost always slips,” said a frustrated Dylan. “You can’t have it.”
But then Dylan learned something about the seductive allure of gambling when the claw took hold on the next attempt and deposited the toy in the trash.
“Wow! He’s got it!” said his surprised father as Dylan collected his winnings, ensuring they would keep coming back.
But for the older children, there is another game that provides fierce competition. “Dance, Dance Revolution,” or DDR, has become an obsession for some, and 20-year-old Jacob Saldageno said his love for the game brought him out of his shell.
“It definitely changed my life,” he said. “Now I go out with so many people. I go out with my friends more. It’s definitely a special place where me and my friends can all de-stress from all the stresses of adult life and have fun.”
On Sunday, Saldageno was thrilled to set a new record for the dance he worked so hard to learn, known as his “hit list.” And while he still plays at the basic level, in the evenings young people fill the GDR area with experienced dancers from all over the Bay Area competing at the highest level.
Saldageno is convinced that it will benefit everyone, including the shopping center.
“I think it makes shopping centers more vibrant now,” he said. “People have been so tight since the pandemic started. But now that we’ve opened an arcade in a place like this, it’s definitely brought even more people out. And I like to see it.’
Maybe there’s a lesson in this. People may have found new ways to shop from home, but nothing draws a crowd like the thrill of victory, especially if it involves a stuffed animal.
