‘Choosing your own adventure’: Winnipeg’s Select Start readies Exchange District for brand new ‘barcade’ experience

'You're discovering new things each time' CTV's Joseph Bernacki has more on a new 'barcade' that will soon be opening its doors.

A new ‘barcade’ in the heart of the Exchange District is hoping to be a successful launch title for a new generation of players.

"Even the way that the space is set up, where you are almost choosing your own adventure, you're exploring the space, you're discovering new things each time in very much the same way that you would explore a video game,” said Adam Bumbolo, Co-owner of Fireside Design-Build.

Ahead of an anticipated opening in January, walking into Select Start brings people to a place where 1980s sci-fi pop culture meets Japanese influences.

“The shock and awe of the whole space, it's so amazing; it's so dense,” said Tyler Davies, lead designer at Fireside Design-Build.

“I can't wait for people to be able to take this all in themselves.”

Bumbolo’s interior design team is nearing their final level of work after transforming this 8,000-square-foot space.

“There's little nods and Easter eggs all through the space,” said Jaclyn Wiebe, co-owner of Fireside Design-Build.

“I think that's where we got really excited to make this space something that you can't just discover in one visit.”

Many pieces of art inside the space were designed as homage and a love letter to the video game giant Nintendo, which was founded as a Japanese playing card company in 1889.

“When you walk into the space, there is a neon sign that says ‘Leave luck to Heaven,’” Bumbolo said.

“That is the translation of Nintendo into English.”

While ‘Leave Luck to Heaven’ is commonly assumed to be the translation, there has yet to be a historical validation for the company’s English translation that turned 135 years old in September.

Mel McManus is part of the ownership group for Select Start. He was inspired to open a business in the Exchange District after seeing a similar concept in downtown Nashville.

'These games are a conversation starter'

McManus spent hours playing Nintendo’s Super Punch-Out!! at the former Magicland Arcade on Portage Ave. as a teen. He and his friends bought into what they believe will be a venue with multi-generational appeal.

“Someone in their early twenties is going to love the feeling they get from this place,” McManus said.

“These games are a conversation starter.”

Phantom Amusement at The Forks sees that nostalgic appeal daily with players young and old remarking on the games they offer.

“Oh, I remember playing this game as a kid, or maybe they have their kids with them, and then they tell their kids about the games that they used to play as kids and get their kids involved in it,” said David Morris, founder of the Manitoba Pinball League.

“It's just a circle of fun that we really love to be a part of here.”

Mark Jaslowski, owner of Phantom Amusement, said nowadays many older arcade machines can be restored to their original look and play, something that would have been less likely years ago.

“There's a lot of suppliers of parts; parts are being remanufactured so you can relive your childhood and a lot of games,” Jaslowski said.

“A lot of times when the games were made, they weren't really going to be around forever. The operators, you know, you own them for a few years, you sell them, flip them. A lot of things have now changed in the hobby. The games are every bit as fun as they used to be. You don't forget that.”

Davies did not get to experience the golden age of the arcade. That did not stop his creative design plans for the space.

His admiration of early 1980s technology and sci-fi movies from the era led him to a design coined ‘vaporwave.’

“Vaporwave distilled down to its most basic form is an aesthetic movement that came about sort of in the early 2010s, tapping into a lot of nostalgia for early technology, the early Apple computers, a lot of Japanese influences, but also a lot of Romanesque influences,” Davies said.

Beginning with a blank slate, Davies had a lot of room to work with. He paired Japanese and American cultures together for a postmodern look, hoping to attract new generations.

“I didn't get to live through this era, but to be able to live vicariously through creating this space,” Davies said.

“I'm a dork. I'm a nerd. I love digging into stuff. I love being able to live in a space that I didn't necessarily get to enjoy.”

Select Start’s ownership group hired Bumbolo’s team five years ago to begin working on this ambitious project. Like McManus, Bumbolo saw potential to develop a unique space based on business models he toured in Toronto and Chicago.

'You begin to completely buy into the fantasy that you are in a high-rise in downtown Tokyo'

“The slight difference for us is that we wanted to prioritize the social aspect, not just on video games,” Bumbolo said.

“We wanted to make sure that this was a bar and a restaurant and a gathering space. The arcade is definitely the liveliness and the heart of the space, but we really wanted to be able to create a space for Winnipeg to gather, socialize, and come together.”

After years of working in the same building, Bumbolo said the illuminated cityscapes that are designed on many of the walls in Select Start lend themselves to creating a space that is unlike what The Exchange District has seen before.

“After about an hour's worth of time in this room, even for us who have been in here for years, you begin to forget that you're actually in Winnipeg,” Bumbolo said as he laughed.

“You begin to completely buy into the fantasy that you are in a high-rise in downtown Tokyo.”

The group is hopeful people will be able to enjoy the celebration of nostalgia and futurism in the New Year.