Classic video game fan opens arcade and lounge in St. Paul
ST. PAUL, Minn. — There's something about the lights and sounds of an arcade.
"Playing 'Space Invaders' in an original 1978 cabinet, it has a hologram effect, it has black light," said Peter Riemenschneider, owner of Two Bit Game Room.
Riemenschneider was born in the mid-70s and grew up during the golden age of arcades.
"We had a Circus Pizza in Maplewood. They had tons of games," he said.
He gamed at home, too, but "didn't ever think that you could own an actual arcade game."
A childhood dream was realized 20 years ago when he bought his first machine: a Nintendo PlayChoice-10.
"There are 10 classic Nintendo games and I remember playing it at the gas station. I could preview games before I bought them because they were pretty expensive at the time," he said.
His favorite: "Super Mario Brothers 3."
"I think everyone loved that game. That's my OG Mario game," he said.
His collection quickly leveled up to include dozens of arcade classics he had fond memories of, from "Pong" to "Pac-Man" to "Punch-Out."
"My wife had suggested, 'Hey, you've got a couple garages full of these, maybe other people would like to play them,'" he said.
So, they started Rent My Arcade in 2014, delivering full-size arcade games to homes and businesses in the Twin Cities area for as little as $75 per month.
Customers were excited by the opportunity to reclaim their youth, but many wanted to test drive the games before committing. In 2020, they found a space in St. Paul to serve as an in-person showroom.
Two Bit Game Room features more than 70 classic arcade games and pinball machines rebuilt and refurbished to original standards.
"Here I can keep playing them til I get good and can actually beat the games, whereas when I was a kid I was always limited by time, schedule and quarters," said Christopher Corich, of Minneapolis.
In another room, you can revisit "Pitfall" on a vintage console TV. But isn't just the 40- and 50-somethings playing. Two Bit has dozens of games for Atari, NES, GameCube and some of the retro-to-a-teen systems.
"We've even got a four-player Wii setup in the front and so a lot of those games are 15 years old," he said.
His recreation of the arcade era is a labor of love, and he still gets child-like excitement for each new addition.
"Whenever I go back into the deep warehouse, I find things and I get excited again. I'm like, 'Oh yeah, I want to get that one working [laughs],'" he said.
Two Bit Game Room is located at 511 Rice St. in St. Paul. It's recommended for ages 13 and up and is open by appointment only.
You can stay and play for up to three hours for $15 per person, or $10 if you purchase a play card ahead of time.
The space can also be rented out for private events.
