Someone with access to the corporate checkbook at Stride Gum sure has a love for old-school arcade gaming.
About a week ago, the company donated $10,000 to dying Philadelphia-based Challenge Arcade to keep it afloat for a bit longer. Earlier this year, Stride offered The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters documentary hero Steve Wiebe $10,001 worth of quarters if he could best Billy Mitchell's Donkey Kong world record. Wiebe fell short, instead earning about a fourth of that in a consolation prize.
Continuing this fantastic (but probably ultimately futile) gesture, Stride is giving $25,000 to one of four other independent arcades that need bottom-line help. Visitors to SaveTheArcades.com play a Flash-based side-scrolling shooter called Zapataur (yes, it's intentionally cheesy) and "donate" their points to one of the businesses. The one with the highest score at the end of this promotion will receive the cash, the equivalent of 100,000 new customers playing a game of Ms. Pac-Man for the lucky winner.
Save the Arcades ends on October 6th. These are the eligible arcades, along with a brief description as described in the press release:
Arcade UFO in Austin, Texas -- a unique blend of classic arcade games and rare Japanese titles.
Game Galaxy in Nashville, Tennessee -- proud owners of the most coin-operated pinball machines in Tennessee.
Starbase Arcade in San Rafael, CA -- Marin County’s first video arcade, operating for more than 25 years.
Star Worlds Arcade in DeKalb, IL -- a “living time capsule of video games,” operating for nearly 25 years.
