Gaming Center/Arcade Plan Clears North Adams Planning Board

The Berkshire Eagle reports the North Adams Planning Board Monday approved an entertainment venue, Immersion, that would combine retro arcade machines, modern consoles and tabletop gaming. It would be the first business of its kind in the area since the Dream Machine closed in the 1980s, according to board members.

Co-owners Shaun Richard and Chris Horsfall have already started working on the space at 350 State Road, and they hope to open in the first week of January, even amid the coronavirus pandemic and strict state regulations on capacity.

The venue would have coin-operated retro arcade machines, the newest Xbox and PlayStation consoles,  and a theater where projectors would throw a player’s game onto a 12.5-foot screen, with flashing lights and a vibrating gaming chair — “our biggest selling point,” Richards said.

Planning board members raised concerns that the arcade might draw kids during school hours. If that became an issue, Richard said, he would consider restricting access to adults only in the middle of the day.