text: I like INSERT COIN(S), I really do. But any of you who have been there lately knows it's gotten REALLY scene-y. The people there aren't gamers, they're hipsters who just want to party downtown so they can tell everyone loudly and obscenely that they party downtown and would never be caught dead on the strip.\n\nUh, excuse me... you're blocking our game. You forgot this is a barcade, huh?\n\nSo when I heard about Hi-Scores, I was stoked... another chance to have a true gamer's space! And it's practically right down the street from me. So off I went to check out the new kid in town.\n\nIn gamer's terms, Hi-Scores is like \"Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts\" -- an unnecessary sequel that doesn't make it out of Stage 1 before people give up on it.\n\nFirst, Hi-Scores is actually two \"businesses\" -- Hi-Scores and The Player's Club. More about that later, but it's pretty much the same place.\n\nSecondly, a good barcade should give you the feeling that you're partying in an arcade. I felt like I was in a warehouse a good portion of the time. There was very little theming, and the only reference to games on the menu was the Pac Man's Burger (meh) and a drink called the Centipede. But the specialty drink selection was pretty weak.\n\nThe bar in general is weak. Maybe I'm spoiled on skilled Vegas bartenders, but I ordered a Long Beach Iced Tea. For those who don't know, it's exactly like a Long Island Iced Tea, except you use cranberry juice instead of Coke. Now, I don't expect everyone to know that, but at a bar, it's pretty common knowledge. Instead, I get this from the server (who for what it's worth was really nice):\n\nME: Can I get a Long Beach Iced Tea?\nSHE: You mean a Long Island.\nME: No, a Long Beach Iced Tea.\nSHE: ...........\nME: A Long Beach?\nSHE: What's that?\nME: It's a Long Island Iced Tea, except it's made with cranberry juice, not Coke.\nSHE: ............ I'll see what we can do.\n\n\"See what we can do?\" It's not that hard. Minus Coke. Plus cranberry juice. Voila!\n\nI was excited to find out they had a kitchen, which IC doesn't have. Their kitchen staff, however, is obsessed with food on sticks. Our appetizer was Chinese meatballs (on sticks). For our entree, the Bestie got sliders (with big toothpicks through them) and I got Cajun beef (on skewers). The sliders were okay but super small, even for sliders. My Cajun beef was larger, but not that much better. Here's the thing: most of what they served, I could have done with a Crock-Pot and a trip to Trader Joe's. Yawn.\n\nHere's the kicker: their game area is about the size of my living room. Four console stations, not playing anything wildly popular, two Golden Tee machines, a few pinball games and a couple of cabinets. The biggest hit in the room was a 4-player Pac-Man machine, which was busy all night.\n\nNow, excuse me one dang minute, but HOW IN THE MAPPYLAND HELL are you going to try to pass yourself off as a bar-arcade and have a sorry-ass game area?\n\nSorry, gamers, but your Princess is in another Barcade.