Quite some time ago I visited an arcade hall in Copenhagen, Denmark (link) called Bip Bip Bar (link). They have since moved to a much better location in Copenhagen. The name ‘Bip Bip’ refers to the Danish name for the Game & Watch handheld gaming devices back in the 1980s. Assumedly due to the sounds they made back then. So when I had the opportunity to revisit the arcade hall at their newish location, I just had to go!
As soon as I entered the door, the familiar sounds of old arcade machines hit me like a cherished childhood memory. I forgot all about time and real-life issues. It was time to get out the quarters and get playing!! Well, not coins but an RF playcard with cash on… I guess that is much easier to manage than having to fiddle with coins.
I have attached some images of some of the upright machines. They have a nice variety of arcade games.
Bip Bip Bar also has an original Donkey Kong machine and it seems like someone really knows how to play it with a score of almost 900.000…
The aracde also holds a nice area with pinball machines and a variety of candy cabs. At each floor, centrally placed bars serve a wide variety of drinks and beverages. Nice!
This time I even got to talk to the local arcade legend, Kim ‘Kanonarm’ Köbke (aka the ‘Canon Arm’) who currently holds the official world record in Gyruss. In the link (link), there is information on the movie ‘Kim Kanonarm og rejsen mod verdensrekorden’ (Kim Canon Arm and the Jurney Towards the World Record) in which Kim sets the world record in Gyruss. In the movie you will also see his characteristic stance as is seen on the imges… As a side note, it is his own Gyruss machine that you can actually play on at Bip Bip Bar. Same machine he set the record on. Wednesdays are usually ‘game night’ for the locals if you plan for a visit… You may even run into Kim!
To round things up, I did a short video tour of the Bip Bip Bar arcade hall. My sincere apologies for the quite poor quality. I did not add any music to the video so you can enjoy the original arcade atmosphere… Hope you enjoy the video as much as I did spending a few hours in the warm cozy arcade hall in Copenhagen.
