Which place, though, is the world’s largest? I contacted the Guinness Book of World Records, which confirmed that the 2016 update to the record for Funspot is indeed based on the number of games, not square footage.
Interestingly, though, Guinness also recognizes another arcade, Grand Prix Race-O-Rama in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as being the World’s Largest, with somewhere around 1,000 games. That arcade sadly went out of business, though, meaning it’s given a posthumous “World’s Largest Ever.”
Funspot is still listed as the official Largest Videogame Arcade (current), then.
“There’s a bit of semantics that comes into play. I think in terms of unique games, we’ve had them beat since around the 600 mark,” Galloping Ghost’s Tom Nieter said.
“I know Galloping Ghost has over 1,000,” Funspot’s Gary Vincent said. “I’m not sure why they haven’t reached out to Guinness,” he said.
To officially get that title, Galloping Ghost would likely need to pay a Guinness adjudicator to certify its collection. It doesn’t seem like the crew there is in any hurry to do so, and in the interim, neither arcade seems concerned about sharing the honors.
“There’s definitely respect among all arcade owners,” Nieter said. “They’re totally cool. We’re kind of just doing our own thing. And, yeah, Funspot is very, very famous, though, a great spot.” Vincent was equally complimentary about Galloping Ghost.
While I’m certainly not a Guinness adjudicator, if we’re talking number of games, there’s no question: Galloping Ghost takes the title.
However, Funspot is far more expansive. That extra space also gives room to showcase the games with reverence. It really does feel like a museum in there, not despite the cacophonous soundtrack blaring from each machine but thanks to it.
So counterintuitive though it may be, I am in full support of both of these arcades continuing to call themselves World’s Largest. They’re both well worth a visit, and we’re lucky to live in a world where both are open for business.