The Last Level: Fenton's Game Bar Revolution
Episode 186 • 15th November 2024 • Total Michigan • Cliff Duvernois
00:00:00 00:27:06

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Dive into the world of Last Level, a unique game bar set up with a nostalgic retro theme. Host Cliff DuVernois interviews Ed McNulty, owner of Last Level in Fenton, Michigan, as they explore the concept behind combining classic arcade gaming with console gaming and social activities. Discover how Ed transitioned from a law enforcement career to owning a game bar, and learn about the challenges and triumphs of maintaining a diverse entertainment venue.

Links:

Last Level Website: https://www.lastlevelfenton.com/

Subscribe to our Email Newsletter: https://totalmichigan.com/join/

Find us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/totalmichigan

Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@totalmichigan

Address:

14281 N. Fenton Rd 

Fenton MI 48430

Show Notes:

00:00 Introduction and Childhood Memories

00:44 Discovering Last Level

01:12 What is a Game Bar?

02:37 The Evolution of Gaming

05:10 Ed's Background and Career

06:08 From Police Officer to Entrepreneur

07:19 Opening the Ninja Warrior Gym

07:54 Adapting to COVID Challenges

09:56 Building Last Level

21:35 The Unique Pricing Model

23:58 Creating a Social Gaming Space

26:32 Connecting and Farewell

Transcripts

Ed McNulty:

When you go to Chuck E.

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Cheese or Dave and Buster's, it is

mom and dad sitting at the table,

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kids trying to get as many tickets as

they can to go trade them for widgets.

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And like that's not.

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So a lot of the distributors

that I reached out to, I'm

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like, I don't want to do that.

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So I'm like, you, you sell those

other games, put those in here.

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And they're like, oh, it's

not going to make enough money

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for it to make it worthwhile.

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And I'm like, I don't want your

business anyway, I'll go find my own

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Cliff Duvernois: Hello everyone.

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And welcome back to Total Michigan,

where we interview ordinary Michiganders

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doing some pretty extraordinary things.

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I'm your host, Cliff DuVernois.

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I am a child of the eighties,

which means I grew up in arcades

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and every week I would get my

allowance of 2 or 5, whatever it was.

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And I would immediately plunk it in for

quarters and then lose it within an hour.

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Cause that's just what you

did when you were a kid.

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So let's get started.

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Anyways, with that being said, I was very

happy when a good friend of mine, Charles,

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reached out to me and said, Hey, there's

actually a new type of arcade going on.

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And so I came down to Fenton,

of all places, to check it out.

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And this is actually a pretty cool setup.

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And I highly recommend that if

you find yourself in the area,

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that you come by and check it out.

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Because they've got a pretty

good story with them, too.

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So sitting with me today

is the owner of Last Level.

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And that would be Ed McNulty.

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Ed, how are you?

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Good,

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I'm doing awesome.

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Thank you for asking.

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So, Ed, why don't you tell

us, what is Last Level?

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Ed McNulty: So we're a

retro, like, game bar.

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We do tell people we're an

arcade just because that's

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what people associate it with.

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But as you go around and see,

like, we have a bocce ball court.

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We have cornhole area.

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We have an outdoor gaming

area with foaling, can jam

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bottle toss, things like that.

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And then we also do a

lot of console gaming.

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So we have retro consoles, like

Nintendo, Super Nintendo, all the

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way up through, like, Switch and PS5.

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Cliff Duvernois: Right.

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Ed McNulty: on top of The

games and the arcade stuff,

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we do have a retro feel to it.

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So we have a bunch of Hulk Hogan

areas, like Hulk Hogan art, like

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Ninja Turtles, like all stuff that

you know, I loved when I was a kid.

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So like video game related stuff.

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So like a lot of Nintendo Ninja

Turtles, old pro wrestling, like

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80s IPs, Jaws, stuff like that.

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So

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Cliff Duvernois: So you said a term

I've never heard before, Game Bar.

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Okay, what is, what is Game Bar?

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Ed McNulty: So a lot of times you'll get

roped in there's a barcade, you know,

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and that's strictly like, arcade stuff,

and now it's, we do more than just arcade

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games, so we have like a board game room.

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So like in Ferndale, they have a board

game cafe where you can go in, but they

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don't really have a ton of arcade games.

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They also don't do console games, so

we took all the stuff that I like to

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do, what we really tried to get back

to was like more couch co op stuff.

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So, what rating is this podcast?

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Cliff Duvernois: Uh, it's PG.

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Ed McNulty: ish?

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Okay.

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I tell everybody when we're doing this

stuff if you watch kids I mean, one of

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the most toxic places you'll ever be is

in an online game lounge for, like, Call

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of Duty or something like that, you know?

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And I think a lot of that is, when you

were, when you and I were growing up,

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right, if we were playing a multiplayer

game, like, if we're playing, No mercy

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or like WCW versus NWO or something on

that Nintendo 64 or before and I say

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something to you like cross about your

mom or do whatever there's usually like

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immediate consequences right like like

so if I cross a line like I'll feel

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it guys wrestle or get in fights or

whatever online now you really don't

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have that you can say like the most vile

stuff ever and there's no repercussion

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whatsoever and like new games are a lot

of like fortnight's a good example of

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like I lose, I'm just gonna play again.

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So like, I lose, I play again, I lose,

I play again, I lose, I play again.

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It's like the instant gratification

lifestyle that a lot of us live right now.

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Where this stuff isn't like that.

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You know, like a lot of old arcade

games, they don't have the saves.

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Like the classic console

games, like they don't do that.

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We try not to even put one player games

on the bar consoles like we try to do

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like couch co op like Mario party smash

brothers mario kart so you can bring it

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back to how it was when you were growing

up Same thing with the outdoor games

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like, you know can jam like the frisbee

base games like the football bowling

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the foaling just a place where you can

go with All of your friends and like

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still go out and do stuff as opposed to

Toward the end of my like last career.

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I noticed a big change.

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So like when I first started It

would be hey, you want to go out?

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We'll go to the bar.

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We'll get a drink or we'll go hang

out or like hey come over for dinner

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We'll play video games toward the end.

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We were hiring like younger kids, you

know They're 22 years old and it turns

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into oh you're getting on xbox later.

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Yep.

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Yep, and then they like Going direction

their own directions in any place.

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So like a lot of people aren't doing

Stuff together anymore, and we wanted

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to bring that back so like more like in

person like camaraderie Type gaming as

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opposed to like the basement type stuff

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Cliff Duvernois: So, I'm going to

tell you this right now, I'm going

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to thoroughly enjoy this interview,

because what you said was such a big

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part of my childhood, growing up.

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I remember it was a big deal when

the kid next to us got an Atari, and

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every kid in the neighborhood was at

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Ed McNulty: Yeah I still remember going

back and forth and like packing up

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like to pack up a Nintendo or Nintendo

64 like it wasn't an easy task Back

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then like now you can just grab your

switch and put it in a different dock

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Where before it's like

you're wrapping up all the

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Cliff Duvernois: Oh, yeah.

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It's like

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Ed McNulty: that

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Cliff Duvernois: that thing

in a suitcase, almost.

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Yeah.

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so

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let's talk a little bit, Ed,

about Where are you from?

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Where did you grow up?

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Ed McNulty: So I grew up in the

town that touches Toledo in Michigan

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so we're like exit to office 75

Yeah, like right on the border.

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So we were so close.

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We got like our county got in state

tuition for like, Ohio schools So I grew

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up in Erie, Michigan, like Toledo, Ohio,

that area, um, and then I, went through

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college graduated University of Toledo.

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Cliff Duvernois: What did you

study when you were there?

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Ed McNulty: criminal justice,

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yeah, and

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Cliff Duvernois: criminal justice?

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Ed McNulty: I ended up being the police.

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Oh, yeah, so I was, I'm retired now,

but, so I worked on Mackinac Island,

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Cliff Duvernois: I'm sorry.

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How old are you?

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You look like you're 40.

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41,

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Ed McNulty: yeah.

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Yeah, so retired from that line of work.

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So I did, I think I was

years:

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So it's 17 years.

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So I did 17 years in law enforcement.

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We had pension system.

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So I was able to retire.

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And then we started this stuff up.

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But I went to Mackinac Island.

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That's where I met my wife.

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So I worked one summer on Mackinac

Island as a police officer, then

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went to Adrian, got laid off.

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From Adrian when everybody got laid off,

got hired in White Lake, finished out my

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career there, and then opened this stuff.

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Cliff Duvernois: So what was it

about being a police officer that

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really attracted you to the field

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Ed McNulty: Oh, it's probably a

different podcast, but uh, It's

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good, it's a different career now.

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It's a, it's a lot different than like,

when you started, like, for good and

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bad, there's good and bad to it, but

you know, you want to go out and do it.

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Do some good.

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And it was also at the time it was, it

still is it's a job with decent pay.

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It's got good benefits.

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Usually it's one of the last

fields that still has a pension.

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My dad worked in a factory.

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My dad just retired

from GM after 61 years.

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He's 80 years.

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Yeah.

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He he's 80 years old and he worked

there from when he was 18 to, 79 or 80.

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Like we just had a

retirement party for him.

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So he was always real big on

you got to find a pension.

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You got to find healthcare.

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And so it was just one of

those jobs that check those

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Cliff Duvernois: Checked all of the boxes.

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Ed McNulty: that was,

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Cliff Duvernois: Okay, cool.

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so.

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let me ask you this question here

because it seems like there's a

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very short distance between You

retiring and open up like Last Level.

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Ed McNulty: Yeah 2018 we opened, we

have a Ninja Warrior Gym next door.

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So like, if you've ever seen American

Ninja Warrior, like Ninja Warrior Junior.

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We have a Ninja Warrior Gym next door.

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That was another thing we were,

like, Big fans of on old G4 TV.

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So like the old video game channel.

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So they'd play like the Sasuke stuff,

like the original Ninja Warrior.

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And then a little bit later in life, like

10 years later or something, I think they

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started doing American Ninja Warrior.

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Then you would see, he would see

like smatterings of Ninja Jim's

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opening up, things like that.

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so it was something that we wanted to do.

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And back when I was younger and in

shape, I was always like, I can do that,

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Um, yeah, so I'm like, I can do that.

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We found the space next door and you

know, me and my wife and we went through

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with that COVID hit and like we went

from COVID hit gyms and like that

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type of stuff and sports pretty hard.

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but so from COVID, gyms were

shut down during restrictions

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in Michigan, but retail wasn't.

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So in order to stay open, I opened up a

card store like a nerd store up front.

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So that's what we sell, like Pokemon

cards, magic, did you mind like trading

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card games, board games, things like that.

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There was a Sears here.

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So that was 2018.

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And then the card shop we

opened in:

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around COVID restriction stuff.

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And then Sears was here in this spot.

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Last Sears in Michigan.

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Yeah.

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So, yeah, so Sears was here.

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When they, we found out

they were going bankrupt.

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So like Sears files bankruptcy, but Sears

hometown was like a different business.

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Then they filed bankruptcy.

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So there was a CM Sears hometown here.

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So we had first refusal on

the space through our lease.

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So we wanted to put something in

here that, you know, wasn't going to

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cannibalize like kids stuff really

like where we were thinking about doing

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bounce house area, but ninjas, hard.

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So like a lot of kids, if given the

opportunity, they'll go jump on a bounce

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house for two hours as opposed to taking

a ninja class, which is hard and more

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athletic and is a legitimate sport.

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So like if given the avenue, we

were worried that, you know, like a

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bounce house or something like that

might eat into our other business.

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And we had, I've always been a fan

of video games, and we had been

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to other like bar arcades or like

barcade type business models before.

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But we knew it probably wouldn't work

in the population base around here

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unless we had a liquor license just

because Fenton's a smaller market.

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And we were fortunate that Fenton Township

had some liquor licenses available.

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So before we signed any leases and

stuff like that, we went down, we

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were approved through our liquor

license through the township and

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then that process took a little bit.

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So I mean we got the keys, Last

March, so like March, uh,:

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and this was a Sears, and we

opened July 21st to the public.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Ninja too.

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We got the keys October 1st.

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We opened December 1st,

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Cliff Duvernois: So what did your wife

say when you came to her and said,

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Hey, I want to open up a ninja gym.

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I mean, that sounds like a Homer

Simpson moment right there.

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Oh, really?

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Ed McNulty: put Ninja stuff in

my basement and she just did not

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want her house to turn, yeah.

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So she started looking, she started

looking at, like businesses and

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that this happened to be, oh, and

we lived in Fenton at the time.

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So this was like, you know where

we live so it wasn't very far away,

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so we were able to do everything.

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Now my wife's more Like I said, I

grew up with my dad like get a pension

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do your 30 or in his case 60 and get

out You know My wife's family like

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own businesses growing up like her

wife's family, so she was way more.

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She was way more like Hey, let's

try this we can do this we can do

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this so Yeah, she's she's good.

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Cliff Duvernois: That's nice that you had

that built in entrepreneur right in your

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Ed McNulty: Yeah, she's in my,

I'm a little grumpy sometimes.

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So she's way more, yeah,

she does a good job.

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She keeps me in check and she's,

she can handle the people a

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little bit better than me.

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So,

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Cliff Duvernois: When did you

first have the idea about Last

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Level, where did that come from?

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Ed McNulty: So during COVID stuff,

I was trying to replace all the

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revenue that we lost next door.

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a lot of stuff was coming

up on Facebook marketplace.

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So I bought a pinball machine.

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I bought a claw machine, I bought,

like another prize machine, just to

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try to get something over there, so

like if the kids are hanging out, or

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after birthday parties, we were still

hosting birthday parties, so like I

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started just like picking up things

here and there, and then when this

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became available, I was like, okay.

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I gotta make some calls to people to

get large amounts of arcade games.

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So I actually called a different

Ninja Warrior gym that they're more

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like family entertainment center.

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So they're called Adrenaline

Monkey in Cleveland, Ohio.

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And the general manager there, super

nice lady, I called her up and I'm like,

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hey, who does your arcade machines?

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Because I'm thinking about, maybe

getting some more doing stuff.

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And we had the space.

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So I was like, we could put some

around just looking to add on to.

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Get a few more revenue streams

going and she put me in touch

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with a guy in Cincinnati.

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I called him I'm like, hey, this is what

I'm looking to do and he actually put a

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package together for me So I was able to

buy 13 machines for a really good price

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Yeah, so like then I got those once

I figured out this is what we're

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gonna do and we got the liquor thing

Then I was like, okay, I have to

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go buy some machines And I, I did.

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I got it.

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He gave me a really good deal.

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I got like 13 machines for 13

grand, which is like unheard of

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Cliff Duvernois: That is phenomenal.

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That is.

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And so, so I want to go back and unpack

a couple of things here real quick.

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You mentioned before about how you were

focused on creating multiple revenue

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streams, and I say that because So many

businesses out there literally have one.

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And if something happens like with COVID.

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Your funds pretty much dry up.

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Where did you get the idea

to do multiple revenue

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Ed McNulty: My bank account.

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So yeah.

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Yeah.

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As, as, as it shrinks down, you know,

you got to figure something else out.

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So, and we took, yeah, we, we

Ninja never recovered after COVID.

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Like we went from, we had like a 40 person

competition team where we used to travel.

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Do we have 12 now?

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We did, oh yeah, we used to have

like 25 kids in class all the time.

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We're down now, we keep it to

15, but we have less staff.

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So a lot of sports stuff, especially

like niche sports, didn't really recover

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as easily as the traditional, like

football, baseball, that type of stuff.

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And Ninja, we actually lost a lot

of kids that Ninja was their main

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focus because Ninja was super hard.

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So when they didn't do it for six

months, like You lose all of that

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and all these kids are just like, I

don't want to work for another year

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to get to where I was beforehand.

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so they would, they branched off.

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So we lost like a big

group of core ninja kids.

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Yeah.

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So, and it's it's shown challenging,

I guess, to like, get back to that.

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it's still doing good.

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And like, it's, you can see it start

creeping up, but especially after

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the COVID stuff, we always took a

hit when T ball started, You would

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get, Fenton was a big t ball town.

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So like all those kids would start t ball.

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So memberships would get put on hold.

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And then the summer birthday parties

are a big revenue stream over there.

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So in the summer birthday

parties dry up cause it's hot

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and people do outside parties.

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So we were just like, we have to get

something to like shore up like on

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both sides, like during the downtimes.

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um, the cards helped out with that.

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Cause cards is pretty

steady throughout the year.

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Cause it basically just

goes on release schedule.

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Cliff Duvernois: For our audience,

we're going to take a quick

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break to thank our sponsors.

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Once again, you're

listening to Total Michigan.

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I'm your host, Cliff DuVernois.

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And we're talking with Ed McNulty

of Last Level in Fenton, Michigan.

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We'll be back after the break.

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Are you enjoying this episode?

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Well, I can tell you

there's a lot more to come.

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today.

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Hello everyone and welcome back to

Total Michigan where we interview

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ordinary Michiganders doing some

pretty extraordinary things.

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I'm your host Cliff Duvernois.

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Today we are at Last Level

located in Fenton, Michigan, and

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I'm talking with Ed McNulty the

owner of this game bar barcade?

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See, I'm learning new terms already.

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Ed, before the break, you started

talking a little bit about how you

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were reaching out basically to brokers

to start getting, like, pinball

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machines and and things like that.

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First off, I'm kind of curious about

this because I do see them every now

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and then, but is there, are there

people out there that actually, like,

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restore pinball machines and get them

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Ed McNulty: Oh, yeah.

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Yeah, so we actually our pinball

tech, he just came in and he's

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got a bunch in his basement.

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And his same thing, similar to mine, the

wife is like, you gotta find something.

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he actually routes our pins for us

for storage space in the pole barn.

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So he brings like his old pins

where he has a spot to like

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work and do stuff on them.

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And then in exchange, like if

our pinball machines go down, he

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comes in and fixes them for us.

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And then we had another guy

for all the other machines.

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Just kidding.

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very knowledgeable, super passionate guy

that was just coming in and then he's

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got a extensive like Japanese rhythm

game collection like the like Chunatham

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:

and like DDR and stuff like that and

he was like hey you know we can put

365

:

some games in and I really it's hard

for me so to back up most companies

366

:

so when I first started it'll be like

okay how am I going to outfit this

367

:

thing because I got a really good deal

which helped me out in the beginning.

368

:

But, a lot of these new games like,

there's a, we have an old NBA Jam.

369

:

And I paid 900 bucks for it.

370

:

Like I found it somewhere,

get that, put it in here.

371

:

All of our, like anything I can get

for reasonable is on free play in here.

372

:

Just so people can come in and

play, it's a four player game.

373

:

But like the new NBA Jam, it's NBA,

it's something, they changed it.

374

:

But it's the same game essentially,

like upgraded graphics and stuff.

375

:

20 grand.

376

:

Yeah, so I called the company that

like there's a like arcade distribution

377

:

that essentially like routes games

for you and then they do a revenue

378

:

share, but they want 70 30 because

they own the stuff as opposed to

379

:

you buying it, which is fine, but.

380

:

They only wanted to put

in redemption prizes.

381

:

Because they're like, oh that

stuff doesn't make money.

382

:

So like old games like, the Donkey

Kongs or the classics or like the

383

:

old single player games like they

were like They don't make any money.

384

:

We don't put those in routes anymore.

385

:

Because like they just sit they don't

get played and I'm like Yeah, but I

386

:

don't want redemption like I don't want

this to like we're a bar like, you know

387

:

There's a reason bar is first bar and

then we have the games and stuff with it.

388

:

I don't want I don't want Chuck,

I don't want, I'm not Chuck E.

389

:

Cheese.

390

:

I don't want to be Chuck E.

391

:

Cheese, you know, and I love families that

come in, but I love families that come

392

:

in because they'll play games together.

393

:

So, you know, when you get a mom and a

kid coming in and like they'll play a game

394

:

with each other, like they'll play, Bishy

Bashy or they'll go play Guitar Hero.

395

:

When you go to Chuck E.

396

:

Cheese or Dave and Buster's, it is

mom and dad sitting at the table,

397

:

kids trying to get as many tickets as

they can to go trade them for widgets.

398

:

And like that's not.

399

:

So a lot of the distributors

that I reached out to, I'm

400

:

like, I don't want to do that.

401

:

So I'm like, you, you sell those

other games, put those in here.

402

:

And they're like, oh, it's

not going to make enough money

403

:

for it to make it worthwhile.

404

:

And I'm like, I don't want your

business anyway, I'll go find my own.

405

:

And that's just, so I've

just been buying them up.

406

:

When I see them, here and

there, I'll like get them.

407

:

there's a lot of people that have.

408

:

Arcade games at home and if you can

get them fixed, which like we're

409

:

fortunate that we have techs and

stuff like that So I can get you know,

410

:

cheap like that gauntlet legends.

411

:

We just picked up like the Dark Legacy,

you know It wasn't working too great.

412

:

So the guy didn't want

a ton of money for it.

413

:

So I'm like, I'll take it I'm like, it's

got a working board, you know, like the

414

:

CRT went bad and this and that but so you

can get affordable like old multiplayer

415

:

arcade games without having to do the

ticket stuff, which is just eatin money.

416

:

All those prizes just go in the

garbage when the kids get home anyway.

417

:

Cliff Duvernois: and another question

that I had for you that, that you

418

:

were discussing there, of course,

is that you were talking about

419

:

going out and buying machines.

420

:

And I know that's a big cash outlay.

421

:

Did you ever consider, like,

maybe even renting them?

422

:

Ed McNulty: No.

423

:

Because I wanted them to like, if you own

them and something goes sideways, like you

424

:

at least have an out, like if something

goes bad, you're like, yeah, move this.

425

:

Like people don't realize how

like pins are almost 10 grand.

426

:

Like the pinball machines.

427

:

Yeah.

428

:

So like a lot of that stuff

though, but they hold value

429

:

well cause they are collectible.

430

:

So like a lot of these, You know, and

we've got enough games now because

431

:

like we had a good first year.

432

:

So like if I see something

reasonable pop up, like I'll buy it

433

:

and I'll put it in the pole barn.

434

:

And then that way, if something breaks

or do we can like do a game rotation.

435

:

that way we can still keep stuff

fresh and like get new games in here.

436

:

So like I said, a lot of them

are reasonably priced unless you

437

:

start going into the new stuff.

438

:

like I said, they're like, we have

an older Pac Man, like the battle

439

:

Royal, the four player Pac Man, and it

was still like reasonably expensive.

440

:

But the new ones are like.

441

:

24 grand you know what I mean for the

same game and it's just like updated

442

:

Like cabinetry like it's not it's like

a cocktail So yeah So it's like you can

443

:

then the new ones are wild like if you

ever when you go to Dave and Buster's

444

:

that connect For basketball game or

whatever that's like 34 grand So like

445

:

we don't have that type of stuff in here

like pins are by far our most expensive

446

:

like game that's like around a lot of

them like You can get for reasonable

447

:

for the reason that we talked about

because like people that route them They

448

:

don't want to throw a Donkey Kong in an

arcade because it doesn't make money.

449

:

But all of our games Like are on free

play so like our donk our cocktail

450

:

cable gets played all the time

that's got like the pac mans and the

451

:

Donkey Kongs like the old games on it

452

:

Cliff Duvernois: Right.

453

:

Ed McNulty: You know you're not

Nicklin or quartering people to death

454

:

Cliff Duvernois: Right.

455

:

Ed McNulty: of it

456

:

Cliff Duvernois: so for our

audience, if you're just joining

457

:

us, my name is Cliff Duvenois.

458

:

This is Total Michigan and I'm talking

with Ed McNulty of Last Level in Fenton.

459

:

And Ed, the next question I have

for you is if somebody was coming

460

:

here, they've never been here before.

461

:

Talk to us.

462

:

What can they expect when

they walk through the door?

463

:

How does this whole thing work?

464

:

Ed McNulty: We're a little different

and like a lot of our Google reviews,

465

:

if you read them, they'll be like

the pricing model is confusing.

466

:

But it's not once you're in here.

467

:

But like when you get the sales pitch

like at the beginning of the door.

468

:

We do an entry fee.

469

:

So adults is 5.

470

:

You get a dollar in tokens on entry.

471

:

You get 50 cents with any drink

purchase that isn't a bottle

472

:

of water or like a can of pop.

473

:

But like craft soda or alcoholic

beverages or, you know, like

474

:

energy drinks, stuff like that.

475

:

And then 80 percent of the machines

that are in here are set to free play.

476

:

so out of the, the stuff that isn't,

it's like pinball and a few other games.

477

:

That will take tokens or quarters.

478

:

If it spits out a prize, it takes

like real money only because we

479

:

give out the tokens for free.

480

:

So like little kids, if we'll come up

and ask them like trivia or like we have

481

:

a big sticker collection on the bar.

482

:

So like if they can name the Ninja

Turtles, like I'll give them a dollar in

483

:

tokens for like little kids so they can

go out and play, you know, like that.

484

:

But if they don't know who Hulk

Hogan is, I take all the tokens back.

485

:

So they, I let them ask

their parents, but yeah.

486

:

so like we wanted to be able to give

tokens out so people can like, Go

487

:

play and then there's because there

are still premium games in here.

488

:

That'll take quarters or tokens So we

wanted the people still to be able to play

489

:

those games Even if they didn't want to

spend any money outside of the entry fee

490

:

You know, they'll take quarters

or tokens and then you get tokens

491

:

when you, you know, order drinks.

492

:

But the bar games are always free to play.

493

:

So like we have cornhole, bocce

balls, shuffleboard, foaling, can

494

:

jam, all that stuff's all included.

495

:

You just, grab it, start playing

the console games at the bar.

496

:

You can always sit down with a group and

play like the most, Played games by far.

497

:

It's Smash Brothers, Mario

Party, and Mario Kart.

498

:

So like we have two switches at

the bar, so you can sit and play

499

:

like, by yourself with friends.

500

:

Like other people can grab controllers.

501

:

and then we have like retro gaming

consoles like Nintendo, Atari, all

502

:

the way through, the current gen

stuff that you can rent tables.

503

:

That's usually a lot of our birthday

parties is like they'll rent a table

504

:

because they get a console at the

table and they can play that stuff, so.

505

:

But, Yeah, I mean, it's everything.

506

:

We do have a lot of social games.

507

:

So like the cornhole stuff,

like all the physical games.

508

:

And then we do focus on the multiplayer

games at the bar and we, what you

509

:

were saying earlier, finding single

player games, like we do have single

510

:

player games, like there's, Tetris

and bubble bobble and like the

511

:

rhythm games and things like that.

512

:

But most of the stuff has the

option to play with somebody else.

513

:

So you can come with a friend.

514

:

this is a great, like date night

location, like hardcore arcade people.

515

:

They're always like you need to get rid

of the cornhole section and just line it

516

:

with arcades And I always say well one I

don't have an extra 100 grand lying around

517

:

because like it's a big section You know

518

:

yeah, so I'm like I don't have a

hundred grand to just line like 60

519

:

by 20 square with arcade games again

Too anytime you go to like a real

520

:

like dedicated arcade The only women

you see in there are somebody's mom.

521

:

You know what I mean?

522

:

So this is, we get a ton of

people that are out on dates.

523

:

We get a ton of guys that can come out

with their girlfriends or wives because

524

:

maybe they don't like video games.

525

:

Maybe they don't want to sit and play

Switch with you, but they will play

526

:

like Guitar Hero or they will play DDR.

527

:

Females like Dance Dance Revolution

has a big female Like fan base

528

:

that will play the dancing game.

529

:

You can almost always, even if

people don't like any video games,

530

:

like they will play cornhole.

531

:

They will do like the foaling.

532

:

They'll play shuffleboard.

533

:

a lot of people that don't like

arcade games, they like board games.

534

:

So we have like a really big

board game selection in the back.

535

:

I can always tell first date stuff

because they start, they start out at

536

:

one of the tables and they'll play like

classic or like one of the physical games.

537

:

They'll play like the old shoot the

moon like where you're trying to get

538

:

the marble to the planets You know what?

539

:

I mean, like they'll play that one.

540

:

They go back.

541

:

They'll grab board games.

542

:

They go to like classics They'll play like

battleship or guess who like icebreakers

543

:

stuff, you know so you can actually

sit down and have a conversation with

544

:

someone and go on a first date or go

on like an action like A you know with

545

:

your boyfriend and girlfriend Have a

good date and there's stuff to do for

546

:

everybody as opposed to like you go

in like sweaty arcades where they're

547

:

like It's like machines lined up, like

you really don't see a lot of girls in

548

:

there and you don't see dates in there,

so we wanted, my wife really wanted

549

:

this to be like, a place for husbands

and wives, cause like, we play games.

550

:

But she's not a big video gamer, but

she'll play board games, and she likes,

551

:

she'll play cornhole, she'll do that

stuff, so she wanted it to be some

552

:

place where you could go either with

your family, and your date, and then

553

:

it was also important to us that, I

got two daughters, we love our kids,

554

:

we spend a ton of time with our kids.

555

:

But it is nice when you do get, just

time alone, like on a date, so we

556

:

go adults only at 8 o'clock, once a

month we do like a parent night out,

557

:

so we'll keep the ninja gym open

late, so your kids can go next door

558

:

and do ninja, and we have staff on

559

:

Cliff Duvernois: Sweet.

560

:

Ed McNulty: on, duty, and then you can

stay over here with your date, and have a

561

:

few hours of like kid free time to like,

hang out and do stuff like that too,

562

:

so.

563

:

Cliff Duvernois: And Ed, if somebody did

want to connect with you, maybe come down

564

:

here and check you out or find you online.

565

:

What's the best way to do

566

:

Ed McNulty: So all our socials

are like at LastLevelFenton.

567

:

So that's Instagram, Facebook.

568

:

our website is just LastLevelFenton.

569

:

com.

570

:

and then our email is just

info at LastLevelFenton.

571

:

com.

572

:

Cliff Duvernois: Ed, thank you so much

for taking time to chat with us today.

573

:

Really do

574

:

Ed McNulty: Yeah, thank you.

575

:

I appreciate it.

576

:

Cliff Duvernois: And for our audience, you

can always roll on over to TotalMichigan.

577

:

com and click on Ed's interview and get

the links that he had mentioned above.

578

:

We'll see you next time when we

talk to another Michigander doing

579

:

some pretty extraordinary things.

580

:

We'll see you then.

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