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Playdium

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Playdium
IndustryEntertainment
Founded1996
Number of locations
3
ParentCineplex Entertainment
Websiteplaydium.com

Playdium is a family entertainment centre chain owned by Cineplex Entertainment. It currently consists of three locations.

History

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Playdium first launched on September 7, 1996, opening its first location in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada as Sega City @ Playdium. It was located near the Square One Shopping Centre and served as the chain's flagship location. The 11 acres (480,000 sq ft) centre cost CA$17 million to build and included an arcade, batting cages, go-karts and mini-golf. A partnership with Sega GameWorks, it featured many arcade games from that company such as Daytona USA, and eight-player racing setups for Indy 500 (as Virtua Indy) and Manx TT Super Bike.[1][2] In 1999, the centre was renamed to Playdium.

At its peak, the chain operated four Playdium locations: Mississauga (next to the Square One Shopping Centre), Toronto (next to Scotiabank Theatre Toronto), Edmonton (inside the West Edmonton Mall) and Burnaby (inside Metropolis at Metrotown and host of official Dance Dance Revolution tournaments in 2000 and 2001).[3][4] Though the Playdium brand did exist in smaller arcades that are now known as Cinescape or Xscape. The Rec Room is a spiritual successor to Playdium near the former Toronto location and at the former West Edmonton Mall location. A new Rec Room location took over the former Target at Square One Shopping Centre in 2019. Despite this, future plans regarding the nearby Playdium location have yet to be announced.[5] The company also operates The Playdium Store, which retails arcade games and various other home entertainment solutions.

In October 2017, Cineplex announced the relaunch of the Playdium brand, with plans to open 10 to 15 locations nationwide.[6] The first location under the relaunch opened in Brampton in September 2019, followed by a location in Whitby in November 2019.[7][8] On October 15, 2020, it was announced that Playdium would permanently close its original location in Mississauga on November 1 due to redevelopment of the area however its locations in Brampton and Whitby would remain open.[9] On February 20, 2021, Playdium opened its third new location in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.[10]

Operations

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The original main building in Mississauga was 40,000 square feet (3,700 m2) and included over 200 attractions. Some arcade games include Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, Luigi's Mansion Arcade, Pac-Man's Arcade Party and two Pump It Up machines (Pump It Up 2017 Prime 2 and Pump It Up 2015 Prime).[11] The arcade was previously curated into themed "communities" such as Contact, Music, Speed and Sports, but this is no longer the case.[12] Play credit and tickets for games are loaded on a digital game card and can be purchased in units to use at any time or in time blocks of two hours. While all games require credit, redemption games cannot use time blocks and may also award digital tickets to successful players. A few other machines also cannot use time blocks. Cards from Player One brands are not interchangeable. For example, a Playdium card cannot be used at Xscape, or vice versa.

A baseball dome, formerly with a Toronto Blue Jays partnership, operated year-round and had nine variable-speed batting cages. There was also a Megabytes fast food restaurant on the gaming floor and a full-service mezzanine diner. Megabytes featured marketing similar to Cineplex concession stands and OutTakes restaurants, though at lower prices, while also incorporating a selection of Pizza Pizza and Starbucks menu items.[13] Past cross-promotional partners included HMV Canada, the Toronto Blue Jays (indoor batting cages, baseball camps, and coupons on Blue Jays tickets), the Molson Indy Toronto (the 1.2 miles (1.9 km) outdoor go-kart track was formerly known as the Mario Andretti Racetrack), and Roots (the lounge was formerly known as the Roots Treehouse). The outdoors also include an 18-hole miniature golf, and Water Wars.

Playdium Movie Magic

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Playdium Movie Magic was a DVD video rental shop that operated using automated retail kiosks.[14] It launched in early 2011 and closed in late 2016. Competitors included Le SuperClub Vidéotron, Redbox and Zip.ca kiosks. Contrary to these, Playdium rentals were location-specific and could only be returned at the original kiosk where the DVD was rented.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Playdium announces first Canuck complex: Mississauga site". strategy. 1996-06-24. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
  2. ^ "Playdium partial to partnerships: Sees joint marketing as cornerstone of firm's strategy". strategy. 1998-04-27. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
  3. ^ "locations:hours". Playdium. March 31, 2001. Archived from the original on March 31, 2001. Retrieved February 1, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ^ "Vancouver's Official Dance Dance Revolution Tournament". Konami. June 9, 2001. Archived from the original on June 23, 2001. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  5. ^ "Massive New Entertainment Complex Coming to Square One Target Location in Mississauga". 15 May 2017.
  6. ^ "Cineplex to reboot Playdium brand with 10 to 15 new locations in mid-sized communities". The Canadian Press. Global News. 2017-10-02. Archived from the original on 2017-10-03. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
  7. ^ Johnson, Bryon (2019-09-20). "New Playdium opens in Brampton". Brampton Guardian. Archived from the original on 2024-11-02. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
  8. ^ Kelly, Tim (2019-11-11). "Whitby's Playdium features more than 90 games, a VR arcade, bowling, ropes course and much more". Whitby This Week. DurhamRegion.com. Archived from the original on 2024-11-02. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
  9. ^ "Mississauga's Playdium Park to permanently close Nov. 1". Global News. Retrieved 2021-05-08.
  10. ^ "Playdium finally opening at Dartmouth Crossing (6 photos)". HalifaxToday.ca. Retrieved 2021-05-08.
  11. ^ "Playdium - Arcades". zenius-i-vanisher.com. March 2, 2017. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  12. ^ "Playdium creates order from chaos". Strategy. 2000-03-13. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
  13. ^ "Megabytes". www.playdium.com. Archived from the original on December 18, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  14. ^ "Playdium Movie Magic DVD Rental Kiosks". August 15, 2016. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016.
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