Insert Coins

Review

A lot of great ideas have come forth from combining two things that are great on their own. Just look at pizza bagels, Reese's Pieces or pretty much any mixed drink. Following in this great tradition, Insert Coin(s) takes two very beloved pastimes, drinking and playing video games, and joins them into an experience that you can't really get anywhere else.

The 7,000-square-foot venue is a little bit of everything: lounge, club, bar, arcade…  and perhaps, barcade.  You have more than 40 classic and contemporary arcade cabinets to choose from, a dance floor with a DJ booth and big screens playing music videos, and VIP booths equipped with HDTVs, where you can get a game console of your choice with your bottle service -- ranging from classic '80s systems to the modern generation of consoles.

Most games tend to be played online these days, but Insert Coin(s) returns to the roots of gaming, making it a social experience once again. Besides the VIP service experience, the center bar also features 14 PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles, which means you can try a pickup game of the latest "Mortal Kombat," "Madden," "Call of Duty," or whatever came out that week while you wait for you drink. And coming full circle, a high-speed internet connection allows online play, so you can play with anyone in the bar, around the world or both.

And the drinks. Insert Coin(s) has your standard, fully stocked bar, but they've also concocted a few specialty drinks named after a few gaming icons -- they're quite tasty and quite strong.

You have a few decades of arcade games available from the eras of "Donkey Kong" to "The Simpsons" to "Capcom vs. SNK 2," all with cup holders, because it'd be a shame to ruin one of these fine refurbished cabinets during a session of "Metal Slug." These things can get pretty wild, after all.

And wild is the way to describe the entertainment at Insert Coin(s), which features some of the best DJs Sin City has to offer, spinning a variety of genres throughout the week. The dance floor isn't huge compared to a megaclub on the Strip, but between the DJ set lists and crowd it draws, the vibe is definitely more intense on many nights.

Gamer or not, this is one Fremont Street bar has to be experienced at least once.

-- Review by Jorge Labrador