‘Maniac’s Mansion’ is a new arcade downtown

Karrington Bradley, Reporter|May 2, 2019

Marcus “Maniac” McGee, Maniac’s Mansion owner, poses in front of arcade games.

TAG’s Maniac’s Mansion an arcade on 8th Street downtown, opened March 29. It features a cereal bar with nostalgic flavors, art collections and a family-friendly atmosphere, inspired to bring more fun to town.

Meet Maniac

Marcus “Maniac” McGee is a Wichita Falls native that loves all things geek. He was born in Wichita Falls but moved to the Grand Prairie area when he was young. He moved back to Wichita Falls when he was ten and saw a big culture shock, even in his adolescence, of Wichita Falls compared to a big city area. He wanted this town to have a unique hangout place for people to enjoy even if they may never experience going to big cities.

He said growing up African-American but being geeky was very rare here. He said he was the “whitest black kid here in Wichita Falls” with his love for comics and gaming.

He decided to put this arcade here to be a welcome place for everyone. He hopes that his addition to the community will help to revive downtown a bit more because downtown mostly consists of coffee shops and bars but this is a happy medium that can suit all age groups.

Marcus “Maniac” McGee, TAG’s Maniac’s Mansion owner, said, “I do everything all the way from the ’80s and ’90s but we try to stay a little modern with Dance Dance Revolution and some of the gun games.”

The arcade has games like Ms. Pac Man, Mortal Kombat, Donkey Kong, playing cards, chess and more.

Kerrington Biggers, nursing freshman, said, “The games looked fun and I know I can be comfortable and safe.”

A unique thing about this arcade is the use of a cereal bar instead of a typical alcohol-serving bar. Some of the cereal flavors were oldies but goodies like Pops, Cookie Crisp, and Apple Jacks. While some were new and hard to find like Oreo O’s, Dippin Dots cereal, and Nutter Butter cereal.

“The cereal selection was really good. There were cereals that I never heard of, which was cool, and cereals that reminded me of my childhood,” Biggers said.

The cereal bar starts at $1.69 and to have full use of the arcade games is $7. There is also the eat-and-play combo for $8.50. The arcade works using free play.

“With free play, you don’t have to put any quarters in. The big secret about free play is that you put it [the game] on the hardest mode,” McGee said. “The thing about it is that once you beat a game, you don’t want to play it anymore. If it’s tough you’ll either keep going and beat it or you’re going to give up and try again next time. You’re going to be like ‘well I got this far, I’m going to go again next time’.”

Joselin Flores, general business freshman, said, “I love Mortal Kombat and they had a couple different versions here. I hadn’t played in a while but after hearing about the machines being set to hard mode I kind of got why I couldn’t beat it as easily as I used to. But that kind of made it more fun. When I come back I’m going to try some new games because I saw this kid playing with a virtual reality game that I want to try. I saw them a lot on tv and I want to see if they feel as real as people say.”

The arcade also includes artwork and collectibles which can actually be bought upon request.

“All the art that you see is from my favorite artist. Most of these are limited, signed, or numbered print. These aren’t things that you can just go to the store and buy. You have to get on the site, sit there, and wait for it to release and hope it doesn’t sell out. Most of everything in the gallery that is framed will be for sale so you can come and buy it if you want to. You just ask me about it and I’ll tell you about it and how I got to it, then we negotiate a price,” McGee said.

Maniac’s Mansion is located at 710 8th Street, which is directly next to 8th St. Coffee House. There is a connecting door for patrons to go between the coffee shop and the arcade/cereal bar for their enjoyment.

“If I start coming here often the coffee shop is going to be used,” Flores said. “I love coffee and if I’m going to be playing video games, the coffee will hopefully make me play better.”

There is also a possibility of apartments for students being put above the arcade, similar to Mustangs Village. Students who decide to stay there can swing by when they’re running late and get some cereal or just have a hangout spot to be with their friends.

Biggers said, “It’s [the location] really smart in the way that he did this. The apartments that are going to be here and the way it’s connected to 8th street, which is already really popular.”