Ground Kontrol is now open for business at our new location, 511 NW Couch Street. GK 2.0 has a more open and electric atmosphere, room for new games, an antique bar for serving drinks at parties, and restrooms!

We're conveniently located on the bus mall. If you live or work downtown, just jump on a 6th Ave. Northbound bus and get off at the first stop after Burnside. Travelling by car or bike? We're near the Burnside, Steel, and Broadway bridges. For more detailed directions, see this map.

Our new neighborhood has even more to offer. If your partner or friends can't match your game-playing stamina, they can visit Just Be Toys or one of the many nearby art galleries such as Backspace, Motel, Compound, or Butters Gallery.

In keeping with the Old Town/Chinatown spirit, we will participate in First Thursdays by holding late-night events. The first is Launch, our all-day grand reopening party on October 7th featuring local bands, DJs, and prize drawings for classic Atari 2600, NES, Super Nintendo, and PlayStation home videogame systems.

After five successful years on SW 12th Avenue, Ground Kontrol is moving to 511 NW Couch Street in Old Town on the bus mall and one block north of Burnside, behind the Roseland Theater and close to Asian culture hotspot Just Be and network gaming gallery Backspace.

We'll kick things off with a Grand Re-Opening Party on First Thursday, October 7th featuring local bands, DJs, and prize drawings for classic Atari 2600, NES, and Super Nintendo home game systems.

In local news Williamette Week's annual Best Of issue, both staff and readers voted Ground Kontrol Portland's Best Arcade!

"The simple beauty of '80s video games is back: bleeping symphonies, nondescript graphics and joysticks that don't resemble a 747 cockpit. Retro arcade Ground Kontrol (511 NW Couch St., 503-796-9364) resurrects Atari legends from the immortal amphibian of Frogger to that triangle (err, spaceship) in Asteroids. Local nostalgia hero Anthony Ramos hooks up old-school vidiots with the gritty pixels of dinosaur favorites, including Pit Fall and Pole Position, and his den is also a good place to get a fully functioning 16-bit Nintendo or Atari 2600 (reasonably priced). If they're not fossilized beyond use, game cartridges run around $4 apiece. It's on like Donkey Kong."

Williamette Week's Best of Portland 2004: Best Places >>

Tonight, Ground Kontrol regular Brandon Erickson beat the 5.1 million point world record on Star Wars Classic in tournament mode (Hard, 6 starting shields, no bonus,) scoring 5,294,612 and later surpassing that with a 5,508,635 performance.

The first game was a real nail-biter as he found himself without any shields and still 400,000 points short of the standing record. He then played nearly 10 minutes without shields, matching and then beating the record by 200,000 points more.

For his second, higher-scoring game, he put himself over the top by flying the last trench without shields and without shooting, using evasion alone to destroy the Death Star and earn an additional 100,000 points for "using the Force." Quite a dramatic finish, and an impressive run for someone who only began playing the game a few weeks ago.(!!)

Congratulations to Brandon on being the new Star Wars world champion, and Ground Kontrol's first #1 record holder!

After several marathon training sessions, Ground Kontrol regular William Carlton logged over 12.7 million points in a single game of Asteroids, qualifying for a spot in the top five world record scores.

Ground Kontrol hosted this record-breaking game and videotaped the entire session for submission to videogame record keepers Twin Galaxies. They've reviewed all 27 hours of footage and confirmed his performance as the #5 worldwide top score, noting that Bill's performance is the first marathon Asteroids game recorded in over 20 years.

Bill's game-in-progress was covered by local TV stations KOIN 6 and Fox 12, and was featured on the cover of The Oregonian's Living section.

Twin Galaxies Links

• Portland Gamer Takes Asteroids for 27-hr Marathon
• Gameplay summary and Bill Carlton interview by recordkeeper Robert Mruczek

Gran Turismo project leader Kazunori Yamauchi and members of his design team stopped into Ground Kontrol for a visit, and we have the pictures to prove it!

With the high-tech toys these guys play with for a living, how could vintage arcade games possibly interest them? You might be surprised...

More >>

On January 2nd, at 8PM PST, MTV premiered its Ultimate Video Game Countdown, hosted by Seanbaby and shot at Ground Kontrol!

Welcome to the modest beginnings of our new website! Things will be more fact-filled, but a little plain, for the time being as we rebuild from the ground up.

Info about our merchandise will appear here soon. In the meantime, you can still find it in the old site.

Don't take everything it says seriously, though; retirement has made it a bit eccentric.