Chuck E Cheese mascot gets a hip modern update.

[Brad]

I prefer Showbiz Pizza.

- Ian

Ironically that is the company that bought Chuck E. Cheese after it went BK in 1984. They are now known as CEC Entertainment, Inc as they changed their name from Showbiz in the late 1990's. I know this because I worked for Showbiz in 1984 at a place called Celebration Station in Rockford, IL. It is now a Chuck E. Cheese as they changed the name a few years later. The man that founded Chuck E. Cheese is the same guy who founded Atari, hence the video game tie in. His name is Nolan Bushnell. He worked with Robert Brock when they started franchising the Chuck E. Cheese name. Brock eventually left and founded Showbiz.

[MegoMark71]

IS it safe to say that they had there day back in the day and we have simply outgrown them. They used to be a place every kid wanted to go cause it looked so cool. I blame them for not changing with the times. Now there is so much more competition. You can do the same things they offer in a bunch of other places, and they are more current with the times. I remember watching the commercials, they were up there with toysrus commercials as far as making a kid go buggy with wanting to be there.

[RickD]

yea it's all kids games now...total crapfest

I haven't been into a chuck E Cheese for years. but I would agree, they are garbage now.

[toys2cool]

It was totally cool back in the 80s....rows and rows of video games...donkey kong, q*bert, xevious, excitebike, galaga,...who cared about the pizza???

Now all they have is the little kiddie games like magnetic fishing, etc. Not that there is anything wrong with that...it's just not the same.

-Chris

yea it's all kids games now...total crapfest

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

Here's an interesting article:

http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/the-surprisingly-dark-origin-story-chuck-e.-cheese/

From the article:

>With a vault full of nightmarish puppets at their disposal just waiting to be used in ironically terrifying viral ads, they have all the material they need to remake Chuck E. Cheese into some kind of sleazy back-alley pizza slinger who also promises a bit of fun for parents on the side. From there, it's just a matter of adding a little more adult fare to the menu and hiring a team of writers to infuse Chuck's in-store banter with little bits of innuendo that will fly over children's heads but will make the adults who are forced to be there at least chuckle a little bit.

They may be onto somtehing. Isn't this what everyone says is cool about stuff like Shrek, or the Pixar films?

Don C.

[ctc]

Hey!

The new Chuck looks like Omar's nerdy cousin!:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTBjwJyn6gY

Don C.

[samurainoir]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chuck-E-Cheese-LOT-of-PVC-Mouse-Figures-2-5-Show-Biz-Pizza-CEC-1983-1986-/170871718982?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27c8bf8446

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hot-Wheels-Chuck-E-Cheese-80s-Corvette-/160835689895?pt=Diecast_Vehicles&hash=item25728ddda7

[megomania]

now it sucks, but back in the day it was lots of fun...I remember you could trade in tickets you won for sealed mail in Gi joes, even starduster!!

It was totally cool back in the 80s....rows and rows of video games...donkey kong, q*bert, xevious, excitebike, galaga,...who cared about the pizza???

Now all they have is the little kiddie games like magnetic fishing, etc. Not that there is anything wrong with that...it's just not the same.

-Chris

[jwyblejr]

I saw an ad today with the new version of Chuck. I sooooo wanted someone to step on him. I'm guessing they're going with a Geico gecko type thing with the height and all.

[spacecaps]

umm.. then why did you keep going back?

We'll we stopped going for the most part. The two birthday parties we had there were because of the low cost and convenience and we did go somewhere else this year. The one time I went there for "fun" (which was the first time I was there with my son) was almost five years ago and the other 4 times we were invited to birthday parties. I'm not gonna turn down the invite because of the location but as a rule the only time we'll go there now is if it's for a birthday party.

[palitoy]

Well, in Chuck E.'s defense here, it's OBVIOUS that there's no money left for decoration when you sink every dollar earned into the quality of the food.

To be fair, that pizza is low grade crack to me. I always feel bad about myself after a birthday party.

[toys2cool]

My favorite was Razzmatazz. Chuck E Cheese is the only restaurant you know you're going to see a rat before even walking into it. He's a pretty stupid mascot for an eatery to begin with in that regard but the thing about him that needs updating the most is his voice. It's the worst. I wonder if his supporting cast is getting an upgrade too. The bird, the dog, the stereotypical Italian and the purple blob...My Chuck E Cheese also has those 90's parody posters but we also have 80's record album parody posters too. I've taken my son to Chuck E Cheeses exactly 7 times ever. 6 of them were for birthday parties (two were his own) and once was just to go for fun. After every single time we've gone, he's fallen ill within the week. Those place are a total germ-fest and a great place to take your child if you want them ill!

umm.. then why did you keep going back?

[Earth 2 Chris]

I much prefer Gatti Town. The food is actually decent, and they have a better selection of games. Much cheaper than Chuck E's too.

When I hear "Chuck E. Cheese", I think of comedian Tim Wilson's song. Look it up.

Chris

[johnnystorm]

The one by my house (which really isn't that old) is riddled with mid 90s parody posters, X Files, Star Trek TNG, 90210, all the shows my kids have never, ever heard of.

Well, in Chuck E.'s defense here, it's OBVIOUS that there's no money left for decoration when you sink every dollar earned into the quality of the food.

[spacecaps]

My favorite was Razzmatazz. Chuck E Cheese is the only restaurant you know you're going to see a rat before even walking into it. He's a pretty stupid mascot for an eatery to begin with in that regard but the thing about him that needs updating the most is his voice. It's the worst. I wonder if his supporting cast is getting an upgrade too. The bird, the dog, the stereotypical Italian and the purple blob...My Chuck E Cheese also has those 90's parody posters but we also have 80's record album parody posters too. I've taken my son to Chuck E Cheeses exactly 7 times ever. 6 of them were for birthday parties (two were his own) and once was just to go for fun. After every single time we've gone, he's fallen ill within the week. Those place are a total germ-fest and a great place to take your child if you want them ill!