Illini Union Arcade / PowerZone

When the Illini Union first opened in 1941, it's basement included a "Rec Room" with an impressive 14 lane bowling alley and 12 table billiards hall. In the early 1970's pinball games were added and in the mid 1970's, arcade video games. Classics like Asteroids and Missile Command were among the line up circa 1983. In 1980, there were 91 games in the Union, Ice Rink and tunnel in the Undergraduate Library, all owned and leased from Empire Distributors, the then largest coin-op amusement distributor in the country.

In the late 1990's, the arcade briefly changed its name to the "PowerZone". This name was likely short-lived, documented in The Daily Illini only from December 1999 through May 2000.

Reference

1. 2018 Rec Room retrospective from the U of I Alumni Association
2. 1979 Daily Illini articles on the popularity of Space Invaders and pinball games in the Union Rec Room and around campus
3. Cheeky write-up on the new Playboy pinball game at the Union and Garcia's Pizza
4. First mention of PowerZone in The Daily Illini Dec 1999