VectorGamer

Man you need to MPEG that and post it online!

Now that is simply beautiful, my brother!!! : ]

Huh? : ] Sounds like the arcade at HersheyPark. You wouldn't believe the number of classic arcade games that were out of service. Mr. Do!, Ms. Pac-Man, Frogger...the list goes on... I was in Ocean City, MD last month and visited the arcades on the boardwalk that supposedly had all these classic arcade games. Sorry, but the Class of 81 cabinet doesn't count in my book. Anyway, most of the games were driving games and some kind of slot machine thingees... Guitar Hero was prominent but I guess a balance will have to be kept between modern and classic games in order for the arcade to survive.

I would like the Odyssey2 console!

I don't see any logic to this shodown but I voted anyway...

I'm sure parents gave their kids a few quarters just to get them to behave for a little while they shopped. I remember those consoles setup in Sears (of course, they were Atari 2600s with the Sears name on it) and kids Bogart'ing them. Sometimes my parents would give me a ton of quarters and I would head down to the arcade by myself. You couldn't even do that nowadays, even if there was an arcade around, for fear of their child being abducted. I remember one time I ran out of quarters and being alone for about ten minutes I got really scared and had my parents paged to come get me. In retrospect, that was bad judgement on my parent's part. On that note, a lot of people on AtariAge refer to the "seedy arcades" of yesteryear. I have never seen one locally or on the boardwalks back in the day. I don't know why, but my Dad used to take me to the bowling alley on Sunday nights during league play. He spent a fortune taking me along by feeding me a ton of quarters to spend on the games there. That bowling alley had a nice game room. They started out by having a few games against a wall in the bowling area - Robot Bowl and Breakout along with some pinball machines. They then moved their games into a dedicated room where I vividly remember playing Asteroids, Tron, Jungle Hunt and Sea Wolf. They had about ten arcade cabinets, two pinball machines and three pool tables in that game room. Plenty of cigarettes being smoked and I remember in the mid 80s, when I took up smoking, laying cigarettes down somewhere on the Asteroids control panel while I played (just like everyone else). Nice burn holes in that overlay. Stupid thing happened to that bowling alley. I would have to say mismanagement of funds, even though with a rival and more advanced alley in the area yet they were about 10 miles away. The place still had great attendance for league play and the game room never missed a beat as a favorite hangout. Anyway, the owner sold the property to Nichols department store who obviously was going to tear the place down and put a store up in its place. That never happened and the lot sat empty for years until a Hills department store took its place. Nichols also had a game room. I don't recall exactly what games they had there. They may have had Space Fury. Again, that was an example of arcade cabinets being everywhere from convenient stores to department stores. The bowling alley is another model of having a product support the arcade. I'm sure others have seen dedicated (and thriving) arcades in high traffic areas like boardwalks and indoor shopping malls. The quality of classic games of the era and with Park City (in Lancaster) being one of if not biggest malls in PA was able to pack the Fun City arcade for years. I need more coffee...

It'll be a two hour drive for me but I figure how many video game expos are in my area? Funny thing is that I'll spend more time driving (maybe even one way) that I'll spend at the expo. If it's roughly the same size of Too Many Games in Leesport then I will probably circle the place three times and then leave. I may have to make a few stops on my way back to justify the trip. Challenge Arcade in Reading may be one of those stops and I don't know if there is anything else along the way. I figure any dealers that may be along the way would be at the show so that's not even worth the stop.

Mid-week report... 2600 Jr. Pac-Man 75 mins Lock N Chase 10 mins Moon Patrol 5 mins Space Invaders Arcade 5 mins Pac-Man Arcade 5 mins Freeway 2 mins Sprintmaster 5 mins Grand Prix 5 mins NES Pac-Man 2 mins Popeye 10 mins Donkey Kong 15 mins Super Mario Bros. 30 mins Donkey Kong Jr. 5 mins ColecoVision Pac-Man Plus 35 mins

Sorry - should have been posted in "Auction Central" but then again the "Marketplace" forum is ambiguous...

Man! Look at these cabinets up for bid - Pong, Computer Space and Death Race...can you imagine having these in your game room?! http://www.chasethechuckwagon.com/html/category/18600-1.html

I noticed the preview did not credit me as a columnist. Did you ****can the interview I did?

I plan on being there...it'll be "a drive" so there's no way I'm going to get those early morning deals

Was it shipped UPS by chance?

Satan's Hollow (converted to Galaga) Make Trax

While I agree with your comments, I think the member was just considering the positive aspects of gaming in that era versus what we now see today. Regarding modern tech, I have a love/hate for the very technology that supports my existence. While I could not do without the modern convienences of, for example, online finance, email and even keeping abreast with Facebook, I prefer to turn off the phone and seldom use the computer when I am not at work. As much as we played video games as kids we spent equal or more time outdoors playing kickball, baseball, football or riding bikes. It's interesting how infrequent kids ride their bikes anymore.

Not music videos, but music. One very specific moment I remember in Fun n Games in Framingham was during the hair band era and they were playing Still of the Night by Whitesnake. So they definitely had a PA system playing AOR type stuff from that era. None of the arcades around here played music...sound was provided by the games themselves which is the way it should be...

With respect to video games, I think the arcade was the biggest phenomenon. Fact is, home console games were becoming a dime a dozen with crap games being released by CommaVid and US Games - not much to write home about there. Some good reads are Supercade and the Encyclopedia of Arcade (or is it Video) Games. Both books break the releases down by year and between the two you can see the evolution and progression of cabinet design and in-game graphics. It was awesome to play what we would now consider "primitive" games like Tank, Pong and racing games on those old b/w monitors in the bowling alleys and department stores. It was history in its infancy. Then you had the release of Space Invaders followed by Asteroids and then Pac-Man that led to the craze and saw the arcades packing them in. To a ten year old, this was larger than life itself. I think 1981 was a breakout year for the arcade with releases like Galaga, Ms. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Frogger, Gorf and Satan's Hollow to name a few. Most of the games were unique and imaginative and the ones that may have been considered e.g. Pac-Man clones like LadyBug were still original in their own right. It's a shame that we seldom see the creativity in video games anymore. It seems like everything needs to be realistic and have "kick ass" graphics. It would be nice if someone took a chance to release a "retro-feel" title for a new console that really took off and started this whole craze over again. Interesting comment in an article I read lately about an arcade in Toronto. The owners have been in the business since the late 70s and one of the things they mentioned was that they had the security of a select arcade title not being ported for the home console for several months later (much like movie releases). Having said that, the way I see it is that a company would have to come out with arcade-only releases for a time in order to get the arcade off of life support. But, are you willing to spend $1 per play? I'm not. A quarter - no problem. How profitable is that, then? You'd have to return to the same model as before - a quality and addictive title dripping in repeat plays. You would also need to have a product to sell along with the arcade just as Nolan Bushnell's Chucky Cheese model. TNT Amusements, for example, uses their arcade as a sales showroom and sells their space for birthday parties. What was the core of their business is now a minority and that is commercial arcade sales and service. A place nearby is the Coliseum (you can go to their Web site to view pix) which has a bar, restaurant, poker room and bowling alley to support the arcade. Their space can be rented for private business functions as well.

Along with Jr. Pac-Man for the 7800, I've been playing the heck out of PMC. Mainly, Pac-Man Plus. Now, what is the significance of 7587 - I'm assuming it refers to July 5, 1987?

Game Boy - I can't play the thing because the pad is so darn small. That's where I prefer the Lynx. 5200 RF - The one complaint I read was going away from the RF that was released with every other system. Honestly, I don't know why they went through the trouble with this and can't believe it saved them any money. Now, if you had a to decide between the 5200 and ColecoVision, would the RF been a deal maker/breaker? I think not...

I was fortunate to grow up in the arcades. It was certainly awesome to be in a packed arcade on a Friday night playing Space Invaders or in the back of a department store playing Space Fury. Look at an arcade cabinet like Tron and the amount of artistic effort put just in the cabinet itself. That is something lost in what we call the evolution of technology with the Xboxes, Wiis et al. I figure the arcade will never come back so I'm building one in my house, although of modest size... Stay tuned to Classic Video Gamer magazine. I plan on writing on this topic by year's end and I think you'll enjoy the article I wrote for the September issue.

Sold for $97

Sweet - no response... I have had problems with the last two packages I received that were ship via UPS being damaged. Would you provide a telephone number on the receipt in the event I need to contact you? I will get a receipt, yes? Could you upload a jpeg of the Make Trax stencils that you have for the Mini Cabinet so I can see for myself if there's anything doable with them? And take a measurement of the width of the words "Make Trax" so I can get an idea? This would be much appreciated. Otherwise, I'm looking at a plain orange cabinet. I have looked at paint swatches from Home Depot and the yellow I have is a very close match and the orange is close. Green is the toughest one to match, believe it or not.

I don't believe ordering has started... Ordering has been and gone... not sure if any more will be made. That's a shame...I don't understand why subsequent carts aren't simply available through the AA store?

Hmmm... I wonder if there is any mention of the 5200 controllers? : ] http://technologizer.com/2009/08/10/fiftee...esign-mistakes/

http://www.kotaku.com.au/2009/08/kotakus-t...top-10-lists-3/