Arcades back in the day that seemed to carry lots of obscure games

[RJ]

The Maplewood Circus WAS huge. It had a birthday party room. The Roseville one was small compared to it, & had no similar party room as such that I recall. I frequented the HarMar one as I wasnt yet old enough to drive- Maplewood was a fair distance.

 

Boy was it great when I finally found that location! Never saw Thayers Quest there though, but I suppose that doesnt mean they never had one.

[retrorussell]

Malibu Gran Prix by my house (recently gone for good, boo!) had some oddities like EYES and GYPSY JUGGLER.

[Syzygy1]

Mega Man at Go Play in Belmar, NJ.

[hero2billions]

An arcade near my house 100k east of Toronto, had an odd collection including chiller,space ace,star wars with the cockpit and my favorite exciting hour

[SoundGammon]

There was an eatery in our mall back in the early 80s that had "Cosmic Defender" that was using an Atari 8-bit computer playing "Defender"!

 

Nice cabinet, well built for home made!

[jhd]

I played I, Robot in university residence in Halifax, Nova Scotia in about 1988 (I did not live in residence; I was there visiting a friend). I had no idea that this was a very rare game.

 

In the early-1980s, a local discount department store had a knock-off Pac-Man machine. I do not recall the specific title, but it was in black and white. The joystick looked suspiciously like a gearshift from a sports car...

 

I once saw a Thayer's Quest in an arcade in a mall the exurbs of Boston (probably Worcester or Auburn) in the mid-to-late 1980s. Alas, it was not working at the time.

[Nebulon]

There were around eight arcades that I frequented. Names like Wizard's Castle and Illusions spring to mind).

 

I loved the sheer variety of games back in the late 70s and early 80s. It was like there were no rules to adhere to. Some strange ones that I rarely saw include:

 

- Boxing Bugs (1981)

- War of the Worlds (1982)

- Strategy X (1981)

- The Glob (1983)

 

And a couple later ones:

- Ninja Warriors (1987)

- Outzone (1990)

[DaveD]

I think "back in the day" it was pretty common to find obscure games in many arcades or other places. For the simple fact that the classics hadn't become classic yet and operators were willing to give unique titles a chance. But I did notice a few trends in certain arcades, probably due to the game distributors arcades/locations worked with:

 

- Aladdin's Castle always seemed very loyal to Namco/Midway titles. This was the only place I remember playing Wizard of Wor. A few of the major Atari/WIlliams titles and very few if any obscure manufacturers. I don't think I ever saw a Cinematronics title in one of their arcades. Some Aladdin's Castle locations seemed to have a good assortment of Nintendo too.

 

- Showbiz Pizza always had a good selection of Atari and Taito as I recall. Only place I remember playing Crazy Climber. Many of the early vector games like Star Castle, Omega Race, Rip Off too.

 

- One of the well-stocked but smaller local arcades seemed to have a shady distributor. I recall playing quite a few bootleg games there including Ms. Pac-Man with the blue first maze. Lots of Williams games all the time too.

 

- I recall a few remote restaurants/bowling alleys that had more obscure games. Cosmic Alien, Tutankham, and others.

 

- Years later I'd always be able to spot a Donkey Kong and Ms Pac-Man tabletop versions at almost every pizza hut I went to.

[+5-11under]

I don't recall ever seeing duplicates in arcades where I lived. If an arcade had 25-50 games, there were definitely some obscure ones at any given point.

[DaveD]

I don't recall ever seeing duplicates in arcades where I lived. If an arcade had 25-50 games, there were definitely some obscure ones at any given point.

 

 

Duplicates. I had almost forgotten about that. I was fairly common to see 2-3 Pac-Man or Ms. Pac Man machines around. Centipedes too.

 

I'll never forget when Tempest first came out and I went to the local "shady" arcade I mentioned above. They must've had about 6-8 Tempest machines all lining the back wall. I walked into the room and almost all you could hear was Tempest. It took me another week before I got a chance to play though because all the games had a line of people in front of them!

[retrorussell]

^ Malibu Gran Prix used to have multiple Pac-Man/Ms.Pac-Man/Space Invaders/Asteroids/whatever machines that were wildly popular at the time.

 

My dad's bowling alley Kellogg Bowl in Milwaukie, OR, where he bowled on league nights (Monday), sometimes carried odd machines. I'd seen ASTRO FANTASIA and numerous blatant ripoffs like METEOR (Asteroids), FORT COSMOS (Star Castle), and the less blatant ripoff MAYDAY (Defender). SPEED FREAK was less rare but still kind of obscure.

[Flojomojo]

It wasn't until many years later that I realized how rare the I, Robot machine was that I loved to play. I didn't have the money, but I wish I had an opportunity to buy it.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoFn4_TMfgs

[Keatah]

They never made a home system port of that, did they?

[ComputerSpaceFan]

They never made a home system port of that, did they?

 

I've researched i Robot several times and it amazes me it never appeared on any compilations or anything at all.

[jhd]

Is it simply because of a lack of interest -- almost nobody would remember/have nostalgia for such an obscure game -- or are there licensing issues involved?

 

The title is from an Issac Asimov novel, but that may just be a coincidence as the game bears no resemblance to the book.

[Keatah]

I only saw I Robot at one arcade in a 30mi radius back in the day. It was at the Spring Hill Mall. They had it till the place shut down IIRC. I was too high at the time to have the ability to play it successfully beyond level 3 or 4. But, now, with MAME and everything I got around to finally discovering all the game has to offer.

 

I don't think there were licensing issues here. The premise is a servant robot #1984 becoming self-aware and battling against Big Brother.

 

I've noticed that games that are too far off of mainstream or ahead of their time turn into flops real fast. People didn't know what to think of the new-style polygon 3D graphics. It wasn't "safe" enough for the market to accept. IMHO, it says something about drab and lame demographics as opposed to the game itself. It was groundbreaking and had a number of technical achievements. But all that gets lost when your audience is abunch of high-school potheads. As a result they only made around 1000 of these units.

Edited January 29, 2016 by Keatah

[Syzygy1]

I played Juno First on a compilation machine in Tilt at the Solomon Pond Mall back in February 2014. But alas, it wasn't a stand alone.

[VectorGamer]

I played Juno First on a compilation machine in Tilt at the Solomon Pond Mall back in February 2014. But alas, it wasn't a stand alone.

 

Juno First is on the 60-in-1 board - is that what you played?

[retrorussell]

There was an Electric Castle's Wunderland (nickel arcade) in Milwaukie, OR at something like "Holly Farms Plaza". They had some weird stuff, the weirdest was SAMURAI, also known as SAMURAI NIHON-ICHI. Kung Fu Master clone but with swordplay. Sort of humorous approach with exaggerated looks on the slain characters' faces, and with birds throwing daggers at you from above (!).

[Syzygy1]

Juno First is on the 60-in-1 board - is that what you played?

Yes.

[Syzygy1]

My friend Tenshi was talking about her Aladdin's Castle and how it had the Environmental Discs of Tron with Sark's voice. She was also talking about playing I, Robot at a pizza place in Illinois. She also remembers playing Bio Attack on location. ("That game kicked my ass... at least I had control over where I was going in Fantastic Voyage for the Atari!")

[The Mr. Video]

I recall Disney Quest (R.I.P) having a Trog arcade machine isolated from the other machines for some reason, and a bunch of Fix it Felix Jr.s in their own section of the arcade to promote Wreck it Ralph. I wouldn't call Fix it Felix Jr. obscure, it's more that they got a limited release and were put on location exclusively in Disney property with a scant amount sold to private collectors.

[John Stamos Mullet]

G-Wizz At Boston Bowl in Dorchester, MA had:

 

Baby Pac-Man

I, Robot

Cliffhanger (Laserdisc game)

Atari F-1 (mechanical racer)

 

[schuwalker]

On 1/29/2016 at 1:33 PM, Keatah said:

I only saw I Robot at one arcade in a 30mi radius back in the day. It was at the Spring Hill Mall. They had it till the place shut down IIRC. I was too high at the time to have the ability to play it successfully beyond level 3 or 4. But, now, with MAME and everything I got around to finally discovering all the game has to offer.

 

I don't think there were licensing issues here. The premise is a servant robot #1984 becoming self-aware and battling against Big Brother.

 

I've noticed that games that are too far off of mainstream or ahead of their time turn into flops real fast. People didn't know what to think of the new-style polygon 3D graphics. It wasn't "safe" enough for the market to accept. IMHO, it says something about drab and lame demographics as opposed to the game itself. It was groundbreaking and had a number of technical achievements. But all that gets lost when your audience is abunch of high-school potheads. As a result they only made around 1000 of these units.

 

That particular A.C. at Spring Hill has tons of nostalgia for me. I too encountered I-Robot there. Recall playing it a few times - got my ass and went to the next machine.

 

I found a listing from Atari Scott on Klov regarding production #'s for Atari games.

 

I-Robot had a run of 750 units. Very low but it was in 1984.

 

Return of the Jedi only had 800 units. I just put that there cause I still can't find one ?

[Keatah]

Quote

The nearby town of Hangover Park had a Chuck E. Cheeses that had a Return of the Jedi. I don't recall the precise time frame but it would have been when the game first came out. A guess would be 1984-1986.