The Evener Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 Hey gang, First, great collection/game room stories! It's fun reading about the different impulses for collecting as well. In addition to awesome collections, I love reading/seeing about prototype stuff -- the history buff in me gets a real kick out of that. My origins story might be more typical -- back in 1982, our family was thinking about a new video game system. Intellivision was in the running for most of the summer. Then my parents read about a new forthcoming video game system in TV guide -- the ColecoVision. Flash forward to late summer, my brother comes running into the house after being out for an errand with my mom at London Drugs -- "they have the ColecoVision!! And it comes with Donkey Kong! And it looks just like the arcade!" Santa heard about excitement, so we found the system under our tree, so we became a Coleco family. It was bliss. Cosmic Avenger! Smurfs! Ladybug! The following Christmas, we found an ADAM under the tree -- awesomeness! I decided to give my ColecoVision to my friend down the street who owned an Atari 2600 since the ADAM had built-in ColecoVision capability. Then in January 1985 I heard Coleco discontinued the ADAM. I was deflated. After the video game crash, I kept on gaming, incredulous that an entire industry was seemingly wiped out. Personally, I'm still skeptical about the conventional take about "too many crappy games" etc etc -- I mean, there was a brand new generation of video gamers -- it's not like I/we turned around and forgot about video games! Anyway, I digress... 1986 rolls around, and I was amazed to see a *new* video game system on the horizon from Nintendo. That Christmas, ADAM said "hi" to NES. It was around this time I noticed that "classic" video game systems were appearing at flea markets, pawn shops, and thrift stores. This was my chance -- to own all of those classic consoles, but which I couldn't years earlier due to expense (my family had a one game system policy policy). And so my collection mantra became to grab every classic system I could find with a few games, to one day set up all together so people could try out the Golden Age systems. Soon my friends joked that I was building a "museum," and they donated some of their games and systems over the years, including my friend who inherited the family ColecoVision. Twenty five years later, all of the video games systems I found over the years came out for the first time to be set up in my modest "game room," which soon shared space with classic arcade games. Then a few weeks back, to bookend the game room, I set up ADAM on a classic cocktail table arcade game. The disks and data packs are time capsules and I've been a lot of fun re-reading old high school essays and BBS files I saved -- and playing some Super Games. It's a small room, but with a creative mind and one that is "flexible" with organization, you can pull it off. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamshaft Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 Awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassGuitari Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 I spy an Astrocade, Arcadia 2001 (Leisurevision?), RCA Studio II, and Fire Command joystick. Also, I'm in love with your Asteroids cabaret.I'm not a real big Coleco guy, but it always makes me smile when I see an ADAM given some love as it's one of the forgotten computer platforms of the era. Speaking of the ADAM, how do you have it hooked up without the printer? Or is the printer just hiding somewhere?Also I noticed your Sears Pong, Astrocade, and Arcadia all have green stickers on them. Are they prices stickers from a game store? I'd just about shit my pants if I found those sitting in one of the local game shops by me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
san-d-2000 Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Wow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 (edited) Those old BBS files and journal essays are loads of fun to get into after x amount of years. Aren't they? Collections in small spaces have to focus on potency, variety, and versatility. Bang for the buck. You know.. And ergonomics for playability if possible. Now.. I have nothing against full-size arcade cabinets, but they weren't intended for home use and consume a lot space for the one single game you get in return. A lot of dilution and "equipment" for a one single experience that you can quickly tire from. Whereas a console gives you a lot more bang for its space. IDK. Maybe a high quality barcade and some extra desk space would be more appropriate here? Or maybe trade in just one cabinet for a multi'cade. This way you increase the richness and vibrancy of your collection. You get better ergonomics and I bet you'll soon fill that recovered space with more games. IDK, just a thought here. But overall, nicely done. Edited February 9, 2016 by Keatah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
high voltage Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 I like the Adam setup. Reminds me of the time when I used to own one (which needed the printer for operation) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbo-Torch Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Amazing setup, especially the awesome arcade cabinets! You should do a video walk through. btw, was that you who scored a million points on Nibbler? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikeguychicago Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Love the Atari cabarets and Universal cabs. The Universals definitely stood out from the generic cabs of the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikeguychicago Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Out of curiosity, how/where did you find the cabarets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Love how you maximized and utilized the space in such a small area! Definitely an art all in itself. Great selection of mini cabs also, especially love the Asteroids Deluxe. Not sure how readily they're available anymore, but there used to be a daughterboard that allowed you to choose between Asteroids, Deluxe and Lunar Lander. From what I remember though (and its been years), the guy behind it ditched the project for whatever reason (seem to remember something about Deluxe maybe, screen flipped or something). Might have been the same guy producing the Multi-Space Invaders kit come to think of it. And a Centipede/Millipede multipede kit. There's also something similar for the Pac machines as well. Plays all the different Pac-Man games, including originals that happened to use the same boardset and Super Pac-Man too. Thought I'd mention these just_in_case you wanted to further condense your room and/or make space for different machines down the road. Might be able to find some of this stuff here: http://arcadeshop.com ... highly recommended! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disrupture Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Great collection, I like a room filled with stuff everywhere. I especially love your carpet ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Yurkie Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 I love the Cosmic Avenger Arcade in original Universal cabinet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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