Despite my gaming credentials, I have to admit to never really being a fan of the arcades.
Around these parts they were often seedy establishments consisting mostly of fruit machines and bandits with a few coin operated games thrown in. The sound was disorientating and the patrons slightly threatening. All of the machines had ashtrays next to them and the combination of smoke and loud electronic noises made for an atmosphere of a futuristic battleground… one where all of the soldiers wore stone washed denim… head to toe.
But I did love the games themselves. The new ones put my monochromatic ZX Spectrum to shame… the large screens, high reolution and so many colours. The old ones demanded reverence, Pac Man, Donkey Kong, Galaxians, all saints and legends.
Then the consoles came and you could play these games in the denim free surroundings of your own home. The arcades began to die off. At least here… in Japan, they still go strong.
Fortunately, the monoliths of the arcade landscape would go on to find new homes. Collectors homes.
Now, whilst I would be more inclined to collect some of the earlier machines, nostalgia and all that, if you fancied something a little more recent, and with some provenance, I should point out that Michael Jackson is auctioning off his collection of both arcade machines and consoles:
The Simpsons Pinball Party
Sports Shooting USA
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Megatouch XL
Street Fever Basketball
Jambo! Safari
Super Chexx Hockey
Hotflash Air Hockey
Popstar Pinball
San Francisco Rush
Crazy Taxi
Hog Wild
F1 Exhaust Note
Police Trainer 2 Deluxe
Crazy Taxi III
Star Trek (pinball)
X-Men
Indiana Jones Pinball Adventure
Terminator 3 (pinball)
Tokyo Cop
Dark Stalkers
Revolution X
Ms. Pacman & Galaga
Horse Ride
The Simpsons Bowling
The Simpsons (arcade game)
Fortune Teller
Grandmother Predictions
Sammy USA Sports Arena
Zoltar the Fortune Teller
Lethal Enforcers
Lara Croft Tomb Raider
War Gods
Jumbo
Print Club 2
Super Street Fighter II
Little Red Corvette
Sega R-360
NBA Hang Time
Harley-Davidson & L.A. Riders
Polaroid Photo Booth
The Portrait Studio
Galaxy Force
WWF Royal Rumble
Oscar’s Wild Ride Gumball Machine
Ziggy the Clown
Nintendo 64 (in a store display rack)
3DO (in a store display rack)
Sony PlayStation (in a store display rack)
Clown Around
Smashing Drive
Sergeant Major
Nintendo Virtual Boy (in a store display rack)
Blitz 99
Alpine Racer 2
Hip Hop Mania Complete Mix 2
Digital Thunder
Crazy Taxi
Ultracade
Mocap Boxing
Striker Xtreme
Time Killers
Saturn
Karate Champ
Super NEO 29
Cruis’n Exotica
Strike Fighter
Megatouch MAXX
Virtua Racing
Ripley’s Pinball
Austin Powers Pinball
Ultracade
NSM Jukebox
San Francisco Rush 2049
Eighteen Wheeler
X-Men (arcade version)
Sports Jam
Lethal Enforcer
Batman
Luigi’s Corner
Robovend
LAX Rotary Merchandiser
Guitar Freaks
Tekken 2
Star Wars Racer
Bucking Bronco
The Sands Slot Machine
Mills Blue Bell Hi Top Slot
Dig Dug
Crystal Castles
Soul Calibur
Sunset Riders
Danger Zone
Donkey Kong
Terminator 2
Aliens
NBA Showtime
Frogger
Cart Fury
Manx Super Bike
Atari Basketball
Pony Mark IV
Ms. Pacman
Mortal Kombat
Neo Geo MVS
Caveman Ninja
Super Mario Brothers
Beach Head 2002
Marvel vs. Capcom
Virtua Tennis 2
Top Skater
Super Nintendo (in a store display rack)
Dance Dance Revolution
Sega Genesis Game Display
Sega Dreamcast (in a store display rack)
Frenzy Express
Need for Speed
You can see the rest of the auction (there is some brilliant, tacky, stuff up for grabs)
here.
Any takers out there?
This entry was posted on Sunday, March 15th, 2009 at 11:55 pm and is filed under comics.
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Holy smokes.
Indeed, clandestine cigars abound.
; )
Or you can build your own. That’s been a dream project of mine for a couple of years but I unfortunately lack the money, time and stable living arrangement. One day. One day.
Brandys last post..Too Big Not to Fail
MAME is great, and the only way that I’ve experienced many of the old arcade machines. I too would be rather pleased with myself if I managed to make a decent cabinet to put it in.
My friend made one of those a few years back. They’re awesome, even though they have a knack of overheating slightly.
It’s worth pointing out, though, that if you can’t manage the ‘full’ arcade machine experience, you can simply buy parts and make an arcade-style joystick for your regular PC/console.
/b
Damn this cast, I typed out a wicked comment then nudged the wrong buttons and crashed opera.
I once worked for this guy who retro-fitted broken arcade machines with working cheap computers and re-wired keyboards so they connected to the original controls so it all worked like the real thing.
Was a pretty good effort.
That is a genius pun.
Bens last post..FESA
Thanks.
So how goes the broken bone? Casts are annoying.
Bone is barely broken, which makes the cast annoying.
I paid extra to get a cast that I could get wet, which is working out great.
I can shower and keep it clean and un-stinky and I can swim in the house pool.
Currently the cast is dripping water all over my laptop, so I am giving up for now and going to make coffee.
Bens last post..FESA
That is a truly staggering list.
My brothers and I have not-so-jokingly be talking about getting a mortal combat arcade game that we saw for sale, but my sister-in-law is adamant about that thing not being in her house.
When I was a kid, there was an arcade up the street from me, and it was terrifying…but more leather and beer than denim and smoke. Their pizza was delicious, though, and my father ended up winning ridiculous amounts of things on pinball.
I remember when Mortal Combat came to our arcade. A lot of fuss was made, but it left Gauntlet free, which kept me happy.
Gauntlet and Final Fight… easily pleased really.
So, is that your favourite machine or just one you think you could get?
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Ah, Micheal Jackson. The only undead proof that child stars don’t work out as normal (or whole) adults.
Near where my grandparents live, down in Swanage, there’s an arcade. It’s more home to penny slides and drops and grab machines than the big time fruit machines. When I was younger, a pot of 2p coins entertained me for hours in there. In fact, it still does. But sadly, as time goes on, the arcade changes. Machines begin to take 10p coins instead, and I grow old enough to enter the adult section where the big time fruit machines live. The day I went in that section, I was deeply saddened by all the flashing, shiny machines.
I’ll never be quite as happy as I used to be when I turned one two pence into many more in a penny drop machine.
Plus, when I was a toddler, crawling around on the floor collecting lost small change earnt me many an ice cream
Street Fighter iV came out not too long ago…
I live with this guy Jerrell (yes, it’s pronounced the same as Superman’s dad) who plays video games semi-professionally. Apparently they never released the arcade version in the US, so any time you see an arcade machine over here, it means someone paid to ship the thing form Japan. The sillier part? He’s been debating the merits of buying his own arcade machine for the living room. (But I think he’ll hold off: he’s being flown out and put up in a hotel in LA for three days this summer so that he can play in the US national Street Fighter tourny. One of the prizes is an arcade machine for the new game. And if he wins, he goes to Japan (free) for a week, to play in the world tourny.)
I miss arcades so much! Tempest was my favorite, that and air hockey, i cannot pass up an air hockey table.
I think one of the best things about Arcade Machines in general was the Arcade Experience. Although it sounds like it may have been a little different around when you lived. I have been working on building my own Arcade Machine as a project so I can relive some of these fond memories in the comfort of my own basement. ^-^
Wish I had an arcade machine. I work at an amusement park that has an arcade, and they got rid of some of their older games at some point. I was willing to buy one, but they were already long gone.
Encifers last post..Jarring
Hey that was really a mindblowing article.. I am also the big fan of arcade. I have PS3 in which i mostly played the arcade games and i have Street Fever Basketball, The Simpsons, Terminator 2, and my favourite Virtua Racing games.. I played daily Virtua Racing game, arcade games is really very entertaining..