Arcade machines
Discussion
I loved arcade machines. I spent far too much time and money in/on them.
Late 80s was the zenith for me. I was in military training at Dover, and me and my mate Chris used to use our rare "weekend passes" to take a train up to London. There, we'd disappear into parts of London I probably couldn't find again (and probably don't exist in that form anyway). We'd go to record shops in the front rooms of terraced houses in predominantly 'ethnically black' areas. There we'd spend time flicking through racks and racks of old vinyl soul and blues records before buying home-made cassettes of no-longer-available albums because we only had Sony Walkman type cassette players in the barracks, no turntables.
Then we'd spend the evenings in the big arcades in Soho. We'd play Hang-On on the full-size plastic motorbike, After Burner within a 'cockpit' with a 'proper' joystick and throttle. There was a Star Wars X-Wing game in a similar replica cockpit, and stuff like Tekken, too, which was a stand-up button basher. Sega Rally, and the other driving games were just amazing at that point in time. Pole Position, Road Blasters, Outrun, all great fun, even watching someone else play. And then there was Final Lap. The daddy of them all. One arcade had three cabinets linked together, so up to six players could race simultaneously. Sitting there with Chris, money ready, just willing another couple of players to take a seat so we could have a decent race of it.
Then came the Mega Drive, "the arcade experience at home". I know it wasn't the first, but it marked the point where graphics caught up with the arcade machines. Clipping a cartridge into the machine and seeing the opening credits of a favourite game on your telly at home? It was brilliant. And that's where, for me, the game developers stopped working on arcade cabinet games in the same way, and switched their efforts to home consoles.
I don't consider myself to be a 'gamer' at all now. My son's X-Box 360 was the last console I used at all. My own last console was a PS2, playing mostly WWII shooters and driving games, along with FIFA/EA franchise stuff. I still own a Nintendo N64 and my very first Mega Drive, but they're in a box at the back of a cupboard these days.
It's sad to see that the old arcades are either no longer in business, or dominated by gambling machines, but I'm grateful for the good times I had in them with friends, and I have overwhelmingly positive memories of them.
A fully refurbished Libery Games "Sega Rally 2" two player arcade cabinet for £5895 anyone?
https://www.libertygames.co.uk/store/video_arcade_...
Late 80s was the zenith for me. I was in military training at Dover, and me and my mate Chris used to use our rare "weekend passes" to take a train up to London. There, we'd disappear into parts of London I probably couldn't find again (and probably don't exist in that form anyway). We'd go to record shops in the front rooms of terraced houses in predominantly 'ethnically black' areas. There we'd spend time flicking through racks and racks of old vinyl soul and blues records before buying home-made cassettes of no-longer-available albums because we only had Sony Walkman type cassette players in the barracks, no turntables.
Then we'd spend the evenings in the big arcades in Soho. We'd play Hang-On on the full-size plastic motorbike, After Burner within a 'cockpit' with a 'proper' joystick and throttle. There was a Star Wars X-Wing game in a similar replica cockpit, and stuff like Tekken, too, which was a stand-up button basher. Sega Rally, and the other driving games were just amazing at that point in time. Pole Position, Road Blasters, Outrun, all great fun, even watching someone else play. And then there was Final Lap. The daddy of them all. One arcade had three cabinets linked together, so up to six players could race simultaneously. Sitting there with Chris, money ready, just willing another couple of players to take a seat so we could have a decent race of it.
Then came the Mega Drive, "the arcade experience at home". I know it wasn't the first, but it marked the point where graphics caught up with the arcade machines. Clipping a cartridge into the machine and seeing the opening credits of a favourite game on your telly at home? It was brilliant. And that's where, for me, the game developers stopped working on arcade cabinet games in the same way, and switched their efforts to home consoles.
I don't consider myself to be a 'gamer' at all now. My son's X-Box 360 was the last console I used at all. My own last console was a PS2, playing mostly WWII shooters and driving games, along with FIFA/EA franchise stuff. I still own a Nintendo N64 and my very first Mega Drive, but they're in a box at the back of a cupboard these days.
It's sad to see that the old arcades are either no longer in business, or dominated by gambling machines, but I'm grateful for the good times I had in them with friends, and I have overwhelmingly positive memories of them.
A fully refurbished Libery Games "Sega Rally 2" two player arcade cabinet for £5895 anyone?
https://www.libertygames.co.uk/store/video_arcade_...
yellowjack said:
I loved arcade machines. I spent far too much time and money in/on them.
Late 80s was the zenith for me. I was in military training at Dover, and me and my mate Chris used to use our rare "weekend passes" to take a train up to London. There, we'd disappear into parts of London I probably couldn't find again (and probably don't exist in that form anyway). We'd go to record shops in the front rooms of terraced houses in predominantly 'ethnically black' areas. There we'd spend time flicking through racks and racks of old vinyl soul and blues records before buying home-made cassettes of no-longer-available albums because we only had Sony Walkman type cassette players in the barracks, no turntables.
Then we'd spend the evenings in the big arcades in Soho. We'd play Hang-On on the full-size plastic motorbike, After Burner within a 'cockpit' with a 'proper' joystick and throttle. There was a Star Wars X-Wing game in a similar replica cockpit, and stuff like Tekken, too, which was a stand-up button basher. Sega Rally, and the other driving games were just amazing at that point in time. Pole Position, Road Blasters, Outrun, all great fun, even watching someone else play. And then there was Final Lap. The daddy of them all. One arcade had three cabinets linked together, so up to six players could race simultaneously. Sitting there with Chris, money ready, just willing another couple of players to take a seat so we could have a decent race of it.
Then came the Mega Drive, "the arcade experience at home". I know it wasn't the first, but it marked the point where graphics caught up with the arcade machines. Clipping a cartridge into the machine and seeing the opening credits of a favourite game on your telly at home? It was brilliant. And that's where, for me, the game developers stopped working on arcade cabinet games in the same way, and switched their efforts to home consoles.
I don't consider myself to be a 'gamer' at all now. My son's X-Box 360 was the last console I used at all. My own last console was a PS2, playing mostly WWII shooters and driving games, along with FIFA/EA franchise stuff. I still own a Nintendo N64 and my very first Mega Drive, but they're in a box at the back of a cupboard these days.
It's sad to see that the old arcades are either no longer in business, or dominated by gambling machines, but I'm grateful for the good times I had in them with friends, and I have overwhelmingly positive memories of them.
A fully refurbished Libery Games "Sega Rally 2" two player arcade cabinet for £5895 anyone?
https://www.libertygames.co.uk/store/video_arcade_...
The Heart of Gaming in Croydon Late 80s was the zenith for me. I was in military training at Dover, and me and my mate Chris used to use our rare "weekend passes" to take a train up to London. There, we'd disappear into parts of London I probably couldn't find again (and probably don't exist in that form anyway). We'd go to record shops in the front rooms of terraced houses in predominantly 'ethnically black' areas. There we'd spend time flicking through racks and racks of old vinyl soul and blues records before buying home-made cassettes of no-longer-available albums because we only had Sony Walkman type cassette players in the barracks, no turntables.
Then we'd spend the evenings in the big arcades in Soho. We'd play Hang-On on the full-size plastic motorbike, After Burner within a 'cockpit' with a 'proper' joystick and throttle. There was a Star Wars X-Wing game in a similar replica cockpit, and stuff like Tekken, too, which was a stand-up button basher. Sega Rally, and the other driving games were just amazing at that point in time. Pole Position, Road Blasters, Outrun, all great fun, even watching someone else play. And then there was Final Lap. The daddy of them all. One arcade had three cabinets linked together, so up to six players could race simultaneously. Sitting there with Chris, money ready, just willing another couple of players to take a seat so we could have a decent race of it.
Then came the Mega Drive, "the arcade experience at home". I know it wasn't the first, but it marked the point where graphics caught up with the arcade machines. Clipping a cartridge into the machine and seeing the opening credits of a favourite game on your telly at home? It was brilliant. And that's where, for me, the game developers stopped working on arcade cabinet games in the same way, and switched their efforts to home consoles.
I don't consider myself to be a 'gamer' at all now. My son's X-Box 360 was the last console I used at all. My own last console was a PS2, playing mostly WWII shooters and driving games, along with FIFA/EA franchise stuff. I still own a Nintendo N64 and my very first Mega Drive, but they're in a box at the back of a cupboard these days.
It's sad to see that the old arcades are either no longer in business, or dominated by gambling machines, but I'm grateful for the good times I had in them with friends, and I have overwhelmingly positive memories of them.
A fully refurbished Libery Games "Sega Rally 2" two player arcade cabinet for £5895 anyone?
https://www.libertygames.co.uk/store/video_arcade_...
Pay entry fee then everything inside is free to use
https://en-gb.facebook.com/TheHeartOfGaming/
P.S - I have never been, but looks good!
^^ Brilliant retro machine!! Lol
For me, as mentioned above, the turning point was the megadrive. That literally blew me away. After that, what was the point of going to an arcade when you could play the same games in the comfort of your own home?
I don't think I've played a coin op game since. A shame, but they've definitely had their day!
I still do play some of the old roms from time to time on the laptop like commando, kung fu master, hyper sports etc
If I had the room i'd definitely buy/obtain something like the cabinet above for some retro fun.
For me, as mentioned above, the turning point was the megadrive. That literally blew me away. After that, what was the point of going to an arcade when you could play the same games in the comfort of your own home?
I don't think I've played a coin op game since. A shame, but they've definitely had their day!
I still do play some of the old roms from time to time on the laptop like commando, kung fu master, hyper sports etc
If I had the room i'd definitely buy/obtain something like the cabinet above for some retro fun.
In the mid 1990s me and a couple of mates from work used to go and play pinball in arcades. Then we all left the company but kept in touch. A good 10 years we had a reunion weekend and off we trotted to the arcades to get some flipper action. And what did we find ? No more pinball tables !
Those days have long gone !
Those days have long gone !
siovey said:
I still do play some of the old roms from time to time on the laptop like commando, kung fu master, hyper sports etc
I do the same and I have fantastic memories of the mid to late 80's in the arcades, I'd nip into town straight after school and go into the arcade. I was quite good at Kung Fu Master and I used to get a few watching me play back in the day, Double Dragon was another big favourite aswell. I miss those days and I still have a strong interest in Retro Gaming.
cerb4.5lee said:
I do the same and I have fantastic memories of the mid to late 80's in the arcades, I'd nip into town straight after school and go into the arcade.
I was quite good at Kung Fu Master and I used to get a few watching me play back in the day, Double Dragon was another big favourite aswell. I miss those days and I still have a strong interest in Retro Gaming.
Aye,I absolutely love Kung Fu Master. Its difficult playing it on the lappy though as I don't have a proper joystick, so its not as enjoyable. I'll have to remedy this! I still play my c64 and speccy games too, but that's for a different thread!I was quite good at Kung Fu Master and I used to get a few watching me play back in the day, Double Dragon was another big favourite aswell. I miss those days and I still have a strong interest in Retro Gaming.
siovey said:
cerb4.5lee said:
I do the same and I have fantastic memories of the mid to late 80's in the arcades, I'd nip into town straight after school and go into the arcade.
I was quite good at Kung Fu Master and I used to get a few watching me play back in the day, Double Dragon was another big favourite aswell. I miss those days and I still have a strong interest in Retro Gaming.
Aye,I absolutely love Kung Fu Master. Its difficult playing it on the lappy though as I don't have a proper joystick, so its not as enjoyable. I'll have to remedy this! I still play my c64 and speccy games too, but that's for a different thread!I was quite good at Kung Fu Master and I used to get a few watching me play back in the day, Double Dragon was another big favourite aswell. I miss those days and I still have a strong interest in Retro Gaming.
I used to spend most of my pocket money buying games for the spectrum...great memories.
cerb4.5lee said:
I use a USB joystick on the lappy and it works pretty well to be fair, I really regret chucking out my speccy and c64 games years ago...I don't know what I was thinking!
I used to spend most of my pocket money buying games for the spectrum...great memories.
I kept all my c64 games and my c64. Unfortunately it doesn't work though. The local newsagents used to sell speccy games. Foolishly they left the tapes in the boxes on display. In the end they were just selling empty boxes as every single tape got pinched! I used to spend most of my pocket money buying games for the spectrum...great memories.
p1stonhead said:
The Heart of Gaming in Croydon
Pay entry fee then everything inside is free to use
https://en-gb.facebook.com/TheHeartOfGaming/
P.S - I have never been, but looks good!
If you get chance - go to the biggest retro arcade collection in Europe .... Pay entry fee then everything inside is free to use
https://en-gb.facebook.com/TheHeartOfGaming/
P.S - I have never been, but looks good!
Arcade Club
It’s in an old Warehouse in Bury. Well worth going up and staying over a night/maybe tag a day at Blackpool on as well !!
Have made the trip up from Kent several times. Combining it with a visit to my parents in Leeds, and then over the top of the Pennines.
Don't know of any decent arcades left in London (Trocadero/one in the city near Aldgate East all now gone .....frown - moved down here in 1991 -(was 18 then a long time ago ....) and every payday would go to the Trocadero, spend several hours, and then have KFC for dinner.
Fully agree with Robster/everybody else that the height of Arcade gaming was 80’s into the 90’s. The game designers had so little memory to work with - yet the games from then are far more playable/longevity than newer games which typically have updates measured in Gigabytes.
An old thread which asked what was your favourite gaming moment ....
Favourite Gaming moment
seyre1972 said:
The 1st time on an Arcade Machines - I'll never forget putting the big old 10p into Space Invaders when the Fair came to where I grew up .... 
So probably around 1978 - start of a love affair which to this day I still have. I do like my PS4/games on the iPad etc But none of them have the playability to beat the old arcade games. And you look at the size of the old games - 15KB in size vs. some of the new ones which have regular updates in the 2.5Gb in size .....
When I moved to London - and found the Trocadero centre (now gone) Used to go up every payday after work and spend a fair few hours (followed by KFC In Leicester Square ....)
Obvioulsy now with emulation - I can play them all for free (if you own the roms ......
)
Just last week setup a Raspberry Pi 3 with Retropie
Using an Xbox 360 Controller in the interim - but knocking up a an Arcade Based controller - so Sanwa Sticks/proper Arcade buttons. Plugged into/hidden by the TV in the living Room. So can have a quick blat at all games as/when it takes my fancy.
Top 5 Games:
1. Galaxian
2. Jackal
3. Track'n Field
4. Mach 3 (Laserdisc Game - but playable via emulator called Daphne) Same genre as Space Ace etc
5. Pacman
As a my phones ringtone is actually the Galaxian Music ....... I think I need help
When on work trips to NYC - always visit Barcade - has all the old Arcade Machines - 25c a play !! (Craft beers, Arcade machines and a damn fine burger as well - heaven)
So probably around 1978 - start of a love affair which to this day I still have. I do like my PS4/games on the iPad etc But none of them have the playability to beat the old arcade games. And you look at the size of the old games - 15KB in size vs. some of the new ones which have regular updates in the 2.5Gb in size .....
When I moved to London - and found the Trocadero centre (now gone) Used to go up every payday after work and spend a fair few hours (followed by KFC In Leicester Square ....)
Obvioulsy now with emulation - I can play them all for free (if you own the roms ......
)Just last week setup a Raspberry Pi 3 with Retropie
Using an Xbox 360 Controller in the interim - but knocking up a an Arcade Based controller - so Sanwa Sticks/proper Arcade buttons. Plugged into/hidden by the TV in the living Room. So can have a quick blat at all games as/when it takes my fancy.
Top 5 Games:
1. Galaxian
2. Jackal
3. Track'n Field
4. Mach 3 (Laserdisc Game - but playable via emulator called Daphne) Same genre as Space Ace etc
5. Pacman
As a
my phones ringtone is actually the Galaxian Music ....... I think I need help When on work trips to NYC - always visit Barcade - has all the old Arcade Machines - 25c a play !! (Craft beers, Arcade machines and a damn fine burger as well - heaven)
yellowjack said:
A fully refurbished Libery Games "Sega Rally 2" two player arcade cabinet for £5895 anyone?
https://www.libertygames.co.uk/store/video_arcade_...
Friend of mine actually bought one of these a couple of years back! He had it for about 2 months and, it was great fun for a few evenings. However, given the space it takes up (an entire room) and the fact that the graphics and gameplay, when compared to modern games like Dirt Rally in VR, just don't cut it anymore. When he got rid of it, he bought a PC, playseat and VR rig instead.https://www.libertygames.co.uk/store/video_arcade_...
Speckle said:
Friend of mine actually bought one of these a couple of years back! He had it for about 2 months and, it was great fun for a few evenings. However, given the space it takes up (an entire room) and the fact that the graphics and gameplay, when compared to modern games like Dirt Rally in VR, just don't cut it anymore. When he got rid of it, he bought a PC, playseat and VR rig instead.
I could see that happening. It looks like a great idea at the time but actually its a s
te idea. Years ago I bought a fruit machine - what a great idea I thought. Actually, what a massive waste of time, money and effort it was.We went to a bowling/laserquest/arcade type place before Christmas for my son's birthday and the only arcade machines left were the ones with massive mechanical controllers, e.g. ski simulators, dancing games etc etc.
I'm pretty sure that even these monsters probably had a little tiny underpowered graphics chip powering what were second-rate graphics on the screen. None of the kids were very impressed with them to be honest. it's a shame really, I spent a lot of hours feeding Operation Wolf cabinets with coins back in the day (the one with the realistic UZI machine gun....)
I'm pretty sure that even these monsters probably had a little tiny underpowered graphics chip powering what were second-rate graphics on the screen. None of the kids were very impressed with them to be honest. it's a shame really, I spent a lot of hours feeding Operation Wolf cabinets with coins back in the day (the one with the realistic UZI machine gun....)
I bought, sold, repaired and refurbished arcade games for over 25 years, I finally had to shut down and change direction about 8 years ago.
The rise and rise of home consoles had eaten away at the industry and the big arcade developers were putting their resources into the domestic gaming scene where it was cheaper to manufacture and distribute their products. The remaining manufacturers couldn't afford bespoke hardware anymore and started developing games on PC hardware, that was frankly crappy and unreliable.
I've got a collection of about 20 pieces, around 15 classic video games and 5 pinballs, all in A1 condition.
Here's my all time favourite, it's currently about 5 feet away from me in my office, this is an older photo of it back in my workshop -
The rise and rise of home consoles had eaten away at the industry and the big arcade developers were putting their resources into the domestic gaming scene where it was cheaper to manufacture and distribute their products. The remaining manufacturers couldn't afford bespoke hardware anymore and started developing games on PC hardware, that was frankly crappy and unreliable.
I've got a collection of about 20 pieces, around 15 classic video games and 5 pinballs, all in A1 condition.
Here's my all time favourite, it's currently about 5 feet away from me in my office, this is an older photo of it back in my workshop -
snuffy said:
In the mid 1990s me and a couple of mates from work used to go and play pinball in arcades. Then we all left the company but kept in touch. A good 10 years we had a reunion weekend and off we trotted to the arcades to get some flipper action. And what did we find ? No more pinball tables !
Those days have long gone !
Sadly this is very much the case.Those days have long gone !
Had a play on some pinballs in Amsterdam recently, and wondered where you can play in the UK.
Found This Pinball database site which is an attempt to list locations worldwide where you can still play pinball.
There is one location near Bury/Rochdale (Arcade Club), and a couple near Birmingham (Tilt and Electric Circus) with a fair selection of pinball tables (15+), but sadly precious few other locations with significant numbers.
Still tempted to buy a table at some point if/when we get the shed/workshop/garden office sorted out...
ETA - on the Pinball database, for each location, it also lists which machines they have (or had when last updated).
Edited by C&C on Thursday 25th January 18:48
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