Sunday, 17 June 2007
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The Arcade of Your Dreams
A visit to the local bowling alley a short while ago left my friend and I depressed in a profound way. We've all seen ourselves in dingy, run-down arcades, right? You know the kind -- where half the machines don't work and the ones that do inevitably break down after only a few quarters are pumped in? Where all the fun and wonder of arcade games can't help but get sucked into a vortex of slimy $4.00 pizza slices and long expired vending machines that border on the near criminal? Where pitiful electronic cries from long-abused, 15-year-old arcade speakers are matched only by the high pitched squealings of underpaid teenagers as they mop up the puke stains left over from a kids' birthday party gone wrong?
Of course we have. But the sorry state of affairs at this particular bowling alley, where the floor made a funny squeaking sound and the girl working at the counter seemed a pay cut away from suicide, made me realize that the abuse and neglect of classic arcade machines should be outlawed. Amid the devastation, I counted roughly half the machines were either not working properly or completely non-functional. Only one side of the Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 console was up to snuff, the Ms. Pac-Man cabinet was suffering from some serious screen problems, the Air Hockey table could only manage to register one player's score and not the other's and, to top it all off, the management had apparently taken a run-down Super Street Fighter II cabinet (complete with a glut of dirt, grime and cigarette burns) and hardwired it to play Marvel vs. Capcom. Ugh...
So I began dreaming about my ideal arcade -- a magical place where all the machines work, the lights are appropriately dimmed and Def Leppard's Hysteria gets constant airtime over the loudspeaker. And as for arcades, well, there would only be room for the best of the best:
Super Battletoads
The Simpsons
Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior
Street Fighter II: Champion Edition
Street Fighter II: Turbo
Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers
Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat II
Mortal Kombat 3
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
Paperboy
Terminator II: Judgment Day
Bubble Bobble
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
TMNT: Turtles in Time
Mario Bros.
Lucky and WildSo, what arcade games would you find in your ideal arcade room? Would you go for the tried-and-tested classics or opt for newfangled technical beasts with polygon counts in the millions? Street Fighter II or Tekken? Pac-Man or House of the Dead? Discuss.
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Comments (80)
Recently, I've seen an amazing gem for 80s arcade fans. Its a mult-game machine that has about 36 classics on it like the Pac-Man series, Donkey Kong series, Galaga, Centipede, etc. I've seen it twice and each time it only cost a quarter to play. My dream arcade would have to have lots of 25 cent games.
My cousin down in Orlando recieved about a dozen old-school arcade machines from an elderly neighbor who moved away and had no space for them in his new house. He fixed them up, keeps about 3 for personal use (his room is amazing), and him and my Uncle went around town putting them up in Pizza Huts and movie theaters. It's pretty sweet.
I'd have to go for the Mortal Kombat series and the Ninja Turtles ones. They're amazing
Can't forget air hockey and racing games! DDR is a must too =]
Hmm.. on second thought those weren't really "retro" arcade games... =P oh well
And I agree with those above me; pinball is a must.
Centipede!! err, um....and Gauntlet!!....oh boy, now you have me dreaming...my brother recently bought 3 tall stand arcade games for his office (yeah, he has a kick ass job in post production...)...I'm very jealous. But he's on his way to his own dream arcade for sure....
I'd have to even add a pinball machine in there too....
LOL, the real question is - do you still charge your friends the 25 cents it used to cost? hehehehe......
You know how they have oldies stations that play songs from the 60s for near retirees?
What do you think the oldies stations will play when WE are in our 60s? Drum n bass and red hot chili peppers, and kids will laugh and change the channel to some godawful noise.
The world keeps turning.
Ms. Pac-Man
Joust
Root Beer Tapper
Galaga
TMNT
Space Invaders
Satan's Hollow
Rampage
Q-Bert
Sinistar
Spy Hunter
Frogger
Moon Patrol
Donkey Kong
Dig Dug
Millipede
Arkanoid
1942
Dragon's Lair
One day i'm gonna win the Lottery.... and this will be what fills my basement.
I might add a few machines like DDR, air hockey, pool tables and dart boards.... but whatever I put down there, I'll have a continuous loop of 70's and 80's music over a speaker system.
My basement will be an exact recreation of the arcades of my youth.
Oh!
I forgot the most important part.
A damn back-up generator so my high scores remain forever!!! :)
I still have a thing for that monochrome classic, Asteroids. Gauntlet, Joust, Dig Dug, Mario Bros., 1942, and Tempest are the other classics I can think of off the top of my head that would have to round out my list. I might add Dragon's Lair for the forward thinking jump. Maybe a couple of street racing games too like San Francisco Rush or Ridge Racer.
Great write up, btw. I really enjoyed it.
I absolutely loved this entry. My arcade would have Galaga, Centipede, Frogger, Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man, all the Mortal Kombat games, Donkey Kong, and of course my favorite all time game, Pinball. It would be a place where food is cheap and 80's rock gets constantly played.
I'm a big shooter fan, so I would love to see Galaga, Galaga '88, Space Invaders, any Gradius, Raiden, Metal Slug, House of the Dead, Time Crisis games in my dream arcade. That would be awesome. Not to mention a real Ikaruga arcade machine... *drools*
lol great article!! :D
and I agree with everybody that pinball machines rock!! :D
Pinball machines, a DDR, Pac-Man, and some sick Japanese fighting games. Not picky which ones...And every rock/punk song ever sang or recorded would be playing in the background...