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Post by VectorX on Sept 5, 2014 16:02:43 GMT -5
Well, I just had a depressing revelation this morning! With all kinds of millions of YouTube gaming channels, tv shows, web sites, wikis, blogs, etc., etc., etc. covering anything video game-related possible, I got to thinking if there were any arcade history sites, where people could post about their local arcades while growing up, or possibly even writing about famous chains that they never even visited, but could contribute some information to if known. Sadly, there seems to be hardly any of these at all; jammajup has a page on his site with the same ideal, although only in regards to arcades within a couple of counties in the U. K. (which can be seen here). Wow, that's sad. There doesn't even seem to be a wiki for this kind of thing. (No, I'm not doing a fourth wiki, but if there was one I'd definitely contribute a bit to it!) Seems a bit wrong to have history of these fine (or even not!) places just disappear into oblivion. People could share their stories, possible dates the places were open (roughly, since net information on these places are probably non-existent for the most part) and even a list of games that people could recall, if possible. Well there's a downer of a thought to begin your weekend with (you're welcome!)!
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Post by gliptitude on Sept 5, 2014 16:37:09 GMT -5
I think it's a great idea and i would be especially interested to see old photos of these places. .. I guess i'm probably as interested or maybe even more interested in the not so great ones too, like really gross drive-in movie concession buildings with just a handful of machines.
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Post by VectorX on Sept 5, 2014 16:57:11 GMT -5
Yeah I'd definitely contribute to the smaller ones, as those can be just as interesting. One of which of my local ones, for instance, didn't have that many games (it was small), but it made me wonder if they were stolen, since they were in these odd generic cabinets: they all read "____ (some company's name) presents Scramble". Yet did it read Stern? No, it was some company. It was pretty odd. It had some smaller games too, like Space Fever (blatant Space Invaders rip-off, but it had three games) and possibly one of VectorGamer 's favorites of Space Firebird (which was almost always out of order). Another one was Jason's Game Room that wasn't very large or great and didn't last that long, but one, it had Warrior, and two, it was started by two ex-policemen that thought they could make money off of it. Unfortunately, again, it wasn't around for very long, but how many arcades could you name that were started by ex-cops? Nothing real big, but I'm big on trivia, so I'd definitely pass stuff like that along to these two entries, among many
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Post by christophertumber on Sept 8, 2014 15:12:51 GMT -5
Back in the old days, I used to maintain a list of local arcades and pinball locations (this was somewhat common in reg.games.pinball days). Was discussing old arcades with a friend a few weeks ago and went looking for my old lists. Was pretty amusing to find this thread: www.maaca.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6500
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Post by VectorX on Sept 8, 2014 16:05:27 GMT -5
^That's pretty much how I'd contribute info, with the names, addresses (or at least as close to them as I could remember/find out), machines (that I could recall), how many, if they ran on paid pre-play, quarters or tokens, etc.
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Post by VectorX on Sept 14, 2014 18:03:31 GMT -5
No, I'm not doing a fourth wiki, Well, so much for that arcadepreservation.wikia.com/wiki/Arcadepreservation_WikiI was thinking of putting up this post at another forum or two and ask if someone were to do this and to make me an admin so I can help with things and all, but then we could disagree on how to do content and all. So now if someone whines about it I can just point at the how to write an article page on there (which I'll be doing this week). In case this takes off, though, I'm not looking forward to getting a lot of e-mail alerts in regards to activity though. Yeah I can turn it off, but in case I get a spammer or something, it wouldn't be good to not know and take care of it ASAP in case I have to. A double edged sword/dammed if you do/don't there... Unfortunately gliptitude, most of my stuff is in the past, so there won't be many photos from me there I just want to make sure there isn't more to Google Earth in regards to that though: you just put in an address, then click on the notification in case there's a video from there, right? Because unfortunately I doubt there's going to be any videos from any arcade that closed down 30 years ago or whatever. I've still been checking on them though just in case, but nothing so far (maybe ever!). Chris Tumber, did you want to create pages from the info you put up in that forum from a while back? There isn't much formatting to do here, as a template with a summary can be copied here. A placeholder graphic in lieu of a game room logo, piece of merchandise, or tokens from said arcade can be swiped from here to give people something to look at if using the template (just resize it to 220px please to get it to fit in the infobox). The first time the name of the arcade is mentioned in the article, it should be in bold, with any listed video games in italics. Last, categories should include Past arcades (or present), Arcades in ___ (city), Arcades in ____ (state or providence), and Arcades in ____ (country). Might seem a little much, but people can just click on the city or state if they just want to read articles in those places. Also, I put up my article from BOTSS on the game room from the Joysticks movie there. One of its categories is Fictional arcades. Should I have one for "Real world arcades"? I'm not sure if that's necessary, but when you're starting things up brand new, it can be hard to figure everything out that you want from the get-go Anyway, looking forward to pages if anyone wants to fill them in, even if you don't have much info! (Sadly, I don't have much for mine right now. I'll be e-mailing my local gaming group to hopefully add to them though, along with possibly them pitching in with new ones as well!)
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Post by VectorX on Sept 20, 2014 9:28:39 GMT -5
My e-mail out to my group only went through yesterday due to having to get that fixed (I hadn't received any e-mails from my gaming group since MAY, so that had to be looked into and fixed). Been getting some local info in ( ), such as this: Does anyone recall the large castle hotel on Southwest frwy?
I believe Ramada Inn bought it before it closed and was torn down?!
Cant find anything on the web about it. The place was very grand! My father use to set up guest seminars there around 1977. I recall spending much time there. And as children would be so, my brother and I would roam around and chase each other because the place was so cool and lavish plus we were board and full of energy. Looked like Steak and ale restaurants, dark woodwork on the walls, red carpet and the mid evil castle theme.
One day, my brother and I found a treasure when exploring further away from the banquet rooms.
We found An ARCADE full of games. In shock and excitement at something we had never seen before, we ran back to dad and mom begging for money to play. Crying screaming and rolling on the floor if I recall! LOL
After they gave in and handed over a dollar, we RAN to find the arcade. The Castle was so large, took us a while to find it again. Mind you this was late 1970s, I was about 8 years old. Brother was year younger. Games we played there I can remember like it was yesterday! Was my first arcade room and games I played.
Space War Atari Football Old Xs & Os head to head. Atari Sprint driving. Gun fight And a few other black and white games. There was no changer in there. Had to find the hotel clerk for change.
Some year after 2001 on my return to Houston. I looked for the Castle on the Southwest frwy. Never could find it. Someone told me they tore it down.
Anyone else remember this place? Such fond memories of that place. Someplace I have a picture of the front taken around 1990.Freaking cool. I'll wait for a few days to see if any other info comes in about that, as that Malibu Gran Prix (what the above is referred to) was pretty big in Houston. Also, I can simplify down what I said in my previous post (in case it sounds confusing) in regards to adding to the wiki, like this for those who want to put up any pages: 1. Do a search for a game room you knew of. It'll come up in red, meaning there's no page for it. Click on it. 2. Go someplace like here... arcadepreservation.wikia.com/wiki/Tilt_%28Town_and_Country_Mall%29open up editing, copy it all the way from the very top to the very bottom, then paste it on the page you're creating, change around whatever info that you have and Publish it and that's it, pretty much. You'll have your generic placeholder photo in the infobox as well, unless you have your own photos to share. But that's it, simplified though.
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Post by VectorX on Oct 11, 2014 12:23:42 GMT -5
The wiki has now expanded to locations in two states and two additional cities! You'd REALLY have to know your Vectrex stuff (well, at least homebrews) to know about Keith Horn. He came up with a controller a couple of years ago made from a modified Atari Paddle (or Driving Controller, I don't recall which) for use with Hyperchase and a few other games and made a video for it. I put this stuff up on the wiki (no full articles though) and on that edition of the news and all and have talked to him a few times since. He must be Coolest Dad on the Block ( TM) for having many arcade games, which can be seen here in his blog: www.keithsarcade.com/(I need to see if I have him up on the vector links page, actually. He might've had one or more vector arcade games too.) Anyway, I had contacted him about the wiki and he came up with quite a bit of information! arcadepreservation.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Arcades_in_MissouriI still have one more page to do, as I need an address/area for it, so hopefully that one can go up too. This also helped me add another location to the Tilt page, as, even though lacking information, the Wikipedia page for the Malibu Grand Prix page still listed dozens of locations of the chain here in the States, but there's nothing for the Tilt article except for where it originated, so now there's write-ups on several past locations of Tilts here in town that I went to, along with one in Missouri.
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Post by christophertumber on Oct 21, 2014 23:05:09 GMT -5
What follows are my original Usenet posts. Feel free to use them if you wish:
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Path: gmd.de!xlink.net!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!spool.mu.edu!torn!nott!cunews!freenet.carleton.ca!Freenet.carleton.ca!aa993
From: aa...@freenet.carleton.ca (Christopher L. Tumber)
Subject: Arcades in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Message-ID: <CBJ1GG.17r@freenet.carleton.ca>
Sender: ne...@freenet.carleton.ca (News Administrator)
Organization: National Capital Freenet, Ottawa, Canada
Date: Tue, 10 Aug 1993 04:50:39 GMT
Lines: 97
Arcades In Ottawa By Christopher L. Tumber (a9...@freenet.carleton.ca) Inspired by a gaping hole in the rec.games.pinball best.na list. If anyone knows of any Ottawa (or Montreal) area auctions, please get in touch! There are some excellent arcades in Toronto and Montreal (and, I hear Vancouver) but I rarely visit these cities so I'll stick to home. Ottawa is a moderately size city with an urban population of about 350K and regional population of about 600K. Ottawa is also the Nation's Capital. Ottawa has (to my knowledge) no arcades which could be considered world class. However, there are a number of very good ones, particularly downtown. Ottawa is blessed with four (five until last month, six about a year ago!) arcades within walking distance of one another. These four are the only arcades I visit. There are a number of other arcades, particularly in the suburbs, some of which may be better. Ottawa has numerous small arcades scattered around the city... Most laundry mats have a half dozen machines or so, and chain convinience stores (7-11, Mac's, Becker's) tend to have a couple machines. As well, the University of Ottawa has a small arcade, and Carleton U. has two, one of moderate size... Obviously there's room for this list to expand and maybe I'll start exploring a little more. Pricing in Ottawa tends to be 25 cents per credit on older machines, 50 cents per credit/25 cents additional on newer (less that 2 or 3 years old) machines. 25 cents Canadian is approx equal 20 cents U.S. Old pinball machines are usually set at 5 balls, new ones 3. All these arcades take very good care of their machines. I've yet to run into a newish machine with any major problems though sometimes older ones (esp. pinball) can be in rough shape. EMPIRE - Several dozen video games, 8 pinball machines. Many video games are REALLY (Homemade cabinets, handwritten rules/pricing) ugly conversions and some have poor monitors. Mostly forgetable 80's video games (exceptions: an ugly but very playable Twin Cobra and a nice Galaga). Definately a pinball place (Unless they happen to have one of your favorite video games). Staff is usually pretty nice, but there's heavy turnover. The place looks A LOT tougher than it is, and it's right beside a pizza joint and a strip club. A great place to play all night after drinking with the boys or fighting with your girlfriend. (OPEN 24 HOURS!) Pins: Twilight Zone, Dr. Who, Capt. Fantastic, Whitewater, F-14, Phantom of the Opera, Eightball Deluxe (X2), Space Station. Video (New): Street Fighter ][ championship turbo, NBA Jam, Mortal Kombat, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, World Rally, X-Men, Lethal Enforcer. GAMES ROOM - Uses (Ugh) tokens. 8 pins, 20 video. Most video games are pretty old. Used to have a Secret Service pinball with replay stuck at 200k (Heh!). In the Hunt (50 cents per credit) is the only exception to the 50/75/100 rule. Pins: Twilight Zone, Adams Family, Whilrwind, Street Fighter ][, Lethal Force, Eightball Champ, Eightball Deluxe. Video (New): NBA Jam, Time Killers, In The Hunt. KING ARTHUR COURT - Only 2 pinball machines and maybe two dozen video games. Mostly obscure late 80's. Highlights are a nice Galaga and Offroad. Seems to have strange, unpredictable hours. Pins: Funhouse, Creature From The Black Lagoon. Video (New): Mortal Kombat, Capt. America, Virtua Racing, Double Axle, Time Traveller, Guardians Of The Hood. RIDEAU ARCADE - Uses (Ugh) tokens. About 50 Video Games but only 4 Pinball. No interior lighting and large ceiling fans. The place looks like a cave (or warehouse) and is usually very dark (by midmorning, the only illumination is from video screens). Has a large number of cockpit games (about 10), and a number of (Jamma? Tetris/Ramparts/Outland/Growl/Several more) conversions with oversized monitors (Takes getting used to, but kinda cool.) Very nice Twin Cobra, numerous other goodies. Would be the best hands down if it wasn't for the tokens (and needs better pins!). Pins: Game Show, Whirlwind, Simpsons, Terminator 2. Video (New): NBA Jam, Mortal Kombat, Road Riot 4WD, Lethal Enforcer, Steel Talons, Terminator 2, Capt. America.
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Post by christophertumber on Oct 21, 2014 23:06:56 GMT -5
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Path: gmd.de!xlink.net!howland.reston.ans.net!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!utnut!torn!nott!cunews!freenet.carleton.ca!Freenet.carleton.ca!aa993
From: aa...@freenet.carleton.ca (Christopher L. Tumber)
Subject: Arcades In Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Message-ID: <CCp488.F09@freenet.carleton.ca>
Sender: ne...@freenet.carleton.ca (News Administrator)
Organization: National Capital Freenet, Ottawa, Canada
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 1993 22:09:44 GMT
Lines: 393
This list is now reasonably complete, but it's somewhat focused on downtown. In particular, I'm sure there are a lot of little spots I'm missing (Bars, C-Stores, Laundry, etc..) please feel free to mail me with additions/corrections. This list will be posted on the 1st and 15th of every months unless there's some great need... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arcades In Ottawa By Christopher L. Tumber (a9...@freenet.carleton.ca) Last update: September 1, 1993 Inspired by a gaping hole in the rec.games.pinball best.na list and a complete absence of Canadian games lists. If anyone knows of any Ottawa (or Montreal) area auctions, please get in touch! There are some excellent arcades in Toronto and Montreal (and, I hear, Vancouver) but I rarely visit these cities so I'll stick to home. Ottawa is a moderately size city with an urban population of about 350K and regional population of about 600K. Ottawa is also the Nation's Capital. Ottawa has no arcades which could be considered world class. However, there are a number of very good ones, particularly downtown. Ottawa is blessed with four (five until last month, six about a year ago!) arcades within walking distance of one another: (Imperial->Games Room->King Arthur's->Rideau). I've listed all pinball machines, newest video games in arcades, and all video games elsewhere. Why? Because while I mostly play pins, I also enjoy video games and arcades are having a hard enough time surviving without pin/video infighting. Pricing on pins is 50 cents for one play, 75 for two plays and $1.00 for three with three balls per game unless specified otherwise. Video games are 25 cents for older games, 50 cents to start and 25 cents to continue on new machines unless otherwise noted. 25 cents Canadian is approx equal 20 cents U.S. If there are no comments, I didn't play it. Any additions/corrections send email to: aa...@freenet.carleton.ca (Particularly games recently broken/fixed and small establishments [C-Stores, Bars, Laundry mat's etc.]) Personal Favorite: IMPERIAL (327 Bank) Best Pins: GAMES ROOM (202 Bank) IMPERIAL (327 Bank) Best Video: MR. ARCADE (Bank and Alta Vista) RIDEAU ARCADES (372 Dalhousie) Best Bets For: Adams Family: GAMES ROOM (202 Bank) Black Rose: CARLETON UNIVERSITY GAMES ROOM (Uni-Center) Checkpoint: Creature From The Black Lagoon: 7-11 (420 Rideau) Dr. Who: Dracula: THE WIZARD (Billing's Bridge) Fish Tales: Gameshow: RIDEAU ARCADE (372 Dalhousie) High Speed ][: MAC'S (Place Bell Mall) Jurrasic Park: MR. ARCADE (526 Montreal Road) (Bank And Alta Vista) Lethal Weapon 3: THE WIZARD (Billing's Bridge) Phantom Of The Opera: IMPERIAL (327 Bank) Rocky And Bullwinkle: MR. ARCADE (526 Montreal Road) Simpsons: RIDEAU ARCADES (372 Dalhousie) Street Fighter ][: GAMES ROOM (202 Bank) Teed Off: MR. ARCADE (Bank And Alta Vista) Terminator 2: RIDEAU ARCADES (372 Dalhousie) Twilight Zone: IMPERIAL (327 Bank) GAMES ROOM (202 Bank) Whirlwind: GAMES ROOM (202 Bank) Whitewater: IMPERIAL (327 Bank) IMPERIAL (327 Bank) - Several dozen video games, 8 pinball machines. Many video games are REALLY (Homemade cabinets, handwritten rules/ pricing) ugly conversions and some have poor monitors. Mostly forgetable 80's video games (exceptions: an ugly but very playable Twin Cobra and a nice Galaga). Definately a pinball place (Unless they happen to have one of your favorite video games). Staff is usually pretty nice, but there's heavy turnover. The place looks A LOT tougher than it is, and it's right beside a pizza joint and a strip club. A great place to play all night after drinking with the boys or fighting with your girlfriend. I'm still undecided about which TZ I prefer, here or GAMES ROOM (202 Bank). I usually play this one though because it's closer, the hours are better and the game isn't as tough. Tokens are also a big pain in the ass! They took out almost half their (video) machines, the place looks pretty empty now... Maybe there'll be new ones soon... (OPEN 24 HOURS!) Pins: Twilight Zone (Very Easy Tilt) Addams Family (Unknown Problems, Not Played) Whitewater (Very Good) Phantom of the Opera (Very Good) Capt. Fantastic (25 cents, 5 balls. Playfield wear, otherwise great shape) Eightball Deluxe (X2) (25 cents, 5 balls. Right one has better flippers. Both in great shape.) Video (New): Street Fighter ][ championship turbo, NBA Jam, Mortal Kombat, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, World Rally, X-Men, Lethal Enforcer. GAMES ROOM (202 Bank) - Uses (Ugh) tokens. 8 pins, 20 video. Most video games are pretty old. Used to have a Secret Service pinball with replay stuck at 200k (Heh!). I'd recomend playing Twilight Zone here instead of IMPERIAL (327 Bank). The replay is lower, the tilt is more forgiving, and it's a lot faster (the balls have a lot of zip!). Of course, being such a fast game, it's a lot more difficult. The choice is yours... for a real challenge, try going one to the other. The timing is completely different.
Pins: Twilight Zone (Excellent! Very fast, liberal tilt, significantly lower replay than Imperial's (50-100k))
Adams Family (Good) Whitewater (Unknown problems, plays ok) Street Fighter ][ (Plays well) Lethal Force Eightball Champ Eightball Deluxe Video (New): NBA Jam, Time Killers, In The Hunt (50 cents). KING ARTHUR COURT (156 Rideau) - Only 2 pinball machines and maybe two dozen video games. Mostly obscure late 80's. Highlights are a nice Galaga and Offroad. Seems to have strange, unpredictable hours. Pins: Creature From The Black Lagoon (50 cents 1 play, $1.50 4 plays, $2.00 8 plays. Unknown problems.) Funhouse (25 cents, 5 balls Very dark, Missing balls (?) -> No multi) Video (New): Mortal Kombat, Capt. America, Virtua Racing, Double Axle, Time Traveller, Guardians Of The Hood. RIDEAU ARCADES (372 Dalhousie) - Uses (Ugh) tokens. About 50 Video Games but only 4 Pinball. No interior lighting and large ceiling fans. The place looks like a cave (or warehouse) and is usually very dark (by midmorning, the only illumination is from video screens). Has a large number of cockpit games (about 10), and a number of (Jamma? Tetris/Ramparts/Outland/Growl/Several more) conversions with oversized monitors (Takes getting used to, but kinda cool.) Very nice Twin Cobra, numerous other goodies. Well, they fixed Simpsons at least, but that's it. Whirlwind is showing increased signs of wear, you often get 'bonus' multiballs when a ball in play 'gets lost' and locked balls are released. I no longer play it. Terminator 2 has kinda grown on me... Pins: Game Show (Very dark, possibly other problems. Not played) Whirlwind (Dark upper playfield, Kickout misfires, Upper drop target doesn't reset, Silly GC, Low Replay) Simpsons (Works) Terminator 2 (Good) Video (New): NBA Jam, Mortal Kombat, Road Riot 4WD, Lethal Enforcer, Steel Talons, Terminator 2, Capt. America. THE WIZARD (Billing's Bridge) - A nice arcade in the world's ugliest mall. About 30 video games of varying ages. Pins: Dracula (Middle jet bumper is flaky-> Intermitantly very weak or dead) Creature From The Black Lagoon (Backglass Video has problems), Cyclone (25 cents, 5 balls. Very Dark, Nice flippers!) Lethal Weapon 3 Video (New): Time Killers, Space Lords, Mortal Kombat, Lethal Enforcer. THE WIZARD (3007 Carling) - Ugh! Crappy pins, crappy video games. Only the presence of Cue Ball Wizard prevented the trip from being a total loss. It seems these people don't even know how to turn their machines off! Fishtales (Off...Actually, on, but coin slots taped over!) Space Station (Coin slots taped over!) Funhouse (Unknown Problems, played okay) Cue Ball Wizard (Nice!!) MR. ARCADE (Bank and Alta Vista) - Absolutely an excellent arcade. Lots of newish video games (20+) and a few good pins. Pins: Jurrasic Park (In great shape, even good flippers!) Adams Family (Flippers only so-so) Teed Off Video (New): Laser Ghost, Slammasters, Mortal Kombat, Golden Axe ][, Lethal enforcer, Punisher, NBA Jam (and lots more..) MR. ARCADE (526 Montreal Road) - They took out that nice Twilight Zone Beta. Jurassic Park seems to be holding up okay. Maybe 20 video games, nothing spectacular here except the ONLY JP I've seen in town. Pins: Card Shark Gold Wing Jurassic Park (Played well) Arena Rocky And Bullwinkle Comet Video (New): NBA Jam, Mortal Kombat, Lethal Enforcer OTTAWA UNIVERSITY GAMES ROOM - A big disapointment! Was far better last time I was there about a year ago. A mediocre selection of video games and three of four pins have problems (could be four of four... didn't stick around long enough to find out!). Maybe it'll get better when classes start. Pins: Fishtales (Unknown Problems: Not played) Adams Family (Unknown Problems: Not played) Terminator 2 (Unknown Problems: Not played) Checkpoint Video (New): Warriors Of Fate, Terminator 2 CARLETON UNIVERSITY GAMES ROOM (Uni-Center) - A bit of a disappointment, but, should get better in September when classes start. Then, this place is packed! Pins: Black Rose Street Fighter ][ Rocky And Bullwinkle Terminator 2 Star Trek 25th Anniversary (Off, Awaiting repair) Video (New): Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter ][ Champ., Indy Heat.
CARLETON UNIVERSITY ABSTENTIONS (Commons) - Ugh! Horrid, but will improve when classes start up next month. 'Till then, this place is deserted. Video: Astyana, Offroad, Street Fighter ][, Airwing Carrier. BROKEN CUE (Montreal Road and Vanier Parkway) - Another big disappointment. They've gone downhill since they moved, used to have a few good machines. I got several strange looks for actually PLAYING the machines. Pins: Radical (25 cents, 5 plays for $1.00. Seemed in good working order, was able to get replays despite never seeing it before) High Speed (25 cents, 5 balls. Flippers VERY poor. Upper right flipper quivered pathetically. Impossible to ramp ball. AVOID) Video: Pit Fighter, Pole Position ][, Nibbler (Cocktail), Final Fight, U.S. Classic CAPITAL CITY COMICS (151.A Second Ave.) - A decent comic store, with a video game (changes every couple months) in a REALLY bad place. The game's right in front of the door so you block anyone coming in or out and get jostled constantly. Video: Special Criminal Investigation. BECKER'S (Bank and Third Ave.) Video: Magic Sword 7-11 (1166 Bank) Pin: Lethal Weapon 3 Video: NBA Jam, Hit The Ice, Neo Geo 7-11 (420 Rideau) Pin: Creature From The Black Lagoon (Nice) Video: Mortal Kombat, Operation Thuderbolt 7-11 (Beachwood Ave) - I'm sure this Twilight Zone takes some serious abuse (and no tilt!) but that's no excuse for its condition. Gumball was dead (with powerball inside). Clock was also dead. Trough had trouble feeding plunger and the 'carriage' liked to dump the ball on the left ramp. The left magnet was also very weak (the right one seemed a little off too, but not as bad.) But you know, Twilight Zone is such a great game that despite all this it was still very playable. I was shocked! When I worked at another 7-11, the guy who serviced them took AMAZING care of them. He was in every week to take a look at them, polish the playfield, clean the balls, make adjustments, etc.. I guess they got rid of him/switched suppliers (This WAS several years ago). Pin: Twilight Zone (Numerous Problems) Video: NBA Jam, Clutch Hitter 7-11 (Richmond Road) Video: Vindicators MAC'S (Bank and Fifth Ave.) Video: NBA Jam MAC'S (Place Bell Mall) Pin: High Speed ][ (Getaway) Video: Galaga '88 MAC'S (Montreal Road and Center) Video: Hammerhead Harry MAC'S (210 Laurier East) Video: Street Fighter ][ Turbo Champ CHEESE PIZZA PLUS (1880 Carling) Pin: Fireball
IVES GROCETERIA (Rideau and Chapel) Pins: High Speed (25 cents, 5 balls) Swords Of Fury (25 cents, 5 balls) Video: Golden Axe TOTAL MART (Montreal Road and Ducharme) - A real find! I've never really liked Fire (Not much to do and impossible ramps) but this one has nice strong flippers. Replay is really low. Lowered ramps are a little slow raising and occaisionally trap balls. Pin: Fire (25 cents, 5 balls. Nice flippers!) Video: Golden Axe CHAMPLAIN CLEANER'S (Ridea and Chapel) Pin: Captain Jacks Video: Simpsons, WWF, Bottom Of The Ninth, Superman VANIER COIN LAUNDRY (279 Montreal Road) Video: Street Fighter ][ Champ, WrestleWar IDEAL CLEANERS (331 Elgin) - They're old and they look it, but they work. 'Nuff said. Pins: Xenon (25 cents, 5 balls. So-so flippers) Viking (25 cents, 5 balls) Elektra (25 cents, 5 balls) Video: Spy Hunter, Paladin, R-Type, Sly Spy, Jr. Pacman ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- ****************************************************************************** * Christopher L. Tumber "Extinct is... * * aa...@freenet.carleton.ca Just another marketing tool" * ******************************************************************************
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Post by christophertumber on Oct 21, 2014 23:11:21 GMT -5
Hrm, that's all I can find on Google Groups. Don't think I have any archived but I'll take a look when I have a chance. First one is from 10 Aug 1993 and second is 1 Sep 1993 (dates in header).
The one in that forum post the Sept 1. (You know you're retro when you're looking back at the posts that were posted to look back at the retro.)
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Post by VectorX on Oct 21, 2014 23:32:25 GMT -5
Thanks, I'll see about combing through that info to make pages with and get back to you on a few things that I'll need.
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Post by VectorX on Oct 22, 2014 9:20:32 GMT -5
Ok, in regards to your first post on here, here's the stuff that I need from it:
*For the Empire arcade, you stated the games run on tokens. Do you know how many you got for a dollar (or whatever the exchange would be)? *You stated it had several dozen games in all, so what would be a total, approximate guess? 40-50 or something? More? Less? *Do you have the street or complete address of the place, or was it in a mall or something (which I'd just need the mall or other building name for it)? It could just be a guess of the block number, like "Approximately the 150 block of Main Street" or something to that effect. *Do you know what years the place was or still is in business? Even if it's just a guess, I'd need that, like "1990 - 2007?" or something like that.
I'd need the above answered for the other ones in that post as well, being the Games Room, King Arthur Court and Rideau Arcade.
EDIT: actually in your second post it looks like you have the addresses to all of them except for Empire (Games Room is 202 Bank, if that's an address, for example). So that might be mostly taken care of, actually.
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Post by christophertumber on Oct 23, 2014 10:34:45 GMT -5
EDIT: actually in your second post it looks like you have the addresses to all of them except for Empire (Games Room is 202 Bank, if that's an address, for example). So that might be mostly taken care of, actually. 202 Bank Street Google Map30-50 sounds about right for games "Empire" and "Imperial" arcade were used interchangeably at the time. Photo here: Tokens were typically 4 for a dollar at all arcades.
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Post by VectorX on Oct 23, 2014 11:42:32 GMT -5
30-50 sounds about right for games Tokens were typically 4 for a dollar at all arcades. Thanks! "Empire" and "Imperial" arcade were used interchangeably at the time. What, same address? Yeah, I found that as well on Google Earth Congrats, the first page on there with an actual photo of an arcade entrance! Any idea around what year (or at least the decade) Imperial opened? Due to the Google Earth shot being copyrighted at 2013 with the for lease sign, at least the closing year would be 2012 or 2013.
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