23 replies to this topic

[Cassidy Nolen]

...What classic arcade machine would you go back and buy? I am really not thinking you would buy a new one, but more specifically what exact machine and where was it?

For me, I can remember being at Six Flags over Texas in the summers between 82 and 85, and I always played Speed Freak by Vectorbeam. I would really love to own that exact machine. The others I would love to have would be the Reactor from the Chuck E Cheeses by my house (I have since checked and the only classic they still have is the Pole Position cockpit with red veneer sides, ick!).

Any thoughts?

Cassidy

[sku_u]

The Addams Family pinball machine from the student commons from my college days, the Gauntlet machine I played in Disney World and the Ms. Pac-man machine where I topped 1,000,000 from an old Beefsteak Charlies that is now long gone.

[Nukey Shay]

Why would you want the exact same machine that has scuff marks from all the punk kids beating on it? j/k

I'd vote for that mythical mind-controlling game. One step closer to world domination...Heh heh heh

[joeybastard]

The Donkey Kong in Pizza Plus near where I grew up and the Bagman in another local pizza place.

[Nukey Shay]

Hey wait a minute...if I had a time-machine, what would I be doing dinking around with games in the '80s?? I'd be looking for those holodecks in the future! Talk about a killer app...geez.

[NE146]

I'd buy me a minty version of this uber rare arcade game I put so much quarters into when growing up. And no.. this is not Space Invaders Deluxe.

..missing the taito white ball joystick of course, but this is the best pic I got. What's not showing too clear is the what I remember... the Blue Moon and bright red sky background.

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[Gregory DG]

If I had a time machine, I would go back and tell Nolan not to sell Atari! Then, I tell him to buy the Apple I from Steve Jobs... Then to start work on the next console while the 2600 was still hot... Then tell him to buy the NES in ~1984... Then the Genesis in ~1988... Then Atari would be all-powerful!

[Inky]

Either the Reactor or Pengo machine from Putt-Putt Golf N Games on Essington Road (RIP)

[Christophero Sly]

I have fond memories of many specific coin-ops. I don't think I'd go back in time to buy them though, but I might go back to play them again in those bygone settings. There are so many games, but 'Cliff Hanger' at the Double Quick in '83, 'Gauntlet' at the bakery during High School, and 'Hyper Sports' at the student union in College are the first games I would return to play.

[maibock]

The brand new Donkey Kong at Lawrence Park Lanes(now a movie theater) I put the high score on it and it was there for the longest time.

The Defender at wawa

then a short bike ride away..

The Tempest machine at John's Pizza(now a Pizza Hut delivery place)

then a long bike ride away..

The Country Squire(24hr diner) had Centipede

Wow come to think of it I recall a lot of places I had played individual games.

Tutankham at Shippensburg Univ. I was a junior in high school and my buddy and I took a train up to visit his brother for the weekend. The morning after a party, I played this game pretty much all day.

The Acme had Berzerk.

A 7-11 in Myrtle Beach had Tag Team Wrestling
A 7-11 in Columbia SC had Ikari Warriors
A Lil' Rebel(name of a convenience store) in Mississippi had Pacman

In Ft. Walton Beach Fla at the Ramada Inn there was a black and white Indy 500 type racing game(with steering wheels)


not to mention all the arcades I've been to. I could go on for awhile.

[Ralph3]

I would get all the games that were in the old La Mirada mall in CA. It had everything from videos like Stunt Cycle, Fire Truck, Breakout, Track Ball Track & Field, Indiana Jones, Nintendo vs. dual screen system, Enduro Racer, Paperboy. And pinballs like Atari's humongous Superman, Space Invaders, Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man, Xenon, to F14 Tomcat, High Speed. The mall mostly closed up in 86 and finally got torn down in 90. I think I personally kept the arcade in business. Spent a lot of quarters there.

[Tempest]

The Star Wars pinball machine (Data East version) that was at Pinball Pete's in East Lansing. Not only did I spend an ungodly amount of time playing it, but I also knew its quirks. It had some 'special' problems like the Jabba's Bounty hole that shot the ball right down the center of the flippers unless you jiggled it just right. I played another machine where the problems were fixed and I sucked at it.

Also the Cloak & Dagger machine I saw once at a Putt Putt place near my house. It was only there for a few months, but I fell in love with the game then and there.

Tempest

[maibock]

Tempest said:

 It had some 'special' problems like the Jabba's Bounty hole that shot the ball right down the center of the flippers unless you jiggled it just right.  

Oh man. That reminds me of playing pinball game in Bar Harbor Maine when I was about 8 years old. We stayed at a camp ground and at night there was a game room which had a pinball machine(can't recall which one) but when you tilted it at the right time you'd get a free game and it wouldn't tilt. lol I also discovered kids from New England talked "funny"

[tyranthraxus]

When I was twelve, on a vacation at a camp groun we were staying at
there was an Ikari Warriors game that I pumped a lot of quarters into.
Part of the charm was that my Mom kept giving me more quarters
to keep playing. I don't remember another time where she did that.

[Nukey Shay]

To keep your eyes diverted from the girls being tossed beads?

[Pixellated Ghost]

[quote="Cassidy Nolen"]...What classic arcade machine would you go back and buy? I am really not thinking you would buy a new one, but more specifically what exact machine and where was it?

Super Cobra, at the Encinitas Game Center in Encinitas, CA. They actually offered me the machine, but being a kid at the time with no job, there was no way I'd have been able to buy it.

[Xot]

Any or all of the following which were once on display at the local Adams Supermarket/Zayre's mini-mall:

Galaga
Q*Bert
Mr. Do!
Crystal Castles
Gyruss
Millipede

Never all at the same time, but many of these were my first exposure to these favorite arcade games.

[mistah kurtz]

Great topic. I'm feeling quite nostalgic for these old quarter-eaters today:

Star Castle - Skatetown USA, Malden MA 1980-1982

Black Knight pinball - Salem Willows, Salem MA (No time machine necessary, it was still there when last I checked)

Ivan Stewart's Super Off Road - Steele Hill Resort, Sanbornton NH 1989-1990

One of those old mechanical baseball games - Wells Beach, ME 1980-1986 (At the very least I can go back in time and figure out which machine it was)

[Happy_Dude]

First I'd go to Woodstock
Then I'd write a Disk operating system and sell it to IBM
Then I'd buy as many Quadruns as I could.

Then I'd get this Galaga machine from the local Pub. It used to be a nice
place but it's under new managment and has become a total wastehole.
Not to mention they got rid of the Galaga upright and Football cocktail.
I put so much money into those machines, I remember one time me and my
sister where crawling into the Adults section where there was a poker game
going on and we where stealing 20cent peices from off the tables (from underneath )
to fund our Galaga habit

[AtariDude]

Gregory DG said:

If I had a time machine, I would go back and tell Nolan not to sell Atari! Then, I tell him to buy the Apple I from Steve Jobs... Then to start work on the next console while the 2600 was still hot... Then tell him to buy the NES in ~1984... Then the Genesis in ~1988... Then Atari would be all-powerful!  

I would go back with the hardware of today and give it to Nolan for ideas before he sells Atari to Warner. Who knows how powerful Atari would have become with the power of something like a PS2 or Xbox system to create games for?

I would also bring him a 17 inch Apple Powerbook so that he can see it play DVD movies

[ulij20]

I'd make myself go back until the day I was born
And I would live my life again
and rearrange it so that I'd be yours from now on.

Oh wait, that's something else...

I'd go to the arcade and play Pac Man every day until I got good. The only Pac Man I've ever been good at was the one with the speed-up chip. I got to about fifteen keys, back in 1993.

[Rocko]

I would make my mom accept the cocktail dig dug my friend offered me for FREE! (We played his pac-man cabnet forever, I asked about the dig dug machine, and he offered it to me, I was only in first grade, as was he, and his dad said he would even help us fix it before he gave it to me, my mom said no though).

[Raijin Z]

I'd look up recent area lottery numbers for the past 6 years, and go back 16 months at a time and win each of them. Then I'd start a few bank accounts in my name in the past, come to the present, and buy Addams Family pinball and TMNT arcade today, and still have billions left over.

[curtishart]

Tough one if I could only choose one game. However if I could grab a few...

1986-ish - Local mall's Freedom Fighter
1983 - Chuck E. Cheese - Dragon's Lair, Bagman
Taco Bueno (Yes, they had an uber-cool arcade in there back then) Dedicated Major Havoc, Reactor
7-11 - Venture (The only cab I've ever seen)
Crystal's Pizza Palace - Environmental Discs of Tron


Ironically, only one Atari title. Hmmm