IF I HAD A HOME ARCADE

The League of Extraordinary Bloggers asked members an age-old question. This question has been discussed by video arcade enthusiasts for decades. If you could have a home arcade, what games would you stock your ultimate arcade with? 

I grew up in a touristy town and fortunately for me it was full of video arcade and pinball machines. Besides the many arcades in town, machines could also be found in convenience stores, fast food restaurants, hotels and resorts. Video games were everywhere and I took advantage of playing whenever I could. Well...as long as I had a pocket full or quarters. 

If I owned a home arcade then these ten video games and one pinball machine would be my first choices.    

Space War - For a year or two this was my favorite game. My brother and I waged many great Space Wars with this machine. He was always the Starship Enterprise style of ship and I was the Asteroids style ship. One of the greatest two player games ever made! Click here to watch a version of this game.

Gorf - If you have limited space, then Gorf is the game to own. You get your Space Invaders and Galaxian fix along with a couple of other games all in one. Long live Gorf! Click here to watch the game.

Berzerk - I got hooked on Berzerk one Saturday after the game ate my quarter. The arcade attendant made it more than right and gave me a ton of free credits on this machine. The talking game kept on mocking me as I kept on playing for free. I became a fan forever after that day! Click here to watch the game.

Wizard of Wor - This two player game was another favorite that my brother and I played a lot. We played it every time we made a trip to the Kwik Shop. Usually we worked together trying to kill the werewolves and eventually the dreaded wizard. Once in awhile, just for fun we would zap one another. (Apparently I have a fondness for talking games!) Click here to watch the game.

Tron - My favorite arcade game of all time and the only game on this list that's not a fantasy as this one sits in my house! I blogged about this game here and to see the game in action click here.

Discs of Tron - Playing this machine makes you feel like you've been zapped onto the game grid. Sure the game play is a lot fun, but the cabinet design is a thing of beauty! Click here to watch this game in action. 

Ms. Pac-Man - A staple of all arcades and a must have if you're dreaming of a home arcade. Make sure you set the game to fast! Click here to watch the game.

Tempest - For whatever reason, Tempest seemed to be hard to find in our local arcades and for awhile the local movie theater was the only place you could play it. Tempest is a favorite of the first lady of Neato Coolville. Click here to watch the game.

Donkey Kong Junior - Aw yeah! I had better success with DKjr than I did with his pop's game. After Ms. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong Junior is one of the all time greatest sequel games. Click here to watch the game.

Star Wars - I remember standing in line at an Aladadin's Castle arcade for almost an hour just waiting for a chance to sit in the cockpit version to play one game. So for my fantasy arcade I'm taking the cockpit version! Click here to watch the game.

Flash Gordon Pinball - Flash Gordon is one of my favorite movies and to have the pinball machine that's based after it would be the ultimate. Back in the day, I only found this machine in one arcade and for a couple summers and I played the heck out of it! Go Flash go! Click here to watch this machine in action! 

This list could go on forever because if I'm simply fantasizing, then I would have a home arcade with a 100+ games. A few of my other favorite games I could easily add - Outlaw, Space Invaders, Asteroids Deluxe, Pac-Man, Galaxian, Rally-X, Thief, Star Castle, Spy Hunter, Gauntlet, Roadblasters, Trojan, Yie Ar Kung-Fu, Out Run, Roadblasters...um...okay, I better stop.

The Flyer images come from the great website The Arcade Flyer Archive!

Be sure to visit some of the other League's fantasy arcades!

Branded Arcade

Cavalcade Arcade

Calvin's Arcade

Pop Arcade  

Rediscover Arcade

AEIOU Arcade

HAVE A MERRY COOL CHRISTMAS!

Back when I was a kid, one of my favorite gifts to find under the tree was a video game cartridge for my Atari 2600. It was usually the main gift for my brother and I.

Anyone remember the video game Santa Drop by Neatovision? Of course you don't 'cause it never existed. For today and just for fun, I made up my own fake game box!

The object of the game is that you control Santa and you need to drop the Christmas gifts into the house chimneys. The houses scroll by faster and faster and you need to keep up! If you miss too many houses in a row, the game is over and Christmas is ruined. I'm not savvy enough to make an actual game, but I did draw up a "screen grab" of the game's graphics.

Thanks to everyone who dropped by during the 12 Days of Christmas and a Merry Cool Christmas to you all!!!

ELECTRIC THEATRE ARCADE: A VINTAGE DOCUMENTARY

Today and all through Labor Day weekend, the Electric Theatre Arcade is officially open! The ringleader behind this retro arcade is my good friend Mike Freeland and his dream of owning an arcade is closer than ever before. This is the second limited engagement for Mike's arcade and it serves as a blueprint for when the Electric Theatre Arcade opens permanently. Each game in the arcade has a story behind it. Like an urban Indiana Jones, Mike has been on countless adventures trying to rescue these games so they can be enjoyed once again. Some of these adventures have been captured in a new documentary. Filmmaker Brad Johnson has created a fantastic film about Mike's dream of owning an arcade. Click on the video below and watch the fantastic trailer for Electric Theatre Arcade: A Vintage Documentary!

Electric Theater Arcade: A Vintage Documentary from BradJohnson on Vimeo.

If you find yourself in Kansas City this weekend, be sure to visit the Electric Theatre Arcade in Independence, Missouri. Click here to visit the official website for times.

Support retro arcades!!!

SCI-FI ART FROM ELECTRONIC GAMES MAGAZINE

My brother and I were avid Electronic Games readers back in the early 80s and I get nostalgic whenever I dig out some of our old issues. Everything about this magazine was pixel nirvana to my already overloaded video game crazed brain. This publication has been covered on many a fine blogs, and video game sites. Also, almost every issue is available in PDF form at Digital Press. So there's no need for me to rattle on about the history and legacy of this mag. Instead I want to showcase a small example of some of the neato sci-fi artwork that could be found between the covers of this great magazine. Most of the artwork here is by Beirne Lowry with pieces by Peter Thulke and Frank Emmi. (Be sure to click on the image for a closer look!) 

I RAN AWAY WITH THE CIRCUS ATARI AFTER MY 6TH GRADE GRADUATION

Yesterday I attended my nephew's 6th grade graduation. I have two amazing nephews and it's hard for me to believe that the oldest one is moving onto junior high school. Wow, 6th grade graduations sure have changed since I was a kid. It was a lavish spectacle that my nephew will always remember with musical numbers by the kids, a clever slide show and a reading from a Dr. Seuss book. Of course this got me thinking about the time when I graduated from the 6th grade. It was very low key and simple compared to my nephew's ceremony. Actually it was a light hearted event. Instead of a certificate or a 6th grade diploma, we received something a lot more fun, a silly blue ribbon. Each student was awarded a blue ribbon that represented something fun or silly about themselves. I was awarded with the Biggest Star War Fan ribbon. (It always made me laugh when adults dropped the S off of war, but that's how it was written on my ribbon.) I remember my friend got the Most likely to drive the Bigfoot Monster Truck ribbon.

Unfortunately I don't have my ribbon anymore, but I still have the gift my parents gave me for graduating the 6th grade. I got Circus Atari!

Wow! It was totally worth going through all the trials and tribulations of elementary to receive a gift like that. (Truth be told, there were only minor tribulations, like multiplication tables and the kid who puked up his Cocoa Puffs behind me in the 3rd grade.)    

Just look at those amazing lifelike graphics! My favorite part was when you missed the clown with your teeter-totter and he went SPLAT!

If you watch this video from 1982, you might learn how to beat Circus Atari.

Circus Atari page from the Atari Catalog

Below is my nephew after his 6th grade graduation jumping for joy! I like to think he's doing an imitation of Circus Atari, but that's just me.

Coincidence or not, but there's a new updated version of Circus Atari that just launched today for iPhones and iPads. Hmm...I feel like I should graduate from something before I download it.

BLOG BIRTHDAY NUMBER SIX

Whoops! Looks like I missed my blog's birthday. It was April 21, 2006 when I launched my blog of random nostalgia and childhood memories and here we are at post number 1314. I very much appreciate all the Neato Readers out there who have supported this blog. All of you are truly neato cool!

The video game birthday card was given to me by my grandma for my 13th birthday in 1983. Inside the card it reads, "HOPE IT SCORES LOTS OF POINTS WITH YOU!" My grandma added, "Thought this would be a suitable card for you." Ah, she knew me well!

Now I'm off to go take my blog out for some ice cream and cake. Feel free to join us!

OUR D23/DISNEYLAND ADVENTURE: PART 4 TRON

Greetings programs! Rejoice! We’ve finally arrived at part four and that makes it the last Disneyland post. My twelve year old Tron loving self would have loved seeing all the cool Tron stuff at D23. Of course my 41 year old self enjoyed it just as much.

Hockey helmets off to the D23 folks who designed and set up the Tron room.


The original character costumes came to life in this black lighted environment complete with sound effects and Tron-esque voices.


Tron costume worn by Bruce Boxleitner.


Flynn costume worn by Jeff Bridges.


Yori costume worn by Cindy Morgan.


Ram costume worn by Dan Shor.


Unfortunately the Barnard Hughes costume wasn’t on display, but I did manage to buy this production piece. It’s a photo study of Dumont’s costume played by Hughes. This should make for a nice display with the note he sent me.

I’m not into Disney pins or Vinylmation, but I wasn’t able to resist these items.


At the D23 Expo, I was lucky and snagged a limited edition pin set signed by Bruce Boxleitner and Cindy Morgan. I’ve never had the chance to meet Bruce to get his autograph, so this was the next best thing. He and Cindy both attended the Expo, but his signing time conflicted with a panel. I met Cindy a few years back.

The Vinylmation is of Flynn and was the only one in the set from the first Tron.

Like I said, I’m not into pins, but I bought the Penny Arcade set just for the box. I had no clue this Atari tribute box existed and I about zapped out when I saw it displayed in one of the Main Street shops in Disneyland. You get three random pins based after classic Disneyland attractions and cult Disney movies. The design of the pins are fantasy Atari games and they’re packed inside a smaller box that’s shaped to look like the cartridge. Of course I was hoping for a Tron and Rocketeer. I was lucky and got a Tron pin along with an Astro Jets pin and a People Mover pin. If only a People Mover video game really existed! If you want a set, visit this site for info here.


I was glad to see that ElecTRONica was still open in California Adventure. We entered the Grid and this is what we saw.







If I had a bucket list when I was 12, then “Play Video Games at Flynn’s Arcade” would have probably been at the top.


Well...I got to scratch that off my imaginary list on this trip. I was envious of all the cool kids who got to visit Flynn’s Arcade when it was set up for the San Diego Comic Convention.

We walked in during the day and the place was empty. We played a bunch of classic vids for almost an hour including the imaginary game from Tron, Space Paranoids! So cool they recreated an actual working game for the arcade.

Here’s some of the games in the arcade.







I’m a neon junkie and I love old neon signs. So, neon signs based after some of my favorite games in neon form was almost too much. I managed to hold the camera long enough without going into fits to snap these next shots.










Afterwards we tried some blue lemonade at the End of Line Club and joined the Tron dance party!







Laserman was totally rad! Take a look at his performance here.



After one more game of Tron, it was time to head back to Disneyland for souvenir shopping and a few more rides! Oops, I mean attractions.

Boy, you know what? After working up these Disneyland posts my feet hurt. Hmm....it was just like I was there again.

Thanks for stopping by and surviving this retelling of our vacation.