Author Topic: When arcade games were a quarter each...  (Read 3978 times)

Offline aka DaBigKahuna

  • Jedi Padawan
  • *
  • Posts: 926
    • View Profile
When arcade games were a quarter each...
« on: February 26, 2004, 10:23 PM »
I just got done playing Galaga on my youngest son's Gameboy Advance and it brought back some fond memories.  Take a deep breath and think back to your trips to 7 Eleven or Malibu Grand Prix as a kid.  You walk in only to discover a new game!

When $5.00 went a long way.  I first went and mixed me up a Slurpee with every flavor available, nabbed some Big League Chew, Now and Laters, Lemon Heads, Alexander the Grapes, and Charlie Chans.

Now on to the games...

Dun...Du...Dun..Du..Dun.Du = Asteroids
Warrior shot the food = Gauntlet

I'll start with my top ten in no particular order.

Street Fighter 2 = Al you can baby!
Punch out = body blow / body blow, Glass Joe, Bald Bull ya know!
Galaga = didn't you hate when you shot your ship when it got captured?
Track and Field = somebody break out a pencil for me.
Paperboy = I broke a window!
Super Sprint = wrenches anybody?
Rush 'N' Attack = a knife and a bazooka a deadly combonation!
Donkey Kong / Donkey Kong Jr. / Donkey Kong 3 = barrels of fun.
Karate Champ = the original fighting game / 1 guy in red one in white.
Star Wars Arcade = 3D ya heard me!

I could go on and on - how about you?  What arcade games bring back memories for you?


-Fish-
« Last Edit: February 29, 2004, 11:37 AM by FishEyedLouie »

Offline jokabofe

  • Jedi Knight
  • *
  • Posts: 3653
    • View Profile
Re: When arcade games were a quarter each...
« Reply #1 on: February 26, 2004, 10:35 PM »
you need to get your hands on a copy of m.a.m.e. (multi-arcade machine emulator)... it's awesome. i have over 2000 roms from the old school arcade that are perfect, right on my windows machine.

that said, i use to waste lots of time (and money) on:

galaga
donkey kong
pacman
crazy climber
rampage
tapper
mr. do
defender
arkanoid
cobra
elevator action
bump'n jump
burger time
centipede
millipede
moon racer
kangaroo
kung-fu master

must i continue??

 ;D

my entire mis-spent youth was wasted at the arcades...

Offline paploo

  • Jedi Initiate
  • *
  • Posts: 200
  • MORE EWOKS NOW
    • View Profile
Re: When arcade games were a quarter each...
« Reply #2 on: February 26, 2004, 11:05 PM »
my favorite was spy hunter
The secret of success is to know something nobody else knows-Aristotle Onasis

Offline Becky

  • Youngling
  • *
  • Posts: 99
  • Peace..
    • View Profile
Re: When arcade games were a quarter each...
« Reply #3 on: February 26, 2004, 11:22 PM »
My favorite was centipede, but I also liked Pac-Man and Donkey Kong.

Offline Morgbug

  • Old
  • Jedi Guardian
  • *
  • Posts: 16232
  • mmm. pemmican.
    • View Profile
Re: When arcade games were a quarter each...
« Reply #4 on: February 26, 2004, 11:47 PM »
Is it possible for a discussion of games to bring up hunger pains?

It is when you used to spend late nights after parties at a greasy burger place that had huge burgers, massive orders of fries and the game Centipede.  Man, I piled quarter after quarter after quarter into that game.  I loved it.

Does anyone remember the Star Wars game that had you flying through a trench with horrible green-line graphics.  You peered through a periscope and had the classic two handed steering beast with thumb triggers.  I believe the shell was adapted from the sea hunt submarine game.  I can hear the sounds now from that game *ping*

Pinball when you used to be able to use body English and they didn't tilt immediately?  Oh I loved those places.
Minivans: a sign of the apocalypse.

SilverZ

  • Guest
Re: When arcade games were a quarter each...
« Reply #5 on: February 27, 2004, 10:21 PM »
Horrible green line graphics you say? My favorite old games these are!  ;) That was Battlezone. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr - PING - Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr -PING. I think you're merging it with memories of Atari Star Wars, though. Both vector-graphics but very different gameplay.

I get hungry too thinking about these. I miss the days of pizza parlours, ordering pizza, waiting for it to be cooked, and hanging out in the arcade room, playing Pole Position. Man, we're hella old.

Discs of Tron is still RAD.

Offline Thomas Grey

  • Jedi Padawan
  • *
  • Posts: 780
  • What are you laughing at fuzzball?
    • View Profile
    • JediDefender.com
Re: When arcade games were a quarter each...
« Reply #6 on: February 28, 2004, 12:47 AM »
Did anyone ever figure out how to pull up the plastic frame under the screen and at the back of the control shelf and retrieve the keys to the game? Such a rumor, never saw legitimate proof.

Used a Chuck E. Cheese token in the change machine at one arcade and when I pushed the coin return button, I'd get 5 tokens. I think I ended up selling Chuck E. Cheese tokens for $5 a piece!

The games that hooked me early:
Space Invaders
Star Castle
Dig Dug
Asteroids
Tempest
Donkey Kong
Berzerk
Gorf
Vanguard
Q-Bert
Centipede

The games that kept me hooked:
Donkey Kong Junior
Robotron
Elevator Action (such a great game!)
Spy Hunter
Road Blasters
Cyberball
Narc
Smash TV
Commando (with the machine gun. So good!)

At least it got us out in the world and didn't make us isolated. So I was red eyed and cotton mouthed and throwing down great pizza and cheese fries. It was worth every quarter I spent and every minute I wasted.

Did anyone else buy the code books and figure out the level patterns for different games? I'd love to have one of those books today. The pattern of the ghosts in Pac-Man and how you could get super close and they'd shift in the other direction at certain points...

They would post high scores at one place called the Milky Way. Every top 10 dude was a bonafide stoner. This one guy played Defender forever and just ended up leaving because he needed to use the bathroom. I think the home gaming systems are cool (I own a PS2), but they cut us off from the culture of the arcade scene. All the games I see out now are way too interactive for me. We need an old school arcade or 2 around. Thing is, it would be full of middle age dudes like us. Kids these days could not hang with the retro graphics and game play.


"There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny."

SilverZ

  • Guest
Re: When arcade games were a quarter each...
« Reply #7 on: February 28, 2004, 02:28 AM »
Yeah, its too bad the culture has really died. What's a shame is that the idea of a social place where people can challenge their own skills or against others in a, er, non-athletic way, is still perfectly viable as a business. The fact that 2D gaming doesn't live on much past the Gameboy Advance is also a travesty.

A while back before our company moved to a repressive corporate office, we had a MAME cabinet in the kitchen. It was basically an upright cabinet with a PC inside. There was a period of about 3-4 months that every night, without fail, when we would have Robotron tournaments. We got so good, and later so in need of variation, we began betting on the tournaments. It was a blast, and it wasn't the just the older guys, but a lot of our testers and PA's, mostly 18-19 - which I guess qualify for being part of a different generation.

Unfortunately mainstream gaming is very limited to the genres that are top-10 sellers now. There's little room for inventive games like we used to play now. If it doesn't sell 100 thousand units and sell into Best Buy, Walmart, and TRU, it doesn't have a chance.

Really a bummer.

Offline hansloroll

  • Youngling
  • *
  • Posts: 69
  • attempting to complete my vintage collection
    • View Profile
Re: When arcade games were a quarter each...
« Reply #8 on: February 28, 2004, 01:28 PM »
I was a fan of the original pointless game.

attempting to complete my vintage collection .Available for sculpting and painting.cantina monsters and droids a favorite project.

Offline Vator

  • Jedi Apprentice
  • *
  • Posts: 2072
    • View Profile
Re: When arcade games were a quarter each...
« Reply #9 on: February 28, 2004, 02:58 PM »
I remember Galaga, man do I love that game. One thing I never got about it was why was one rank ''Queen''? I remeber this one day in 1999 at the mall I played for like 3 hours and achived the rank of queen. Needless to say it was disapointing.
- June 22, 2004 12:13 AM -

Offline Thomas Grey

  • Jedi Padawan
  • *
  • Posts: 780
  • What are you laughing at fuzzball?
    • View Profile
    • JediDefender.com
Re: When arcade games were a quarter each...
« Reply #10 on: February 28, 2004, 07:25 PM »
Nice hansloroll!

The Atari 2600. Awesome! My brothers and I were trying to pull out the classic games we enjoyed on the Atari 2600.

Here are some titles on Atari 2600 that I loved:

Adventure
Raiders of the Lost Arc
Krull
Chopper Command
Pitfall
Jungle Hunt
Ka-Boom

I'm sure there are more...


"There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny."

Offline Sems Fir

  • Youngling
  • *
  • Posts: 51
    • View Profile
    • www.behindthetoys.com
Re: When arcade games were a quarter each...
« Reply #11 on: February 28, 2004, 08:33 PM »
I liked the game so much I decided to carry 575 pounds into my basement a couple of years ago!



The cabinet has seen better days, but the game iteself is the hard to find four player version.  Yes, it works! 8>)

Robert
NOOMIVARR SECTOR
BLACK S. U. N.

Offline Thomas Grey

  • Jedi Padawan
  • *
  • Posts: 780
  • What are you laughing at fuzzball?
    • View Profile
    • JediDefender.com
Re: When arcade games were a quarter each...
« Reply #12 on: February 28, 2004, 10:24 PM »
Unbelievable!!!

I can't tell you how much I loved to play it! My buddy and I used to toke tough and then get lost in a full game or 5 at the mall before it was shut down.

I was a stoner, but am no more. Just thought I'd clear that up. Not many older memories that are of the sober nature. But all good times!
"There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny."

Offline Famine

  • Noderator
  • Jedi Master
  • *
  • Posts: 5050
  • Who watches The Famine?
    • View Profile
Re: When arcade games were a quarter each...
« Reply #13 on: February 28, 2004, 10:24 PM »
My "first" arcade game I played, was Ms. Packman, but my first game I ever played religiously was Sonic the Hedgehog. I played that game for hours on end.

Thank god Nintendo purchased the rights from sega and made the Mega Collection.

Kevin
The picture kept, will remind me...

Offline Morgbug

  • Old
  • Jedi Guardian
  • *
  • Posts: 16232
  • mmm. pemmican.
    • View Profile
Re: When arcade games were a quarter each...
« Reply #14 on: February 28, 2004, 11:53 PM »
I cannot remember the game I used to play all the time in University.  Used to have a Conan/Kull kind of character that would walk along a screen, predominantly left to right as I recall and battle other warriors, dragons, etc.  I played that game for hours on end and they were wonderful because you trained your mind with the patterns.  I'd barely be paying attention and not get killed simply because I knew what was coming and from where.  

BTW, How old am I?  My buddy across the street was one of the first kids in the city to own Pong :P
Minivans: a sign of the apocalypse.