Titan Network

Community => General Discussion => Topic started by: pewlagon on February 18, 2013, 08:36:02 PM

Title: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: pewlagon on February 18, 2013, 08:36:02 PM
Saw an old style light gun arcade game today. Put a quarter in. Three little kids gathered around to watch me humiliate myself. None of them any older than Frodo was in that infamous Back to the Future scene. As they watched they began snickering and laughing. After a bit one of the kids called to their parents. "Mom, this man is playing a baby game!" All I need now is a life perserver vest and a Dalorrean (sp).
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: FatherXmas on February 18, 2013, 09:02:39 PM
Many years ago, an old college friend and I went to an exhibit of arcade games on display at the regional science museum.  They were set up to play and while we could school the tweens in games like Battlezone, Missile Command and Tempest, they murdered us in games like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat.

Just a few years ago we went to a Fandom convention (board games/anime/scifi/comics) and I had to put some distance between me and him because he insisted in trying out the Japanese DDR machine.  50 year old guy Vs pink hair anime fangirl...
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: TimtheEnchanter on February 19, 2013, 05:38:51 AM
Fracking smart-phone brats.

Pick me up, we're going to the 80's to play in a real arcade.
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: Aggelakis on February 19, 2013, 09:11:06 AM
My husband and I visited Flynn's Arcade at the California Adventure park next to Disneyland and he spent I don't know how many dollars putting coins in things and pushing buttons for like four hours straight, alongside other grown men putting coins in things and pushing buttons for hours. There was some serious man-squee from time to time.
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: healix on February 19, 2013, 12:03:48 PM
Fun should never go out of style!!!

(https://i.imgur.com/bCpbx9y.jpg)
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: Dollhouse on February 19, 2013, 03:56:48 PM
Fracking smart-phone brats.

Pick me up, we're going to the 80's to play in a real arcade.

Here in Portland, we have a real arcade...with a liquor license.  :D
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: TimtheEnchanter on February 20, 2013, 08:55:39 PM
My husband and I visited Flynn's Arcade at the California Adventure park next to Disneyland and he spent I don't know how many dollars putting coins in things and pushing buttons for like four hours straight, alongside other grown men putting coins in things and pushing buttons for hours. There was some serious man-squee from time to time.

When I went to the Tron Legacy sneak-peek, I got pretty darned misty-eyed when Sam switched on the circuit breaker at the arcade. If I went to the 'real' one, I'd probably need therapy.

Here in Portland, we have a real arcade...with a liquor license.  :D

I'm surprised they allow it. The nearest classic arcade out here doesn't allow food or drink indoors. Too many people spill stuff on the machines that they've taken such a long time to restore.
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: dwturducken on February 20, 2013, 09:22:31 PM
Here in Portland, we have a real arcade...with a liquor license.  :D

My sister lives in Portland. I've been putting off going out to visit. Now, I'm pricing Amtrak...
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: JWBullfrog on February 21, 2013, 01:31:25 AM
When I went to the Tron Legacy sneak-peek, I got pretty darned misty-eyed when Sam switched on the circuit breaker at the arcade. If I went to the 'real' one, I'd probably need therapy.

I'm surprised they allow it. The nearest classic arcade out here doesn't allow food or drink indoors. Too many people spill stuff on the machines that they've taken such a long time to restore.

The lights on the cabinets switch on, the screens flicker to life and Journey slowly winds back into audibility in the background.
 
Yeah. I can relate.
 
I had a bit of this while watching Wreck it Ralph. All of the classic game references that I spent time saying "I know that...and that...and that..."
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: dwturducken on February 21, 2013, 01:35:03 AM
I had a bit of this while watching Wreck it Ralph. All of the classic game references that I spent time saying "I know that...and that...and that..."

My son and I annoyed the pancake out of my wife doing this, and the Playstation 2 has been around longer than this kid. :)
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: Kaiser Tarantula on February 21, 2013, 09:58:13 AM
I mourned when the last video game arcade in my area finally closed up shop.  It was part of an old rollerskating rink.

On the last day it was open, I was the last one playing at closing time, enjoying my last few tokens on a Final Fight machine.  They kept the place open 'til I'd used up my last credit.  When I stepped away from the machine the manager came out, patted me on the shoulder and said, "Y'know, I wish more people knew how to have fun like you.  We might've stayed in business."

Probably the third saddest day in my life.

Never let anyone insult an arcade machine, or your choice to enjoy one.  Before Internet, before home consoles, before PC gaming, arcades were the cornerstone of video gaming, and any gamer who disrespects an arcade cabinet is disrespecting his history and origins as a gamer.
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: Shenku on February 25, 2013, 05:37:44 AM
I use to love going to arcades, but I rarely had the money to when I was little, and now that I'm older and have money, there's not many arcades around any more... There's a Game Works near where I live(They serve liquor there too, or at least they did the last time I was there...), but their selection of games seems smaller every time I go in...

Still, I don't feel as bad knowing I have this sucker in my living room right now:

(https://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/bb456/Shenku85/IMG_0363_zps71c5baad.jpg)

Still works 99.9%(there's a few lights that need replacing, but other wise everything works), makes a lot of racket, and I love every bit of it. Unfortunately, it belongs to two of my brothers, they have the keys to it, and if I ever want to play it I still have to spend quarters on it... :P
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: Minotaur on February 25, 2013, 09:00:49 AM
I use to love going to arcades, but I rarely had the money to when I was little, and now that I'm older and have money, there's not many arcades around any more... There's a Game Works near where I live(They serve liquor there too, or at least they did the last time I was there...), but their selection of games seems smaller every time I go in...

Still, I don't feel as bad knowing I have this sucker in my living room right now:

<image snipped>

Still works 99.9%(there's a few lights that need replacing, but other wise everything works), makes a lot of racket, and I love every bit of it. Unfortunately, it belongs to two of my brothers, they have the keys to it, and if I ever want to play it I still have to spend quarters on it... :P

That brings back memories, spent a load of coins on that machine when it was in the common room at my university in the mid 80s.
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: FatherXmas on February 25, 2013, 10:18:17 AM
I use to love going to arcades, but I rarely had the money to when I was little, and now that I'm older and have money, there's not many arcades around any more... There's a Game Works near where I live(They serve liquor there too, or at least they did the last time I was there...), but their selection of games seems smaller every time I go in...

Still, I don't feel as bad knowing I have this sucker in my living room right now:

Still works 99.9%(there's a few lights that need replacing, but other wise everything works), makes a lot of racket, and I love every bit of it. Unfortunately, it belongs to two of my brothers, they have the keys to it, and if I ever want to play it I still have to spend quarters on it... :P

Sweet.
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: TimtheEnchanter on February 25, 2013, 11:37:22 PM
The pinball machines that really stick out in my mind are Haunted House, and another Pac Man variant.

Haunted House had 2 levels of play, and by that I mean there was an entirely different level beneath the regular one, that was only visible at certain times. The main play level would 'vanish' and be replaced with the one beneath it via a simple trick of light.

The Pac Man pinball game I'm remembering was actually 2 games in 1. It had controls for both pinball and the arcade game, and there was a video screen built into scoreboard panel. Doing certain things on the pinball end would temporarily switch you over to the arcade game to play through one level of conventional Pac Man.
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: Kaiser Tarantula on February 25, 2013, 11:55:16 PM
The pinball machines that really stick out in my mind are Haunted House, ...

Haunted House had 2 levels of play, and by that I mean there was an entirely different level beneath the regular one, that was only visible at certain times. The main play level would 'vanish' and be replaced with the one beneath it via a simple trick of light.
Oh man.

It's incredible that you mention this, because the skating rink that I mentioned in my last post?  Had this very pinball machine, and it was the most-played pinball machine there.  Except that this one had three playfields - attic, cellar, and foyer, instead of just two.  You could only lose the ball on the main playfield, the foyer, so if you got good at knocking the ball into the attic or cellar 'secret passages' you could score ridiculous amounts of points.

It was a thing of beauty, and I kinda wish I could've been there, and been old enough, when the rink's stuff was auctioned off.  I would've bid on that machine (and that old Final Fight machine - I swear I had more time spent on that than anyone else) in a heartbeat.
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: houtex on February 26, 2013, 04:35:49 AM
Man.  I'm jealous of that Pac-Man pinball machine.

I still want my own sit down Star Wars arcade machine.  I understand the vector screens are *really* difficult to acquire... much less the whole box it comes in. :)

/And no, MAME isn't quite right.
//Finally got to play an ESB one, and... man did Atari mess that up. :p
///Oh, and a sit down Star Trek machine, and a Sinistar machine, and that Williams space motorcycle laserdisc machine, and that awesome F1 machine, and a Lunar Lander, and a Funhouse pinball , and a Black Knight 2000 pinball, and an old school not fixed Galaga, and a Dragon's Lair, and a Liberator, and a Missile Command, and a Hercules Pinball machine.
////I... don't know where I'd put all that.... oh an Exidy XWing.  Oh, and...
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: MindBlender on February 26, 2013, 09:21:55 AM
It may make us sound old talking about arcades of yesteryear, but I remember sneaking a mile away from my house to the bowling alley in Chicago just to play Galaga and Pac-Man for an hour.  The only way I get to stand up and play these days are at Dave & Busters or Chuck E Cheese (wait, that's kids games).  There was just something special about the sounds of an arcade.  Every game had it's own sound, but they would all come together to make that special "music".  The last arcade I was at was 10 years ago and I miss it.  Arcades were just that thing we miss, a group of people coming together for the same purpose...the love of playing games.
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: dwturducken on February 27, 2013, 02:02:11 AM
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/BuildingYourOwnArcadeCabinetForGeeksPart1TheCabinet.aspx

I'm sure, with a little knowledge of carpentry, a sit-down cabinet should be no problem. :)
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: BobMc on February 27, 2013, 02:38:25 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL9qRWFhvdI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL9qRWFhvdI)
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: Victoria Victrix on March 10, 2013, 12:00:23 AM
I think I might win an awesomesauce award from you guys.

The evening Larry and I got married, we spent about 4 hours in the arcade of the Excalibur Hotel in Lost Wages (that's right, Larry and I got married at the Excalibur by Merlin and our wedding reception was the Jousting Show).  He and our buddy Ben, his best man, were playing a machine they were DETERMINED to get to the endgame on, so he was on one set of controls, Ben was on the other, and I was standing between them with a bucket of quarters, feeding the machine so they never got reset, cheering them on. 

It was a blast.  Do not regret one single minute.
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: pewlagon on March 10, 2013, 02:28:26 AM
VV, now that's a team effort!
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: TimtheEnchanter on March 10, 2013, 03:07:22 AM
The evening Larry and I got married, we spent about 4 hours in the arcade of the Excalibur Hotel in Lost Wages (that's right, Larry and I got married at the Excalibur by Merlin and our wedding reception was the Jousting Show).  He and our buddy Ben, his best man, were playing a machine they were DETERMINED to get to the endgame on, so he was on one set of controls, Ben was on the other, and I was standing between them with a bucket of quarters, feeding the machine so they never got reset, cheering them on. 

It was a blast.  Do not regret one single minute.

Wow, alright... this doesn't happen very often... but I now have the urge to watch wedding/reception videos.
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: Adelante on March 15, 2013, 11:20:26 PM
I'll always be a gamer.  Started dating a girl last week and turns out she is a former gamer that still enjoys playing some.   She was embarrassed at first, just saying that her brother worked for a software company.  When I asked what they made, she kind of sheepishly said, "Games."  I told her that was pretty cool and she immediately gushed, "Inorite?!"  ...did I mention she's about 10 years younger than me?  I feel old.  Anyway, went out for drinks, then ended up at her place for more drinks, and I gave her a copy of Dungeon Defenders on Steam.  It was taking too long to download so we went back to my place (taxi, thank you very much.  No drinky-drivy!) and played split-screen for like 6 hours. 

It was kind of weird in a way, considering the circumstances and what-not.  Still, good times.

BTW, I still have my old Atari 2600.  Don't have many games for it anymore, though.  Some wrestling game, ET, Donkey Kong, & Yars Revenge.  Asteroids too, I think.  Used to have Mouse Trap but can't find it now.

Eventually I'll get/make a MAME machine.  One of these days.
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: Kaiser Tarantula on March 22, 2013, 10:01:43 PM
BTW, I still have my old Atari 2600.  Don't have many games for it anymore, though.  Some wrestling game, ET, Donkey Kong, & Yars Revenge.  Asteroids too, I think.  Used to have Mouse Trap but can't find it now.
ET
ET
ET
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGG!

THE BANE OF MY YOUTH!  FIEND!  WHY MUST YOU CLAIM ANOTHER WITH YOUR RANCID ABJECT TERRRIBLENESS!?  AAAAAAAAAA...

No, but seriously, I now know of one other person besides myself who has suffered from that game.  I feel your pain, man.  I feel your pain.

*curls up in a corner and shivers*
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: Rotten Luck on March 23, 2013, 12:29:36 AM
ET!  *Hides under desk* 

Yeah I too suffered that ... lack of a better word... game.  I too know the pain of endlessly trying to get out of a pit!  I don't have my Atari 2600 anymore, the only system I still have is my PlayStation.  In a box in the closet my gaming went to PC and stayed there.
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: houtex on March 23, 2013, 02:01:03 AM
E. Gads.  E. T.

Horrible.  Just... horrible.  Never got it figured out. 

that and that awful thing they called PacMan.  Yeesh.
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: Electric-Knight on March 23, 2013, 04:21:06 AM
E.T.!
I fell into a pit...
And now I am pale white... and trying my hardest to float myself up to the top...
WTF?!?
 :o

Although, Yars Revenge... is ultimate coolness.

Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: Electric-Knight on March 23, 2013, 04:22:35 AM
Unfortunately, it belongs to two of my brothers, they have the keys to it, and if I ever want to play it I still have to spend quarters on it... :P
Try holding a metal key... scrub your feet along the carpet and give a little shock near the coin slot. Not sure if that model is old enough or not, but it used to work for me back in the day... ;D

Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: Stygian Outlaw on March 25, 2013, 05:35:39 PM
I remember the Saturday nights when my parents where part of a bowling league and us kids would get our weekly allowance ($5) to spend on the arcade games and junk food.  My first exposure to the likes of Dig-Dug, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Tron.

When I got older and started going out on my own, I got to hit the arcades during the fight game craze of Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. 

Nice thing is that if you have an old PC lying about collecting dust, you could always build a Arcade Box. 
http://www.arcadecab.com/

I'm doing something similar to this to incorporate some of my old console games that I'd like to have access to, but don't want to have to plug it all up.  Going to a bar top style for friends to play when we have get togethers and such.
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: dwturducken on March 27, 2013, 01:28:52 AM
That site isn't live, anymore, but there are plenty of other sites for that sort of project.

I always liked the racing games, the ones where it's got you sitting in a vaguely car-shaped seat (really just a flat wood bench in a fancy cabinet). That's a little more space-intensive.
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: TimtheEnchanter on April 02, 2013, 04:08:57 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY_ESTnBlS0
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: pewlagon on April 04, 2013, 08:19:32 PM
Tim, I'm crying over Nostalgia.
Title: Re: "That's a Baby's toy!"
Post by: healix on April 05, 2013, 10:56:45 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY_ESTnBlS0

(https://i.imgur.com/efsqcGS.gif)

I call you awesome, sir