Feel it again?

sonnyburnett

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I don't know if any of you have been thinking about this but I have:

Remember how you felt back then when you first walked in to an arcade, I remeber the "prepare to qualify" atract mode sound and a lot of other sounds.
My first play of moon patrol, that funky tune, Wow that periscope arcade game (forgot the name), i was wasn't even tall enough to make it but they had a box one could stand on.

The first time i seen Dragons Lair, WOW!! Yeah I know all the arguments about the gameplay etc etc but we had a black and white tv at home and a vcr I never even seen, so I just stood there watching it and watching it, those colors, the sounds.


So what I wanna ask you all, That feeling of those icons, those machines being so special, impossible to own etc.
I used get really excited about going to the arcade and play a game of OutRun, Space Harrier,Super Hang on, Rolling Thunder, Shinobi and Golden Axe to name a few.
Well now I own 4 cabinets and a lot of boards, I play my cabs and I like to but....
It just ain't the same, That exciting feeling is not there anymore, it's fun though and I just wonder... Is it possible to get that exciting feeling back again, do any of you get the same exciting feeling playing a game or seeing a certain arcade machine as they did 20 years ago??

Don't get me wrong, I still think it's fun to play and own my games but that extra feel i had back then, can it still be obtained without drugs afcourse :D
 
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Sometime, yes. It helps having other guys with game rooms around the area.

Anyways, the most awesome flashback experience I have had was when I walked into my gameroom from outside during our first outdoor movie. It was like I walked through a portal and was right back in a drive-in concession/gameroom from my youth.
 
I don't think you can duplicate it. My first arcade experience was in the late 70's. I had seen one or two vids in a bowling alley or in the bar after one of my dad's baseball games but nothing compares to your first true late 70's/early 80's arcade experience. Mine was at the Eastfield Mall in Springfield. The first arcade they had there had 2 levels, about 20 pins, 20-30 vids, the lighting, the noise was a sensory explosion. I don't know if you can duplicate that original experience.
 
Sometime, yes. It helps having other guys with game rooms around the area.

Anyways, the most awesome flashback experience I have had was when I walked into my gameroom from outside during our first outdoor movie. It was like I walked through a portal and was right back in a drive-in concession/gameroom from my youth.



Yeah it's stuff like this I'm talking about.
I had a flashback once when I seen the opening tune of Jayce and the wheeled warriors for the first time since like 25 years, for a few seconds I really felt like I was 10 again.
But with arcades I have not jet experienced this.
 
I don't think you can duplicate it. My first arcade experience was in the late 70's. I had seen one or two vids in a bowling alley or in the bar after one of my dad's baseball games but nothing compares to your first true late 70's/early 80's arcade experience. Mine was at the Eastfield Mall in Springfield. The first arcade they had there had 2 levels, about 20 pins, 20-30 vids, the lighting, the noise was a sensory explosion. I don't know if you can duplicate that original experience.


Yep that's is exactly it, that's what I'm looking for, to feel like that again.
Up till now I am also under the impression that it can't be duplicated for me personally but i would really want to.

Well we got one that has experienced that feel again, Shardian.
So it's possible.
 
Pretty much every similar hobby is an attempt at recapturing the magic of your youth. This cannot be achieved in totality but it does bring back memories to play the games again with regularity. Plus the arcade was a social event that still can't really get at home unless you start inviting strangers in or something.
 
I too believe you can never match the "feeling" that a person got from being in an arcade back then. After all, the games were new and had that "magic" that can never be captured again quite the same. I always try to think of those feelings from BITD when I power up my gameroom. It works pretty good.
 
unfortunately, all four arcades i've been to over the last six months (Funspot, Ground Kontrol, Crab Town, and the good ol' B&I right here in Tacoma) have had most if not all the attract mode sounds turned off. it was kinda eerie wander the FS near closing alone upstairs; so quite for having 200+ machines up and running all around me.

since my gameroom is currently in the back of the house, i've left the attract mode sounds off. once i have my space out in my garage finished i'll turn 'em all on to help relive that true 80's experience.

there was nothing more exciting than being 11, riding the ferry and hearing that Space Fury machine suddenly blurt out, "Is there no warrior mightier than I?" WHOA! that was cool.
 
I've had people over that have experienced it full on. That's where the tokens come in. I had two friends playing some beat-em-up on my MAME machine. They were constantly panicking to get a quarter in before the timer ran out. I just stood and watched, and thought about the exhilaration I experienced as a kid while frantically digging for one more quarter. I also remember watching other folks do the same thing BITD after I was out of quarters.
 
I get the feeling back every time I walk into my gameroom. Whenever I feel sick of the hobby, I just go to Hirschberg's website and look at the pics of his version of Electronic Valhalla. That makes me feel like there is still a goal to strive for.
 
Sorry, I don't want to recreate the sensory...

I don't want my house to smell like feet.
 
I sort of experienced it twice...

1. Playing Hard Drivin at Richie Knucklez...I looked up and realized I wasn't at the Franklin Institute in Philly...then I couldn't understand WHY I thought I was at a science museum, until I realized the first time I played Hard Drivin was at a science museum because they had a "future center" and were focusing on VR technologies, so they had the game there. Subsequently the only other time I ever got to play it BITD was at the Jersey Shore- few and far between.

2. Pole Position - hearing "Prepare to Qualify" sent shivers down my spine when I got my Pole Position working. Just something I haven't heard in forever.

Yeah, thats about it :-\
 
I get that feeling when I watch my kids play my games. I equate it with losing the joy of going to Disneyland, then regaining it when you get to see it through their eyes.

Honestly, though, my games make me very happy. It's such a nice escape when I can squeeze in some play time, and I think to myself, "Wow... I OWN this! Who would've thought that one day I'd actually OWN a few of these things!"
 
Most home gamerooms lack the atmosphere of a real 80's arcade but I did experience a bit of a flashback when I was at Flynn's in San Diego this summer and for a moment felt a bit like a teenager again.
 
i was born in 78 so when i was a kid i took video arcades for granted. it seemed like arcades and cabinets were everywhere! i assumed they had been here forever and would exist until the end of time. our local arcade is still open in the same mall, but i noticed years ago that when i went out of town, the malls didnt have arcades anymore, and if they did, they sucked. after seeing king of kong i tried to track down some games i remembered in the wild and they were almost all gone. the arcades disappeared and i didnt notice as in the process of growing up i had lost interest. now when i looked around i could hardly find games anywhere!

when i was growing up we were poor. i never had any home video game system until i was an adult and bought it for myself. still, some of my favorite childhood memories are of my dad taking me to the arcade to play pac man. when i turned 18 i moved to florida and there were arcades all up and down the beach, seemed like every island had at least one, and the hotels had lots of game rooms too. i found which places had which classics and played all the time, yet that was the mid 90s and i still took arcades for granted.

it wasnt until the last ten years or so that it seemed like arcades disappeared from the face of the earth. i guess i never knew how much maintenance went into the things, and now most of them are gone.

king of kong rekindled my interest in games, and i started learning why games didnt feel right once i discovered mame. 8 way vs 4 way joysticks and custom controls, i never realized there were differences in game controls, or never thought about it. it became clear that the only way to play the classics was on the real games with original controls or repros.

i love the look in people's eyes when they discover a long forgotten arcade classic on my MAME cab and get engrossed in it, tossing in dollar after dollar of my quarters. while MAME and the cab bring back many of the memories and feelings of the past, the reality is this is a different time.

i expected my trip to the arcade museum in mclean IL to bring back the old feelings, and it did to some point, but it also reminded me how old i am. like someone else on this thread said, arcade games arent shiny and new anymore. they are relics of a bygone era, and stand as testament to that, but they are not time machines. they remind me of the vintage recording equipment and vinyl records i also collect. they cannot take you back to that time, but they do bring back memories if you were there.

anyways, i am satisfied that i cannot duplicate the experience i had in the original arcade because i will never be a small child again. instead, i try to create new memories and enjoy these classic games in this time and place in my life, and new feelings i can look back on some day with pleasure.
 
i was born in 78 so when i was a kid i took video arcades for granted. it seemed like arcades and cabinets were everywhere! i assumed they had been here forever and would exist until the end of time. our local arcade is still open in the same mall, but i noticed years ago that when i went out of town, the malls didnt have arcades anymore, and if they did, they sucked. after seeing king of kong i tried to track down some games i remembered in the wild and they were almost all gone. the arcades disappeared and i didnt notice as in the process of growing up i had lost interest. now when i looked around i could hardly find games anywhere!

when i was growing up we were poor. i never had any home video game system until i was an adult and bought it for myself. still, some of my favorite childhood memories are of my dad taking me to the arcade to play pac man. when i turned 18 i moved to florida and there were arcades all up and down the beach, seemed like every island had at least one, and the hotels had lots of game rooms too. i found which places had which classics and played all the time, yet that was the mid 90s and i still took arcades for granted.

it wasnt until the last ten years or so that it seemed like arcades disappeared from the face of the earth. i guess i never knew how much maintenance went into the things, and now most of them are gone.

king of kong rekindled my interest in games, and i started learning why games didnt feel right once i discovered mame. 8 way vs 4 way joysticks and custom controls, i never realized there were differences in game controls, or never thought about it. it became clear that the only way to play the classics was on the real games with original controls or repros.

i love the look in people's eyes when they discover a long forgotten arcade classic on my MAME cab and get engrossed in it, tossing in dollar after dollar of my quarters. while MAME and the cab bring back many of the memories and feelings of the past, the reality is this is a different time.

i expected my trip to the arcade museum in mclean IL to bring back the old feelings, and it did to some point, but it also reminded me how old i am. like someone else on this thread said, arcade games arent shiny and new anymore. they are relics of a bygone era, and stand as testament to that, but they are not time machines. they remind me of the vintage recording equipment and vinyl records i also collect. they cannot take you back to that time, but they do bring back memories if you were there.

anyways, i am satisfied that i cannot duplicate the experience i had in the original arcade because i will never be a small child again. instead, i try to create new memories and enjoy these classic games in this time and place in my life, and new feelings i can look back on some day with pleasure.


LOVED reading this,absolutely awesome.
 
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