Kinda Sad Arcade 'News'

[YellowDog]

It's not any different from any other hobby that people get out of. I have gotten out of arcade collecting twice before, and one time I went nearly 8 years without owning a single game. These are just games, nothing more or less, and in the scheme of things they are not that important.

There are not a lot of people that last past age 45 in this hobby.

I got back into it at 52 after having just the Battlezone for 25 years.

I think the keyword is 'balance' here. Also having 'multiple' hobbies and being able to draw a fine line between those other hobbies

I guess another aspect for me is I enjoy fixing these as much as playing... especially true for pinball.

I agree with both statements. It is also important to find friends that support and help your addiction. There is a small but very rowdy group of us that support each other between Houston, Austin and Dallas. We swap parts, stories, machines and hang out at game shows, auctions and occassionally at each other's houses for no better reason then just because.

If you are all by yourself in this hobby and nobody ever stops by to challenge you to a game of Robotron or Tempest or whatever, I can see you burning out. But when you get the call that a bunch of you are going to go rummage though an old ops warehouse, or take a run to Dan's pinball museum or just go over to somebody's house to help rewire a Joust. That is what makes it worthwhile for me, sharing not hoarding (just don't look in my garage...).

ken

 

[sandmanx]

I think these kinds of stories are more indicative of personality disorders than anything. They come into the hobby and go nuts with a collection that they really can't support (financially, space-wise or mentally), and then get out of the hobby and go nuts by liquidating everything.

I agree with that too. Another thing I'll never understand is what a friend of mine does. He will buy a high dollar toy, then get sick of it a few months later, sell it, and take a huge hit on depreciation. Then, a few months later, he wants it again, and will go buy it at a higher price than he sold it and repeat the cycle over and over again.

 

[Robotron Jon]

I got back into it at 52 after having just the Battlezone for 25 years.

That's probably the exception to the rule. There are probably not than 10 people over the age of 50 on here regularly. But I get your point, it's never to late to get into this hobby or any other hobby.

I certainly have many more games this time around than I did the other two times I collected. The internet is a big part of that, there is infinitely more instant gratification now than before. Before the internet I had to call route operators to find games, or go to retail stores for games, or look through the for sale ads in the Recycler or newspapers. Or auctions. And I had to hire someone to fix the games because there were no technical resources.

I think the day will come when I am gameless again.

 

[mhkohne]

I agree with that too. Another thing I'll never understand is what a friend of mine does. He will buy a high dollar toy, then get sick of it a few months later, sell it, and take a huge hit on depreciation. Then, a few months later, he wants it again, and will go buy it at a higher price than he sold it and repeat the cycle over and over again.

His hobby is buying things, not playing with them. Seems weird to me too, but I've seen enough people do it that I'm pretty sure that's what's going on.

The real problem is that they don't know what their hobby is, so they end up spending far more than they otherwise would.

 

[sandmanx]

I'm thinking about quitting too; and it does hurt inside. My mortal kombat cab's monitor is acting out, and I have no idea how to fix it. The picture is shaking. I know its probably a cap kit, but i'm too clumsy to fix it, and I know I will end up screwing it up. The picture is stable, it just feels like there's a constant small earthquake effect going on. The Brightness is starting to fade; adjusting the knobs only work until a point where it starts to bleed all the colors together.

I spent money on getting a working board set, then over time it developped sound issues, I restored the cab back from a tekken botch job into its MK1 glory; i hunted and bought mk1 boards from around the world.. Audio works fine now, but with those damn monitor problems, Its too much.

My Super Chase cabinet works perfectly, but the entire monitor has a green tint effect going on. How do I fix this?! I HAVE NO IDEA, this is voodoo magic to me. Same thing with my showcase cabinet.. It's a 33 inch monitor, but its shaky as hell.. At least the neogeo and the nba jam cabs are working fine, same thing with the Killer Instinct cabinet. The local community is a wasteland; I tried contact local arcade ops and they dont tell me they dont really bother fixing old monitors anymore, they just replace them with lcd monitors.. Local people are into mame cabs it seems..

What can I do now? NOTHING. 3 of my cabs have video problems, and I dont have the knowhow to fix them, and its pissing me off considering I spent so much money on making them look good..

Chill out dude, you're going on a huge rant about your monitor issues when the answer is in your own post, at least for the MK1 machine, it's most likely a simple cap kit. It's not hard to put in a cap kit as long as you take your time. If you're unwilling to do it, or even take the board out and mail it to someone to fix it, then it's not going to work right. I didn't have anyone help me on my first cap kit(or any repairs actually) and was able to install it in around an hour.

If you're not willing to learn how to perform your own repairs either expect to pay out the nose for someone to fix them for you, or maybe it is time to get out of the hobby. No one is going to feel sorry for you either, everyone that's in this hobby has to deal with repairs. After all, Most arcade games are at least 20 years old or more now, and CRT displays are obsolete. My advice is to stop being scared of repairs, pick up a soldering iron, and get the satisfaction of fixing monitors on your own. There is plenty of help on here in the monitor sub-forum if you ask.

 

[TOK]

That's probably the exception to the rule. There are probably not than 10 people over the age of 50 on here regularly. But I get your point, it's never to late to get into this hobby or any other hobby.

I certainly have many more games this time around than I did the other two times I collected. The internet is a big part of that, there is infinitely more instant gratification now than before. Before the internet I had to call route operators to find games, or go to retail stores for games, or look through the for sale ads in the Recycler or newspapers. Or auctions. And I had to hire someone to fix the games because there were no technical resources.

I think the day will come when I am gameless again.

You're kind of changing your comments on the fly here... First you said there aren't many in the hobby over 45, then you made it 50 and now you've made it over 50 that post regularly. Whats next, over 50 with names that begin with certain letters?

There are plenty over 45. Any teen at the start of the Golden Age is already mid 40's and up. Not sure where you are getting your theory from, but I think your numbers are off. There are probably more people here that are in their 40's than in their 20's. There was a poll about age, and even though I think age is stigmatized enough that people are reluctant to talk about it, there were quite a few responders in their late 40's to early 50's.

 

[Robotron Jon]

You're kind of changing your comments on the fly here... First you said there aren't many in the hobby over 45, then you made it 50 and now you've made it over 50 that post regularly. Whats next, over 50 with names that begin with certain letters?

There are plenty over 45. Any teen at the start of the Golden Age is already mid 40's and up. Not sure where you are getting your theory from, but I think your numbers are off. There are probably more people here that are in their 40's than in their 20's. There was a poll about age, and even though I think age is stigmatized enough that people are reluctant to talk about it, there were quite a few responders in their late 40's to early 50's.

??? I only posted twice in this thread. I said not a lot of people last past age 45 in this hobby in the first post. Then when someone mentioned they got back into this hobby at age 52 I said there are not a lot of people over age 50 on here. What exactly is the problem with that?? I still think by around age 45 people drift off from this hobby...

I'd agree that there are less people in their 20s on here than their 40s but I believe the average age of someone here is late 30s.

 

[awarner]

Almost 50...

I'm almost 50 which means that I played "Classic Arcade Games" in College, not high school like some of you. People drop in and out of all sorts of hobbies for various reasons. I have re-invented my hobby over the years. First it was JAMMA vids, then classic vids, then document repairs, then multigames, then SS pins, then pin mods, then making videos about pins and vids, then EM pins, then MAME cabinets, then more videos, etc. I keep going back to different parts of "Collecting". I'm over 15 years into it and see no sign of getting out!

 

[jow]

This thread doesn't make me sad. It makes me remember how awesome I am for staying in this hobby through great and not so great times.

I am amazing.

 

[Phetishboy]

This thread doesn't make me sad. It makes me remember how awesome I am for staying in this hobby through great and not so great times.

I am amazing.

It actually makes me feel normal. And you ARE amazing.

 

[jow]

It actually makes me feel normal. And you ARE amazing.

As are you my good man. Wanna make out?

 

[Phetishboy]

As are you my good man. Wanna make out?

I guess so.

 

[neopolss]

I think this is a phase that hits all of us. Some of us are smart enough to stick through it, but how many of you ditched entire collections of things, from baseball cards to comics to games, only to years later start trying to piece it back together again? I did. I left the hobby, smacked myself in the forehead, and realized that I love my hobbies. I just have to balance better.

 

[hasenfang]

I know someone who got out of the hobby, I picked up one of his games and might pick up another. Its sad to see that passion just leave people, but that is life. I would sell my games if the situation called for it, such as a financial hardship or emergency.

For me, I guess I'm part hoarder, I have collected a bunch of stuff over the years and still have it, stored away, labeled, etc. I have always looked at this hobby as something that I really enjoy, and something unique and different. I am playing the long game when it comes to my games and collection. I have been just picking up the games I want when I find them for the right price and then restoring them when I have time. Sure I have had games sitting in "restoration mode" for quite sometime. But, I know I have the game and I am working toward getting it where I want it to be. This way, I always have something to look forward too, another final collection game and a little restore project on something I have.

I don't think I will ever get out of the hobby, unless I have too. I really enjoy playing the games and having them. Ironically, I don't have a huge amount of time to play them, but still really enjoy it when I can.

 

[Phetishboy]

I can't believe this thread is almost 10 years old. Does anyone know what happened to the guy that made all those recordings? The Shanman said he was living in the same town, but I haven't seen HIM on these forms for years either. Better yet, does anyone have any of this guy's recordings on MP3 they could share with me? I clicked on the link to his old site, but it looks like it's gone now.

 

[mattosborn]

I can't believe this thread is almost 10 years old. Does anyone know what happened to the guy that made all those recordings? The Shanman said he was living in the same town, but I haven't seen HIM on these forms for years either. Better yet, does anyone have any of this guy's recordings on MP3 they could share with me? I clicked on the link to his old site, but it looks like it's gone now.

The guy being talked about here is Dan Hower (Dphower), of Arcade Flyer Archive fame (and flyerfever.com). I can't remember if he was the one that had the old arcade recordings.... I recall downloading many (maybe all) of those recordings though. I'll have to dig through my offline storage to see if I still have them.

BTW, I bought my Gyruss from Dan many years ago (before he moved to Oregon... I think he was in Maryland?). That was the first and only game I've ever had shipped to me. Looks like Dan is living in the Boston area now. I'll have to look him up.

 

[dexmadden]

I can't believe this thread is almost 10 years old. Does anyone know what happened to the guy that made all those recordings? The Shanman said he was living in the same town, but I haven't seen HIM on these forms for years either. Better yet, does anyone have any of this guy's recordings on MP3 they could share with me? I clicked on the link to his old site, but it looks like it's gone now.

https://soundcloud.com/user-181200061

 

[Brick Top]

I can't believe this thread is almost 10 years old. Does anyone know what happened to the guy that made all those recordings? The Shanman said he was living in the same town, but I haven't seen HIM on these forms for years either. Better yet, does anyone have any of this guy's recordings on MP3 they could share with me? I clicked on the link to his old site, but it looks like it's gone now.

I can vouch for Shanman, he is still around and still has Game Galaxy, I actually ran into him IRL at Game Over arcade in Lincoln City, summer 2020.

Didnt the flyer guy sell the flyer website as well, perhaps to Greg?

 

[Phetishboy]

https://soundcloud.com/user-181200061

Holy shit, thank you! I just fired up the first clip and was instantly transported back again. What's weird is now I'm being transported back in time in layers. I used to sit in my old office 15+ years ago and listen to these 20-25 year old recordings and reminisce. Later I'd sit in my new office about 10 years ago and listen to these 30 year old recordings and reminisce. Now I'm reminiscing about sitting in my office 10 and 15 years ago listening to these now 40 year old recordings. Oh well I guess you can't stop time and just listening to these sounds makes me happy, so thanks.

 

[Phetishboy]

The guy being talked about here is Dan Hower (Dphower), of Arcade Flyer Archive fame (and flyerfever.com). I can't remember if he was the one that had the old arcade recordings.... I recall downloading many (maybe all) of those recordings though. I'll have to dig through my offline storage to see if I still have them.

BTW, I bought my Gyruss from Dan many years ago (before he moved to Oregon... I think he was in Maryland?). That was the first and only game I've ever had shipped to me. Looks like Dan is living in the Boston area now. I'll have to look him up.

Awesome information Matt thanks. I actually sent Dan an email through the flyer website. Hoping he'll respond to me. Hell, maybe he's got some cool arcade history or recordings I can buy.