Midwest locations of The Grid?

Hibiki Rush

New member
Joined
Jan 6, 2011
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Location
Illinois
Does anyone know of any locations in the midwest that still have the Midway arcade game The Grid? Preferably 2+ cabinets but even one would be great. I haven't seen this game in years...
 
I have two linked cabs here in Ann Arbor. Was thinking of buying the third, but two is probably plenty for a home arcade
 
Last time I was in Galaxy World in Carol Stream, IL they had two linked up. That was about a year ago.
 
I have a ton of NOS The Grid promo posters I'd sell cheap.

Gala West (naperville brunswick zone) used to have a triple years ago, not sure if they still do as it is has been more than 10 years since I last visited that place. The only other places I knew of that had them all went out of business over the past 5 or more years.
 
Really? Dang I guess I need to get out to your house more.

Yes, long story on the grids, but I will try to wrap it up quick.
I used to play the heck out of it at the Boulder boardwalk in Boulder CO. Unfortunately the arcade went under when I lived there, which really sucked as they had a lot of classics I frequented it a lot. The good part is that is what kind of turned me on to collecting. I have been looking for a Grid ever since (about 8 years).

Then I went to a storage unit sale last year after spending the day at Mt.Holly snowboarding. Still wearing my gear I was outside of a unit when they opened it up and there were 3 linked grids and a huge House of the Dead. Needless to say the bidding went up to like 1300 bucks or something and I really only wanted one or two of them. I offered the guy that won them 400 for one on the spot and he declined thinking they were worth like a grand a piece. I gave him my number and never heard back.

Fast forward about 8 months and they started popping up on CL around here. The infamous Jay over in Taylor ended up getting them. He knew that I had talked about the game before so he gave me a call. Turns out he got them from the same guy from the auction. I ended up trading a Defender cocktail and some cash for one and then bought one outright for 400. Kind of crazy money to drop on them, but I had wanted to find them for some time and they are a lot of fun. I have been torn on buying the third one that is now for sale from the guy that Jay sold the other one to. He has been calling me trying to get me to buy it since I have the marquee for all three as well.

The worst part is that they are so damn big I cannot even get them in my house. They have been hibernating in the garage all winter. I don't know what in the hell I will do with 3 since the two are already taking up enough space for a small car, but I am very tempted to get that third one! Sorry for the ramble, but long story short is that is a sweet game and having a couple linked up is good times.

Sparty, you have to roll through sometime soon. All sorts of changes over here.

And definitely sending a pm regarding the posters!
 
Get the third one. The game is infinitely more fun with 3 or more players. It was the most fun when 6 were linked and you had 6 people on it playing.
 
Yes, long story on the grids, but I will try to wrap it up quick.
I used to play the heck out of it at the Boulder boardwalk in Boulder CO. Unfortunately the arcade went under when I lived there, which really sucked as they had a lot of classics I frequented it a lot. The good part is that is what kind of turned me on to collecting. I have been looking for a Grid ever since (about 8 years).

Then I went to a storage unit sale last year after spending the day at Mt.Holly snowboarding. Still wearing my gear I was outside of a unit when they opened it up and there were 3 linked grids and a huge House of the Dead. Needless to say the bidding went up to like 1300 bucks or something and I really only wanted one or two of them. I offered the guy that won them 400 for one on the spot and he declined thinking they were worth like a grand a piece. I gave him my number and never heard back.

Fast forward about 8 months and they started popping up on CL around here. The infamous Jay over in Taylor ended up getting them. He knew that I had talked about the game before so he gave me a call. Turns out he got them from the same guy from the auction. I ended up trading a Defender cocktail and some cash for one and then bought one outright for 400. Kind of crazy money to drop on them, but I had wanted to find them for some time and they are a lot of fun. I have been torn on buying the third one that is now for sale from the guy that Jay sold the other one to. He has been calling me trying to get me to buy it since I have the marquee for all three as well.

The worst part is that they are so damn big I cannot even get them in my house. They have been hibernating in the garage all winter. I don't know what in the hell I will do with 3 since the two are already taking up enough space for a small car, but I am very tempted to get that third one! Sorry for the ramble, but long story short is that is a sweet game and having a couple linked up is good times.

Sparty, you have to roll through sometime soon. All sorts of changes over here.

And definitely sending a pm regarding the posters!
Man it's a small world. I was at that same storage unit auction myself. I was surprised to see they went for so much considering there was no way of knowing if they worked, let alone if they were complete. It sounds like it ended up working out for you in a roundabout way. :) The game did look kinda neat, but I had never seen one before that.
 
Last time I was in Galaxy World in Carol Stream, IL they had two linked up. That was about a year ago.

Just remembered to check back on this post last night and after a call to the (what is now) Brunswick, they do still have the 2 cabinets! One's joystick was a little broken but still so great to play this game again. Going back today even. Thank you for the info on this!
 
Man it's a small world. I was at that same storage unit auction myself. I was surprised to see they went for so much considering there was no way of knowing if they worked, let alone if they were complete. It sounds like it ended up working out for you in a roundabout way. :) The game did look kinda neat, but I had never seen one before that.

Far out, too bad I was not real active on KLOV at that time, or I would have introduced myself. I was the guy in full snowboard gear during the auction. I was definitely surprise how much they went for as well. The owner of the storage facility told me he had played them all before, but you know how that goes. I thought the guy was crazy for paying that much for them, but in the end they cost me around a grand (total)- so I guess I am not much better. But I had been looking for one or two for about 8 years so oh well.

*Update* All three are now at the house- or actually in the garagecade, as they will never fit in the basement. But it has been warm enough to play them, so if you are in Michigan and near Ann Arbor, feel free to come through. I have not had three people playing them simultaneously yet!
 
I remember seeing advertisements for The Grid everywhere prior to its release, but it seemed to me as though it came out right at the very end of the arcade era, so there weren't very many produced, and it was hard to find. I don't think it ever got a console port, did it? I finally played it years later at an arcade in Milford, CT and thought it was fun, but too similar to other FPS games, so maybe that's why Midway never bothered to port it?
 
I remember seeing advertisements for The Grid everywhere prior to its release, but it seemed to me as though it came out right at the very end of the arcade era, so there weren't very many produced, and it was hard to find. I don't think it ever got a console port, did it? I finally played it years later at an arcade in Milford, CT and thought it was fun, but too similar to other FPS games, so maybe that's why Midway never bothered to port it?

It was one of the very last games Midway produced before closing coin-op (Arctic Thunder was the very last game). If I recall correctly, The Grid never went into full production. They made a sample run that was a few hundred units and that was all that was sold. It's a shame because it really was a fun game but the company confused the hell out of everyone by selling them as single units (and expensive ones at that) instead of selling it as a triple unit for one price. I think they also sold that big marquee (for the triple) as a separate piece too! That game worked and earned best with 3 or more units. I used to have operators asking me why their game didn't earn any money and I'd ask "how many did you get" and they'd tell me "well, one" or sometimes two.

It was clearly a case of a good game that was partially ruined by the dying market but more ruined by sales/marketing/management completely messing things up.
 
Back
Top Bottom