Nostalgic Images (Post Yours!)

ArcadeCited

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Do you have pictures of your favorite place when it had your favorite machine? I have one... Ninfa's on Gulf Freeway used to have a multicade machine that ran an Arcadeshop Programmable PCB, boy do I have nostalgia for this machine, I remember when I first played it back in 2013, may not seem long ago but I was never really into arcade machines but whenever I saw this machine... Dang it was cool! This machine is the one that started my obsession with both arcades and trying to get my hands on that same PCB. Sadly this is the only photo I have and it really sucks... But take my word for it, it looked really nice and cool. It's the Pac-Man / Galaxian shaped cabinet on the right.
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Nostalgia for that multi pcb, oh have the times changed :) Glad to see it got you into collecting and introduced to the classics.
 
Nostalgia for that multi pcb, oh have the times changed :) Glad to see it got you into collecting and introduced to the classics.
Nah, I have more nostalgia for Pac-Man, and ms. Pac-Man, those were like the first few games I played.
 
I wish I had pictures from BITD but I never thought of carrying a camera at 8-12 years old. Plus most of the pictures would be hazy from all the cigarette smoke I remember.
Yeah, same, I never thought of carrying a camera at 8.
 
I wish I had pictures from BITD but I never thought of carrying a camera at 8-12 years old.

I have a building in an old town and was asking all the old timers if there were any pictures of downtown (it's only 1 block) and couldn't find anybody with any pictures from like... 1902 when it was built, to 1999. 30 different people told me they'd look but never found anything. Finally this old man when I asked him, said "There wasn't anybody in town that sold cameras!" So they literally have no pictures, because there was no place in town that sold cameras or developed film, lol
 
I have some pretty hardcore nostalgia for the Pavilion amusement park in Myrtle Beach, SC.

There is still the same arcade nearby, but sadly everything just feels different. Ms Pac-Man is gone.. two pictures attached, me in the 1987 with Ms Pac, versus today.
 

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Yeah, I was an avid photographer during the golden age, but I never even thought to take pics of arcade games. I was taking pictures like crazy of bmx and skateboarding action stuff, though.
 
I have a building in an old town and was asking all the old timers if there were any pictures of downtown (it's only 1 block) and couldn't find anybody with any pictures from like... 1902 when it was built, to 1999. 30 different people told me they'd look but never found anything. Finally this old man when I asked him, said "There wasn't anybody in town that sold cameras!" So they literally have no pictures, because there was no place in town that sold cameras or developed film, lol
Hey Jeff or Joe.
 
I played Missile Command over here in the UK and first discovered the game in a local run-down cafe. "Rita's Cafe" was owned by a big Greek guy called Peter. Huge cups of sugary English tea, dirty cutlery and all-day full greasy English breakfasts were the order of the day, along with an atmosphere thick with cigarette smoke. it won no prizes for fine cuisine or atmosphere. But it did have arcade games, which was good enough for me. I got to know Pete quite well even though I was only 13 or so. He was hilarious and the place was full of characters. Lots of tales from that place which I won't go into here, but suffice to say, it was pretty instrumental in my induction to the world of arcade games back in 1981.

Of course, it is now long gone after a deep fat fryer set the place on fire in the mid-eighties. In researching Rita's, I drove past the building a couple of years back and it's now a barbershop. I tried to track down Peter but to no avail. So then I tried to find a photograph of the place, with absolutely zero expectations - I mean what are the chances of a photo existing of this random tin-pot cafe in the middle of a nondescript city in England?

Well after lots of dead ends, as luck would have it, I eventually found one. Not only of the cafe itself, but also complete with non-other than Pete the Greek himself leaning out of the door, with a look of puzzlement on his face, clearly wondering why the hell some amateur photographer was taking a photo of his fine establishment:

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But it gets better. Zoom in on the window to the left of the door.

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That is the Irish built Atari Missile Command cabinet I played way back in 1981/1982, which dates the picture exactly around the time I played there. Not only was I lucky to find this, but the fact that it shows the café, the owner and the cab I played on blew me away.

You can read about the café and my journey with Missile Command, as well as the history of the game in my book which you can order here.
 
That's a great photo find man, go out and buy a lottery ticket :) Peter the Greek #1
 
IMG_9374.jpegLoved that story in the book. Incredible to have him in the pic and have that curtain open juuust enough to see your game. Damn cool. I wish I had more pics of the local gamerooms I grew up in. Mainly in pizza places but they were goddamn great. I've posted here a number of times before but I at least was able to save a section of the black light gameroom at the Epi when it was being taken out. John the owner let me use a steak knife to hack it out of the wall.
 
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