tips for "maximum effect" in the garcade?

vintagegamer

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tips for "maximum effect" in the garcade?

My birthday is this weekend, and I'm actually getting a very special gift for it this year: I have been working on our family history with my father for approximately the past 5 years, and while doing online research we met an extended relative last year who is very close in age to me. It's been a great experience because he is actually my "fifth" cousin (not 5th of five cousins in total; if you do the first cousins, 2nd cousins, 3rd cousins thing, he's actually the '5th' on the breakdown). The wildest thing of all is, he grew up pretty close to me in DE, and we never met once in person after over 30 years. I've been talking to him over the past year via email and phone, and this weekend we'll meet for the first time in person. It's very exciting.

The reason I'm sharing this with all of you is that I told him that if we got to catch up in person sometime, he should come check out the "garcade". He had no clue what this meant, and upon explaining it all to him, he's very eager to come and check it out. Now my garcade is not quite as elaborate in decor as some other folks here, but I do think that at nighttime that the games present themselves well with everything lit up. I'm psyched too because I now have many of the coin door lights up and running FINALLY, so everything is looking really good.

We have a juke that is used almost daily, so I thought I would power up some songs in that before he gets to walk in and see, but I was wondering what other suggestions you all may have for "maximum effect" for this guy's first home arcade experience? One of the big questions I have specifically is, my Battlezone game is right in the main lineup, and I'm currently waiting for the boards for it to come back in the mail (and with the weather we are having I am afraid they won't be here in time). With that specific game, should I still at least power it up so the marquee lights up, but just put one of those "damaged in battle" signs on the front? It's always a bummer IMO to see a game in a lineup that's not even powered up due to needing repair, so I thought the lit marquee would soften the blow.

Anyway, any input as always would be greatly appreciated.
 
Don't power up vectors without working boards in them, unless you are fixing them. If the spot killer circuit is faulty you'll burn a dot in your monitor, and it must happen a lot because I see lots of vectors damaged that way.

Me, I'd just tell him BZ is offline right now.
 
Don't power up vectors without working boards in them, unless you are fixing them. If the spot killer circuit is faulty you'll burn a dot in your monitor, and it must happen a lot because I see lots of vectors damaged that way.

Me, I'd just tell him BZ is offline right now.

Thanks Sean, I was not aware of that.
 
A helpful tool to add to the ambience would be a TV running out there.

Hopefully you have a newer TV (flatscreen) which has component hookups or a digital projector handy. Mount it to the wall, project it on a big wall, or situate a regular TV in a corner. Then hook your computer to it, find around 30-50 great 80's music videos from youtube. Create a playlist of them all, then expand the image to fill your screen, crank the volume, and let the good times role.

If done right, maybe you can get this look to go on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9J9m4ezNRI
 
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A helpful tool to add to the ambience would be a TV running out there.

Hopefully you have a newer TV (flatscreen) which has component hookups or a digital projector handy. Mount it to the wall, project it on a big wall, or situate a regular TV in a corner. Then hook your computer to it, find around 30-50 great 80's music videos from youtube. Create a playlist of them all, then expand the image to fill your screen, crank the volume, and let the good times role.

If done right, maybe you can get this look to go on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9J9m4ezNRI

It's a great idea Gozer, but sadly I don't have the means or the space in which to do that at this time. I have some of the things I would need, but pretty much every inch of space in the garage is spoken for, so I don't even know where I would set all that up :(
 
Who's never been to an arcade with a non-lit non working cab? It makes the experience more authentic! Tape a "DAMAGED IN BATTLE" sign to the cab... it gives you something to talk about too.
 
Who's never been to an arcade with a non-lit non working cab? It makes the experience more authentic! Tape a "DAMAGED IN BATTLE" sign to the cab... it gives you something to talk about too.

Yep, I have that sign ready to rock. And yeah, most 'cades had a down machine BITD, but I wasn't planning on continuing that ghetto tradition in my HOME one!!! :D
 
If your low on space, I would just play some background arcade sounds intermixed with some good old fashioned rock music. If you plan on showing him the 'cade with the lights off, go by a simple disco light or something from walmart for $15. That'll help add some arcade ambience in there.
 
I want an old school 13" color TV out there that plays a random assortment of 80's commercials, TV spots, videos, etc for the gameroom. Of course I would also hook up that 4 player Pong clone console I got a while back at Goodwill.
 
I want an old school 13" color TV out there that plays a random assortment of 80's commercials, TV spots, videos, etc for the gameroom. Of course I would also hook up that 4 player Pong clone console I got a while back at Goodwill.

Nice idea, I have a 13", wood grained Emerson that I was trying to find a use for.
 
Do it! To simplify the process, you could just burn a pile of DVD's and hide a DVD player. Even better if your DVD player has a shuffle function.

That's the way I would probably go.

I also have a portable DVD player that is about 8" x 8" x 1.5" high I could use. Never heard of one with a 'shuffle' feature.
 
Looks look awesome if a bit pricey.

They start some of their auctions at $0.01. I picked mine up for $30 or so (it helps that they are local in Houston so I stopped by and picked it up saving $12 in shippng :D, yes I am that cheap).

ken
 
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