gameguy1957
Active member
I stopped by the Videotopia display at a museum in Tallahassee, Florida on Friday. The kids loved it and it was neat to see a "classic" style arcade set up and running again in public.
Unfortunately several of the games were in a sad state of repair. To be fair it does look like the games get a lot of daily use and abuse. There were about forty people that passed through and played while we were there (including the daycamp munchkins they let loose on them for about 30 minutes).
They also have a small display of home consoles. Many of the arcade games have a display with facts about the machine, date of build, etc. and include a list of other things happening at the time (movies popular that year, who was president, what was on TV, etc.)
Here's what's on display from what I can remember. I got a few pics of things before the camera died and I'll post them once I get home and on a real computer.
Computer Space - not working
Pong - not-working
Tank -working, but had a very noticeable scan line scrolling up the screen
Gun Fight - working
Breakout - working
Video Pinball - working
Space Invaders - works somewhat, invaders appear to have a shield. The bullets explode before hitting them. If you do get a good hit then the whole group will drop one level. Also has some video problems. Makes for a short, aggravating game.
Pole Position II - working, cutout cab with plexi and lights on the inside to show the internals.
Berzerk - working
Star Trek - working
Indiana Jones - working, but color was way off on it.
Donkey Kong - working
Donkey Kong Jr. - working
Zaxxon - working
Xevious - working
Defender - working
Joust - working
Robotron - not-working
Centipede - working
Millipede - working
Missile Command - working
Crystal Castles (in Missile Command cab) - working
Warlords cocktail - working (but no chairs to sit in while playing)
Asteroids - working, but had some video problems (looks like raster game with every other scan line missing)
Battlezone - working
Tempest - not working
Gravitar - working, but monitor very skewed, unplayable
Star Wars - working, but for some reason had an Empire marquee on it they charge .50 per play on this one
Space Duel cocktail - working
Qbert - working
Atari Football (2 player) - working
Several newer games - working, but I didn't pay attention to them and can't remember the names.
There are probably several other games that I forgot, but I'll add them when I post the pictures.
The museum also has a floor with a display of Native American artifacts (very cool to see up close) and a floor with a hands-on exploration-type things for the kids.
Overall it was worth the cost of admission and the time to stop by, I just wished the games had been in a little better shape. Maybe I'm just brought down by the fact that several of the games I really wanted to get my hands on were down at the time.
-JM
Unfortunately several of the games were in a sad state of repair. To be fair it does look like the games get a lot of daily use and abuse. There were about forty people that passed through and played while we were there (including the daycamp munchkins they let loose on them for about 30 minutes).
They also have a small display of home consoles. Many of the arcade games have a display with facts about the machine, date of build, etc. and include a list of other things happening at the time (movies popular that year, who was president, what was on TV, etc.)
Here's what's on display from what I can remember. I got a few pics of things before the camera died and I'll post them once I get home and on a real computer.
Computer Space - not working
Pong - not-working
Tank -working, but had a very noticeable scan line scrolling up the screen
Gun Fight - working
Breakout - working
Video Pinball - working
Space Invaders - works somewhat, invaders appear to have a shield. The bullets explode before hitting them. If you do get a good hit then the whole group will drop one level. Also has some video problems. Makes for a short, aggravating game.
Pole Position II - working, cutout cab with plexi and lights on the inside to show the internals.
Berzerk - working
Star Trek - working
Indiana Jones - working, but color was way off on it.
Donkey Kong - working
Donkey Kong Jr. - working
Zaxxon - working
Xevious - working
Defender - working
Joust - working
Robotron - not-working
Centipede - working
Millipede - working
Missile Command - working
Crystal Castles (in Missile Command cab) - working
Warlords cocktail - working (but no chairs to sit in while playing)
Asteroids - working, but had some video problems (looks like raster game with every other scan line missing)
Battlezone - working
Tempest - not working
Gravitar - working, but monitor very skewed, unplayable
Star Wars - working, but for some reason had an Empire marquee on it they charge .50 per play on this one
Space Duel cocktail - working
Qbert - working
Atari Football (2 player) - working
Several newer games - working, but I didn't pay attention to them and can't remember the names.
There are probably several other games that I forgot, but I'll add them when I post the pictures.
The museum also has a floor with a display of Native American artifacts (very cool to see up close) and a floor with a hands-on exploration-type things for the kids.
Overall it was worth the cost of admission and the time to stop by, I just wished the games had been in a little better shape. Maybe I'm just brought down by the fact that several of the games I really wanted to get my hands on were down at the time.
-JM

