Worst pet peeve in an arcade

avidgeek

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Think back when you frequented arcades in the 80s....(during the heyday when arcade games could be found almost anywhere). When you walked into an arcade establishment (large or small), what was the most disappointing thing you remember?

Could be a dead game you were looking forward to playing?
Game removed?
Too crowded?
People hogging up certain game.
Poor service for getting change (pre-tokens)
Run out of money?

Let's hear it....I wanna know what pissed you off.
 
gum or soda residue, having the bill acceptor reject my bill, not being able to find the tech/attendant because he was locked up in the back room doing god knows what, having to go home, running out of money was always a fear and inevitable.

oh and the smelly kid.
 
Getting shocked from the control panel. Used to happen all the time.

I thought those days were long gone but a few years ago I was trying to play Ghosts 'n Goblins on an Ultracade machine and every time you would push left you could feel a jolt go through the harness and the monitor would screw up a little.
 
Since I was usually low on funds.:(

Video and Pinball machines that were not maintained. Joysticks not working, dead flippers, etc.

And secondly, running out of money. Damn, just wanted to play a couple more games.:D Used to make a couple final rounds searching for free credits left on a game before I left.
 
Getting shocked from the control panel. Used to happen all the time.

Never got shocked from a video game control panel. But used to get bit by pinball machines.:eek: Lean on the metal to check out the artwork and zing.

What were Williams, Bally, Stern doing with pinball machines to cause this?
Incorrectly wiring the earth grounds?
 
F'd up sticks. I loved Xevious, but you absolutely needed the diagonals. So many of them were messed up from heavy play. It was never obvious until you started the game that you were missing a diagonal in at least one direction and it totally hosed your game.
 
Agreed, messed up controls were the worst. Drop your money in, all excited to play and then you can't do crap with the controls.
 
Never got shocked from a video game control panel. But used to get bit by pinball machines.:eek: Lean on the metal to check out the artwork and zing.

What were Williams, Bally, Stern doing with pinball machines to cause this?
Incorrectly wiring the earth grounds?

Getting a shock from a pin is usually because someone has removed the ground pin from the plug and the metal parts are all floating.

cheers
/Tim
 
Little kids leaning over the pinball machine while you are trying to play it, and having to point shit out to you on the playfield. Same goes for Arcade games as well.
 
I use to hate when people would post their quarters up on the lip of the marquee letting everyone know that they were going to play next during my game....very distracting! Also, didn't know the correct etiquette....Can I drop a quarter in to continue if someone does that, or do I have to walk away? I'd usually walk away - unless I was having the best game of my life.
 
I use to hate when people would post their quarters up on the lip of the marquee letting everyone know that they were going to play next during my game....very distracting! Also, didn't know the correct etiquette....Can I drop a quarter in to continue if someone does that, or do I have to walk away? I'd usually walk away - unless I was having the best game of my life.

I would continue. It would piss some people off, but hey, tough shit. I was playing it first. I remember there was this one game at the pizza place and people would put the quarter on the lip of the control panel because you couldn't put them up on the marquee. When they would do that I would yank down on the controller really hard which would lift up the control panel a little and make the quarter slip down through the crack and into the machine. :D
 
The worst pet peeve for me was waiting in line for a popular game and having the older kids continously cut in front of me because I was a small little shit back then.
 
Sticking the quarter in and having it get "jammed" -
then try the other side and it doesn't work.

How about sweating like a pig whilst playing Track and Field
or that football game while spinning the track ball.

waiting and waiting for someone to finish playing
Birdie King (while they had all the extra holes already).

Oh, I hated it also when they would put the extra quarters
up on the friggin machine they were playing.

Fortunately, their were so many bars close by - each with
their own select games to play -and we would just drive
somewhere else if necessary.

-M
 
waiting to play a fighting game for 20 minutes only to be defeated in less than a minute by the resident arcade pros.
 
The dozen or so people STILL sitting in front of that Dragons Lair game. Of course that feeling only lasted about a month or so but I'd never seen so many people interested in watching OTHER people people play a game.
 
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