Invade the Arcade! (AR/OK/MO/etc.)

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Following Flack's successful scouting mission to the 1984 Arcade, we're planning to invade the arcade - and you're invited!


Here's the basics:

When: Wednesday, July 11th, 4pm-???

Where: 1984 Arcade, Jefferson St. (across from the YMCA), Springfield, Missouri.

How: dig a tunnel if you have to - it'll be worth it. (Beware of Fygar though.)

Why: beautiful working specimens of classic arcade games like Tron, Zaxxon, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Tempest, Sinistar, Robotron...and you're asking why?


Please check 1984's web site to see their guidelines on food, drink, etc.; keep in mind we haven't reserved this as a 'closed party'.

Let us know if you're going to be in the neighborhood. It looks like so far, Flack, myself and maybe Gapporin will be there. Join us! Become one of us! Invade the arcade! Who knows, maybe this'll happen two or three times a year.

I realize this'll be awfully close to CGE, but it's only $5 to get in! Consider it the pre-game show if you like. (I consider it "PDF's last night out with the boys before the baby gets here" myself.)

Sign up here to join the invasion fleet.

[Gapporin]

I know PDF mentioned that I'd be a "maybe", but just to clarify, I think it's pretty much a lock that I'll be there (barring flood, earthquake, or anything that God might throw at us). Join us! I'll be parked in front of the Elevator Action machine.

[icbrkr]

Following Flack's successful scouting mission to the 1984 Arcade, we're planning to invade the arcade - and you're invited!


Here's the basics:

When: Wednesday, July 11th, 4pm-???

Where: 1984 Arcade, Jefferson St. (across from the YMCA), Springfield, Missouri.

How: dig a tunnel if you have to - it'll be worth it. (Beware of Fygar though.)

Why: beautiful working specimens of classic arcade games like Tron, Zaxxon, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Tempest, Sinistar, Robotron...and you're asking why?


Please check 1984's web site to see their guidelines on food, drink, etc.; keep in mind we haven't reserved this as a 'closed party'.

Let us know if you're going to be in the neighborhood. It looks like so far, Flack, myself and maybe Gapporin will be there. Join us! Become one of us! Invade the arcade! Who knows, maybe this'll happen two or three times a year.

I realize this'll be awfully close to CGE, but it's only $5 to get in! Consider it the pre-game show if you like. (I consider it "PDF's last night out with the boys before the baby gets here" myself.)

Sign up here to join the invasion fleet.

I'll throw in a 'maybe' - I don't know if I can get time off this soon (they normally want me to do it weeks in advance...)

[-^Cro§Bow^-]

Count me in as good to go...assuming I can snag a ride up there with someone?

[icbrkr]

Okay, I put in for the time off for this. If it's approved, I'm on my way. If you want Earl, you can stop here and I'll drive the rest of the way up there.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

I'll be in touch with you. Are you leaning toward leaving in the afternoon or in the morning?

[icbrkr]

I mentioned to Rob that maybe make a thrift store/arcade day out of it? I know of a few good places up there since I hang there a bit. Maybe late morning?

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Me 'n' the Cap'n will make it happen.

[icbrkr]

it's tomorrow! I know we have a bunch heading up there. Rob, Earl and I talked about doing some thrifting beforehand. What time guys? I'm thinking noonish.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

I'll try to get to your place around 10ish/10:30ish. Springfield's what, about two hours away from your neck of the woods?

[-^Cro§Bow^-]

I will actually be leaving tonight and staying at a Best Western in Springfield. That will give me all day tomorrow to check this place out and see what's what ehh?

See you guys tomorrow!

[Gapporin]

Unfortunately, I will be working in the morning, so I won't be able to go thriftin'. However, I will still definitely be there for the arcade portion of the program.

Speaking of arrival times, because of the aforementioned work, I could arrive in Springfield anywhere between 4-5:30 at the latest, and I won't know exactly until that day. I'll try and strike a deal with my managers to let me off in time, but I can't make any guarantees.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

I will actually be leaving tonight and staying at a Best Western in Springfield. That will give me all day tomorrow to check this place out and see what's what ehh?

If you mean Springfield in general, cool!

If you mean 1984, I don't think they open the doors until 4pm or so.

[icbrkr]

I'll try to get to your place around 10ish/10:30ish. Springfield's what, about two hours away from your neck of the woods?

Yep, about a 2 hour drive. Don't worry, I'll take the backroads .. you know, the ones that normally are reserved for horses and buggies.. and I'll drive your car just to see what happens

So.. noonish it is. If you don't have my #, send me a PM or whatever in case something comes up.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

On Wednesday, some of my friends and I swooped down on the 1984 Arcade in downtown Springfield, Missouri - a good 3 hour tour (a 3 hour tour) one way from my house - to check it out. To be honest, it was better than I imagined. DP'ers who joined my nerd ninja squad were Flack (and son), icbrkr, Gapporin, Crossbow (and friend).

It’s a fairly unassuming location across from the YMCA. Springfield’s downtown area was much more active than I thought it would be, and at several points during the afternoon and evening the arcade had quite a crowd (and quite a young crowd at that).

Now you’re talkin’.




Reading material while you rest your wrists:


The atmosphere was authentically 80s - cramped in just the right places, low lighting (once the sun stopped blazing through the front windows), 80s music playing at all times, and most of the games turned up nice and loud.


The original Space Invaders control panel. I spent quite a bit of time at this machine.


Rob (Flack) and Brian (icbrkr) up to mischief - they’re trying to set this Winner game - a Pong knockoff - into a perfect loop where the ball will go back and forth between two stationary paddles and making that oh-so-70s beep, boop sound over and over again until someone moves the knobs...


Sinistar controls. I spent a lot of time at this machine, and actually cleared the first level for the first time ever. Seriously. I’d never blown away that big metallic trash-talking face before yesterday.


Joust controls illuminated by the aforementioned blazing sunlight. If I played a machine whose screen faced those windows, I found myself having to shield the screen from the reflection with my body.


More in the next post, since I've got too many images for one post here.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

An absolutely freakin’ beautiful Tron machine. Kudos to the 1984 crew for preserving this game so well.




Study up, there’ll be a quiz: Battlezone controls. Tanks a heap. The only thing keeping Mason (Flack's son) from kicking my high score out from under me at this game was because his dad got tired of holding him up so he could reach the controls!


Xevious controls, illuminated only by, well, themselves.


We all stared at this giant toy display trying to figure out what it was, until Jesse (Crossbow) identified it: it was a huge G.I. Joe aircraft carrier playset that cost big bucks back in the ’80s, and costs even more now.


Okay, so you’re in a real live arcade, with two working Centipede upright cabinets, one of which is right behind you. So what do you do? You sit down and play 2600 Centipede on an Atari Flashback! Forgive the young, o Lord, for they know not what they do.


A Battlezone high score for me:


If this batch of photos makes it look like I have a control panel fetish, keep in mind that (A) this isn’t all of the photos, (B) I haven’t taken still photos yet from the copious video that I shot, and (C) I have a control panel fetish. Emulation is great, sure, but there’s no substitute for standing in front of the real game, at the real controls, with all of the goofy stuff that seems so extraneous and yet is so much a part of the experience: the glow of a fully lit-up Tron machine, the “rank” lights on Gorf, the heavy trackball of a Missile Command machine, the roar of the knob control on Tempest, the 64-direction joystick on Sinistar. I’ve probably put in more emulation time than I have real arcade time by now, but while it’s nice for practice, there’s nothing like the real thing.

I also found myself handling the controls on these - and I’ve caught myself doing this with coin-ops at CGE and OVGE too - very delicately, just tapping the buttons lightly and in some cases being very gentle with the joysticks, though in the case of Robotron you’re just not doing it right unless you’re slamming the joystick full in any given direction in your moment of greatest need. MAME has worn off on me, but more than that, I have a healthy respect for anyone who has gone through the trouble that 1984 Arcade obviously has to preserve these old machines, and I’m certainly not going to be the one who breaks a controller or kicks a machine. Funny thing is, I’m much rougher on that huge PS1 arcade joystick controller that I have at home - but I bought it, I paid for it, and I know where the buck stops. And it’s not 25 years old.

Games I played, just from memory: Scramble, Moon Patrol, Defender, Asteroids, Gorf, Sinistar, Dig Dug, Frogger, Tron, Bosconian, Zaxxon, Missile Command, Battlezone, Space Invaders, Galaga, Turbo, Tempest, Robotron, Gauntlet (”Red Warrior needs a clue badly!”). Saw, but didn’t play: Winner, Centipede (x2), Pac-Man (the machine wasn’t set up for free play yet), Joust, Pole Position (I couldn’t even get to this one - obviously very popular), Karate Champ, Time Pilot ‘84, Xybots, 1942, Donkey Kong Jr., Burgertime, and quite a few that I’ve forgotten because I didn’t get home until 1 in the morning and am still just a little tired.

I’m not a pinball man, but it was great to see a bunch of pinball machines there, all lit up, like they’re supposed to be. It added so much to the atmosphere just to have a bunch of pinballs in the room with the video games. That is the arcade I remember growing up with.

I’ll definitely gather up the gang and go “invade the arcade” again at some point. Wednesday was my birthday, and as it turns out it was also the 2nd anniversary of 1984 opening its doors. Something tells me that I’ll definitely be going back there on that day again.

[Flack]

As you and I said while we were there, after playing some of these games for so long via MAME it's easy to forget what the real controls were like; Asteroids, Defender, Missile Command, Robotron, and Tempest (among others) all play significantly different with their original control schemes vs. a PC joystick or keyboard.

Also as one of the owners pointed out to me while I was there, the Donkey Kong machine has both boards in it; pressing P1+P2 at the same time swapped between Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong, Jr.

[Pantechnicon]

Man, that just looks like it was a blast. Sorry I couldn't make it. (/me starts thinking of superficial reasons to visit Missouri)

[Gapporin]

As you and I said while we were there, after playing some of these games for so long via MAME it's easy to forget what the real controls were like; Asteroids, Defender, Missile Command, Robotron, and Tempest (among others) all play significantly different with their original control schemes vs. a PC joystick or keyboard.

And they also look different as well. I think the big "wow" factor for me was seeing all those vector games in such great condition. There's really nothing quite like playing a vector game on an actual vector monitor.

Also as one of the owners pointed out to me while I was there, the Donkey Kong machine has both boards in it; pressing P1+P2 at the same time swapped between Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong, Jr.

D'oh! I didn't know that! And all that time I was thinking, "You know what this place really needs? Donkey Kong."

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Yeah, if I'd known that...well, I guess I know what machine we're all gonna bum rush on the next visit, huh?