Arcade pics 1977 - 1984

[Pantechnicon]

And pic #180... Is that girl sitting inside a Sinistar cockpit?

Based on the side art, I'd say yes. Lucky little kid. I don't think I've ever seen a Sinistar cockpit cab .

...as magical as the arcades were to me, when I play Donkey Kong Jr. I can almost smell the laundry detergent from the laundromat where it was located near me...

That's exactly the lost ubiquity I was talking about. In fact in my neck of the woods our laundromat was right next to a pool hall/arcade. I'd bug my mother incessantly to go over the pool hall while we did laundry, unless the Tempest cab at the laundromat wasn't being hogged. Then I'd be content to stay in the `mat.

The one that probably stands out most vividly in my memory was circa 1982, Johnny's Market in Santa Fe, NM. Just this little hole-in-the-wall grocery in the middle of a residential, mostly Spanish-speaking neighborhood. I used to stop there en route to 6th grade every morning to buy a bag of Capri Sun for my lunch drink. I told my mom that Capri Sun cost $1 per bag when it was more like sixty cents. The change netted me enough for a daily round of Space Fury, which was on the enclosed porch leading into the store. Great fun. If I did good enough at the game I'd be late for school. To this day Space Fury and Capri Sun (which my kids drink) remain inextricably tied together in my memories.

[Nikademus1969]

Yep, as magical as the arcades were to me, when I play Donkey Kong Jr. I can almost smell the laundry detergent from the laundromat where it was located near me. Playing Stargate or Make Trax bring me back to Dominick's grocery store near the service desk, and playing Frogger or Phoenix bring back memories of ragtime music and peanut shells on the floor at our local Ground Round restaurant. It seemed for a time that you couldn't go ANYWHERE without having a game nearby. I miss those days as well.

Yep...we never really had a "real" arcade in the town where I grew up, but the grocery stores did a pretty decent job at filling the void. At one point, one of them even had a pinball machine.

Heh...I remember being all excited when I turned 21. Not because I was able to drink legally, but rather cuz I was finally able to get into the bar to play Street Fighter II *lol*

[diskoboy]

Ahhh, picture #7.... It's so weird seeing the 'New Game!' signs on top of the Time Pilot, Munch Mobile, and Gyruss.... I was 8 when those games were new.

And those monitors operators would place on top of machines so crowds could see.... Did anybody else besides me despise those things?

And it's so funny seeing those 1981-82 shots. You can tell the year by the amount of Pac-Man, Asteroids, Centipede, Ms. Pac-Man machines they had. Practically every arcade had (at least) 2 Pac-Man machines, by the beginning of '82.

And for those of you who were too young to experience the first golden age - you seriously have no idea what you missed out on... Those were just amazing times.

And I just realized photo #125 - the machine on the left is an ULTRA-RARE Aztarac machine. You can barely make it out with all the glare.

[Rob2600]

Here's another awesome batch of old arcade photos:

Flickr - Time Out Amusement Center

There are some amazing shots in there.

[Sudo]

Really cool stuff. I wish I had gotten the chance to experience those days, but sadly I was born in '85.

[tcv]

You know, I am almost positive that #14 is a picture of the entrance to the exhibits above the Journey Into Imagination ride in Epcot Center, Walt Disney World. ??

[Tron 2.0]

Thought I would pass this on. 190 pics of classic arcades from 1977 - 1984. Everyone who's into classic games have fond memories of the arcades during that period. These pics really show how big and fantastic arcades use to be. It brings tears to my eyes when I see some of these pics with rows of Pac-Man's and other games all cramed together. There are even a few pics of the arcade I use to goto a lot when I was a kid called Starship Video in Upland, CA! These pics were collected and provided by Brett Pulliam (aka: nutballchamp) who is a fellow arcade collector. Enjoy...

http://www.bpulliam.smugmug.com/gall...94408939_52KhM

Ahh thanks for the flashback those were realy the golden years for arcades.

I use to go to timeout alot when i was a kid.

Makes me miss it too given then arcade cabs were every where at the time.

Every thing from gas stations,convenience stores and even grocery stores would have a arcade cab or two.

That's untile the 90's got here by 95...it all went down hill afther the console market took over.

Yeah consoles today can do alot in terms of gameplay and graphics,but i miss the arcades of the old still.

[GaijinPunch]

*Walks out of house... goes down street to local smoke den/arcade*

[Captain Wrong]

You know, I am almost positive that #14 is a picture of the entrance to the exhibits above the Journey Into Imagination ride in Epcot Center, Walt Disney World. ??

It is.

Damn I used to love the Star Trek sit down. That was the shit, as you kids today say.

[emceelokey]

Damn! Video games were free at Beefsteak.

You know. Nowadays a standalone arcade is much like a porn shop. You may go in there once in a while but never alone and you definitely wouldn't want to associate yourself with the regulars there.

[madman77]

Wow those pics bring back many memories! Thanks for posting them.

[ubersaurus]

Wow, that's incredible. So many machines and people!

I've only seen something similar a few times in my life: Arcades in Japan, Wizzards in Detroit, various arcades in my youth (back when SF2 was a huge draw) but this blows them away. Beautiful sights.

[rbudrick]

WTF! The marquis is going through his face ala the movie Tron!

-Rob

[Damaramu]

Oh man, these pics bring back memories. Hmm....I've never seen one of those sit down Star Trek machines though. Very cool!

[orangest]

the incredible wizard on the comiskey park scoreboard is hilarious.

[mregashu]

What a great set of pictures. reminds me of being 4 years old and my Dad helping me play the Star Wars Arcade game. (he'd use the joystick, i'd hit the fire button).

Isn't it amazing to think that that those of us at a certain age will always have vivid memories of the arcade because it was truly a major, national phenomenon, and yet because it was so short lived and so based in youth culture those older than us and younger than us really can't understand it? It's like the great unifying piece of pop culture for everyone in their late 20's to late 30's. (roughly speaking, age wise.)

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Nowadays a standalone arcade is much like a porn shop. You may go in there once in a while but never alone and you definitely wouldn't want to associate yourself with the regulars there.

How do you figure? The last time the arcades were a relatively dark and supposedly dangerous place was in the late 1970s, before the arcade became Chuck E. Cheese-ified. These days it's hard to find an arcade at all, and if you do find it, there are quite a few concessions to the younger crowd (i.e. redemption games). Not really a suspicious place with seedy regulars.

[rpepper9]

The people in those photos are almost as good as the games! 80's fashion was some of the most ridiculous ever. Keep rocking the stash dude!

[Rob2600]

Don't forget, more awesome old arcade photos from the 1980s:

Flickr - Time Out Amusement Center old arcade photos

[bacteria]

I was a teenager in those days, I used to love going to the arcades and playing Defender, 1942 and Galaga, in particular; and some strange crossbow game. I played Asteroids on a ferry, 1979 I think it was, which would make me 13 at the time.