With Respect I must say that...the 90's arcade was not even close to the 80's arcade....totally different era...like I said there is no way to explain it to any other generation.

Doubt if I would visit one today. But back then I guess I was a punk kid too. It was a social outlet, that's all. My memories are still and always were mostly the games though, and that's why I even own games today. Certainly not because I have all this free time to spend playing them But it's always a nice distraction after a stressful B.S. day at work.

Adam, not everyone is the same age as you, and their memories will vary.

I just remember that a quarter seemed so precious when you were down to your last and you had time to kill.

My pinball memories start around 1973ish at the pool room, bowling alleys.

In the mid 70's my older brother used to take me to The Pinball Spot and Funland in downtown Toronto. They were scummy.  Late 70's while in junior high there were always a few places to go but again quarters were pretty scarce. Having $2. to spend was typical.

Early 80's there was 2 places near my high school to hang out and occasionally play hookey. At that point it was mostly Bally SS and video (Space Invaders, Pac Man, Defender, Missile Command, Galaga, Galaxians, Centipede...). Of course also smoking and other stuff teens shouldnt be doing.

Last time I played pinball on site (before the last year or so)  would have been High Speed at a pool hall, around 1987.

And now, having missed the DMD era completely, rediscovering it all over again with the plus of being able to feel nostalgia for the 70's games I played when they were new. Pinball and arcade games represent freedom and independance since I was away from my parents, with my friends, doing stuff I couldnt around mom and dad.

The older guys obviously see a value in the machines that is more than just the tangible. I think with each later decade, things have become more supervised, sanitized, etc. The world has gotten cynical and cautious, rightly so, but I enjoyed the freedom to go down to Yonge/ Dundas with a few bucks  to cover subway fare, lunch and a few games back in the day without my parents fearing for my safety.

The console generation's battle ground is the net.

I doubt many kids now can appreciate the kind of hardware and software R&D that has gone into bringing that technology into your home for $299.

It definitely was a different time. Up until then with the exception of pinball, the only games were something from Milton Bradley, made out of cardboard with a few playing cards and some plastic pieces. A trip to the arcade was like a trip to the Cape Canaveral. It did not have the dingy mess hole atmosphere that arcades have been identified with in recent years. Everything was new and everything was fresh. Other than EM pinballs there never before was a device that average person could afford to walk up to and interact with the spectacle of art, light and sound.

The older generation just probably has a greater appreciation for the tremendous influence arcades made at the time. It certainly was a pivotal moment of moving us from our parents industrial generation into our technological generation which is why we identify with it.

BTW Warren I can clearly remember having very little money to spend at Funland. I would walk up and down the rows of pinball trying to pick which game I would put my precious quarter into. I was pretty young and the teens and adults were quite a bit bigger than me which I found intimidating at the time. I remember waiting patiently for the big kids to give me my turn. Precious times.

Quoted from necro_nemesis

The console generation's battle ground is the net.

I doubt many kids now can appreciate the kind of hardware and software R&D that has gone into bringing that technology into your home for $299.

It definitely was a different time. Up until then with the exception of pinball, the only games were something from Milton Bradley, made out of cardboard with a few playing cards and some plastic pieces. A trip to the arcade was like a trip to the Cape Canaveral. It did not have the dingy mess hole atmosphere that arcades have been identified with in recent years. Everything was new and everything was fresh. Other than EM pinballs there never before was a device that average person could afford to walk up to and interact with the spectacle of art, light and sound.

The older generation just probably has a greater appreciation for the tremendous influence arcades made at the time. It certainly was a pivotal moment of moving us from our parents industrial generation into our technological generation which is why we identify with it.

BTW Warren I can clearly remember having very little money to spend at Funland. I would walk up and down the rows of pinball trying to pick which game I would put my precious quarter into. I was pretty young and the teens and adults were quite a bit bigger than me which I found intimidating at the time. I remember waiting patiently for the big kids to give me my turn. Precious times.

Well said.

Being from a smaller northern town, my experience is slightly different... mainly because in a small town, if you are supposed to "Stay away from that dirty arcade!  Thats where Bad kids go!" you had to be extra stealthy to get down to Corner Pocket and spend your allowance.  I guess all of us think we were in the "golden years" of arcades.... even though we aren't the same age! for me it was mid 80's.  games like Karate Champ and kung-fu master had lineups, then this new game called Double Dragon hit....  I remember playing an environmental Deadly discs of tron, Of course Exciting hour/Mat Mania was my go to.  Black tiger and Twin cobra were well played as well.  It was a little dirty and scummy, but being a small arcade, the owner tended to take pretty good care of it overall.  Of course everything was generic cabs, dedicated machines being a little too precious for us small town kids.  High school saw me playing Dungeons and Dragons (pen and paper version) and a lot of guitar.  Wasn't until i went to college and made a few friends around the Neo Geo machine that i got back into arcade gaming.  and once college was over, i had no money and played mostly computer games.

For me, Arcades should be a little cluttered, a little cacophonous, and I still miss the slight smoke smell (even though i never took up the habit) Its fine to play a game by itself, but without other machines and noise it never feels right.

My $0.02

Quoted from axe

..Of course Exciting hour/Mat Mania was my go to.  

I alweays knew you had sme Coco Savage in you...

I to remember the spot bowling for 2 reasons.

I lived in St Laurent and went to Belmont park regularly and it was right around the corner from Can-Air Hobbies. The place that I got my First REAL RC Car. A Tamiya Hornet......

Back in the day I built a Tamiya. I bought a 4WD racer, Avante and proceeded to get my a** kicked by all the 2WD guys. Man that sucked!

The extra weight for the front and an not being able to drift as well really turned out to be a major disadvantage.

You can still buy that stuff. Nice kit to build. Well engineered.



Crap. I shouldn't have looked at what it's worth now!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Tamiya-Ava.....?hash=item19b903ba73

Quoted from sorcerer

With Respect I must say that...the 90's arcade was not even close to the 80's arcade....totally different era...like I said there is no way to explain it to any other generation.

I lived thru both, preferred the 90's as I was a teenager tho

Quoted from necro_nemesis

Back in the day I built a Tamiya. I bought a 4WD racer, Avante and proceeded to get my a** kicked by all the 2WD guys. Man that sucked!

The extra weight for the front and an not being able to drift as well really turned out to be a major disadvantage.

You can still buy that stuff. Nice kit to build. Well engineered.



Crap. I shouldn't have looked at what it's worth now!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Tamiya-Ava.....?hash=item19b903ba73

The hotshot in back of the Avante was lighter and faster. The Avante had to many metal parts. Great car, well built but just too heavy. For racing  you would have been better off with a Thundershot but the real contenders back then were the RC10's.

Quoted from 1

The hotshot in back of the Avante was lighter and faster. The Avante had to many metal parts. Great car, well built but just too heavy. For racing  you would have been better off with a Thundershot but the real contenders back then were the RC10's.

Ok Ok, but why weren't you my salesman in the hobby store back in 88?

It was pricey then too, but a disappointment. They touted the AWD aspects and better motor as being a superior car, but in the end it didn't perform as well for all your aforementioned reasons. No matter how much I did to upgrade the car it just couldn't run in with cars half it's price tag.