Ian, your story was touching, I too went down "Nastalgia" road once too. It's partly true when they say "you can't go home again"...

When I started ( buying pinball machines ), I had basically re-created pin for pin, the local arcade near my family summer cottage. It was a small breezeway between two stores that could fit only 4 or 5 pins. It was here that I first saw Capt. Fantastic, Evel Knievel, Playboy, Mata Hari, Bobby Orr Powerplay, Paragon, Silverball Mania, Eight Ball, Lost World, Monte Carlo, Hi-Deal, Funland ( rifle game ), and various pitch and bat games. As children, I can remember my mother and father lifting us up to stand on a milk crate so we could see and play the games. When we were in our teens, the video game fever had caught on. In this small arcade I also saw Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Defender and Asteroids for the first time. Lots of memories for sure.

A few years ago I went back to that small arcade, it's actually part of the store display now, although it's actually the same crappy indoor outdoor carpet and wood wall panel ( so 70's! ) as back in the day. It even friggin' smelled the same! I couldn't believe that. The games are long gone but the memories are still there for sure.

Here's my point. I still have that line-up of pins in my basement that I remember back in 1979! Until recently they were even lined up in the same order that I remember.

All I have to do is go down my basement, it's a time machine that takes me back to 1979, and to me - that's what it's REALLY all about. Prehaps you can go home again....  

Dan

Growing up in Regina , we had about 12 or 13 different places we could go to , most of the buildings still tand , but a lot are gone now. I have been living in Calgary about 15 years now , and when I go back home to visit I will often drive by the old arcade sites . my main terroizing grounds we ALWAYS stopped at after school for a few games until we had to get home for supper ( Buffalo Bills Normanview mall) is a doctors office , the golden mile center mall I think is a smittys now, Buffalo Bills south , Just off Gordon road , I am not sure what that is now. family Leisure Center, now is a fitness warehouse and Lan and online gaming center. The old Prarie lanes bowling alley on Albert ST is long gone and is home to a Canadian Tire. Then there was the pool hall on east Victoria Ave , which for the life of me I cannot remember the name of , I think is razed and long gone.

now I have my own arcade, thos in the garage , can still take me back to those times , Hell I even play games with a few buddies that live in Calgary now that I played with in high school. The surroundings and many of the games are different but the spirit is there

If there is anyone on the board here that has any pics or video of the old arcades around Regina , PM me I wouldnt mind on a getting a few copies to enlarge and hang in my garcade .

Just thought I would add a little tidbit to the story. I am remodeling the gameroom downstairs and finished the sheetrock. I then took 30 minutes to assemble Big Game.


I just played my first game of Big Game in 26 years.

I played it, then just stood there staring at it for a good couple of minutes, just soaking it in.

This is exactly what I try to convey to the kids at the school who are wiring up a cabinet...that they're saving a piece of history, that what they're doing has value.

In some ways, it's not much different that restoring a classic automobile, or a piece of wooden furniture.  But they really "get" the fact that this was part of a whole generation's shared history, and every day these cabinets are being destroyed.  If we don't step in to do something, it's all going to disappear someday.

It allows me a unique opportunity to introduce these games to a new generation.  It was a thrill when a student asked if he could buy the parts to build his own machine this semester.  He proudly took his working game home at the end of June.

What Sparky described is exactly why I collect and restore these games.  The arcade I went to in my youth is gone...the games were sold off in the mid-80's.  I can't go back...but I can try to recreate that feel at home.

Thanks for a great stroll down memory lane, Sparky.