Video Game memories 1 1

[mrlatko]

On 10/27/2022 at 8:08 AM, F For Fake said:

First console was also the Atari 2600. Oddly enough, I won one at school as part of a costume contest, like a Career Day sort of thing. I wanted to be an artist, so I dressed up as a "painter" with a beret and little palette and everything. So, I won the Atari, but my folks, or, uh, Santa, had already purchased one to give me for Xmas. So, the school let us return it and keep the cash. Not bad! Oddly enough, my favorite game was probably the one that came with it, Combat. I had plenty of other games, but the arcade ports were always disappointing (Pac-Man, Frogger, Donkey Kong...these were NOT the games I loved at the arcade) and I also had a lot of generic titles. But Combat, it never got old. I'd play it with my Dad for hours.

Speaking of Dad, he loved Dig Dug, and some 20 or 30 years after the fact kept that old 2600 on life support on a little CRT tv in the basement so he could play Dig Dug. I eventually got him one of those All in One packages where the games come preloaded in the controller, and you can plug it directly into the tv, but I don't think he every liked it as well as he liked just playing the old Atari.

Dig Dug is still great.  That was the first cartridge I received as a gift for my Atari 800 computer.  Great port, very close to the arcade version.  I also have an original Dig Dug arcade cabinet in my basement collection.  Such a blast.

[Diamonddave]

Original 8-bit NES with Mario/Duck Hunt bundled. Never got to be Mario, had to settle for Luigi being the youngest. 

[Professor K]

I had it good growing up in the 70's and 80's on a beach town in New Jersey. 5 minute bike ride to the boardwalk that had dozens of arcades, some open all year even in the Winter when it was darn near a ghost town. Golden Age of video games. We'd have the whole arcade to ourselves. Every week new games. I think I played 99% of every video game ever made from 1978 to 1989, and pinballs too. Some arcades had some really neat old stuff probably from the 1930's to 1950's.

Funny story, some person named GOD had crazy high scores on so many games up there. Like impossible high scores. But we never met GOD in any of the arcades, always wondered who this guy was. In the late 90's I met a guy in a bar who used to give change in one of the arcades. He used to work on the games too all over the boardwalk. Like a video game repairman. He was GOD. And he was a fraud. He knew how to put those crazy scores in them without playing them.

[FoggyNelson]

Me an my buds hung out at the video arcades a lot in my younger days 👍‼️ It was fun times😋

[F For Fake]

On 11/6/2022 at 7:38 PM, mrlatko said:

Dig Dug is still great.  That was the first cartridge I received as a gift for my Atari 800 computer.  Great port, very close to the arcade version.  I also have an original Dig Dug arcade cabinet in my basement collection.  Such a blast.

Ooh, I'd love to see that cabinet AND the collection! I love those old cabinets so much. The only one I have is a vintage Pac-Man. My uncle owned it since the 80's, and I played it all the time as a kid. He passed a few years ago, and my aunt asked for help selling it. I listed it with local gaming groups, but we just got one lowball after another. So I told my aunt that I'd match whatever the best offer was, because I'd rather keep it in the family than give it away for practically nothing. So she agreed, and then surprised me by giving it to me for my birthday, refusing to take any money at all.

I had to put a lot of work into it. Took it apart and wiped off LAYERS of black gunk, from years of smokers standing over the machine in the arcade it came from. The monitor had to be re-capped and de-gauzed and god knows what else (I know a guy that fixes old machines professionally) and I put a lot of money into fixing up the body myself (new bezel, new trim), but it was all worth it to have it back in good shape again. The wife has put a nix on any more huge cabinets coming into the house ,but man, I love them. A Dig Dug would be sweet. I'd also love a Tron and a Donkey Kong. Maybe one day!

[mrlatko]

On 11/23/2022 at 10:43 AM, F For Fake said:

Ooh, I'd love to see that cabinet AND the collection! I love those old cabinets so much. The only one I have is a vintage Pac-Man. My uncle owned it since the 80's, and I played it all the time as a kid. He passed a few years ago, and my aunt asked for help selling it. I listed it with local gaming groups, but we just got one lowball after another. So I told my aunt that I'd match whatever the best offer was, because I'd rather keep it in the family than give it away for practically nothing. So she agreed, and then surprised me by giving it to me for my birthday, refusing to take any money at all.

I had to put a lot of work into it. Took it apart and wiped off LAYERS of black gunk, from years of smokers standing over the machine in the arcade it came from. The monitor had to be re-capped and de-gauzed and god knows what else (I know a guy that fixes old machines professionally) and I put a lot of money into fixing up the body myself (new bezel, new trim), but it was all worth it to have it back in good shape again. The wife has put a nix on any more huge cabinets coming into the house ,but man, I love them. A Dig Dug would be sweet. I'd also love a Tron and a Donkey Kong. Maybe one day!

Awesome story!  I was obsessed with Pac-Man back in the early 80s.  I had all the patterns down, up until the 9th key (Like they say in Pac-Man Fever).  I was a show off until that stage, then I had no clue and would die quick.

Here are some of my basement games.  A Donkey Kong mini, Tron, Dig Dug, Pac-Man Cocktail, and one of the holy grails: Dragon's Lair!

[F For Fake]

On 11/23/2022 at 5:14 PM, mrlatko said:

Awesome story!  I was obsessed with Pac-Man back in the early 80s.  I had all the patterns down, up until the 9th key (Like they say in Pac-Man Fever).  I was a show off until that stage, then I had no clue and would die quick.

Here are some of my basement games.  A Donkey Kong mini, Tron, Dig Dug, Pac-Man Cocktail, and one of the holy grails: Dragon's Lair!

Oh wooooow, I love it! Man, that’s a great collection. I am very jealous of the Tron, I think it’s still one of the best looking cabinets ever made, maybe my all time favorite.

Ha, well, I’ve always loved Pac-Man, but I’m still comically bad at it, especially when you consider the number of hours I’ve put into throughout my life!

 

[F For Fake]

Here’s my Pac-Man cab. Black light doesn’t show up well in the pics.

[MetalPSI]

On 11/25/2022 at 1:43 PM, F For Fake said:

Here’s my Pac-Man cab. Black light doesn’t show up well in the pics.

Man that brings back memories 

[mrlatko]

On 11/25/2022 at 12:43 PM, F For Fake said:

Here’s my Pac-Man cab. Black light doesn’t show up well in the pics.

Looks beautiful!

[Diamonddave]

Bit of a flex, but a great memory. Original MK, 18 game pvp win streak with Raiden on the P2 stick at Kristoffs in Round Lake Beach IL. Was given $5 to lose on purpose.