Hi guys, been reading for a few weeks thought it's about time to post.
Name's Pete, 37 going on 18 - why else would I still be interested in bloody arcade games haha! :D
Grew up in Taree NSW but spent much of my youth summers in Tuncurry/Forster pumping 20 cent pieces (and the odd dollar coin.... hello OutRun deluxe) into machines at the long-closed Pot Black of Tuncurry, and The Colony of Forster.
Arcade days stretched from about 1984 thru to about 1993, what I like to think of as the arcade's *almost* golden era. Fave game was far & away Atari's 720 Degrees, and I have a complete dedicated cab in my garage that i've been meaning to attempt a resto on for a couple of years now, collecting bits and pieces from Ram Controls, Phoenix Arcade, and good ol' ebay to help in that task. Finding the time though.... :(
Outside of 720, fave games were Operation Wolf, Power Drift (deluxe), Ghosts n Goblins, Galaga, Double Dragon (lol just elbow everyone), Punch Out, Flying Shark, Super Hang On, Afterburner (just for the cab, mostly), Missile Command, Bomb Jack, Popeye, Elevator Action, Thundercade, Black Tiger, Golden Axe, Hard Drivin', and Ivan Stewart's Super Off Road (nitro ftw!).
I absolutley HATED when arcade owners quickly retired the early 80's classics like Pacman, Popeye, and Bomb Jack in favour of more & more crappo driving sims like Final Lap just because they 'needed the space'. :realmad: Dammit, what was wrong with Pole Position and surely Spy Hunter shoulda been classed as a driving sim?! ;)
Even though most of the classics you can play on your XBox these days, as we all know it's just not the same. I'd love to do up my own personal arcade one day and have my list of 'must have' games in my mind that I often search US ebay for, only to baulk at the freighting costs.
I'd also LOVE to meet or talk to anyone here with the requisite skills who's interested in taking on the job of restoring my 720 for me in exchange for some $$$. I'm handy with chasing things down and getting the bits together..... embarrassingly not so handy with the tools or electronics.