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greetings from the far side of the world


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Howdy, y'all!

I'm from Indiana in the U.S. (around 16,000 km away), and to be totally honest, I feel a little awkward approaching your community as an outsider. I say that because I have the perception of you Aussies as having a strong sense of national pride and identity, and I'm not a part of that. But I also have the perception that you guys are really cool with people, too - a generally friendly lot. So I decided to sign up and see what happens.

That first observation was a compliment, by the way.

 

But even if we're separated by flags and a LOT of water, we've got something more important in common: arcades.

 

My family has owned and operated an arcade in one form or another since 1977, a year before I was born. Until 1986, we actually lived in a little apartment in the back half of our first arcade. I've ALWAYS been around it. My earliest memories were of the arcade: getting my fingers pinched in the trackball of Missile Command, being startled the first time I heard Berzerk shout "INTRUDER ALERT!", feeling like it was Christmas every time a new game was lowered off the lift gate of the delivery truck, spending hours soaking in every detail of the pinball machines' mesmerizing artwork, and falling asleep each night to the sound of pool balls cracking on the other side of my bedroom wall. It was magic. The arcade is part of my identity. It's an inseparable part of who I am. If there was a candle scented like the sweet smell of old cigarette tar nestled into particle board, I'd have one in every room of my house.

 

If you identify with that, then the distance between us just got much, much shorter.

 

The arcade industry looks a bit different now. It's still special, but not in the same way. It'll never feel as warm and important as it did in the '80s and '90s. Fortunately, now that I can afford it, I'm slowly reclaiming some of that feel, buying and restoring some of those arcade and pinball machines that I enjoyed the most as a kid, installing them in my private collection at home, and sharing that magical experience with my own children. Later today, for example, I'll be putting new cabinet artwork on one of my grails: a Rolling Thunder. As I encounter restoration challenges that I'm not as competent to tackle on my own, don't be surprised if I come to you guys for some guidance. And if there's anything I've learned how to do that would help somebody around here, I'll be more than happy to share it. We are very specialized historians: preserving this important era in a massive industry is our shared passion.

 

Catch you later.

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Welcome to AA Berq great first post , you had a unique childhood virtually growing up in an arcade .That would have been a blast everyone's dream here . Plenty of skilled guys here to help you out with pinball and arcade questions.
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Welcome from down under, I’m pretty sure we can’t have any national pride these days or we are racists hahaha.

 

But welcome all the same doesn’t matter where your from if your into pins and arcade you’ve come to the right place

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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