where rom's comes short, mechanical car games

[slasherman]

Bally Hill Climb (1972)




1969 EM SPEEDWAY


Sega Moto Champ (1973)




And a fly game..
Sky Gunner 1953

[Kevin Mullins]

Love them good ol' EM games.   

[Ummon]

Clever how they 'programmed' them via hardware, but I probably feel about these somewhat like the late 80s/early 90s kiddies feel about golden age arcade games.

[SavannahLion]

A long while ago, I found a pretty good website that gave some details on how these machines worked. It's surprising how well these engineers came up with a lot of features and functions many of us take for granted via microcontrollers. In a weird way, it's kind of sad how it seems to be a lost art.

Sometimes I wonder if our increasing dependency on microcontrollers and simplified engineering will come back to haunt us in the future.

[RayB]

Sometimes I wonder if our increasing dependency on microcontrollers and simplified engineering will come back to haunt us in the future.

Same here. Used to be a kid could crack open a tape recorder and get to see how various mechanical parts did their thing. Now, crack open an ipod and what do you learn? nothing.

I thought it was damn cool that hill climb game even had night mode! wow.

Here's another cool one:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNH5AuQyjNg[/youtube]

[Level42]

That last video is simply amazing. Love the cabs when they're in the dark. Look at how much attention was put into the (black)lighting, the scenery etc.

Not fair to have four of those though

Even less fair to have two R360's in the back !!

Look at how much the kid's are enjoying the game, I wonder how machines like these would do on location today, it might amaze us. (Although it will probably need a ticket dispenser......)

I've played that Chicago Coin Speedway like nuts when I was around 10. These EM machines were (along with the first B/W video games) at the camping site where we used to go on holidays. I pretty much mastered that Speedway and in my memory I knew the pattern from my head and could play "eternally" on it. I always had that game in my mind but didn't know the name nor did I ever see a video of it.

The real problem with (some) EM machines were the limited random-ability. Like that Hill-climber it's just a roll of scenery and you'll learn the pattern pretty quickly. Those games were good for the occasional player but had very little lasting attraction to "hard core" gamers. Still some EM games didn't rely on patterns, like Space Panic or the other "plane on a crane" games.

I love those machines and the technology behind it though. There's a Space Panic for sale locally that looks really good.  Space and too many projects waiting prevent me from bidding though...

[SavannahLion]

Look at how much the kid's are enjoying the game, I wonder how machines like these would do on location today, it might amaze us. (Although it will probably need a ticket dispenser......)

From the looks of it, probably pretty well. At a local 'cade, there's a few er.... let's call them pseudo-mechanical games that seems to attract the younger crowd. None of them are anywhere near as complex as what we have here though.

[Spyridon]

I've played that Chicago Coin Speedway like nuts when I was around 10. These EM machines were (along with the first B/W video games) at the camping site where we used to go on holidays. I pretty much mastered that Speedway and in my memory I knew the pattern from my head and could play "eternally" on it. I always had that game in my mind but didn't know the name nor did I ever see a video of it.

There is one of these for sale locally for a good price that I've been considering picking up.  Never played it before.

[RayB]

From the looks of it, probably pretty well. At a local 'cade, there's a few er.... let's call them pseudo-mechanical games that seems to attract the younger crowd. None of them are anywhere near as complex as what we have here though.

But don't those award prizes? I wonder how long they would hold attention without that.

It's funny the trends the amusement industry has gone through. Seems to have had cycles. Think about this:

(Cronologically):
Pinball: 3D, realistic shading, real physics

EM games: Realistic looking visuals

Along comes video and people suddenly settle for little black n white chunky shapes moving around a screen?

Move along 10 years, graphics got better and better and then boom, Virtua Fighter, Virtua Racing, etc... we're settling for chunky blocky (but 3D) visuals again. 

Cycle repeats again, and realistic physics come back into the equation... Makes me wonder if we're in for a repeat of the cycle again. Maybe we'll finally get holodecks, but they will be REALLY low resolution at first. 

[Dartful Dodger]

White Fence Farm

This is a great place for families and they have a ton of those mechanical arcade games.

You put your name in and while you wait for a table you can spend time in their arcade.

They have two locations Romeoville, IL and Denver, CO.  I've only been to the one in Illinois. My family use to go to it once a year, and I looked forward to going. It was over an hour away, but it was worth it.  I took my niece and nephew there and it hasn't changed in 30 years. It's still worth the drive.

The food tastes really good too, but it's not healthy in the least.

[Level42]

From the looks of it, probably pretty well. At a local 'cade, there's a few er.... let's call them pseudo-mechanical games that seems to attract the younger crowd. None of them are anywhere near as complex as what we have here though.

But don't those award prizes? I wonder how long they would hold attention without that.

No way ! Most of these games were timed games. Wether you were good or bad at the game, it lasted the same time for your quarter. Of course the points were different.
That is why the first b/w video games were also timed. It was common practice then. That was what SI made so special when it was new: It introduced "unlimited" play (if you were good) with 3 lives.

Those games on the video seem to award extra time for good play though as the little guy who does best at the game is playing for the longest time.

About the simple graphics compared to the great artwork on mechanical games:
Remember, this was a time when most people still had B/W TV's at home. Having actually anything on a TV screen that YOU controlled was already amazing for us then.....