The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Everything Else => Topic started by: Distortion on March 06, 2003, 02:59:03 pm
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I have been browsing peoples' examples for a long time now, trying to get ideas for my own, and I can't help but notice that most people here mention having grown up on games like pac man, galaxian, donkey kong, space invaders etc....well, I grew up on final fight, battle toads, ninja turtles, those sega racing games, hang on, etc. I'm not saying that I will walk past a pac-man machine in a restaurant without playing it, but it's not one of my generation's defining video games. I'm just trying to get an idea of what the average age range is around here.
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Well, I still have find memories of putting quarters in Pong at the local pizza parlor, and a good chunk of allowance went into Sprint 2 and Space Invaders as well...
--Chris
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27 here ... and every quarter I got as a paperboy in the 7th grade went to that damn arcade behind my house. It's my parent's fault for moving there. However when we moved, I ended up playing a ton during and after my senior year in high school: Smash TV, Street Fighter, Lethal Enforcers (or anything with a gun), Cybersled, Theatre of Magic (Pinball), etc. being some of my favorites at the time. Now ... every real arcade I know of is gone. Sad ...
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aren't these age groups a little to broad?
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I was too late for Space Invaders but I remember when Frogger, Scramble and Donkey Kong came into the arcade NEW.
I can actually remember when Ghosts and Goblins came in... everyone thought it was SO hard. People were still drawn to it, after a few weeks it was an arcade staple.
It's very cool that these games still have life and it's even better to have lived during those golden years of arcades. Many later games were good but they just don't have the iconic staus of those early few.
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I'm 23 years old (well.. 23 and 3/4) and I remember sinking many a quarter into games like Double Dragon, Bad Dudes, P.O.W, Ghost and Goblins, Strider, Ninja Gaiden, Super Off-Road, TMNT... Those are the classics of my generation.. In fact, I dont think I ever saw a Pacman or Donkey Kong machine in an arcade growing up. but I played all those on my Commodore 64 for free. Despite my age though I still have a love for the real classics and they will no doubt be installed on my yet to be built MAME cab ;D
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aren't these age groups a little to broad?
If you want to be more specific, feel free to reply with a more specific response.
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i am 18..will be 19 soon.
I started playing games when i was like 7 or 8.
Best game at the time was Cadillcs and Dinosaurs by Capcom.
Also lot of cps1 games were popular at the time..how about everyone else? ;D
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I'm 42, when I was a kid we just rubbed two rocks together for fun. Really since I graduated High School in '79 there weren't many arcade games out. I played most of mine in adulthood (post 18).
P.S. I hope I don't remain the only statistic in the 40-50 range :)
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28 here.
The first arcade experience I can remember was that when I was around 7 and used to frequent the local bowling alley (my Mom was in a day league).
I remember they had an Atari Football, BombJack, Mr. Pac Man, and my all time favorite, Gorf (I used to love hearing that thing talk).
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I am 31. :P We used to go camping every weekend to the same place (we had a camper sitting there all the time) and they would have between 8-10 games and they would get new ones every year. I remember playing the original breakout (which I wish I could play again) and pac man and donkey kong and Atari football (gotta get a cocktail with 2 or 4 trackballs going) and one of my favorites, Sprint 2. I also remember playing time pilot 84 and a few of the "newer" games but I was more into girls in the later years. It was fun going up for the first weekend every year to see what they got in new. Also, I hate to have to put myself in the 30-39 range. You may as well made it 30-100! Feels about the same. (Sorry birdtails)
J_K_M_A_N
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I hate to have to put myself in the 30-39 range. You may as well made it 30-100! Feels about the same. (Sorry birdtails)
Phew, I thought it was just me.
I'm 33 and just seeing me grouped to 39, made me feel like 100.
I can't find any memories of putting quarters in Pong, but I remember putting lots o quarters into Lunar Lander. In fact one of the first Mame games I played was LL, I played it for three hours... although it's not the same when you have unlimited coins.
25 cents was a lot, now I can't even find the cent symbol in Window's Character Map
...wasn't it on my type writer?
Crud, I feel like 100 again.
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I'm 26 and a half...
( I was hoping for more graduation in the poll too...)
remember pacman, donkey kong, moon cresta, galaxian.... n' stuff... played SFII and such in H.S.
*Shrug*
rampy
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Sorry about the broad ranges, I tried to go back and fix it, but it kept all the previous votes in the same slots. Should I start a new one?
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I remember the song Pac-Man fever coming out and how it was all over the news.
I remember waiting behind the older kids(12) to play Donkey Kong at the local bowling alley and wondering if it was even possible to go past the peg level.
We had an intellivision and I remember thinking astrosmash was as good as it could get. I also remember thinking someday it may be possible to get graphics as good as tron on a home system (never happen).
Born in 1970.
By the way Birdtales you forgot to say (in your best crotchety old timer voice) We rubbed to rocks together..and we were glad to git em.
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37 now, 38 on the 29th of March.
So I am pretty much a child of the age of classic arcade games.
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32..almost 33. mentally i am hovering around 16
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29 and not looking forward to 30, I remember playing Galaga, ms. pacman, Pacman, Gauntlet I & II, Dragons Lairs, Space Ace, Frogger, Jungle Hunt, and lots of others around that era, I also had a Putt-Putt golf and games around my house with a lot of newer games like Indiana Jones, 720, and some boxing game where your guy was a transparent green boxer, and the controls were 2 handles. You had to swing the whole top half of the machine left and right to throw punches.
-PacManFan
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I'm 26. Interesting age ranges here. I have to say this is probably the most diverse forum I frequent.
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I'm 39 and my mom cut holes in our pockets so we'd have something to playwith! ;D
My earliest video game memory was Pong that showed up at a local Shakeys Pizza joint when I was growing up. My brother used to own a bar and I remember shuting his Space Invaders game on and off again really fast until the thing freaked out and gave me a ton of extra credits. He also had Pac Man and Donkey Kong when they first came out, I memorized the Pac Man pattern out of a Playboy magazine and used to play the thing till I got sick of it. I blame Donkey Kong for making me drop out of college!
Where I grew up we had a place called The Land of Oz at the mall and later (around 1981) another place in campus town called Dark Star. I remember playing Track and Field, Tempest, Wizard of Wor, and Makin' Trax. The place was a multi-level place all decked out with black lights and glossy lipped chicks with feathered hair....and tight Britainia jeans...uh... nevermind...
Doug
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I'm 39 and my mom cut holes in our pockets so we'd have something to playwith! ;D
No wonder why you actually have 3 machines
I kept wondring WTF ? ?this guy actually have 3 arcades.. ;D
I mean my family members are already very pi$$ed off with just 1 cabinet..maybe I should just move out so i could have a 33" show case cabinet and a driving game cabinet(most consoles have very good driving games so I would use consoles and mame)..
Maybe in another 5 years.. :P
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I will be 26 in august
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I'm 30 going on 12. Defender, Space Invaders, Gorf, Missile Command and Pacman were my first staples as these were the cabs at the place I went on holiday every year.
After that it was Outrun, Rampage, Supersprint, Speed Rumbler and Gauntlet, these were at the place we went on holiday every year after the first place closed (I wonder what they did with their Defender...)
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29 for another 5 months.
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yeah, im pretty sure the first arcade game i really got into was a simpsons cab at our one and only arcade.. lasted about 4 monthes...
luckily, mame will let me go back and catch up on all you guys :-)
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wow, i must be the youngest one here. I'm 15. Well, 15 1/2 if that really matters.
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Heh, i'm 37 but still feel like a teenager, once in a while ;D
When i was at school the computers we had were ZX80's and Beeb micros. Incredible the power difference in just 20 odd years.
At first i was surprised to see a lot of mid thirties here, but as someone else said, mid thirties now puts us slap bang in the middle of the Invaders, Pac-man, Defender boom which i remember as if it were yesterday.
Also it's great seeing so many young 'uns enjoying these retro games as much as anyone, and building their own cabs as well!.
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I'm 43. My 13 year old son describes me best, 'a kid with money.' I was playing Asteriods and Space Invaders in college.
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ok, who's the 50+??? hehe
1 month from being 25.
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22 almost 23.. First games I got into were, of course, the nintendo arcade games, then Street Fighter 1. I wasn't an arcade junky until Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat. Ah, those were the days. ;)
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I'm 39 and my mom cut holes in our pockets so we'd have something to playwith! ;D
ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D ;D
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35 here.
I remember Space Invaders and Asteroids being at the local Roller Rink that everyone went to on Friday nights - quit skating and just played video games. Then, convincing my parents that Goodtime Pizza (Canton, OH) was my favorite pizza in the "whole world" (yuck); and it had nothing to do with the arcade they had ;D
btw - Birdtales, you forgot that you had to walk up hill to get those rocks in three feet of snow :D
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36 here,
I remember space Invaders and Night Driver in an arcade full of pinball machines. 2 years later it was a couple of pinball machines in a room full of video games.
Slug54
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33. Just had my first child and she'll be building a cabinet as soon as she can reach the tablesaw. I'm guessing most cabinet/control builders are late 20's to early 30's since that puts them in an age range to have been getting a decent allowance when arcades were actually commonplace.
Arcade favorites... Lunar Lander, Gorf, Donkey Kong, Galaxian, Joust, Aladin, Dragon's Lair, etc but never did like having to hit a reverse button on Defender so that one never appealed to me like it should have. (No, I can't in fact walk and chew gum at the same time).
At home... started with Pong, brief interludes with the game "Snake" on a Pet 4K anyone remember THAT??, then 2600, then ColecoVision then during the "videogame crash" picked up a 5200 and Vectrex for super cheap. Then nothing until my N64 and now an XBOX which I am currently intending to hack the sweet bejeezus out of to put it in my cabinet project. ;D
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btw - Birdtales, you forgot that you had to walk up hill to get those rocks in three feet of snow :D
Barefoot cause Momma couldn't afford shoes for all 10 of us.
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wow, i must be the youngest one here. I'm 15. Well, 15 1/2 if that really matters.
It doesnt matter dude ;D
I actually started building joysticks when i was like 15..yes i knew about arcadecontrols.com and visited but never been in the old forum.
Thats when dreamcast was "NEW".
But I am guessing you are having funds problem right?
MUST...GET...A...JOB ;D :-\.
I know how it goes,try to find a job maybe... :)
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I'm 33 until next month. ::) I remember waiting behind two teenagers to play Crazy Climber and made the big mistake of placing my quarter on the machine to reserve the next game. They said thanks for the donation and told me to get lost. >:( . What was I thinking ? One 10 or 11 year old against two teenagers. Also remember my mom yanking me away from an Astro Invader machine when I still had 1 ship left. >:( >:(. Ahh the memories. Probably two of many reasons I built a Mame cab. Finally over two decades later I have the last laugh. Good or bad they are all memories that I'll never forget. ;D
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wow, i must be the youngest one here. I'm 15. Well, 15 1/2 if that really matters.
;D Nope your not the youngest... 14 going on 15 april 4th.
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I'm 21 for a more detailed response. Wish i was older and graduated from college. Maybe then i'd have a job and money to spend on my machine.
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I'm 21 for a more detailed response. Wish i was older and graduated from college. Maybe then i'd have a job and money to spend on my machine.
How young and naive you are rock345... (and i dont' mean that in a mean way)... stay in college... never leave... the money you make with a real job does not make up for the additional responsibility. Trust me on this... be cool, stay in school =P
You cut work for a week straight and then just cramm for a mid term/final and still do ok =P
rampy
ps I think I related just a little too much to that "old school" movie with wil ferrell
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I know....i was thinking of trying the fail every course I take so i can stay for a little while longer. The sad thing is that I may end up staying in school with the way this job market looks. Nothing like applying to grad schools last second to fill up your nights. And you know i'm looking forward to another year of student loans to pay off grad school if i don't get a job in time. BTW anyone hiring any computer programmers?
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it's called Linux...but I didn't make it
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Yep, I'd call it linux too, that or Mac OS X.
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33 here... I noticed more than few responses of people hovering on that age, musta been a good year :)
I remember played Atari Football and always pinching my hands in the trackball, and playing Sprint 2 without any money... (was still fun to just wing the steering wheels really hard) :)
Then came Pac Man and I was out there memorizing patterns and making that quarter last for 3 or 4 hours until I was ready to go into seizures. Track and Field using that pencil trick, the guys that used to love that game know what I am talking about :)
I now have a wife, a 12 year old and 1 on the way and I am STILL the most immature in the house, ain't life great? ;D
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I'm 23 years old and have actually been lurkin' around these parts for a few years now, but only recently have I decided to post (boredom I guess). Anyway, ever since I started getting pocket money me and my best mate would run down to the local fish 'n chip shop and blow it all on arcade games. They were always getting newer games to replace the older ones, but some like Ninja Gaiden, Pacland, Sky Adventure, Bubble Bobble, Galaga, Ghosts and Goblins, P.O.W., Street Smart and Spy Hunter just hung around for ages.
The only game I ever finished (with one credit mind you) was U.N. Squadron, and there was nobody there to see it. It was a combination of these experiences that planted a seed in my brain that would eventually grow into a fixation of all things arcade (and retro), and encourage me to build my very own arcade controls. Well, I'm still gettin there, but when I do look out!
Hey brandon: C64 rules yeah, bring on the space taxi!
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I now have a wife, a 12 year old and 1 on the way and I am STILL the most immature in the house, ain't life great? ;D
One on the way?
Can somone say Oops!? hehe
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LOL, I actually inherited the 12 year old from my wife :) The 1 on the way is my first! We find out today if it's a boy or a girl! Wish us luck!!!
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Ahh very good! Wasn't quite what I assumed! ;)
Good luck!!!!
If one is good, two are better right? I wish you TWINS!!!! hehe
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The only game I ever finished (with one credit mind you) was U.N. Squadron, and there was nobody there to see it.
:o HOT DAMN DUDE :o
You actually did that?..i mean un squadron is pretty hard game..best i could do is upto the jungle stage with 1 credit.
But I am like you too.. ;D
I could beat Cadillacs and Dinosaurs withs ONLY 1 credit.I cant always do it but i did it several times ;D.
THATS RIGHT..even the dual slice boss cant stop my mighty Mustafa ;D.
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Topic: OFF
You actually did that?..i mean un squadron is pretty hard game..best i could do is upto the jungle stage with 1 credit.
Well, I play it nowdays and it really is a very simple shoot 'em up. The slowdown when busy (Intended I think) does help a LOT when dodging enemy fire! But I was young, and I was proud... you want an old one to try, go Prehistoric Isles - now that was my favorite back when it came out, and there was no WAY you could finish it on one credit!
Topic: ON
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Am 27, born in 1975 :)
First machine ever was a Commodore 16.
After that I had a ZX Spectrum, not for long though.
After the ZX I got the allmighty Commodore 64, and was finally able to play R-Type at home, even though it looked far better on the arcade!!!
Then came my amiga... wonderfull days with that machine!!! Not only had allot of cool games, but also had a fawking kewl demo-scene :)
Suddenly the amiga-scene kinda got quite... very quite... people was leaving for the PC!!! I still remember how upset I was by this, and how I tried to refuse switching to the PC! So some years went by before I got my first Pentium I... Was not far as exciting as the Amiga, and I still don't think it is!!! It's gotten very advanced nowadays, and it's getting better, but I just got so tired of the PC that I bought a mac! So now I have one mac, two PC's (a server and the arcade) and the amiga500 :)
I still sit and dream of the good ol' days, was all so cool back then :)
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I'm 22, about to finish college and start my "real life". I'm a product of the Street Fighter 2 craze that kicked off around middle school. I still remember vividly the first time I pulled off the dragon-punch on purpose (forward, down, down-forward was very difficult for me to grasp at that young age) :-) From there I moved on to Mortal Kombat 1 and 2, and finally on to Killer Instinct. I switched to console gaming after that as all the arcades around me started to die off. God I miss those days
-Ace-
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I'm 23 years old. I've been playing games my whole life though, so it's hard to say I really had a particular generation. I've just played them all. :) (At least since the early 80's).
I started playing video games really young at the athletic club where my dad was a member. So I've played Pacman, Defender, Joust, Centipede and the like. Then when I really got into it, it was all about (original) Street Fighter 2, Bad Dudes (which is my cabinet now), TMNT, Terminator 2...
By the time I was in high school it was all about beating the CRAP out of people (at least in arcades) so my games were Mortal Kombat 2 (still the best MK ever), Super SF 2 and Killer Instinct (which nobody will beat me at so don't even think about it). ;) In fact, I liked that game so much I bought the same machine I grew up playing from the mini golf place.
It's sad to say, but ever since Killer Instinct the games have just gone downhill. Each new Street Fighter is just like the last one, MK3 and 4 sucked, and Tekken is a joke... (My 2 cents)
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It's sad to say, but ever since Killer Instinct the games have just gone downhill. Each new Street Fighter is just like the last one, MK3 and 4 sucked, and Tekken is a joke... (My 2 cents)
We've had a Soul Caliber and a Soul Caliber 2 machine in the old student union building, but they built the new one and tore down the old one, so at this point I would like to know what happened to them and the stand-up Crazy Taxi. I think both of those games are great fighters, but as far as 2d fighters, I'll have to agree. I still have a special place in my heart for Virtua Fighter 1 as well.
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Being only 17, (wait, scratch that, 18 as of last saturday :D) I was too young for any of the arcade booms, and my parents always made sure I would stay away from them. (Never gave me any money for them... hmmph.) I still was actively fascinated by them however, and went to as many "lock-ins" (where they close of the arcade for an hour and set all the games to free-play) as I could.
I always was into the retro games however, as I would constantly play the commodore 64, and old PC games even though there were the newer consoles like Super Nintendo's etc. out.
My first real console was a nintendo 64, but I still played as many PC/retro Commodore games as I could as a kid, which gave me a wide love for games of any genre.
I originally got into cabinets when I was around 15/16 and I saw someone who converted their Dreamcast into a cabinet. I thought, what a great idea and planned to build it, much to the dismay of my parents. Of course, like almost everything I do, I lost interest eventually and gave up on the idea. Then 3 years later I stumbled across MAME, and within two weeks I was all ready to build a cabinet once again. This time however, I had an excuse... I could do it for a school design project :D
killing two birds with one stone, so to speak.
So here I am!
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ok, who's the 50+??? hehe
1 month from being 25.
I guess I will have to admit to it. Can you believe a teen life without arcades and school without PCs or calculators.
I learned IBM JCL language, Fortran, used punch cards and paper tape for input. Actually graduated in electronics with a controls option back in 73. We used slide rules.
BobA
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Wow, old age is geting you you, took you long enough to respond ;)
Not suprised at someone being that age though, my uncle is about that and he has an asteroids cabinet that he still plays.
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I'm 43. I guess I'm in Birdtales' category.
I remember arcades that didn't have ANY videos.
Please someone tell me I'm not the oldest one here! :'(
It's pretty funny seeing some of you say things like, "I'm 18, but I'll be 19 in one month", well I'm 43, but I was 42 3 months ago.
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I remember arcades that didn't have ANY videos.
I know, I am looking for a Bally Skill Shot.
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Please someone tell me I'm not the oldest one here! :'(
OK.......You are not the oldest one here! ;D
I am
BobA
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Whew ... Thanks!
(I also worked with JCL, but I missed punched cards by a little bit.)
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It's pretty funny seeing some of you say things like, "I'm 18, but I'll be 19 in one month",
I am 19 ;D.
(allright man stop crying already...lol).
s'all good.Its just a # :)
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I just turned 38. I started with pinball at the convience stores near my house. Saw my first PONG machine at the skating rink, was more interested in pinball so I ignored it. The first video game I remember playing was Boot Hill at the mall. I turned 16 in '81 so I got to hang out in the arcades during the golden age.
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(allright man stop crying already...lol).
s'all good.Its just a # :)
I'm not crying. I'm just kidding around. You're right. age is in your head. 43's not old, 50's not old. I wouldn't want to be any other age than what I am, but I wouldn't mind having the energy I had at 19. ;D
By the way, Snake, I really like your cabinet. My current project was going be a black box with the standard MAME marquee, but your artwork inspired me to do a little more. Nice work!
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I just turned 38. I started with pinball at the convience stores near my house. Saw my first PONG machine at the skating rink, was more interested in pinball so I ignored it. The first video game I remember playing was Boot Hill at the mall. I turned 16 in '81 so I got to hang out in the arcades during the golden age.
Heh. Cool, another '65er :)
Almost the same as my beginnings, except I had a chance to play some rudimentary computer games (text stuff) before they figured out how to make people feed them quarters. I still remember my first game of PONG. Kmart lobby.
I would still take a good pin over these fighters re-hashes :)
RandyT
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34 pushing 35 (getting closer and closer to 40 every day, but thats cool, as hitting 30 wasn't so bad).
First machines I remember were Phoenix (at the local chippie) and Moon Patrol and 1942 (at the local squash court).
We had an actual arcade where I lived, but it was mostly the local heavies that went there. It was rare to find a machine in the place without cigarette burns all over it !
At the time I had a mate with an atari 2600, another with an intellivision. Needless to say I didn't spend much time at home (until I got my Vic-20 that is !).
Thank god for emulators I say, I am sure that is what has gotten a lot of the young 'uns interested.
Cheers
;D
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I would still take a good pin over these fighters re-hashes :)
RandyT
I know what ya mean. All of the arcade roms for games I actually play would fit on a few floppy disks. I actually play Virtual Pinball more than the video games, but all that does is really make me want to hunt down and buy the actual pins. ;)
Butch...