Thought it was about time we did another one of these. Looking through my archives, I found a bunch of arcade production line photographs that to my knowledge, haven’t been shared before. I originally posted some arcade factory pictures exactly a decade ago here – which is also worth checking out if you missed it….
Tag: Nintendo
Exidy’s Howell Ivy
Some sad news to share on the blog this week: the passing of Exidy co‑founder and arcade pioneer Howell Ivy. His impact on the early years of arcade gaming cannot be underestimated. After serving in the US Air Force, working on missile instrumentation and drone systems operation, Howell entered the arcade industry in 1972 when…
Williams Sinistar Arcade Documentary
I’ve been meaning to share this documentary on the blog for some time. I met its creator, Max, a couple of times while visiting the Freeplay Florida event a few years back. He mentioned that he was playing around with the original source code from the Williams arcade title Sinistar and hoping to add some…
Unseen Footage of Atari Battlezone Cabinet Production
Note: I’ve seen some online chatter about the possibility that the footage shared in this post could be AI generated (which is pretty depressing, but here we are I suppose). I just wanted to clarify that it is not. It would be pretty daft of me to knowingly post AI generated footage on a blog…
Puck Man PCB (Namco)
44 years ago (22 May 1980 to be precise), the first Puck Man machine was placed in an arcade in Tokyo’s Shibuya district, starting a worldwide global videogaming phenomenon. Today, Namco’s Pac-Man remains one of the most recognisable video game characters, transcending popular culture. I won’t rehash the story, but I wrote about the development…
Atari’s Mike Jang
Some sad news to report on the blog this week. I got word that long-time Industrial Designer at Atari coin-operated division, Mike Jang, has passed away. I’ve known Mike since 2016, and whilst we never met, he was always on the other end of an email answering my questions and providing really valuable input into…
Nintendo Red Tent Vs Cabinet Restoration
You’ll recall a few weeks back I wrote about the acquisition of this great cabinet, released by Nintendo in 1984. This particular example is in great shape, and I was very fortunate to be able to snag it and bring it back to Arcade Blogger towers. If you missed out on the original post, have…
Nintendo Red Tent Vs System: Weekend Pickup!
An unusual cabinet to share with you this week. Unusual in terms of what it is, and even more unusual to find one over here on European shores. The Nintendo Red Tent is a two-player cocktail style cabinet where players play facing each other on two separate monitors. Released in 1984 in both upright and…
Sky Skipper: UK arcade reveal!
Well over a year ago, I wrote about Nintendo’s Sky Skipper arcade game, after UK collector Alex Crowley found an original PCB game board during an arcade raid. If you’re new to this topic, do take 5 minutes to familiarise yourself with the story up to that point here. In short: Alex discovered a Nintendo…
Nintendo’s Monkey Magic Finally Surfaces
An interesting development in the classic arcade world this week, and one I thought worth interrupting my intended article for the blog today (sorry Wolfie!). Monkey Magic is an arcade title you are unlikely to have heard of; and for good reason. Released in 1979 by Nintendo in very small numbers, it was one of…