A video post this week. Space Port was a chain of arcades across America usually located within shopping malls. Along the lines of Time-Out, it was a staple of any eighties kid’s world. As the name suggests, the branding was very space age! I came across a couple of interesting videos on YouTube, that I…
Tag: video games
Atari Kangaroo: The elephant in the arcade
It goes without saying that Atari released the majority of the true classics during the Golden Era of arcade gaming. Hit after hit was created, manufactured and released. But it wasn’t easy. The challenge they faced was constantly having to come up with new concepts and ideas. If there was a flaw in their business…
Atari Steeplechase: Weekend Pickup!
You’ll recall the arcade raid story I told a few weeks back about the haul of cabs we rescued from an abandoned house in rural France. Well this cab was my keepsake from that adventure. The cabinet made its way back to England in another collector’s van, and I had to pick it up from…
Atari Coin-Op: Classic Arcade Marketing
This week, I thought it would be interesting to look at Atari Coin-Operated Division’s B2B marketing efforts in the early 80s. By ‘B2B’ I mean the way in which they marketed their coin operated activities to the other businesses they wanted to foster relationships with; namely operators and distributors of their arcade games. It was…
Play Blackpool: 2017 Arcade Expo Review
The Play Expo Events are now a regular fixture of the retro gaming calendar over here in the UK. These annual shows feature a variety of activities including Cosplay, Retro console systems, traders, guest speakers (check out the talk I gave a few years back in Manchester here), multiplayer LAN gaming and of course video arcade…
Atari Ireland: Tipperary’s Arcade Connection
Atari’s massive success in the late 70s presented many challenges, not least of which was one of logistics: How were they going to get arcade product shipped globally to meet the huge demand for its arcade games? Transporting bulky 300lb lumps of wood, glass and metal around the globe from a single operational base in…
Time-Out Arcade: Amazing Classic Arcade Pictures
Note: These pictures were originally discovered by Peter Hirschberg who kindly agreed for me to share them here back in 2017 – a time when they didn’t have a permanent home. Do check out Peter’s updated website at http://www.timeoutarcades.com for even more pictures, memorabilia and history relating to the Time-Out arcade chain. – A remarkable…
Atari Battlezone Restoration 4
I’ve actually been getting a bit of grief about the lack of updates on my twitter account about this restoration! It’s a fair cop. The grim late winter over here has meant slow progress with the Battlezone (well that, and my laziness hasn’t helped either), but milder weather is upon us, so I’ve been able…
Arcade Raid! Euro Zaccaria Rescue
Italian arcade manufacturer Zaccaria holds a special place in collectors’ hearts over here in Europe. At one point, they were the third largest producer of pinball machines after Williams and Bally, and were also renowned for their video game releases during the 70s and 80s. As well as some of their own in-house developed games,…
A Tour of the Alpha 1 Classic Arcade Collection
On occasion I am fortunate enough to ‘go behind the scenes’ of this hobby. Over the years I’ve got to know a few arcade operators and owners of classic arcade machines, both here and stateside, and they’ve been good enough to allow me to view some of the stuff that’s out back. Invariably, from a…
The Arcade Blogger 