Things I Think Are Kinda Cool » Pinball

Growing Up In Arcades: 1979 – 1989

John Jude — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 00:33:37 +0000

The arcade was a full spectrum of emotions for me…from shouts of pride when I entered my initials on the “Donkey Kong Jr.” high-score screen, to tantrums of despair when Dad said it was time to leave. Today arcades are endangered species – one of the last spots in NYC, “Chinatown Fair”, closed down just a few weeks ago.

Luckily, there’s photographic proof that these mystical places actually existed. The Flickr group “Growing Up In Arcades: 1979 – 1989″ serves up a retro-tastic blast from the 8-bit past. Some of my favorites (warning…French-rolled jeans ahead!):

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Dig Dug!

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Check out “Growing Up in Arcades: 1979-1989″ for more…(via Neatorama)

UPDATE: There’s a documentary in the works about the final few days of “Chinatown Arcade”. Trailer:

And good news…the owners have relocated to Brooklyn and just opened a new spot called “Next Level”. Game on.

Save Your Quarters For Manhattan Pinball

John Jude — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 18:06:04 +0000

I never wanted this to end!

This might be a good time to revisit my favorite pinball-related video of all time (sung by none other than The Pointer Sisters):

Become A Pinball Wizard – With Your MIND…

John Jude — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:09:27 +0000

A newfangled high-tech machine called the ‘Berlin Brain-Computer Interface’ uses brain waves to give commands to machines. In this vid, the player simply has to think about moving his left or right hand, and the corresponding pinball flipper is flicked. Besides this being freaky/amazing, imagine the possibilities for paralyzed people. Wow.

-Make via Neatorama