To brighten the start of the week, here’s some pictures from the extremely innocent boom years of computer arcades. Yes, young ‘uns, in days gone by arcades looked like this. Guys took girls, dads took their boys, men went with work colleagues - and all to play classic games such as Victory, Battlezone, Zaxxon and Space Invaders.
Some arcades were dressed as space ships; some had some very strange high score prizes in place - ‘get the high score and win a free single/album’? Looking at these pictures, you get the feeling that arcade games in the late 70s to early 80s were seen as something for all ages to enjoy.
With the advent of online remote gaming and the possibility that someone in deepest London is playing Motorstorm or Warhawk online with a fellow gamer in Orlando, it seems strange to look at these pictures and imagine a different time when the local arcade was the main place high scores happened.
Thanks to www.timouttunnel.com for the pictures.
Ha ha thanks.
Comment by darkjedi — Sep 10, 2007 @ 1:37 pm
What a crap article, in what way is this related to Playstation?
Comment by Adam — Sep 10, 2007 @ 1:39 pm
Oh the wonderful days when 10 pence got you a credit. If I stumble across Frogger, Space Invaders, Galaxian or Discs of Tron I am still compelled to drop a few coins in.
Comment by HaloJ — Sep 10, 2007 @ 1:50 pm
Looks distinctly 70′2 to me, i’m not that old lol. to be honest I think the arcades of old offer a better social setting than our modern networks but hey I’d rather sit in my own armchair than stand next to someone like that guy wearing an anorak above lol.
The days of playing tennis with your white square bat and white square ball or protecting your white sqcare base with your white square fighter jet are sadly numbered.
Comment by Terry — Sep 10, 2007 @ 1:53 pm
Incidently check out the third picture up, that cabinet is made of WOOD how old are these pics lol.
Comment by Terry — Sep 10, 2007 @ 1:56 pm
It was often orange like that too. Btw, this whole Linux on PS3 thing will be worthwhile on the day I find out someone has MAME running on it…
Comment by MrJimmy — Sep 10, 2007 @ 1:57 pm
@ Adam - To be honest we just enjoyed the photos and thought you would too.
Comment by Three Speech — Sep 10, 2007 @ 1:58 pm
*tears* memories like these that make me wish home consoles never existed
Oh how i miss wasting money on games i could never complete!
Comment by JohnSketch — Sep 10, 2007 @ 2:02 pm
@2
Adam,
I think you should be looking at other sites to do with the playstation, try finding one aimed at kids that has bright colours and nice pictures that might keep you happy.
Comment by Daniel — Sep 10, 2007 @ 2:02 pm
haha Great pics. I love the illustrations on the sides of the arcade cabinets.
However the best by far are that dudes red and white socks in that penultimate photo…
Comment by Tony Nibbles — Sep 10, 2007 @ 2:03 pm
@ 8, yes because this is ‘high-brow’ stuff..
Comment by WILLIAM_BLOKE — Sep 10, 2007 @ 2:05 pm
@9
Haha yeah didnt see them socks, what a guy eh!
Comment by Terry — Sep 10, 2007 @ 2:08 pm
Those were the days!! I used to think pumping a shit loads of 10p’s into a machine was a waste of money. Now I just buy £400 games machines & £40 games! LOL!
Comment by Mick — Sep 10, 2007 @ 3:04 pm
Genius!!!!
Oh the memories, the stench of sweat, kids farting with excitement as they beat the 1st boss on Final Fight……… is there a more romantic place to bring your girlfriend
I think not : )
Comment by Phlair — Sep 10, 2007 @ 3:05 pm
lol, 3rd picture from the end….is that Zaxxon?
is it just me or the tall guy controlling the ship and the short guy with the awesome perm is shooting the guns for him?
co-operative gameplay ftw!
Comment by thamenace — Sep 10, 2007 @ 3:19 pm
Ahhh… the memories
Great post ^^And great pics, although, ofc, everyone looked ugly back then 
Aye, good stuff
Comment by Sweden — Sep 10, 2007 @ 5:09 pm
@15 yeah lol, first co-op moment in history perhaps
Comment by Sweden — Sep 10, 2007 @ 5:10 pm
It’s the “scramble” machine that reminded me of times of old. Used to go to the local chippie, put my 10p on the machine to reserve my go, and stand watching whoever was playing, quietly sniggering at the mistakes they made.The most popular machine they ever had there though had to be gauntlet. You’d play a game, eat some chips while watching your friends play, and then take over when someone died. There were always 5 or 6 people trying to play that. Then they replaced it with a slot machine, and the crowds vanished totally!
Comment by MuggleMind — Sep 10, 2007 @ 6:59 pm
This is great!
Comment by PSN: Neil — Sep 10, 2007 @ 11:51 pm
those were the days i can only replicate them in my games room with 2 mame arcade cabs 1 tabletop and 1 stand up but its not the same and
replying to mr jimmy how said ( this whole Linux on PS3 thing will be worthwhile on the day I find out someone has MAME running on it…) it all ready been done
copy and paste this link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsQOr-vNDsg
as ps3 linux is a proper linux it easy as
Comment by headcasephil — Sep 11, 2007 @ 1:10 pm
“9,999 points! WOO-HOO!!”
Anyone besides me remember that classic line from the movie “Tron”?
Flynn was at the helm of a game he created (Space Paranoids) and was the master of. Dozens of arcade junkies surrounded him as he lay waste to the last “Recognizer” in a game that by today’s standards looks about as difficult as Tetris on Forrest Gump Mode.
I’m 34 but I can clearly remember the days when the arcade was the place to meet girls. In a local mall in Baltimore, MD the in-mall arcade was the hang-out. The proverbial street corner where amateur rap artists would battle it out with each other in the halls and then make their way to a Killer Instinct or Neo Geo machine to waste a few quarters on Samurai Showdown.
I also remember many a fight being started over rounds of Street Fighter II but believe it or not, those were some of the best days of my life.
The arcade will most likely NEVER return and will remain entry level amusement parks (i.e. GameWorks now owned by Sega) for the rest of eternity. The sad part is that once us 30-somethings are gone the arcade will be immortalized like vinyl albums, boom boxes that played cassette tapes, and cell phones the size of briefcases (see “Lethal Weapon 1″).
Comment by Mark — Sep 13, 2007 @ 12:36 am
Re: “What a crap article, in what way is this related to Playstation?”
I call you out, Adam. Right now. Outside. How dare you insult such a bitchin’ arcade… might as well’ve punched my mother. Loser.
Comment by captainbravo — Sep 13, 2007 @ 7:10 pm
Yeah, arcades were cool. (No, in America they likely won’t return. And, by the way, most cabs are still made of wood. It’s jut harder to tell.) Best of all were the castles that had (and some are still around) golf, bumper boats, go-karts, batting cages (my least prefered), and maybe a something else (in my case, Space Ball, a trampoline with netting around and a set or horizontal hoops - sorta a cross between volleyball and basketball).
Though I think Time Out Tunnel is not cool-looking, and the design wastes space, Adam I’d bet is a young whipper-snapper who can’t get it. That’s fine. Go play your new-fangled games and spare us your breath.
Comment by stephen — Sep 27, 2007 @ 10:21 pm
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