Comments on: Luna City Arcade

Luna City Arcade

grobstein — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 11:37:05 -0800

Luna City Arcade is Peter Hirschberg's home / barn video arcade, with about 60 vintage machines all set up to eat quarters. WaPo story about Peter's dream. You can come around to Peter's Virginia home for Game Day every couple months.

In addition to maintaining his own dinosaur machines, Peter writes some software -- usually clones of classic toys and games. His Battlezone clone Vector Tanks is coming soon to the iPhone for a couple dollars.

By: joecacti

joecacti — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 11:41:33 -0800

I demand Discs of Tron!

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 11:43:52 -0800

Marble Madness! This guy's got good taste.

By: Durn Bronzefist

Durn Bronzefist — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 11:48:07 -0800

*kissing grobstein full on the lips*

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 11:48:35 -0800

I smell a DC meet-up brewing.

By: Durn Bronzefist

Durn Bronzefist — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 11:52:18 -0800

Wow, that is a respectable (!) collection. I demand Discs of Tron! He has it. I'd add the pinball machines Black Knight and Pinbot, though.

By: penduluum

penduluum — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 11:57:35 -0800

Oh man, Paperboy with the handlebar controller. Sit-down Star Wars. Primal Rage. This guy basically has a barn full of "where all my money went, ages 8-15".

By: bondcliff

bondcliff — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 11:57:48 -0800

I had a similar dream which I fulfilled by building a MAME cabinet. It's not quite the same as what this guy did but it was cheaper and takes up less space. Some day I'm gonna have a meet-up in my basement.

By: punkfloyd

punkfloyd — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 11:59:01 -0800

If I ever win a (big) lottery.... this is EXACTLY what I would spend my money on. I might put a miniature golf course next to it or maybe a roller coaster.

By: burnmp3s

burnmp3s — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:00:45 -0800

This guy's got good taste. True, although his collection does seem a little Atari-centric. For example, the only fighting game he has is Atari's Primal Rage, instead of much better (Street Fighter) or more popular (Mortal Kombat) alternatives. From the FAQ: How do you keep the machines running? I repair and maintain the machines myself. Can I keep up? No, not really. But I do try. It's definitely a full-time job. Seriously, this is hard to do. I only own 4 arcade cabinets (2 MAME, 2 normal) and the various parts break all the time. And those all use standard 90s JAMMA interface equipment, rather than the custom stuff that older arcade machines used. Keeping all of those old machines running must be a challenge.

By: FatherDagon

FatherDagon — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:02:41 -0800

Oh this is so fine. I've been to some arcades recently (Dave'n'Busters and the like), and it's just a crap-tonne of racing games and shooters. Nothing weird and great like we used to have! I've got something like a thousand plus MAME emulations hooked up through the xbox, but it's just not quite the same as desperately digging in the pockets of your Wrangler jeans for a quarter, while the counter on the screen goes *10*... *9*... *8*... oh, the halcyon days of youth.

By: Challahtronix

Challahtronix — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:02:49 -0800

Mailing List Status: Full:( I wish I had known about him two weeks ago when I sold my Punch Out! machine for a pittance on Craigslist, would've been happier to donate it to a good cause.

By: bondcliff

bondcliff — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:07:32 -0800

For example, the only fighting game he has is Atari's Primal Rage I didn't see his age anywhere but given his choice of games I'd expect he grew up during the classic era like I did. I've always considered the rise of fighting games to pretty much mark the end of that error. I'm not surprised he doesn't have more.

By: malocchio

malocchio — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:12:12 -0800

Wow, those pictures represent a good portion of my teenage years. My personal wish list would include the three-screen Darius, Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters, and the High Speed pinball machine. I wonder if they'd really be as good as I remember...

By: Durn Bronzefist

Durn Bronzefist — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:12:37 -0800

Love the pics on his home page (don't miss the atari-cartridge index on the way) with the carpet and blacklight treatment. Perfect.

By: burnmp3s

burnmp3s — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:25:38 -0800

I didn't see his age anywhere but given his choice of games I'd expect he grew up during the classic era like I did. I've always considered the rise of fighting games to pretty much mark the end of that error. I'm not surprised he doesn't have more. Yes, I agree. It also makes sense that he doesn't have any games from the beat-em-up genre like Double Dragon or Final Fight. My point was that the Primal Rage selection suggests that he may have a slight tendency to pick Atari games over similar superior games by other companies.

By: vibrotronica

vibrotronica — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:26:20 -0800

I played Discs of Tron once at an arcade in Nashville back in the day and thought it was awesome. I was a huge Tron fan. Months later, when I returned to the arcade, it was gone, and I never got to play it again. Years later, in college, I was talking about the game to some friends, none of whom had ever seen it. They said "Oh, it was the Tron game." And I was like, "No, it was different." They had me convinced that I had imagined it. So, folks who have played it. Was it really as good as I remembered it being?

By: grobstein

grobstein — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:27:49 -0800

Has anyone else read Pinball, 1973? I just realized that this guy's arcade rather reminds me of the warehouse of old games where the narrator goes in the dusk age of pinball machines. Thinking of that novel also puts me in mind of the recent story about Alec Baldwin and Galaga:

"Julian would put the key in the lock and open the door, and he would just kind of look at me like, 'Wow, I'm glad I'm not you.'" Baldwin writes. "You got no idea, Julian. Julian, I need you. I need you to get that key and open the f- - -ing door and let me in. I got to play 'Galaga.' "

By: exogenous

exogenous — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:35:27 -0800

For example, the only fighting game he has is Atari's Primal Rage On the "Games" page he says: We do make a point to not have any "fighting games" or "shooting games", and we keep the atmosphere family friendly. I don't know how you explain Primal Rage though. Oddly, wikipedia says the game has been through revisions to reduce depicted violence ("golden shower/urination fatality"?!) Anyway, Luna City Arcade looks pretty damn cool, and it's great that the proprietor makes it so accessible.

By: bondcliff

bondcliff — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:41:46 -0800

So, folks who have played it. Was it really as good as I remembered it being? Yeah, it was. It's been at least 25 years since I've seen it much less played it, but I remember it being pretty immersive. In addition to a joystick with a trigger on it you had a spinner control that you could also push down and pull up on to control the height of your shot. I remember it as having surround sound, so if the disk was "behind" you you'd hear it behind you. Given the time frame though, that could be a false memory.

By: mrmojoflying

mrmojoflying — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:49:21 -0800

Vector tanks?!?! Holy hell, I had played a lot of that game in college. It was slightly "retro" back then even, but I loved that game. I loved it.

By: infinitewindow

infinitewindow — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:52:27 -0800

Needs more Pinbot.

By: Flex1970

Flex1970 — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:54:28 -0800

Essential to an arcade: Robotron and Tempest. High score for Robotron: 3 million. Chinese PacMan was a good one too.

By: The Straightener

The Straightener — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:54:28 -0800

No 720.

By: joelhunt

joelhunt — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:59:45 -0800

Just looking at that Gauntlet machine makes me feel 12 years old. "Elf needs food". I blame that game for making me into a spazz. Seriously, was it even winnable? I hate/love you, Gauntlet.

By: mrmojoflying

mrmojoflying — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:05:25 -0800

When I was 12, the Gauntlet arcade game at the bodega down the street went from offering 600 health per quarter to 4000 health per quarter. Every day after school, three of my friends and I would go over there and each put in our $1.25 in lunch money. Several times, after saving up for a few days, we made it past level 100. Oh the sweet blood feasting while playing the elf on the days when we'd get bored enough to start killing each other.

By: a3matrix

a3matrix — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:05:43 -0800

An impressive collection to be sure, but, lacking Robotron : 2084 his collection is missing its crown jewel. But whats this? He has Space War. Impressive.

By: ikahime

ikahime — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:17:58 -0800

This is the perfect mate to the other part of my day, watching "King of Kong." I'm glad I never got that obsessed over my personal favorite, Joust.

By: monkeymike

monkeymike — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:31:32 -0800

I have never been more jealous of anyone in my entire life.

By: jefeweiss

jefeweiss — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:33:48 -0800

I sent him an email about the mailing list, if I hear back from him maybe I'll put something up here. I'm not much for the old arcade games, but man pinball. I used to be halfway decent at pinball. Drool.

By: maxwelton

maxwelton — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:40:37 -0800

I can smell the ancient sweat and lack of sex from here. Awesome.

By: FunkyHelix

FunkyHelix — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 14:59:41 -0800

I've never really been a video gamer the way some of my friends were growing up, but I loved, loved, loved a good pinball game. He has some pretty good ones. I think all he's missing is the bar stools that Keansburg has so you could line up your quarters on the glass, plunk yourself down, and lose serious time.

By: Busithoth

Busithoth — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:39:50 -0800

the stand up version of discs of tron has been on my short-list of things I'd need if I won the lottery. I salute this man. Thank you for letting me know it exists.

By: JHarris

JHarris — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:50:46 -0800

>This guy's got good taste. True, although his collection does seem a little Atari-centric. This proves he's got excellent taste. Atari Games was probably the most consistently ingenious video game development company the world has ever known. (But then, I've already written on this issue.) In response to joelhunt, on whether Gauntlet is winnable: No. This has been documented. Neither Gauntnet nor Gauntlet II can be beaten, there's simply no end to the game. It keeps getting harder, based upon average player score per coin, until the game ends or the internal score counter (which is 24 bit I think) wraps. The reason to play Gauntlet is to have fun along the way. This is a more old-school D&D-ish approach to playing to complete a quest.

By: JHarris

JHarris — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:54:37 -0800

Oh wow, he's got an I, Robot machine! They only made a few hundred of those even back in the old days.

By: drmanhattan

drmanhattan — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 20:22:52 -0800

I contacted him earlier about the full mailing list and it's fixed now...