JoOngle
Member
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2011
- Messages
- 517
We all remember fondly those arcade machines we grew up with in the 80s.
It used to be the "Degenerates" hangout no#1. Every school skipper, low-grade, grease monkeys, motor-heads and nerds used to hang out here.
Nerds like me were of course prone to become fresh meat for the gearheads and biker gangs, but we could not stay away from the arcade halls at night because the lure of the high-scores and awesome future computers that lurked inside those machines were just too much of a temptation to resist.
One of my favorite arcade games was the sitting-down version of Star wars, it was one of the worlds first true 3D games, it had vector graphics and was in colors, it was so popular you could rarely get to play it.
But I had an advantage - I was the repair techs lil pet at night (yes that sounds sinister, but he never laid a hand on me, so no worries), it was innocent times, kids and adults could hang out and no one bat an eye.
Thats pretty much how I got my inspiration to become a techie later on in life, and it pretty much saved me from the streets and becoming a school dropout, so it eventually gave me a job as a service tech at the local computer store where i repaired commodore 64's Amigas, Ataris and even built Hangar remote controls for real aerospace hangars, but that's a different story for another thread from the 80s - if you like stories from real life like that, give me a holler, and I'll post another.
Ok so this is it...this is the story about the 80's local Burbs Arcade:
We where the school dropouts and nerds in a weird mix, we were into early 80s electronics and computer technology, some of us were just into games or just hanging out because no one else wanted to hang out with us, we were not the "cool kids" we where the nerds and oddballs, or the schools punchable faces if you like.
One of our favorite spots to hang out would be the old arcade/pool hall in the nearby city. It was dangerous at night, and mom would always be worried sick when we headed that way, so I'd rarely tell her that I was headed for the arcade, but she always knew.
"I don't like you hanging out with that weird old loner" she said, "he's got a reputation you know".
Mom - he's fine, besides I get to play freeplay all night, and if I'm lucky I get some parts too.
"Great - more junk to fill up your bedroom, oh well at least it keeps you off the streets".
One day I was gathering with the gang, you know - the school dropouts, we were hanging out at the arcade drooling over the new arcade machine "Dragons Lair". It was a laser disc based game which means it wasn't real computer graphics, but we didn't know it at the time so the video graphics blew us away when we saw and heard it, it was so awesome.
In the arcade there was a bunch of older kids, bikers, they didnt like us because we where kids, and they didn't want us around. One of them said:
"Hey you - didn't I tell you to never come around here?"
"Besides , you're the one hanging out with that old homo, right?"
He's not a homo I said, he's just the repair dude, and he's nice.
"Oh yeah, he's nice? I bet I know what you think is nice you lil homo!"
(Bikers laughing) (NB: remember, we where just around 12, not 18).
One of them said ok kid, I'm gonna beat the !@#$ outta ya now, and the bikers gathered around us 3, one of my friends nearly pissed himself and the others where shaking and said "Let's get outta here, this is bad"
I was like - hell naw, this is our place too.
So I started pointing out for the troublemaker that his friends might be laughing, but what a hero he is to take on a 12 year old kid.
He got nervous and said, well well, I'm gonna kick your ass.
I said "sure, you can do that, but thats just you compensating for the lack of argument, you simply don't know any better, you can't talk or think, so you need to use your fist".
"The f***, !@#$? Do you WANT to die, kid?"
I kept on talking, and look at your friends now, they're expecting you to say something, but you can't, because you've got no clue what you're doing, you're taking the easy way out by beating a lil kid, because you can't even outsmart someone half your age, look - all your friends are now laughing at you"
The bully got increasingly confused, he looked around...
"Do you hear this kid, kid's got a deathwish or something, hahaha"
His friends where like:
"Hey, he's got you there"
"Yeah, a 12 year old kid , and you dunno what to say, idiot!"
He got increasingly confused and focussed on them instead, and I think they went into a fight, but that was just enough for us to make our exit outta there.
The next few weeks, no one there bullied us, and I came back to hang out at night with the arcade repairsman, he said he heard about the commotion, and said "you're smart kid, that's why you're into electronics like me, I'll show you more stuff, hey - take a look at these arcade PCB's, the cabinet was ruined, so the owner don't need them anymore, want them?"
And he gave me a bunch of electronics arcade boards, the transformer needed to run them and a few gender changers to make it fit a multi-socket connection that I'd have to make, in order to "easily change boards when I made the interface to the CRT television", those he used in the "jamma like" arcade cabinets in order to fit various manufacturers boards, and they were expensive, but he gave me a few "pssst. don't tell the owner, he'd kill me, he's kind of a mafia guy, owns casinos and stuff, you don't wanna mess with him".
I was wondering who that was, But I thought I've seen him before, he kind of looked like Biff-Tannen from back to the Future (for real, no joke, I'm really not making this up - this IS my childhood).
and I saw him, he was a big beefy looking bully kind of type.
He saw me with the arcade boards and stopped me and said, WTF is THIS? Are you stealing my stuff you lil bastard? And don't you know this is a place for 18+ only?
The the repair man came over and said:
"Hey, give him a break, besides he hangs out here to learn stuff, and it's not like I'm enjoying being alone here 12 hours straigh having no one to talk to, ever thought about that?"
He was like
"hmf, okay, so you're hanging with him hun? Well suit yourself you lil brat."
"But If you EVER use those boards to compete with me or charge kids to play with those boards, then I'm gonna freaking put you into that van you see over there? And I'm gonna let you stay in the back of that van while I take a LONG fast drive on a very rough road, ya understand KID?"
I was like "uh uh, okay mister".
"Okay, as long as we understand each other".
I was so shaken up, I remember running back to my street with the arcade boards, loaded to the brim with bags of joysticks, cables and electronics, losing it on the ground all the time, nervously trying to get back to my house.
When I was back, I looked at the schematics the repair guy had given me, I soon figured out how to hook those things up to the SCART (a sort of euro connector to the television that could handle Composite video signals, S-VHS and wouldn't you know it.... clean RGB signals) I remember I had to make some kind of weird trick to make it synchronize properly, but eventually I made it - and I could play ARCADE GAMES in my VERY own BEDRoOM.
Oh boy that was cool stuff for a 12 year old I can tell ya.
It used to be the "Degenerates" hangout no#1. Every school skipper, low-grade, grease monkeys, motor-heads and nerds used to hang out here.
Nerds like me were of course prone to become fresh meat for the gearheads and biker gangs, but we could not stay away from the arcade halls at night because the lure of the high-scores and awesome future computers that lurked inside those machines were just too much of a temptation to resist.
One of my favorite arcade games was the sitting-down version of Star wars, it was one of the worlds first true 3D games, it had vector graphics and was in colors, it was so popular you could rarely get to play it.
But I had an advantage - I was the repair techs lil pet at night (yes that sounds sinister, but he never laid a hand on me, so no worries), it was innocent times, kids and adults could hang out and no one bat an eye.
Thats pretty much how I got my inspiration to become a techie later on in life, and it pretty much saved me from the streets and becoming a school dropout, so it eventually gave me a job as a service tech at the local computer store where i repaired commodore 64's Amigas, Ataris and even built Hangar remote controls for real aerospace hangars, but that's a different story for another thread from the 80s - if you like stories from real life like that, give me a holler, and I'll post another.
Ok so this is it...this is the story about the 80's local Burbs Arcade:
We where the school dropouts and nerds in a weird mix, we were into early 80s electronics and computer technology, some of us were just into games or just hanging out because no one else wanted to hang out with us, we were not the "cool kids" we where the nerds and oddballs, or the schools punchable faces if you like.
One of our favorite spots to hang out would be the old arcade/pool hall in the nearby city. It was dangerous at night, and mom would always be worried sick when we headed that way, so I'd rarely tell her that I was headed for the arcade, but she always knew.
"I don't like you hanging out with that weird old loner" she said, "he's got a reputation you know".
Mom - he's fine, besides I get to play freeplay all night, and if I'm lucky I get some parts too.
"Great - more junk to fill up your bedroom, oh well at least it keeps you off the streets".
One day I was gathering with the gang, you know - the school dropouts, we were hanging out at the arcade drooling over the new arcade machine "Dragons Lair". It was a laser disc based game which means it wasn't real computer graphics, but we didn't know it at the time so the video graphics blew us away when we saw and heard it, it was so awesome.
In the arcade there was a bunch of older kids, bikers, they didnt like us because we where kids, and they didn't want us around. One of them said:
"Hey you - didn't I tell you to never come around here?"
"Besides , you're the one hanging out with that old homo, right?"
He's not a homo I said, he's just the repair dude, and he's nice.
"Oh yeah, he's nice? I bet I know what you think is nice you lil homo!"
(Bikers laughing) (NB: remember, we where just around 12, not 18).
One of them said ok kid, I'm gonna beat the !@#$ outta ya now, and the bikers gathered around us 3, one of my friends nearly pissed himself and the others where shaking and said "Let's get outta here, this is bad"
I was like - hell naw, this is our place too.
So I started pointing out for the troublemaker that his friends might be laughing, but what a hero he is to take on a 12 year old kid.
He got nervous and said, well well, I'm gonna kick your ass.
I said "sure, you can do that, but thats just you compensating for the lack of argument, you simply don't know any better, you can't talk or think, so you need to use your fist".
"The f***, !@#$? Do you WANT to die, kid?"
I kept on talking, and look at your friends now, they're expecting you to say something, but you can't, because you've got no clue what you're doing, you're taking the easy way out by beating a lil kid, because you can't even outsmart someone half your age, look - all your friends are now laughing at you"
The bully got increasingly confused, he looked around...
"Do you hear this kid, kid's got a deathwish or something, hahaha"
His friends where like:
"Hey, he's got you there"
"Yeah, a 12 year old kid , and you dunno what to say, idiot!"
He got increasingly confused and focussed on them instead, and I think they went into a fight, but that was just enough for us to make our exit outta there.
The next few weeks, no one there bullied us, and I came back to hang out at night with the arcade repairsman, he said he heard about the commotion, and said "you're smart kid, that's why you're into electronics like me, I'll show you more stuff, hey - take a look at these arcade PCB's, the cabinet was ruined, so the owner don't need them anymore, want them?"
And he gave me a bunch of electronics arcade boards, the transformer needed to run them and a few gender changers to make it fit a multi-socket connection that I'd have to make, in order to "easily change boards when I made the interface to the CRT television", those he used in the "jamma like" arcade cabinets in order to fit various manufacturers boards, and they were expensive, but he gave me a few "pssst. don't tell the owner, he'd kill me, he's kind of a mafia guy, owns casinos and stuff, you don't wanna mess with him".
I was wondering who that was, But I thought I've seen him before, he kind of looked like Biff-Tannen from back to the Future (for real, no joke, I'm really not making this up - this IS my childhood).
and I saw him, he was a big beefy looking bully kind of type.
He saw me with the arcade boards and stopped me and said, WTF is THIS? Are you stealing my stuff you lil bastard? And don't you know this is a place for 18+ only?
The the repair man came over and said:
"Hey, give him a break, besides he hangs out here to learn stuff, and it's not like I'm enjoying being alone here 12 hours straigh having no one to talk to, ever thought about that?"
He was like
"hmf, okay, so you're hanging with him hun? Well suit yourself you lil brat."
"But If you EVER use those boards to compete with me or charge kids to play with those boards, then I'm gonna freaking put you into that van you see over there? And I'm gonna let you stay in the back of that van while I take a LONG fast drive on a very rough road, ya understand KID?"
I was like "uh uh, okay mister".
"Okay, as long as we understand each other".
I was so shaken up, I remember running back to my street with the arcade boards, loaded to the brim with bags of joysticks, cables and electronics, losing it on the ground all the time, nervously trying to get back to my house.
When I was back, I looked at the schematics the repair guy had given me, I soon figured out how to hook those things up to the SCART (a sort of euro connector to the television that could handle Composite video signals, S-VHS and wouldn't you know it.... clean RGB signals) I remember I had to make some kind of weird trick to make it synchronize properly, but eventually I made it - and I could play ARCADE GAMES in my VERY own BEDRoOM.
Oh boy that was cool stuff for a 12 year old I can tell ya.
