April 8 is being recognised as National Arcade Day. The observance was established by LAI Games, although the reason for choosing this date is unclear. There does not appear to be a major arcade event linked to April 8, but it is still a welcome opportunity to celebrate coin-operated gaming.
Dates such as June 1 or June 27 might also make sense from an industry-history perspective, given their connections with the founding of Sega, Namco or Atari. It is also possible that April 8 relates to LAI Games’ own history, although its exact founding date could not be confirmed.
Why arcades still matter
For people who grew up during the 1980s and 1990s, arcades need little introduction. For everyone else, they were social spaces built around competition, discovery, friendship and, sometimes, romance. They also represented the leading edge of gaming, offering visual, audio and design experiences that home systems could not yet match.
To mark the occasion, here are some questions about discovering arcades, playing their machines and eventually bringing them home.
What was your first visit to an arcade?
My first visit came near the end of the 1980s, when a friend held a birthday party at the now-defunct 49th Street Galleria in Utah. It was a family entertainment centre with mini-golf, batting cages and bowling, but the arcade was the part that immediately captured my attention.
The room was dark, and the machines themselves provided the pull. I no longer remember every detail, including whether cigarette smoke was part of the atmosphere in that pre-clean-air era. We had only a few tokens, so I used them quickly. I think Ikari Warriors was among the games I tried, although I did not last long.
While searching for more tokens, I found Midway’s Discs of TRON. That machine made a lasting impression. I doubled down on my search for another token, but I still had no idea how to play and was defeated almost immediately. Its presentation was unlike anything I had experienced at home, at a friend’s house or at my cousin’s place.
At the time, I am not sure I understood what TRON was. I had not seen the film, although I had read a book about TRON at a friend’s house; I cannot remember which came first. I eventually watched the movie when it aired on television, and that helped set me on the path towards a lasting arcade obsession.
Do you remember your first arcade visit? Share the story with other readers.
What was the first arcade game you played?
The answer is uncertain. It may have been Ikari Warriors, but another game from that same visit could have been the real first. I may also have encountered a cabinet earlier at a 7-Eleven, where it was common to find a couple of machines, though those memories are indistinct.
Because there was no arcade close to home, I had relatively few chances to play as a child. Most of my gaming happened on friends’ systems, including the Atari 2600, Atari 800 and NES. I later owned an Atari 2600 and then a Game Boy, arriving around the time the SNES was about to launch.
Only later did I learn that many of the games I enjoyed on those systems had originated in the coin-op world, often in more advanced forms. That list included Asteroids, Pac-Man, Double Dragon, BattleZone, Contra, Congo Bongo, Star Trek: The Original Series, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong and Zaxxon. The internet, along with later arcade visits as a teenager, filled in many of those gaps.
Home conversions could also create confusion. I once had someone threaten me because my Ninja Gaiden did not behave as he remembered; he had played a different NES version. Similar misunderstandings surrounded Contra, Gradius and Double Dragon, which some NES players assumed had begun on Nintendo’s system.
At 13, I discovered BattleZone and became fascinated, even though newer and more technically advanced games were available. During the same visit, a friend and I played through Sega’s Die Hard Arcade. T-Mek was another standout. That arcade trip confirmed my ambition to operate a venue of my own, something that eventually happened.
For readers interested in building an arcade at home, the Arcade Machine Buying Guide is a useful place to compare approaches, from full-size cabinets to compact bartop arcades and classic upright arcade machines.
What was the first arcade machine you owned?
My first machines were 1942 and Zaxxon, purchased from a local seller in 2000. I already hoped to start an arcade, so these were modest first steps. The 1942 cabinet worked well and cost $250. Zaxxon was reduced to $75 because its monitor circuit board was cracked, although it took several years to find someone able to repair it.
Neither machine performed particularly well in my venue, and I no longer own them. Even so, both remain important parts of my arcade memories. For anyone maintaining older cabinets, Retrocade’s range of arcade parts provides a starting point for restoration and repairs.
Remembering Yoshihisa Kishimoto
National Arcade Day also provides an opportunity to acknowledge Yoshihisa Kishimoto, the former Data East and Technos Japan developer, director and creator who passed away this week. He was responsible for games including Double Dragon, The Combatribes and Block Out, among others. His work brought enjoyment to millions of players, and we salute his contribution.
However you encountered your first cabinet—as a child at a family entertainment centre, in a convenience store, or through a machine brought into your home—April 8 is a good excuse to remember what makes arcades special. Happy National Arcade Day.
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