About
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Ever since I witnessed my first mammoth angular machine, I knew that I was an arcade kid. The sights….the sounds… the definitive feel of the arcade buttons… the combined feeling of pressure and despair when you realized you just used up your last quarter… It was all part of an experience I would relish everytime I had the chance… What you are about to read is a long and drawn out version of the obligatory “introduced to BYOAC” page, with Bonus Features. I have included, for no extra charge, a historical account of my experience with arcades. |
Chinatown Fair Arcade @ 8 Mott St
The History |
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As a young child, my arcade experience was limited to whenever my family took me to any of the “theme park” outlets around here, like Playland, The Westchester County Fair, or Six Flags, (it was the smaller parks that gave me a love for some of my favorite classics : Tempest, Frogger, Galaga, Ms. Pac Man, Tube Panic, Elevator Action, etc… the bigger theme parks always had me reeling over the newer games: TMNT, The Simpsons, X-Men, Terminator 2, Metal Slug, etc…) and Tony’s Pier at the back of City Island cycled through a couple of good cabs .. (Final Fight, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter II, etc… ). |
Arcade @ Rye PlaylandI had always had a dream of owning an arcade machine, but I never really thought it possible (“When I grow up, My house is gonna have a WHOLE ROOM just for arcades!”) To me, Arcade Machines were unbuyable masses that you could ONLY experience in arcades and commercial places, but a nice dream nonetheless.
As I entered my tweens and teens, I discovered all the little arcade machine nooks and crannies around my area, and took my bike on perilous journeys to find places to spend my pocketfulls of change.
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Unlike most of the games during the Golden Age of Arcade Gaming, the more popular games during my teens were the intense and tactically driven fighters (SF Alpha series, and later, the Marvel fighters)… I remember spending countless hours piled up in the back of video stores and pool halls (usually with way too many people aound you for the space available) staring at the really skilled players in a match, with hit combos sometimes touching the hundreds… I was fairly good myself, but I never touched the skill of the best players around |
As time progressed, (since the arcade scene was already well on it’s demise) the machines slowly dissapeared, and although there were still some good outlets here and there (Broadway City Arcade, Chinatown Fair), it was never the same. Arcade gaming was out of the public’s conscience, and I went through High School playing mostly PC Games and console games at my friends’ houses.
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In about 2000 is when I discovered MAME, an excellently programmed arcade game emulator. I had already been playing emulators for some years (mostly NES and SNES ), but I had never seen an arcade one before, so it was a big deal to me. |
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After enjoying mame for some years, I wanted something to help the “playing an arcade” illusion. I was using a PS2 controller -USB adapter to play, so I thought about a good PS2 arcade stick. It was in this search that I found the BYOAC site. After discussing it in the forum, I went with the “Pelican Real Arcade” for PS2. It was cool for awhile, but due to luggage issues I sold it to my roomate for $20. |
The real revelation here for me was the site itself. Although the meeting of MAME and an Arcade Cabinet is ultimately logical, I had never put them together, due to my lack of understanding of arcade hardware and controls. The site (and forum) had excellent information and a great community. I soon found myself rekindling that old desire to own an arcade, but on a very real scale now. As much as I wanted to, though, I couldn’t since I was at college at the time.
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Every few months or so I would navigate back to the BYOAC pages and other arcade sites and read up on how people were building and enjoying these machines. One night while browsing, I decided that I wanted to make this a project of mine, just like that. I was contemplating this thing for years, so why not start it? I envisioned all of the different cool features I would be adding to it, and I couldn’t wait to start sketching out my ideas. After discussing it with the members of my household (who didn’t take me seriously at first), I started to look at my different options, and I was on my way.
… the rest is in the journal. |
The Machine |
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Coming soon…
