Nostalgia triggered by Tron Legacy

Started by NotoriusBEN, December 08, 2011, 08:56:36 PM

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NotoriusBEN

So I saw Tron Legacy in its entirety finally, but that's not important. (the show was meh, but would be great for white noise as Im doing other stuff).

The thing I want to discuss is right there in the beginning. The Arcade.
TRON Legacy - Flynn's Arcade Scene!

I miss the arcades of the eighties and early nineties. Maybe its just a heavy case of nostalgia, I remember rocking Space Invaders or Missle Command to Rush's "Tom Sawyer". At the old arcade I used to frequent, I memorized the playlist so that I was ready to play one of those two games when the song came on, (much to everyone's ire. There was always a surge to those machines when that song came on. It was like getting an audience to your performance)

Anyways, I feel that gaming back then was way better to gaming now. Especially if there was a competitive game. You had to be nice and courteous to your fellow gamer in an arcade. If you were a dick or a smartass, you'd be ejected from the Arcade or you could literally be handed your teeth by that big dude you just beat, or that kid's brother. Now, that might be a little extreme, but the point is that you had to be nice because there was no anonymity like with PSN or Xbox Live.

Aside from the competitive games, people congratulated you when you got the high score and you could get an audience if you performed exceptionally well.

I dunno, what are your guys' thoughts on the subject? I know Im a bit all over the place, but I'd like some other peoples perspectives and experiences to compare notes with, if only just to reminisce about the good ol' dayz.

Tom Sawyer - Rush (Lyrics In Description)

Callie Del Noire

I remember those days. My little brother and I used to be the 'team to beat' on Cyberball 2020. We would play it 'kill the quarterback' style against other players. Nothing like having Titanium tackles smashing into the plastic QB on rocket boost.

I remember he beat Sagat on the original Streetfighter in one move. (the move that in is the reason Sagat has the scar). The entire arcade seemed to go quiet.

Samael

*Puts up the Tron Legacy Soundtrack again*

Arcades have never been a big thing here.
At most you'd get one or two machines set in your local video rental place, or in a restaurant.
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DudelRok

Quote from: Samael on December 09, 2011, 07:03:21 PMArcades have never been a big thing here.
At most you'd get one or two machines set in your local video rental place, or in a restaurant.

Yeah, I live in a small town myself. We have one arcade in a God-only-knows-mile-distance.. and it's a batting cage first. It's still there, but it's quiet. No one goes, not even small kids. When I was younger I had dozens of birthday parties at the place. Er.. well I had several, attended several more. Between me, sibling and my bros, it was awesome!

Sibling and myself used to play a couple games pretty religiously. One, in particular, was a 4 person top-down racing game. Each person got a colored car and while the game didn't specifically have "teams" we kids, at the time, worked a system where a "tie" was able if a team got 1,3 and 2, 4. But Sibling and myself never lost! 1st and 2nd every time!

Also had a game with gators that you smashed in the head with a mallet, but we'd typically do it sans mallet since the mallet was usually busted.

Of course that's where you'll get other cool racing cabinets, too. Like Cruisin' USA!

Ah, there's one in our bowling alley, too. It's more up-to-date and it's where a lot of people go for arcading. As my town sucks, the bowling alley and the bowling alley arcade are basically common hang outs. Never "packed" but you get at least 5 people in there at all times when the bowling alley is open. Kind of funny, really. There's a Simpson's Cabinet at the CiCi's, as well but ugh...

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Capone

Apparently there was a deeper joke to implementing Tom Sawyer into the Missile Command episode of Chuck, because I was never aware of any particular popularity of that song with arcades.

Now that I think about it, I think Futurama had a similar gag...

Either way, I was a little young to remember arcades in their hay-day. However, I do remember the arcade in my mall at one point had the Ninja Turtles arcade game. My siblings and I played that every time. We also played the Simpsons Arcade game there, as well as at the skating rink. Any arcade I could find, I played Area 51. Unfortunately, they weren't very social places for me. In the skating rink, most of the kids were older, and at the mall my mom would hover over us, frightened from horror stories of children being abducted while left alone in an arcade.

I do wish arcades were around more, though. Even as an adult I feel like it would be a great opportunity to meet other people. I've been meaning to check out a place called University Pinball in Philadelphia, and I've heard word of a place called Barcade in Philly as well as NYC. So I think in some ways they're coming back, but not in small towns.

Which is the real shame of it. The suburbs literally have nothing for kids to do, and is where things like arcades are needed the most. Instead, you need to be able to drive 30 miles or so to the nearest mall or movie theater, rather than placing things within walking distance with sidewalks a plenty.

So next time people bitch about teen pregnancy and drug rates, well, ask them what else suburban kids have to do?

DudelRok

There is an arcade in my local movie theater, but you have to buy a ticket to a movie to even be allowed inside... so very few people use that arcade area as little more than 1+ events to an evening out as a whole.

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NotoriusBEN

Oh yea! I remember that futurama episode. that was badass because I remember jumping up and whooping at 11pm at night and waking everyone up. It almost makes me think that one of the writers of the show was probably at my arcade, as improbable as that may seem.