giantkeeling
Active member
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Hello! My name is Tim, i'm 44, and i live in Lichfield, Staffs. I first discovered videogames in the mid seventies i guess. I loved to visit Arcades with my dad on trips to the seaside. He was a bit of a gambler and played the fruit machines while i played the penny falls and mechanical gun, crane, and racing games.
As Technology progressed, i started to get into videogames, such as Gunfight, Sea wolf, and Pong and Breakout type games. Then in 1978, Space Invaders truely began my obsession. Lichfield, where i lived and still live, has never had an arcade, but there were still plenty of arcade machines in the town when i was young. Kwik Save had Space Invaders. The chippy had Cosmic Guerilla and Moon Cresta. They had Invaders revenge in a cafe called Kims Kabin. The CB shop had Battlezone and Ladybug. The Bus Station Cafe had a Burgertime cocktail, and the taxi rank had Scramble. My main hang out though was an electrical shop called Adeys. There were about 12 games there. Over the years they had various games including Pacman, Pleides, Crazy Climber, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jnr, Lunar rescue, and Missile Command. A lot of kids skived off school to hang out at Adeys, and it was one of the only places in town that opened on a sunday afternoon (illeagally!). During the 80's, my mom an dad started to take me to Great Yarmouth for our annual holidays. I absolutely adored the place. There were huge Arcades all along the sea front, and i'd spend the whole week playing all the new machines, and attempting to get high scores. I looked forward to my week in Yarmouth all year long, it was wonderful, and i'd feel like crying when we had to leave. It was the only time i'd get to play my favourite games like Defender, Robotron and Star Wars, as we never had them where i live. In the late 80's, i got a job in a video shop. My bosses also owned a Guest House In Blackpool. In the bar of the guest house, they had a coctail videogame. One of my bosses asked me if i'd like to buy it for £30. I asked him what game it was, and he said he thought it was Space Invaders. I jumped at the chance, but when i finally got it, it turned out to be a pretty rubbish Galaxian clone called 'Defend the Terra Attack on the Red UFO'. I still loved the fact that i now owned my own arcade machine though. i kept it a few years and then sold it. Wish i hadn't now! I now own a bootleg cocktail Phoenix that i bought from a Chinese Takeaway in Burton. It still plays great and is in pretty good condition. It was still in use in the takeaway, they only sold it because they were getting a lot of people coming in just to play the game, and they were getting in the way of the customers who were ordering food! I would love to open a small Retro Arcade at the seaside one day, don't know if it will ever happen, but it's my dream. The top 5 games i would like to own are; Defender, Robotron, Space Invaders part 2, Donkey Kong, and a cockpit Star Wars.
As Technology progressed, i started to get into videogames, such as Gunfight, Sea wolf, and Pong and Breakout type games. Then in 1978, Space Invaders truely began my obsession. Lichfield, where i lived and still live, has never had an arcade, but there were still plenty of arcade machines in the town when i was young. Kwik Save had Space Invaders. The chippy had Cosmic Guerilla and Moon Cresta. They had Invaders revenge in a cafe called Kims Kabin. The CB shop had Battlezone and Ladybug. The Bus Station Cafe had a Burgertime cocktail, and the taxi rank had Scramble. My main hang out though was an electrical shop called Adeys. There were about 12 games there. Over the years they had various games including Pacman, Pleides, Crazy Climber, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jnr, Lunar rescue, and Missile Command. A lot of kids skived off school to hang out at Adeys, and it was one of the only places in town that opened on a sunday afternoon (illeagally!). During the 80's, my mom an dad started to take me to Great Yarmouth for our annual holidays. I absolutely adored the place. There were huge Arcades all along the sea front, and i'd spend the whole week playing all the new machines, and attempting to get high scores. I looked forward to my week in Yarmouth all year long, it was wonderful, and i'd feel like crying when we had to leave. It was the only time i'd get to play my favourite games like Defender, Robotron and Star Wars, as we never had them where i live. In the late 80's, i got a job in a video shop. My bosses also owned a Guest House In Blackpool. In the bar of the guest house, they had a coctail videogame. One of my bosses asked me if i'd like to buy it for £30. I asked him what game it was, and he said he thought it was Space Invaders. I jumped at the chance, but when i finally got it, it turned out to be a pretty rubbish Galaxian clone called 'Defend the Terra Attack on the Red UFO'. I still loved the fact that i now owned my own arcade machine though. i kept it a few years and then sold it. Wish i hadn't now! I now own a bootleg cocktail Phoenix that i bought from a Chinese Takeaway in Burton. It still plays great and is in pretty good condition. It was still in use in the takeaway, they only sold it because they were getting a lot of people coming in just to play the game, and they were getting in the way of the customers who were ordering food! I would love to open a small Retro Arcade at the seaside one day, don't know if it will ever happen, but it's my dream. The top 5 games i would like to own are; Defender, Robotron, Space Invaders part 2, Donkey Kong, and a cockpit Star Wars.
