Category: Arcades/Arcade Games

My Retro is Retro!

People occasionally ask me how long I’ve been into “retro” gaming and I never have a good answer for them because I’ve been playing a lot of these retro games since before they were retro. Here’s an interesting thing I ran across today that reminded me of that fact. I was interviewed for an article titled “Classic Video Games Make Comeback” by a reported from the Associated Press. The interview took place over the phone and a day or two after that, they sent a photographer out to the house to take pictures of me with some of my gaming… (read more)

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Visiting Friends and Barcades

Earlier this week my buddy Robb and his wife Mel flew in from Colorado to celebrate his birthday. The two flew into Arkansas, drove over to Oklahoma to visit me, and eventually returned to Arkansas to visit the Arkadia Retrocade in Fayetteville before returning home. While they were here we ate onion burgers, had Mexican food at Ted’s, and had breakfast at Hatch. We also did some shopping, sight-seeing, and even stopped by Bob Funk’s stable to check out the Clydesdales. I had a great time visiting with Robb and his wife, and I hope they had a good time… (read more)

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The Joys of Arcade Ownership

So the lobby leading to my movie room is done, and by “done” I mean it’s an empty 10×20 room with carpet, waiting for me to fill it. The outside door is slightly off center, leaving about 7′ of space to the left and 10′ to the right. To the left, I plan to put a couple of arcade machines, a small snack bar, and a monitor that streams cartoons, music videos, and movie trailers. The vibe I’m going for is “80’s skating rink,” more or less. On Sunday, Susan and I picked up one of my two remaining arcade… (read more)

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A Donkey’s Fall From Grace: The Billy Mitchell Controversy

Rob O'Hara at the Kong Off 3

In 2013, I traveled to Denver, Colorado to attend the Kong Off 3, an officially sanctioned national Donkey Kong tournament. That weekend I got to see some of the world’s greatest Donkey Kong players play live in person, people like Hank Chien, Steve Wiebe, and Robbie Lakeman. Of everyone there, the person I was most excited to see play was Billy Mitchell. At least in video game circles, Billy Mitchell became a household name after the release of the 2007 documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. The film follows two gamers, Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe, on… (read more)

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Revisiting the Arkadia Retrocade

While working on my end-of-2016 post earlier this week I realized I had not visited Arkadia Retrocade this year. This injustice will not stand, I said to myself. Wednesday morning, I hopped in my car and made the four-hour drive to Fayetteville, Arkansas. I’ve written and podcasted about the place before (and even sold them some of my arcade cabinets), but in case you missed it, Arkadia Retrocade is a retro-style arcade where customers pay a fee to enter, and all games are free to play. They aren’t the only arcade operating with this business model, but they’re the last… (read more)

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Did someone just play a perfect game of Donkey Kong?

Earlier this week, (geeky) news outlets reported that Wes Copeland has achieved a “perfect” game of Donkey Kong with a score of 1,218,000. While the truth of the matter is a bit more complicated than that, it is true that we are not likely to see a higher score on Donkey Kong any time soon. If you’re into classic arcade games, you probably know that Donkey Kong has what is known as a “kill screen” — a point where the game simply crashes. Several other classic 8-bit arcade games (including Pac-Man and Dig Dug) also have kill screens, typically the… (read more)

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FlashBack RetroPub Grand Opening

After visiting barcades all over the country, we finally have our own right here in Oklahoma City: the FlashBack RetroPub. Last Friday, Susan and I attended the pub’s official grand opening. That’s not my DeLorean, but it is my 8-bit tie… The FlashBack RetroPub is at 814 West Sheridan, several blocks away from Bricktown. There are a few trendy businesses and restaurants nearby, but it’s also less than a block from the City Rescue Mission and right down the street from the scariest McDonald’s I’ve ever set foot in. It will be interesting to see how this part of town… (read more)

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2015 Track and Field Arcade Championships

I like being involved in weird and unusual things. Sometimes I get involved in weird and unusual things by saying “sure” when I get invited to such things. Last week my friend Dean invited me to attend the inaugural Track and Field World Championships at a local private arcade. Dean told me a few well known competitors would be flying in from California for the event. He also told me that local video wizard Drew Stone would be documenting the tournament, and wanted to know if I would provide audio commentary for the proceedings and interview the competitors. I said… (read more)

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10 Games That Will Always Stay With Me

A friend of mine tagged me with the following challenge on Facebook: 10 games that will always stay with you. Rules: Don’t take more then a few minutes. Don’t think too hard. They don’t have to be great works of the gaming industry, just games that have affected you in a positive way. Then tag 10 friends including me so I can see your list. If you know me you know simply making a list isn’t enough, so I added some additional information and links to videos. Although many of these games appeared on many different platforms, I included the… (read more)

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New Project: Vintage Videogame Ads

Whenever I start a new project it’s not uncommon for me to dump all of my spare time into it and neglect my other projects, at least temporarily. Whenever my blog and podcast output wanes, you can bet I’ve been sidetracked. My latest project is a Facebook page called Vintage Videogame Ads. Even if you don’t have a Facebook account (who reading this does not have a Facebook account?) you can access the page here: www.facebook.com/VintageVideogameAds. Back in the 8-bit days of computing, advertisements in computer and videogame magazines were a great way to discover new games. Each time my… (read more)

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