1050 repair questions

Agreed, mate.

It's shite.

And thank you for no one mentioning today's football results.

I think I may have got away with it!

(From heroes to zeroes in a week, Man-U-fucking Shited on today's performance)

 

I wasn't going to bring up the football Andy, but seeing as you mentioned it....

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED??? YOUR BOYS TOOK ONE HELLUVA BEATING!!!!

 

Wouldn't swap my childhood days for kids now.
Great fun doing all the things you guys are talking about, staying out till it got dark and someones parents shouted for everyone to go home. Endless games in the streets. Feel sorry for children these days glued to the latest Tik Tok video or whatever. We were so lucky back then. And do you remember the summer of 1976? Blimey, talk about a heatwave

 

Yeah, 76 was red hot and down here we had swarms - literally millions of the little bleeders - of ladybirds and endless hot days, Al. Summat else. Great days back then and growing up next to the beach - at the end of our street - and the arcades just off the prom - made it a golden golden great childhood.

United want their arses kicking from Scumfield all the way back to the Stretford End and nothing less than a similar turnaround and performance against Real Betis on Thursday will get rid of the extreme bitter taste left in the mouths of Utd fans seeing the Scouse vermin rejoicing in our complete capitulation 2nd half. Diabolical and unacceptable, mate. Other than Sunderland losing 5-1 at home y'day too, it's been a great weekend

Going back to the games and the sheer joy of our our childhoods "larking" out til all hours and in and out of the amusement arcades as we played all ruddy day out and about on the streets, in the parks and on the beach - here we go with the 80s video games Top 50 - see if any of yours are in there - I've already spotted Time Pilot, Xevious and Robotron 2084 which are 3 of mine, in the Top 40...

Do it, lads, and beam yersens back to all our GLORY DAYS!

 

I couldn't believe the score as I sat watching it earlier, blimey.

Will need to take a look at that video and see how many of my favourite arcade titles are on it. No time like the present!

 

Here we go then:

Burgertime - first played it at a pool hall while on a caravan holiday. Probably my earliest proper coin-op experience so it had to be here.

Outrun - that cabinet, the music, the blonde in the passenger seat of a bright red Ferrari. Amazing atmosphere.

Star Wars - used to play the sit down cabinet every time I went to Portsmouth. It really was like being in the film. I'm going in!!

Pole Position - where my love of arcade racers started. The speech at the start "prepare to qualify" and the sound effects as I spun the steering wheel trying to stop hitting those damned trackside signs. I really felt like I was driving a formula one car

Galaga - okay, so I never played this much when I was younger, but it is my favourite arcade game now. Always head for it at shows like Play Expo. Pure shoot-em-up action as you take on wave after wave of swooping aliens trying to reach the top of the high score table. Gaming gold!

I'm visiting Arcade Club in Leeds at end of April and then later in September will be going to the latest venue in Blackpool so will catch up with all these classic games then. Highly recommend a visit to one of these dens of antique eniquity if you ever happen to be in the area.

So fellow Atariains, what arcade games in the video above made you go all wibbly and begging your parents for coinage in the 80's?

 

Brilliant memories recalled there, Paul.

I never came across Burgertime in the arcades but loved it as Mr Wimpy on the Oric, CBM64 and even the Speccy.

Star Wars and that trench run (use the Force, Luke) hit the exhaust port, sit-down jobbie with the amazingly good vector graphics and asterisks flying through the air, from tie fighters, trying to hit you (plus those gun turret towers) still brings back a heap of arcade memories for me too, mate. I was never very good at it but also loved the digitised speech which really did help to immerse you in the experience & made it feel just like the film indeed.

Never really got into Outrun at all but Pole Position - just as you say, mate, from the "Prepare to qualify" speech to the airship scrolling across the screen and the advertising hoardings and chequered edges of the race track just heaped realism upon realism with the gear changes and acceleration and the rush of adrenaline and excitement as you often did just qualify and enjoy extended time etc. Bloody brilliant job by Atari and the 8bit conversion wasn't half bad either.

Galaga (Zalaga on the Beeb!) has always enthralled me and that was the one, probably in the summer of 86-87 that had me and my mate Dar playing it every summer night long in our local arcades, feeding the 10p slot over and over and over again trying to impress the watching gals (one chick we both fancied was actually called Lynne Gallagher and we'd imagine that being great at Galaga would be a surefire way to impress Miss Gallagher... it wasn't weirdly enough...)

Finally for now, I never did see Popeye in the arcades but when I checked out the Atari 8bit version in the summer of 88 when I was seeing this lovely wee lass called Ali, I must admit me and her, when we could take our hands off each other, used to play this one every night on my 800XL:



Darn - where did our carefree yoof go, guys?!

 

Popeye now sounds like a sexual euphemism