Take a short drive west of Colorado Springs into the foothills of
Pike’s Peak, and you’ll find yourself in Manitou Springs — a small,
Victorian-era mountain town known for its gorgeous scenery, quaint shops and
the naturally occurring mineral water from which it derives its name.
Many tourists have found their way to this little town to enjoy the
shops and restaurants of the historic downtown district. But a jaunt into one
of the side alleys will bring you to something unexpected: Tucked into a little
enclave between Manitou Avenue and Canon Avenue, an unassuming set of
storefronts offers rows upon rows of working vintage arcade games from decades past.
Classic games from the early 80s like Pac-Man, Galaga, Centipede. Pinball
machines from the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Mechanical baseball. Love testers. Even
those penny
arcade peep show machines from the 1930s and earlier. One of the
storefronts is closed to the public, but if you peer through the window you’ll
see a whole room full of games that are apparently being worked on and
restored. The whole area feels like you’ve found yourself in the lair of a
passionate collector who’s just nice enough to let you play with some of the toys,
to share in some of the enjoyment he (or she) gets from finding and restoring
these treasures.
It’s not a place that’s widely advertised; more like something you
stumble upon by happy accident. What’s remarkable is how many people do stumble
upon it, and once they’ve found it stay to play for hours on end. Beautiful
mountains all around, bubbling streams, lots of shops and galleries to look
through — but the tourists are hanging out at the arcade.
Granted, pinball machines have been around forever, but the advent of
computerized arcade games in the late 70s and early 80s took our collective
love for gaming to a whole new level and made a lasting impact on our culture.
Growing up in the heyday of this wave, the high point of our week as teenagers
was when we could go to the nearby arcade, or Chuck E. Cheese or some other
knockoff pizza joint — not to eat pizza, but to lose ourselves in the acres and
acres of video games. I was obsessed with Pac-Man, then with Ms. Pac-Man. Many
weeks’ worth of allowance money were spent on just those two games.
It seems like that era ended as quickly as it began. Once computers
and game consoles became household items, we no longer needed to go to Chuck E.
Cheese to get our fix. Nowadays, we play games with surround sound and
stunning, high-definition graphics that put those old cabinet-based games to
shame, often playing others from around the world in real time, all from the
comfort of the couch. And yet, there’s something about those glory days that
draws many of us back, and some of us for the first time. Perhaps that’s why a
little-known enclave is one of the busiest hotspots in Manitou Springs. Perhaps
that’s why these games, once nearly forgotten, are seeing a fresh surge of
popularity today. Here are three ways in which we are rediscovering our love of
the classic arcade game.
The New Arcade
An article published by the Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review explores the recent revival of gathering places that are
once again touting the arcade game experience. These aren’t the dark caves you
once haunted in the local mall, nor are they Chuck E. Cheese (though you can
still find those if you look). These new gathering places are retrofitted for
the tastes of grown-up Gen-Xers and up-and-coming Millennials, offering
designer coffees, various types of alcohol, or both, depending on the time of
day. “Because many gamers are of drinking age, the combination of beer and
games is a popular one,” the article explains.
Sometimes you’ll also find food, as well, though the menus are a bit
more evolved than cheap pizza. You’re liable to find anything from handcrafted
sandwiches to dishes with stuff we never heard of as kids — stuff like quinoa
and kale. In other words, these arcades aren’t for your children, who are of
course content to sit in their bedrooms and play Overwatch on their PS4s while
snacking on Hot Pockets. No, these are places for you.
Vintage Collections
Another way many of us are revisiting the glory days is by bringing
the arcade home. One extreme example is Matthew Russell of Alberta, Canada,
whom the St.
Albert Gazette reports has accumulated nearly 100 restored video games and
pinball machines in his basement. It’s not a cheap hobby; Matthew claims he’s
spent about $80,000 on it thus far. (Sounds like he could be related to
whomever owns the enclave in Manitou Springs.)
For most collectors, the obsession doesn’t extend that far, but it’s
increasingly common for people to accumulate at least a few vintage
arcade games in their rec rooms, basements and man-caves. Home builders are
even accommodating this trend as seen by the uptick in game rooms in new home
builds.
All-In-One Arcade Games
For gaming enthusiasts who have neither the time, space or budget to
collect and restore vintage games, another popular alternative is the
all-in-one game system — a single cabinet or cocktail table loaded with dozens
or even hundreds of classic games. Since video games are basically software, it
stands to reason that with enough hard-drive storage and the right set of
controllers, an entire arcade’s worth of games can now exist inside a single
cabinet where it used to require many rooms to contain them called All In One Arcade Games.
Jim Kimbrell, owner of Arcade
Maverick, has seen the effects of this growing trend firsthand with his own
customers. He attributes the popularity of retro games to a combination of
nostalgia and simplicity of gameplay.
“Playing the games allows users to engage in simple and direct
storylines,” says Jim. “Those who appreciate nostalgia are reminded of their
first exposure to these gaming systems, and those memories are shared with
their entire family.”
Ultimately, modern culture and even retro culture have their own ways
of infiltrating our lives. For us children of the 80s, playing retro games is a
way to recover our youth and remember. For the next generation, it’s more like
a novelty. It’s become chic to like retro games, the same way it’s chic to like
Sinatra or shoulder pads. Either way, the classic arcade game once thought
extinct now has a second wind.
My son is the guy who loves sitting in his room, playing the latest
PS4 release. For me…I’m the guy who wanders into an enclave in Manitou Springs,
finds Ms. Pac-Man and never leaves.
