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View Full Version : Heaven in his 80's Arcade, a really rad arcade collection!!!



Zeonic Freak
02-04-2008, 04:39 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/01/AR2008020103933.html

http://kotaku.com/351987/pretty-amazing-personal-arcade-collection#c4027584


Heaven in His '80s Arcade

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/story/image/slideshow_top.gif


Last time I wrote about Peter Hirschberg, a guy with a passion for restoring vintage, '80s-era arcade games, he was toying with the notion of building a full-blown arcade next to his Linden home to store his growing collection.
And here it is. Finally, after a couple of years, a pile of money, and a struggle or two with contractors and local building regulations, Luna City Arcade is complete.
Missile Command, Space Invaders, Defender, Asteroids, Q*bert -- all the old pizza parlor favorites are here, chirping away with the same old sounds and waiting for a quarter. Luna City, as he calls it, is Hirschberg's personal time capsule: The walls of the 60- by 40-foot building are lined with posters for "Star Wars," "Tron" and "Battlestar Galactica (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Battlestar+Galactica?tid=informline)" (the original series, not the recent remake). The collection is up to 65 games at the moment, and another three are on the way.
"This is what heaven looks like," said Hirschberg, as he welcomed a small group of my friends and me to his recent unofficial grand opening, where about 50 of his friends and co-workers, and their kids, showed up to play.
Collecting arcade machines isn't a huge hobbyist scene, as maintaining these big old systems can be labor intensive. Hirschberg, whose arcade is one of the biggest private collections in the country, sometimes has to cannibalize several different systems to get the right parts for additions. He's had the occasional machine burst into flames.



More on the story on the link...



One thing about that his collection isnt the arcades or the movie posters or the other spaz in his place that has got me interested, but the fact that he plays Foreigner and Journey (shoot, probably "Tom Sawyer" by Rush too) blaring though his speakers while your nerding it out 80's style.

Nothing says retro like classic bands such as those while trying to get the high score on your favorite machine, nothing beats that feeling!!

Yea, but i wonder if he will keep it in business once he gets the electric bill in;)!

Hes even got a personal site: http://www.peterhirschberg.com/

Discuss...

Michael24
02-04-2008, 04:53 PM
OMG, that is frikkin' awesome! But just my luck, it's in Virginia. Otherwise, I would so be down there every Friday and Saturday night. :D

mookie75
02-04-2008, 10:37 PM
Man, that makes me ache for the old days. I'm rather surprised that one photo can have such an emotional impact. :eek:

It reminds me of that golden age when whiny fanboy loudmouths on the internet didn't exist and you always went to the arcade for the best gameplay experiences.


As Futurama's Fry would say, "It's Saturday night. I have no date, a two-liter bottle of Shasta and my all-Rush mix tape. Let's rock!" :p

TnAdct1
02-05-2008, 01:38 PM
Would love to go to this place. The only thing stopping me: the arcade is NOT open to the public. :sad: