Front Page of the Washington Post!

[VirusType2]

I've created threads talking about my oldest brother's arcade before, but he has made the front page of The Washington Post, and the front page of the technology section!


Article
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/21/AR2006062102058.html

Video
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2006/06/21/VI2006062101648.html

His website:
http://www.peterhirschberg.com/arcade/index.htm

Gallery of the games:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/technology/graphics/arcadegames.html

This gallery shows all 46 arcade video game consoles in Peter Hirschberg's basement. (Photos courtesy of Peter Hirschberg)

 

[Hazar]

lawl, pretty awesome D:

 

[VirusType2]

He just got Missile Command, I want to go over to his house and stop the ICBM's from N.Korea!

D=

 

[Kamikazie]

Take some pictures while you're there!

 

[VirusType2]

Take some pictures while you're there!

Like what, of me being there?

Here I am:
http://img418.imageshack.us/img418/8807/tommyvirustype21et.jpg

Now just imagine me there playing. =P

These are great pictures of the arcade.
http://www.peterhirschberg.com/arcade/gameroom.htm

 

[Shakermaker]

Here I am:
http://img418.imageshack.us/img418/8807/tommyvirustype21et.jpg

There's something on your lip

 

[VirusType2]

There's something on your lip

Yea, I uh.. didn't do a very good job shaving that day. =P


He also sent me scans of the newspaper, which are a little better, but for legal reasons I won't post them here.

 

[VictimOfScience]

Who cares if he's not going to open it to the public? If he cares about them so much he would share them with others and help spread the joy. No love for Mr. Hirschberg I'm afraid. :frown:

 

[destrukt]

so awesome.

Who cares if he's not going to open it to the public? If he cares about them so much he would share them with others and help spread the joy. No love for Mr. Hirschberg I'm afraid. :frown:

.. but you might have some little fat kid with greasy hands run in and grease everywhere; think of the arcade machines ! ;(

 

[clarky003]

Thats cool, I'd love to hang out in a place like that for a day.

 

[VirusType2]

LOL. My brother, although you couldn't tell from this brief glimpse into his life, is like the funniest guy in the world. He is ****in hilarious. I swear, hanging out with him is better than seeing a stand-up comic.

He has said that he wants to open a huge arcade with about 100 arcade games with a huge glass window so you can see only him in there playing them. He said he wants to have huge flashing lights outside "ARCADE!", but nobody is allowed in. He just might do it, just because that is how he is. He said he could just imagine people coming up to the door, but it's locked, and you can see him in there playing.

I don't really know the reason he feels that way, because I was laughing too hard about it to really know if he is serious or not, but I'm sure it's probably because he has to fix all of these games, and has spent lots of work restoring them, repairing all the years of abuse. He spent 6 years restoring one of his Tron Machines. These games are old, and there are so many, there is almost always one that needs to be repaired. Not only that, but he has 3 kids and a full time job, so he hardly has time to work on them except for on weekends.

 

[Gargantou]

Interesting...

 

[CptStern]

one part cool + two parts embarrassing = good read

:thumbs: your bother must have a patient wife

 

[VirusType2]

one part cool + two parts embarrassing = good read

:thumbs: your bother must have a patient wife

My family got together to watch fireworks for the 4th of July, and my brother (Pete) kept going on about how disappointed he was about the article. He said they had some critically acclaimed, award winning reporter or photographer there (or whatever) and was filming the entire time, but for some reason, didn't really show any good shots of the arcade, they just showed him talking and his kids playing. I think he expected it to be a lot more about the games, and a lot less about him. But it's cool. He got his 15 minutes of fame. :bounce:

 

[Parlez]

I love going over to his house and playing his games! I could be there all day then still not want to leave. To bad they did not show all of his games in that artical. I will have to take pictures next time I go over there.

 

[99.vikram]

Who cares if he's not going to open it to the public?

He's a collector, and those are ancient machines :|

He must be real passionate about this.
How much time time does it take to restore one of these machine?

 

[VictimOfScience]

He's a collector, and those are ancient machines :|

Yes, but I think planning to have a fully operational arcade with big windows and bright lights and a locked door is just kind of a jerked-off thing to do, especially since they used to be such great places for kids to go to hang out and stay out of trouble.

He must be real passionate about this.

You think? The money and elbow grease and time not spent with his loving family? I'd say he is pretty passionate...borderline obsessive! (Lucky devil! ).

How much time time does it take to restore one of these machine?

Well, if you read earlier in the thread, one of the machines took 6 years to restore! Talk about dedication!! I wonder which Tron game it was...

 

[CptStern]

My family got together to watch fireworks for the 4th of July, and my brother (Pete) kept going on about how disappointed he was about the article. He said they had some critically acclaimed, award winning reporter or photographer there (or whatever) and was filming the entire time, but for some reason, didn't really show any good shots of the arcade, they just showed him talking and his kids playing. I think he expected it to be a lot more about the games, and a lot less about him. But it's cool. He got his 15 minutes of fame. :bounce:

well to be honest the news article isnt "arcade games of yesterday restored to past glory" it's more like "geek/nerd gamer revels in videogame nostalgia" ..the public still thinks of gamers as geeks (the adult variety) ..it doesnt want details about the games, they want info on the obssessed videogame guy (no offense, I'm just trying to look at it from a non gamer POV) ...I almost never admit I like gaming to other adults ..some of them look at you strange

 

[Gargantou]

I almost never admit I like gaming to other adults ..some of them look at you strange

It's sad, I mean to me games are like interactive movies where I play the 'lead character'.. We should force the entire world to adapt gaming enlightenment as part of basic education so we won't have to stand for stuff like this in the future, seriously.:|

 

[VirusType2]

Well, if you read earlier in the thread, one of the machines took 6 years to restore! Talk about dedication!! I wonder which Tron game it was...

I think it was Discs of Tron. It took 6 years because it had been converted to a popular game called Choplifter, and needed so much work to restore it. He isn't satisfied with just getting the boards in place so that it plays Tron again. He repaired and replaced parts of the cabinet - everything. Especially for this game, which I think was one of his favorites. He also has the other Tron game.

He almost always has to get out his solder gun, tester, and spare parts to fix things. Transistors, Resistors, capacitors. He's an expert. He used to be employed as a computer repair technician, and then as an arcade repair technician. He can tell what broke by the way it smells, and so forth.

I will have to take pictures next time I go over there.

Yea, you and I both. I'll bring my video camera and show me kicking ass in Tempest or something. I think you should use your cell phone to capture video of Pac-Man playing - that way, it will look like you have a great emulation of Pac man on your phone!

He must be real passionate about this.

It's his hobby. For me, I like to mod video games like Doom3 in between sessions of just playing them. It's similar for him, he spends a few hours restoring a game he gets, then he and his family play his games for a little while.

How much time time does it take to restore one of these machine?

Well, it depends, some of the games he got required minimal work. Sometimes a good cleaning and adjusting.

Usually though, he buys them non-working or damaged. They require repair, but he goes way beyond that by replacing buttons, monitors, overlays, joysticks, cabinet trim, and often he needs to paint certain parts or even repair or replace parts of the wood cabinet.

He wants them to be as new looking as possible. He has spent quite a bit of money buying brand a brand new lighted Tron joystick, Dragon's Lair marquee - things like that. These items are not easy to come by, especially in new-ish condition, so these things can be pretty expensive. Luckily, there is a relatively small market for it, or the prices would be outrageous.

Yes, but I think planning to have a fully operational arcade with big windows and bright lights and a locked door is just kind of a jerked-off thing to do, especially since they used to be such great places for kids to go to hang out and stay out of trouble.

These things are like antique automobiles, and while I'm sure they can definitely handle abuse, as they are arcade games, he doesn't want them to be mistreated. Besides, he doesn't need the money, but at least his kids can play them.

At this point, they are in his basement, so it's not even possible (or legal I'm sure) to be public. I think that it's possible someone said something to him like, "nobody is going to pay to play these old games", or probably gets so many people asking him if he is going to make it a public arcade, that he probably got tired of it, and found it funny to say something different than, "sure one day I'll make it public". I think he gets a much bigger reaction by saying, "I'll make a gigantic public arcade just for myself and won't let anyone in" Don't you? I think it's freakin hilarious. Whether he does allow people in doesn't really matter until it's a reality anyway. But I don't think he could bear to see kids slamming the buttons, kicking the machines, and sticking gum to the side of them.

These games may look new-ish, but that is a testament to how much freaking work he put into them. Some of them are over 30 years old, and some of the parts can never be replaced, so it's understandable that he doesn't want them to see public use.

..the public still thinks of gamers as geeks (the adult variety) ..it doesn't want details about the games, they want info on the obsessed videogame guy (no offense, I'm just trying to look at it from a non gamer POV) ...I almost never admit I like gaming to other adults ..some of them look at you strange

I can't relate with non-gamers. I've been talking to people for an hour or more, and they say something like, "I never got into games - never played video games" Right there, I feel awkward. My stepfather doesn't like video games, and we have had a lot of trouble getting along, so I'm sure that has some bearing.

Video games have been hugely popular and growing since they hit the arcades in the late 70's, early 80's, so most of the people who are about 50? and under grew up with video games. I rarely meet anyone who doesn't like them, or has never enjoyed a game at least a few times in their lives.

I know you are a bit older Stern, but I've had friends who's parents (in their 50's) played Nintendo and stuff all the time. I guess it wasn't something they would bring up in conversation, or even a secret, sure. I can't really imagine someone in their 60's being a video game fan. It's sort of like that for everything though if you think about it. You wouldn't see a 60 year old being a huge import car tuner fan, or a huge ATV racing fan, because these things weren't around when they were growing up. People look to their past for comfort. Things they are familiar with I guess.

 

[Adidajs]

yeah, but even many adults my age(26) don't play vg's. I almost never mention to women that i play vg's, not unless they bring it up, and even then i'm vague. "oh, yeah i've heard of that." I tend to keep this hobby a secret.

 

[Dalamari]

Omg, you look just like Fragmaster from Something Awful

 

[Warbie]

Very cool collection

 

[smwScott]

That's a damn nice setup. It's cool that he has the means to support a hobby like that and a family that doesn't mind.

A collection like that is probably already worth more than he put into it.

 

[CptStern]

I can't relate with non-gamers. I've been talking to people for an hour or more, and they say something like, "I never got into games - never played video games" Right there, I feel awkward. My stepfather doesn't like video games, and we have had a lot of trouble getting along, so I'm sure that has some bearing.

I try not to hold it against them ..some people even though they've played games as kids cant get beyond the fact that on the surface games appear to be juvenile ..after all they're games

Video games have been hugely popular and growing since they hit the arcades in the late 70's, early 80's, so most of the people who are about 50? and under grew up with video games. I rarely meet anyone who doesn't like them, or has never enjoyed a game at least a few times in their lives.

ya but most in that generation remember frogger, pac man etc they dont think Half-life or Quake or Wolf3d ..to them gaming is still in it's infancy

I know you are a bit older Stern, but I've had friends who's parents (in their 50's) played Nintendo and stuff all the time. I guess it wasn't something they would bring up in conversation, or even a secret, sure. I can't really imagine someone in their 60's being a video game fan. It's sort of like that for everything though if you think about it. You wouldn't see a 60 year old being a huge import car tuner fan, or a huge ATV racing fan, because these things weren't around when they were growing up. People look to their past for comfort. Things they are familiar with I guess.

heh the oldest guy in a clan I belonged to a few years back was 63 ..pretty good player too (return to castle wolfenstein)

the community for Age of Conan probably averages about late 30's, it just depends on the game ..frankly I was surprised that the majority of games at hl2 were so young ..there's pockets of us here and there that are die hard gamers but for the most part people in their 30's see gaming as nostaligia ..that said, my democgraphic is by far the largest ..but that includes online games like poker etc ..but I'm sure it varies from game to game from genre to genre

 

[VirusType2]

..that said, my democgraphic is by far the largest ..but that includes online games like poker etc ..but I'm sure it varies from game to game from genre to genre

Yea, I'd like to play spades multi-player on 360 arcade. Wait a minute.. I've played that. It comes with Windows Xp doesn't it? Oh yea, i loved it, but nobody seemed to know how to play. I guess you have to get a rep, and get with the good players. Must be much easier with live service to find the right players. I LOVE SPADES.