Andy's - Arcade

LAST UPDATE 18.9.00
added : 2 empty hulks, 3 more burning cabs and 1 more hideous conversion

Yes, we've all seen and heard rumours of just what happens to arcade machines as time marches relentlessley on.. Well, over the years there has been loads of sites and stuff that show pictures of machines at rubbish tips, machines in barns rotting away, and machines on fire!  Well, you'll find all these here and more..

 Another crying shame is the amount of super-classic arcade games that have been converted to other, later, more crap games, and at that rate, not even done very well.. Its also strange to see why an operator would go to as much trouble as some of these obviously have to convert an old game to a more profitable game.

 Since 1997 I have been collecting nearly every picture of an arcade machine i come across, it all goes into a directory of mine for reference. I can spot a conversion, or a cabinet type, or a slight difference in a cabinet from a distance :) There's very few machines i have not seen :) Anyhow, that picture archive (some 3700 files, 290MB) might be up one day as the definitive machine gallery, but for now, here's the nastier side...

 I would like to thank the hundreds of anonymous eBay sellers, from which a lot of these pictures have come, also to the people who have found the dumps and the rest of it.. I have only been able to include one or two pictures of my own of cabinets that i have come across, the rest have come from the wonderful people of internet-land :)

Get the box of tissues ready, you will cry.

 LET THE FUN BEGIN..... (click on all pictures for the larger version)
 
 

GRAVEYARDS:

OK, anonymous photo montage this.. all i can remember was that this guy was told there were one or two machines at the local tip, he took his camera to find this appauling scene of desolation. Clearly visible are the following machines : Zaxxon, Galaga, Pole Position, Centipede cocktails, Spy Hunter.
OK, a big load of pix from the same site now.. the story goes.. Guy finds out a local operator has been storing surplus machines in a barn for years. He is invited along, finds the following, jukes/pinballs and vids..  #2 - A sega cocktail and a converted atari cocktail, some old EM pinball bodies too. #3 - Two AMI jukes and the back view of a festering video cabinet. #4 - Overview of outside pile #5 - Three EM pinball bodies #6 - The view into the shed, Rolling Stones EM pinball head in entrance, Nintendo Playchoice-10 visible, more EM pinball heads. #7 - A main view of interior of shed, Midway Seawolf 2, Warlords cocktail, several Nintendo cocktails, misc EM amusement machines. #8 - Outside the shed, yet more EM pinball bodies, and some Video stuff. #9 - Bashed up EM pinballs and videos #10 - Torch, a very rare EM pinball i believe #11 - One side of an Asteroids Deluxe leaning against another cocktail #12 - Atari Football, looking incredibly weathered. #13 - Overview of pasture #14 - Select-o-matic juke, apparently highly saught after #15 - Atari Destroyer, 1977, and half of an old driving game on its side in front.
Two old boys (who edited the photos slightly) find an operator with a stash of old machines. Unfortunately they have lived outside for some years, some real classics in here.. - Atari Centipede, Super Bug, Asteroids Deluxe - Williams Stargate and Defender - Stern Super Cobra - Midway pacman (several) - Donkey Kong - Phoenix
OK, here's a little home-grown graveyard (in the UK), i visited this place in late 1998, it was the winter home for all the fairground families, they had recently converted an arcade wagon into a funhouse, sold off the ones they could, then dumped the rest of the machines in a barn. Which had no front door. And was home to countless numbers of pigeons. Fortunately, no super-classics in here, but some nice-ish machines going completely to pot :) enjoy! #20 - Jamma's on the right, World cup '90! weyhey! #21 - A sit-at 28inch street fighter 2, WWF Wrestlefest electrocoin, the back of the generic 'Marpo' driving game (unknown) cockpit #22 - Space Harrier seat, sit-down super hang-on #23 - back of super hang-on sitdown, space harrier sit-down, another few jamma cabs in view #24 - View number 1 over the contents, can't see all that far back. #25 - Another overview of contents #26 - From the outside looking in, on the far right is an electrocoin nintendo Vs. Hogan's Alley.
Ok, so its not a graveyard, but sometimes, festering wooden hulks just wont be picked up free by somebody. These are XXX rated photos, the cabinets have been stripped compleltey naked. here's two that i don't think went anyplace anysoon. The first is a Pole Position believe it not, the second is a Battlezone Caberet that i left in my garden after nobody would take it away :)

DEATH BY FIRE:

Here we find a relatively uncommon Bally/Midway 'Baby Pacman' (videogame/pinball cross) biting the dust big style, along with the remains of a Midway 'Space Invaders' Oh bugger. shouldn't have left that cigarette burning on the control panel.
Here we find a Sega convert-a-game cabinet Star Trek forming charcoal. The story goes thus : the two guys in the picture worked at an arcade or something back in 1986, this star trek broke down aand they got given it, determined to fix it. after 6 months of not working, they decided to drive out to the forest and ceremoniously burn it, saying a few words for it first. How thoughtful :)
Obviously the Williams Robotron was not flavour of the month with the mad pyromaniac..
Here we find a Q*Bert going through what we now know to be the phenomena of spontaneous video game combustion. Sent in by Mike Saul
Proof that the Master Control Program can get you, anytime, anywhere :) Sent in by Mike Saul
Tempest, in its natural setting, see how its natural colours flare up to attract the female of the species. Sent in by Mike Saul

CONVERSIONS FROM HELL

Centipede / Tempest Caberet -> 1942
Sega Vector 'Convert-a-game' cabinet -> Atari Gravitar! How bizarre?!!?
Atari Gauntlet -> Space Ace!!!  What were they on?? This is more than likely the 1990 re-release kit of Space ace installed in an old Gauntlet.
Midway Super-Pacman -> Raiden!!
Fridge-door opening Laserdisc game (Galaxy Ranger?) - > Rygar
Gottlieb Q*Bert -> Arkanoid quite nicely done :)
Williams Sinistar -> Arkanoid
Midway Super-Pacman -> Ataxx
Atari Centipede -> Bootleg 1942 (B52 Bomber) lazy asses didn't even black out the control panel :)
Williams Duramold (probably Blaster) -> Atari Batman oh my god, why? why? why?
Atari Pole Position cockpit-> Batman My god, this has to be the weirdest one yet!
Midway Cocktail JAMMA-tised I really can't quite understand this one, they've hacked off the control panels from either end of the machine and bolted them to one side. Serves a purpose, but blimey, enough work or what!
Stern Scramble/Super cobra -> Galaxain Again, we ask why, a Stern cabinet converted, painted, then galaxian installed!
Sega Buck Rogers 'Planet of Zoom' -> Choplfter A really rare machine totally ruined :)
Midway Gunfight Cocktail (1975) -> Final Fight this was listed as being a Joust cocktail, a common misconception, this is Gunfight, see later pictures for a Joust cocktail :)
Atari Space Duel -> The Final Round *sob*
Universal Cosmic Alien -> Galaga weird, forced-in marquee, and the monitors pooped anyhow :)
Badlands (laser game) -> JAMMA Very oddball cabinet, super-duper rare laser game, but now jamma :)
Williams Joust -> Golden Axe
Stern Berzerk -> Ghosts n Goblins
Williams Star-Rider lasergame -> Hydra Wow, talk about difficult conversion.. and totally surreal.
Williams Robotron -> Two Crude Dudes
Midway Gunfight Cocktail (1975) -> Yie Ar Kung Fu Yes, the game was buggered too. And yes, the seller thought it was a joust cocktail.
Joust cocktail -> JAMMA NOW here's a JAMMA Joust cocktail, spot the differences?
3 Stooges -> MAME This TWAT thought that MAME would look better in this super-rare machine than the fully-working original insides.
Ms. Pacman -> CLEAR Ms. Pac Here's a nice one actually, in the old video game museum in the states, a demo model, made out of perspex, cool!
Dragon's Lair -> Choplifter wow, they managed to bugger up the curved marquee too.. shame.
Defender -> CABAL
Atari Crystal Castles -> Great Sluggers
Defender -> KLAX
Pacman -> Ms.Pac/Galaga I mean, come on, its a pacman, painted blue, ms.pac marquee installed, then a fucking galaga head plopped on top, the board was switchable or something. How more grose looking can you get?
Midway Root Beer TAPPER -> Pacland wow, i mean, they even plastered generic bally/midway sideart on!
Alca PLANET (bootleg asteroids) with a proper Asteroids marquee. This was being sold as an original asteroids machine. I mean, how thick can you get?
Atari Warlords -> Q*Bert wow, another weirdo one.. I don't think the seller even knew it was a Warlords under there, totally obliterated though.
Atari Quantum -> Arkanoid a super-duper rare machine which was retro-fitted and is now back to quantum, good on that man!
Track 'n' Field -> Escape From The Planet Of The Robot Monsters Hehe, you gotta laugh eh?
Nintendo Cocktail -> Street Fighter 2 wow, a 6 button cocktail? that's gotta be a first!
Generic Bally/Midway cabinet -> Sega Star Trek Vector classic botched into a cab, with a Next Generation film poster cut up to make a marquee :) hahaah
Atari Missile Command -> Tetris quite a bit of work in this one, notice the speakers mounted above marquee.
Stern Scramble/Super Cobra -> Tetris
Midway Pacman -> Trojan
Mario Bros./Donkey Kong -> WWF Superstars
Exidy Venture -> WWF Superstars Super-duper rare machine with a niiiice new wrestling game installed.
Computer Space -> Pacman Oh my gosh.. possibly the worst crime commmited, ever!
Tapper -> Thunder Jaws Take a classic cabinet and cover it in blue latex, that will look nice. (Added by AA 12/01)

Hope you enjoyed this page! E-mail me with comments, or SUBMIT your own photos! (email me to ask to send first, i only have a dial-up account and don't want to  be mailbombed :)