Phoenix Arcade Lawton Oklahoma

We're back

2011-08-26T12:34:00.000-07:00

So its been a while, to be honest I got tired of updates, "you know we got a new game yadda yadda..." figured id keep the rest of the new games in the collection somewhat a secret for a while.

Main news is last week the warehouse was relocated.

Troy, Terry and friends from 2084 arcade all worked hard relocating our stock pile.
it also gave Troy an oppertunity to clear out some dead wood. I was away in kansas chasing junk and flogging dead horses. The warehouse move was a great sucess and the kansas trip was shit.

Terry signed on the dotted line and finally looks like the wheels of progress are starting to turn.

I walked up and down the new warehouse isles looking at some of the games id forgotten we had, each machine telling a story of how its ended up in our collection. It seems paying for arcade games is the easy part, tracking them down, doing a deal and fixing them to where they can be enjoyed is the hard part.

When I look at how many hours have been put into this it blows my mind, but when i also look at how many games the arcade has collected since the fire 2 years ago it is an inspiration to all that goals and dreams can happen if you put your mind to it. of course the collecting will never stop, but we have an increddible collection to get the new place started. Seems everyone is buzzing to get the new building started now....
Lawton.. Game not Over...

Nut Toucher Week

2011-06-29T22:58:00.000-07:00

A few little updates at arcade central Lawton, Okla-fucking-homa!

new games in this update are: Segas Super hang on and a somewhat unusual Radical Radial.

For those heading over to the KLOV pile to investigate let me save you the hassle...

Troy also picked up a nice Williams Make Trax while on vacation. Where ever we are if theres games up for grabs we'll get em! This weekend our friends at 2084 arcade in Tulsa are having a 4th July party, looks like there will be alot of gaming and drinking going on!

until next time...

LAWTON GAME NOT OVER!

Bollocks!

2011-06-15T22:48:00.000-07:00

Yeah its been quite a while with no updates, doesnt mean we've been sitting on our arses doing nothing though. Theres a bunch of new machines, one of which is an original Nutting Computer Space. My PC took a shit and I havent had time to recover the files from the hard drive which include some phtos of this little gem, so in the mean time heres a picture of us at the last board meeting.

I'll try update with news and pictures soon, in the meantime...

LAWTON.. Game not Over!

Space Riders

2011-05-09T07:23:00.000-07:00

Troy's secret passion for pinballs continues and heres whats new!

Thanks to Drew Stone he aquired this really nice Atari Space Riders. After some little lovin This 33 year old game is up and running and ready to join the arcades pinball collection.

Announcing the new building

2011-05-06T10:55:00.001-07:00

As promised here is a sneak peak at blueprints of the new building.

Universal Ladybug

2011-05-04T08:34:00.000-07:00

This came in on the truck the other night, thanks to Shadtastic!

A personal favourite of mine, needs a little resortoration but is a nice example. Beautifull artwork, love it!

The other new game for this update is a dedicated Data East Kung fu Master! so until next time..

Lawton.. Game Not Over.

We're still here..

2011-04-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

It seems like forever ago I have updated the news on the arcade and the guys. Consumed by life and other crap, I think is the general reaction from all of us as to the lack of updates and progress around here. However just because theres a lack of updates doesn't mean theres a lack of news that's been going in arcade central. Troy, despite being up to his neck in it with a hetic work schedule has been working on a few new additions, including a second Defender and more recently a Stargate. Terry's been busy chasing up the surveys and details on his new building and while theres still a little way to go Ive been told construction could start in the next few weeks. I have a copy of the blueprints so with Terrys permission I will post a picture on here soon. be sure to come check it out.. this place is going to be awesome!! Myself, well, Ive been all over the state digging up games and parts, most recent new game is Atari Vindicators. Ive started on a Bobble Bubble project, which is currently at our friends at 2084 arcade in Tulsa. I know theres a lot more updates to add, the group is still very much active and i think when the construction starts everyones spirits will be raised and this thing is going to take off! Lawton.. GAME NOT OVER!

Dont give up.. ever...

2011-02-20T00:25:00.000-08:00

Arcade machines are everywhere... Just when you think you have exhausted the entire state of any remaining games that are not in your collection, an unexplored warehouse turns up just around the corner. I have continued to locate and add 1 new game every week to the arcade, some weeks I wouldn't get any, others id get 2-3 at a time. But my target continues...

New games acquired for the arcade in this update is an upright Sega Super Monoco GP and Taito's Operation Wolf. Sega Monoco GP features a unique magnified screen glass and paddle shifters on the wheel similar to that of a formula 1 car. Not the most collectable game, but unique in its own right as is any dedicated machine. The other new addition im quite proud of is Operation Wolf. I have seen 4-5 of these and theres always been somthing not quite right, mainly its cabinet damage, the machine has a huge footprint and from my experience its been pretty common to see these with chunks missing from trucking damage, also the colourfull side art is faded. My gut feeling only last week while picking up games in Shreveport was to pass on not one but 2 of these machines. I was thinking I could make us a nice one out of the 2, as long as the pcbs and gun worked ok.. that was a gamble I was going to have to take, fortunately I ran out of room before I loaded these two games, and so I left without them, a week later while digging through a local warehouse I found what I think is one of the nicest examples anyone could wish for. Myself and Terry had a good history of playing operation Wolf but Troy hadn't seen one before.. and so I'm pleased to say it got 2 thumbs up from him when he played it after I delivered it to the warehouse. Hopefully we'll have some new updates on the building work here soon, in the mean time we'll be on the road next weekend in Texas, until then...

LAWTON! GAME NOT OVER!

You just never know...

2011-01-26T20:46:00.000-08:00

where these things are going to turn up next, a local chap had been telling me of a nice Carnival game he owned and wanted to trade out for a different game, so after some negotiations we acquired a rather nice Sega Carnival.
Also this week we got an Atari APB for the depths of a local operators warehouse. This weekend I'll try get back on the road again to see what treasures I can find. Watch this space...until then...

LAWTON GAME NOT OVER!

Whats going on?

2011-01-10T08:11:00.000-08:00

We're still here, just got consumed with the Christmas holidays and life outside of arcade stuff for a while. Terry is busy preparing plans and obtaining city permits, Troys been working on his day job and visiting folks and family out of state, Ive been tied up with my family for the holidays and recently on a trip to look at a warehouse my fuel pump packed up on my truck leaving me with little choice other than to get towed off the highway and return home for another trip later. The owner was understanding and we still have the deal set up to buy another 170+ games if we want them. Following my surgery last week Ive been told to rest and not move anything over 10lbs for at least 68 weeks. I will know more when i have my follow up visit. So looks like December/January wont see much action for a while, but if your reading this and you have some old games for sale working or not please don't hesitate to give us a call. Best wishes for the New Year everyone, I hope yours starts out a little better than mine! 2011 the year of the arcade for sure! Lawton.. Game not over!

Buck Rogers

2010-12-12T23:06:00.000-08:00

This weekend I picked up a Sega Buck Rogers. After 4 months of trying to contact the owner i finally managed to get an address and wasted no time in picking up another local classic.
20 years ago I somewhat remember this game as being cool to look at but shit to play and so I rightly reminded myself of the repetitive gameplay. Great looking cabinet, crap playing game.
Not my cup of tea, but still a game we didnt have thats got itself a new home for the 25th Century!

MOCAP TURKEY

2010-11-28T21:07:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving proved just how out of shape everyone was when we acquired a Konami MoCap Boxing. I'm not sure what is more hard work, moving and setting up this game or trying to play it. The game features Konamis MOtion CAPture technology, and players just swing punches and duck and dodge their opponents. I know this is another new game for the arcade, however since there hasn't been a really good boxing game since Nintendo's Punchout I think this is an instant classic in its own right. Its all ready gotten everyones approval, now to start burning off those turkey calories.

Rampage

2010-11-19T23:46:00.000-08:00

Its Friday already? Lots of arcade stuff going on this week, much more to report on later but until then this weeks new game added to the line up is Midways Rampage..

The return of the wow!

2010-10-29T18:21:00.000-07:00

This week announcement of our new arrival is yet another one of the classics we lost in the fire. Midways Wizard of War, makes a much needed return to our collection, just add a case of beer to this game and theres sure to me many hours played on it by Terry and Troy, not one of my personal favourites, perhaps i'll try get into it a little bit more second time around, but for now cross it off the list and move along. This weekend im on the road, wanna see what I'm picking up? be at the warehouse sunday night or come back here next week with some more updates!

Baby Pacman

2010-10-23T19:27:00.000-07:00

Back in the 1980's, someone decided to merge video games and pinball. The idea might of worked if Bally had put more thought and in my opinion, effort into making Baby Pacman actually retain the theme and feel of the original Namco Pacman. Imagine playing Pac-Man without any power pellets and ghosts that have no pattern and move faster than you? The end result is crappy looking graphics, poor gameplay but a cute pinball. In fact once youve played this a few time you realise its more "pinball" than video. Anyways, we got ourselves one, Troy did a little bit of magic and its a working playable game. Another classic lined up in the warehouse awaits its new home and makeover. Which incidentally leads me onto announcing that everything is approved and finalised at last. Terry has a green light, so we should see some movement on the ground here soon. Anyone interested in seeing the blueprints or would you rather wait and be amazed at the end result?

Pacman games we dont have... But want... Pacman Jr. Professor Pacman and Pacland. Anyone out there got any of these for sale?

Its Friday..

2010-10-18T07:51:00.000-07:00

Its Friday as promised time for an update for a new game..
We'll actually its Monday but I was too busy, this weeks new arrivial is a Spy Hunter cockpit.

We allready have 4 standups which are in various states of working to semi working to non working. Since we all favour the cockpit more than the uprights we're going to overhaul this one and say bye bye to the uprights, so if anyone has any interest in Spy Hunters or needs parts drop me a line.

Once a Week!

2010-10-08T09:37:00.000-07:00

So I decided to try and make it our new mission to have at least one new game a week added to the collection. If we can do this, that'll be another 12 games added to the collection before Christmas. I'll update the blog every Friday with something new. This week, we shipped in a Konami Circus Charlie.

No News is Good news?

2010-09-28T21:35:00.001-07:00

You bet it is.. actually theres a whole load of GREAT news going on at Arcade Central Oklahoma... Terry got Permits, Troy got busy and I got back from my vacation. So check back here in the next couple of days for some building updates and news of lots of newly acquired games.

Bezerk for a Bezerk...

2010-09-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

Troy has had this fetish for a Bezerk for quite some time. It was a game we never had in the original arcade. This week I got a text message from Troy telling me to check my email, usually this means 1 of 2 things. We got a new game or he's found more amusing pictures of fat chicks to send me. Im happy to say it was a new game, and even happier its an original 81 Stern Bezerk.

Another classic machine we can cross off the list.

Who Why When What?

2010-09-01T22:03:00.000-07:00

Everything you wanted to know or were afraid to ask...

Q. Are you opening a museum? What is the history behind your arcade?
A. Theres no museum, we just regular guys who all enjoy the golden age of video games. We have a lot of respect for Fun Spot and Peters Lunar City, we're just out to make a nice private game room for the enjoyment of our friends and family.

Q. Do you Sell Games?
A. We are not a commercial business, however from time to time we do sell or trade games that we have duplicates of. Usually to other local collectors.

Q. Why the name Phoenix Arcade?
A. After the fire the first game we acquired was a Centuri Phoenix. When the decision was made to rebuild and start over we only had this one game. Someone jokingly said " what you gonna call the new place? Phoenix arcade? " with this comment and the fact that the Phoenix can rise from the ashes the name seemed well suited.

Q. How big is the new place going to be?
A. At the present time no announcements on the new building are being released. Terry is working with city officials on plans and we'll update the blog accordingly.

Q. How can I be involved?
A. Right now we are in the process of trying to locate and purchase as many machines as we can. At this stage we're asking for anyone who's selling machines to contact us before they go on ebay or otherwise. Chances are if its a game we dont have we'll buy it.

Q. What happened to your old place?
A. if you look at our early posts theres video and photos that explain the history.

As the collection increases so does our network of friends and help. Many people have come to work on games for their own personal satisfaction and knowing that they will always be welcome to hang out on game days and openings. Anyone who visited the old arcade will know the feeling of community and respect from all. That's what Troy and Terry originally set out to do. The machines are here to be enjoyed.

Quick Qix..

2010-08-22T21:11:00.000-07:00

This week we all had a good old rummage around in one of the worst warehouses Ive ever had the misfortune of going to. The roof had fallen in and sadly a lot of machines were left to rot, there was little we could save. Terry fell through the rotten floor and Troy stood in dogshit. Big Rob and Brad joined us and we all loaded up on parts and bits & pieces. One of the machines we were able to save was an original Taito Qix. We found it a new home and today Troy gave it some loving and we now have nice working Qix in the collection.

Another game I spotted was a Ring King. Normally we go for 100% original dedicated cabinets, however there are some games that were only sold as kits. Since this machine had its original Control Panel Overlay, Side Art, and marquee we decided it needed to come home with us. I'm now trying to think of all the conversion kit games we may of forgotten....

New Arrival...

2010-08-15T21:26:00.000-07:00

The entire crew was out and about this weekend. Derry made his debut appearance in Texas and brought home an Atari Gauntlet.

The legendary 4 player icon from 1985 features aside from the ability to have up to four players at once, featured a custom speech chip. The narrator would frequently make statements repeating the game's rules, including: "Shots do not hurt other players," "Remember, don't shoot food!" and "Warrior needs food — badly!" Another classic Atari game finds a new home in whats going to be the greatest arcade in Oklahoma.

Lawton.. Game not over!

BattleZone

2010-08-10T07:02:00.001-07:00

Another week another new game..

This weeks addition to the arcade is Atari's BattleZone. One of the original Games lost in the fire, I'm glad to see this Atari classic being replaced. All I have to do now is find a Red Baron!

Keep Calm and Carry on!

2010-08-04T21:59:00.000-07:00

Never made it to Lawton today, after speaking to Troy and Terry it was decided that everyone was either too busy or just not in the mood to sit in the heat and dwell on the past.

In that turnaround of events we acquired a new game today. For those who requested we reveal updates, I'm proud to announce Six Gun Shootout. This is an upgraded version of the vintage Laser disc classics like Mad Dog McCree and The Last Bounty Hunter. This was a real good find for the arcade as its rarity makes it an instant classic. Have you ever seen one before? Many Thanks to Kenny for the sale, this is definitely a keeper!

Next week the whole team is out on the road hitting Texas and hopefully coming back with some hard to find classic games for the collection. If your in Texas and have games for sale please let us know.

The following week my good old friend and arcade junkie Andy Welburn comes to visit. We'll be putting Andys knowledge to the test in the warehouse. Stay tuned to see what gets fixed, what gets broken and anything else in between! until then..

LAWTON.. GAME NOT OVER!

NEVER FORGET....

2010-08-04T07:25:00.000-07:00

1 year ago..

2010-07-28T12:15:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder to let everyone know the guys will be meeting up at the old site on the 4th at 4pm onwards. Several new additions to the arcade this week, would you guys prefer we keep the list of games underwraps or make announcements as and when we get somthing new?

Latest News

2010-07-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

The weather has been incredibly hot. Too hot to work on games, So really not much to report on right now. I would however like to remind everyone that August the 4th is the anniversary of the fire. Troy and Terry are having a get together at the site of Terry's old place at 4pm onwards. I know everyone is welcome to stop by and have a cold one.

Rumour has it the guys at Runway printing might be doing some Limited Edition
"Lawton Game not Over" anniversary T-shirts...

Whats New?

2010-05-31T19:31:00.000-07:00

Its been a while, but I'm glad to say we have alot of updates of new arrivals and news going on in Arcade Central Oklahoma. First of all Terry is making progress with plans and has taken care of pretty much everything he needs to do and told me to expect construction to start in a few weeks, and that the games should have a place to call home by the end of the year. Ive seen the floor plans and its looking pretty impressive.its going to be exciting to be able to start moving machines in and getting them ready for the game room at last.

Theres been several new games since the last update. We now have 2 Linked Off Road Thunders, Sega Star Wars Triology, 2 linked Midway Cart Fury's, Carnival King and an Atari Road Burners. These games are somewhat later games than what we usually go out looking for, but while the game prices are down it seems that we just cannot turn down a good deal on tomorrows classics. I guess you could say we're investing in the future....

Pinball Hall of Fame Robbed

2010-04-27T18:09:00.001-07:00

Last week, a bunch of crack heads broke into the Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas and tore up a bunch of classic pinball machines in order to (get ready) steal the copper out of them. Like the Phoenix Arcade, the Pinball Hall of Fame is privately owned and non-profit, which means it will take a long time (if ever) to repair and/or replace the damaged machines.

Back in 2007 while attending the Classic Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, a few friends of mine and I hopped over to the Pinball Hall of Fame to check out the collection. I don't consider myself to be a die hard pinball fanatic so I don't know a bunch of the more obscure tables, but that place had every single machine I could remember playing from my youth. I mean, every single one. I racked my brain trying to remember every table I could from the arcades, bowling alleys and skating rinks of my youth, and that place had them all. They even had a few I hadn't heard of before, like Q*Bert's Quest (which has four flippers arranged like an "X"). Along with the more modern solid state games, the PHoF also has a large collection of electro-mechanical machines as well. They also have (had?) a decent collection of arcade machines tucked away in the back of the building. I remember squeezing out of a few games of Tron, Mario Bros., and Crazy Climber that same night.

I feel depressed, just like the day I heard about the Lawton accident. Hopefully, the Phoenix Arcade can be an inspiration for the guys out in Vegas and they too can recover.

Plastic Fantastic

2010-04-20T20:40:00.001-07:00

I think the Duramold was one of the most futuristic cabinets ever made, certainly one of the rarest with very few being sold to operators, I certainly never saw one in person up until now.

Excerptsfrom a web posting somewhere else:-

The Williams DuraMold games came in a round cabinet made completely out of thick (almost indestructible) plastic. This was an experiment in making an indestructible arcade cabinet that would last forever. They succeeded as far as that goes, it is almost impossible to damage a DuraMold cabinet. But they had an unforeseen problem that proved to be fatal.
The problem with the DuraMold is that they shrank ever so slightly (over time). This shrinking (in some cases), could cause the monitor to violently eject from the machine as if shot from a gun. Luckily, no one was ever killed by a williams duramold game, But it only takes a couple of flying monitors to give a cabinet a bad name, and soon Williams was unable to sell any of them (even after they fixed the problem). I personally disagree and think the production costs were so high that uninterested operators refused to pay double for a plastic cabinet. After back then the best arcade games only had at the time a 3 year life expectancy.
There were only three games released in this cabinet (Williams had originally planned to replace their entire line of games with these DuraMolds), they were, Bubbles, Sinistar and Blaster.

Today the DuraMold cabinet is highly collectible, because of its good looks, durability, and the quality of the games that came in them, and of course the fact that no-one else has got one.

Here is part of an original letter Williams sent out to its customers about the Duramold machines:-

Dear Operator:
You have just obtained a Bubbles Video Game with an experimental molded plastic cabinet. We at Williams electronics need your help to monitor player reaction and identify any problems that may occur with this game over the next few weeks.
While the experimental production run was limited to a small percentage of Bubbles games, we anticipate that this innovative cabinet design will result in increased player appeal and prove to be more durable in a location environment.
Feedback from you, pro or con, will hep us decide if we should use this cabinet on a future game. Please do not hesistate to call us toll free at 800-621-1253 (In Illinois 800-572-1324) If you have any suggestions, praise, or other comments.

Since the blogs been a little low on updates over the past few weeks, I figured it would be a good time to announce our latest edition to the arcade. I never thought we would come across one of these as they are all in the hands of other collectors who refuse to part with them. But im pleased to announce we have acquired a perfect working example of a Williams Duramold Bubbles.

This is one of the top 10 rarest games I was looking for that I'm now proud to tick off our list.

This weekend we got together and worked on some games in the warehouse. New to the Phoenix scene was our friend "Slider", who took up the challenge to fix the stuff we couldnt. Pleased to say he didn't waste anytime getting stuck into things, Several machines were fixed and tweaked, including the Williams Defender Cocktail table Troy acquired. Slider took care of our Midway Winner. Winner is a 1973 Black and White game that has a lot of relays and solid state parts. This game is a Pong clone that was the first arcade game manufactured by Midway. The day ended too fast but it was one of those times when everyones cool and stuff gets done. We hope Slider will return and work his magic on some more of our black and white antiques.

Centuri Completed?

2010-04-20T20:30:00.000-07:00

With the arrival of a very nice Pleiads the other week we now have all 4 of the Centuri dedicated machines we wanted. Phoenix, Pleiads, Vanguard and Time Pilot. Centuri made a couple more machines The Pit and Eagle, but there really arnt up there on our "Must Have" list, so I think we're pretty much completed on the Centuri games for a while. The weather changed and Troy and Terry were back on the road hauling more games. We'll update the new arrivals as soon as I can get over to the warehouse and takes pictures.

Its Raining again..

2010-04-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

I was going to haul 2 more new games to the warehouse today but the weather isnt on our side.
Hopefully get them in their new home sometime this weekend and i'll update the blog with photos of the new arrivals.

GAME NOT OVER

2010-04-11T20:38:00.000-07:00

"Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you."

There hasn't been any updates for a while, I'm sorry but no news is good news right? Everyone's been kinda busy doing their own thing, Work, Family, Life and keeping away from the crap, wet, Oklahoma weather, but the sun is out and it looks like Spring is finally here, time for cold beers and getting back on track working in the warehouse preparing the games up to the standard required for their new home. Sometimes I have to stop and remind myself on how far the entire project has come in the last eight months. It only seems like yesterday we were faced with a sad story of a friends home and entire life destroyed in hours.. a collection of arcade machines we thought couldn't be replaced.

I remember telling Terry you build the building, I'll find the games, and so once more I find myself trawling the Internet in the small hours looking for what we need, what we have to sell, trade with, beg, steal or borrow. I'm not exactly sure how many games we have at the present time, in fact I don't want to know, I think we have more than we originally had, which is inspiring, but no excuse to stop. On my list are some of the most hardest to find games, many in the hands of other collectors, but given time I'll make it happen. So to everyone that supports the arcade, thanks for your patience... Watch this space...

It has begun!!!!!!

2010-03-27T12:04:00.003-07:00

"Let The Madness Begin"

The first semi showed up Friday afternoon....

The next will be here Sunday....

More pics to come soon.....

Whacked Whacko

2010-03-17T20:37:00.000-07:00

It never surprises me anymore just when games will turn up. This Wacko was just 2 blocks away from me . Sadly its seen better days, the glass bezel is now in the bottom of the cabinet and looks like the neck was broken off the monitor.

The cabinet is in excellent condition, my first reaction was that it had been dropped, but there is no signs damage to the cabinet at all. The control panel is in near perfect condition and the side art is nice. Theres no boardset, perhaps this was removed a long time before the glass was broken ? The seller "found it" in as is condition so I guess we'll never know the history of how it got to be in such bad shape. However with some love and some parts locating im sure this will be saved and returned to its former glory.

What makes this game unique is that t features an angled, or "sloped" cabinet design and a combination of trackball and joystick controls.

WANTED TO BUY...

2010-03-17T16:20:00.000-07:00

We're always looking for more games to add to the collection. The good, the bad and the Ugly. working or not, nothing is ever turned away. if you have coin operated video games, parts or anything of interest please contact us. We'll buy working machines from your collection, or if you have a game sitting around you don't play anymore then why not donate it? and in return get yourself a golden ticket into what is already the biggest private collection of vintage arcade machines in the state and will be the biggest private game room in the world.
To help achieve this we need your games before they are commited to craiglist or ebay. We are a non profit group, who are doing this for the nostalgic preservation of the golden era of arcade video games.

Centi...what?

2010-03-16T08:03:00.000-07:00

Last weekend while hanging out with Troy at the warehouse, I mentioned to him that my Centipede cabinet had some sort of odd graphics glitch going on. Troy said he thought he had a spare PCB that I could borrow and swap chips around until I found the faulty chip. I took the board home with me and, the following morning, started swapping around chips until the problem I had went away. But ... what is this?

Not only did all the mushrooms change shape, but all the Centipedes turned into birds! Even the spider that comes out and attacks you had been replaced by a giant bird!

Even though the attract screen says "Copyright Atari", this is obviously a bootleg. A little digging turned up its real name: "Centipede Dux", made by Two-Bits Score.
You never know what oddities the warehouse will produce ...

Latest News..

2010-03-13T21:49:00.000-08:00

Its been a while since Ive had chance to report on the latest news, but we've been working hard restoring lots of games, Troy brought a huge amount of Cap kits for monitors and lots of repair components. New games for the arcade this month include Data East Robocop and 2 Atari classics, Indiana Jones and Return of the Jedi.

The Oklahoma Electronic Game Expo

2010-02-22T19:14:00.000-08:00

Dean and Troy will be at the The Oklahoma Electronic Game Expo. We'll be taking some classic machines both for your enjoyment and for sale, hopefully raising some funds to replace some of the original games lost in the fire. The 2010 event will be Saturday, April 10 on the Oklahoma City Community College campus. This event is free and open to the public, so bring your friends and come check it out!For more information about OEGE check out oege.gamesok.org

Come see us, Support the OEGE and take home some vintage arcade fun!

More of the same..

2010-01-25T16:12:00.000-08:00

The guys were busy this weekend looking at warehouses. We did pick up a few pieces from local collectors in the meantime. Q-Bert, a second Burger Time, 2 x Zaxxon, and a nice Ms Pacman.
Keep checking back for more news and updates on the forthcoming warehouse buy outs.
Dont forget if you have games you want to sell or trade just give us a shout, if its somthing we need we'll do whatever it takes to get you the deal you want so we can have that game in the collection

First New Game of 2010

2010-01-15T20:18:00.000-08:00

The cold weather has put a slow start on the new year. The sprinkler System in the warehouse decided to turn itself on last week after a frozen pipe cracked. Thankfully None of the games were in the area of the broken pipe. The first new addition is a replacement for one of the original machines lost in the fire and I'm happy to say also one of Terry's personal favourites. Atari's Asteroids Deluxe. Another classic I can tick off the wanted list.

December Update

2009-12-27T19:25:00.000-08:00

Lost of stuff going on, Oklahoma was hit by a snow blizzard so getting around has pretty much come to a standstill. I'm busy with family, as are Troy and Terry.
We have few things going on, Biggest news is that Terry has secured a new building, more on this later. In the meantime Happy New Year and We'll be back after the new year with more updates, more games and news. 2010 is the year of the Phoenix! WATCH THIS SPACE!

2009-12-25T18:05:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from Phoenix Arcade!!!

Beyond Repair

2009-12-23T11:55:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I find games that need a little bit too much work. Sadly this pacman is one of those.

Ghosts and Goblins

2009-12-21T19:19:00.000-08:00

Picked up a Capcom Ghost and Goblins this week.
Also another Sinistar upright turned up. Our Friend Rob who has helped us out really wanted one of these for his personal collection, so since we allready have 2 there wasnt much point in keeping it. So now its got a new home. Hope you enjoy your game Rob, thanks for your support over the past few months.

Silver Anniversary

2009-12-19T12:47:00.001-08:00

Alot of things have been going on lately..Dean went on walkabout this weekend and scored some very nice machines...
Space Invaders / Qix 25th Anniversary
Joust
Skull and Crossbones
Sinistar
Sunset Riders (dedicated 4 player)
Sega Rally

Very nice haul!!!As for myself work has kept me very busy..

Open Warehouse Day Sunday 22nd Novemeber

2009-11-23T09:12:00.000-08:00

Left to Right: Mike, Kirk, Brad, Rob, Troy, Dean, Justin and uncle Mike.

You never know where you will find stuff!!!!!

2009-11-08T18:08:00.001-08:00

This afternoon I got a phone call from a guy that said he had a couple of games for sale..we talked for a bit and he gave me directions on how to get there...after a 30 minute drive Terry and I pulled up to a farm house..Out came this farmer dressed up in his coveralls and introduced himself as he was taking a dip of snuff..he told us the games were in the semi trailer on the back of his property and what a surprise we were in for...there sat in this trailer the nicest Joust I have ever seen,a decent Popeye, and a pretty good Track & Field..after a little hard nose haggling we came to an agreement and off we went..It is funny how things end up in the places you find them..who would have ever thought that a semi trailer in the country, 30 miles from anywhere, would house these treasures...when we got back to the warehouse we drilled the locks on the Joust and SURPRISE.. four porno tapes and a picture were stored in the coin drawer...you never know what you will find.

New Games

2009-11-08T10:35:00.000-08:00

Through a bulk buy Phoenix Arcade has accquired some new titles..

Cruis'n USA
Hydro Thunder
Centipede Upright
Donkey Kong
Combattribes (in Konami Track & Field Cabinet)
VS Pinball
Ms Pacman
Taito Space Invaders Cocktail
NSM Performer Wall Mount CD Jukebox
After about 1 1/2 hours work the Cruis'n USA is ready for play...

More to come very soon.............

Tokens 2.0

2009-11-08T10:22:00.000-08:00

After battling with the blog system, multiple photo sharing sites, and my own web server, I have come to the conclusion that it was, in fact, a corrupt file causing all the problems. So, I present to you version two of the Phoenix Arcade token design.

Whats New?

2009-11-07T19:47:00.000-08:00

The 3 of us have been a bit quiet the past couple of weeks, we've been doing our own thing taking a bit of a break from the games to refresh ourselves with the outside world.
Ive been negotiating another warehouse deal and Troy recently purchased some new machines from a local operator that I'm sure he will be posting more info about here soon. So check back to find out whats new! Next open day may be the weekend of the 14th so if your looking for arcade machines, restored games or projects, parts, or want to trade your old game drop us a line and come and hang out.

New Addition

2009-10-29T20:38:00.001-07:00

Today there was a new addition to Phoenix Arcade:

Namco's Motocross Go

Insert Tokens To Continue

2009-10-26T22:17:00.000-07:00

Having participated in a token design contest, my mind was on tokens when I was checking on the latest updates of the Phoenix Arcade. Naturally, I was inspired to start designing again.

Around that same time, there had been some discussions about utilizing tokens for all of the machines due to the sheer number involved. What an amazing coincidence! I am pleased to introduce the designs for the Phoenix Arcade tokens.

Updates

2009-10-25T09:21:00.000-07:00

Since the last post 2 new machines have been brought, Tron and Tempest. Both these games were in the original collection so thats another couple to tick off the list.
I believe we are close to hitting the 100+ count for games. Right now we have a couple of duplicated games so its time to sell some machines we don't need. These games are in good working condition ready to go. email me: lawtonarcade@hotmail.com is theres anything of interest to you:-

Gyrus
Phoenix
Track and Field
Indy Heat
Time Pilot
Donkey Kong Jr
Laser Ghost
Burgertime
Defender

Project games:
Outrun
Sega Boarderline
Exidy Combat
Exidy Catch 22
Ms Pacman
also some various Empty cabinets.

All in a Days Work..

2009-10-19T10:03:00.000-07:00

Myself, Terry, Troy and Uncle Mike spent the day at the warehouse.
Games that got restored this weekend:
Time Pilot
Tempest
TMNT
Toobin
Donkey Kong
Dig Dug
Big Buck Hunter
Progress with projects:
Sinistar
Tron
Spy Hunter
Hot Rod
Out Run
Hang On

Thanks to Troy C. For the beverage service.

Rolling Rolling Rolling...

2009-10-14T10:19:00.001-07:00

So we filled up another 26ft truck and had to unload at the warehouse last night. The amount of games we have acquired in the past 3 months is getting hard to believe. I'm burned out on buying anything else now for at least a month. We have quite a lot of projects. I'm not sure exactly how many games we have as some are donors and some are duplicated and some are just the dogs bollocks! This Saturday is arcade day which will mean lots of games getting fixed so check back Sunday for some updates on the new stuff. meanwhile here's Terry doing it off road style..thanks to Troys handy work

A week off...kinda..

2009-10-11T21:17:00.000-07:00

Nothing much to report on, seems everyone took a bit of break this week. Or at least everyone did their own thing.Troy diagnosed a bad hard drive on the Off Road Thunder, Terry has been working on sanding and prepping Galaga cabinets and I'm getting ready to do another warehouse pickup next week. Lots of new games around the corner. Drew designed some cool Phoenix arcade game tokens.

Quartet

2009-10-07T08:45:00.000-07:00

One of the other new games we acquired recently is a Sega Quartet. This 1986 4 player machine is quite rare , it came out the same time as Atari's Gauntlett and due to the popularity of that Quartet didn't do as well as Sega wanted. Because its a 4 player cabinet most of these were quickly converted into other 4 player jamma games. So finding a dedicated machine in its original form is quite hard.

Friends of Phoenix

2009-10-05T15:41:00.000-07:00

Its taken me a while to get this together but just wanted to thank everyone from the arcade scene who has made a difference, thank you for donations for Terry and support for the rebuild of Terry's home and the new arcade:-

Mike McKee (warehouse loan)

EMDKAY LLC

Kirk and Kelly Mooneyham

Rob and Brad

Steve Burt

Tommy Achery

Sleepys amusement

Gregory Buggy

Chris "Paco" Johnson

CheffoJeffo

Debra Petrushchak

John "the saint" StClair (BYOAC)

andiamo-racing (mike pierce)

Brian cashion

Billy Mitchell

Walter Day

Philip Rennard

John Norman

Paul Rape

Erin Coughlin Tower

Jeff Whitlatch

Arin Morris

Mike Hubbard

Rob O'Hara

Drew Stone

JB Akin

Jamie & Pamela Day

John c Baker

Tim Matthews

Husin Salehuddin

Jeff Martin

Ronald Stone

Sean Murphy

Justin Edlich

Not forgetting all the family and friends, especially the wife's, who put up with the entire arcade obsession.

Anyone Ive forgotten to put on the list let me know, once again thanks to all for your kindness.

Williams Week

2009-10-05T15:34:00.001-07:00

This week 3 Williams games were acquired. Moon Patrol, Defender and one we just cant live without Robotron! All are in working condition ready to go.

Here we go again..

2009-10-02T08:01:00.000-07:00

We're back on the road again this weekend.Who knows what treasures we will find... watch this space!

MONKEY KONG & JUMP MAN

2009-10-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

During the last warehouse raid I stumbled on a red Nintendo Cabinet. These machines were leftovers from Nintendo's first Game Radar Scope. 2,000 of the 3,000 original Radar Scope games were made into Donkey Kong machines. The cabinet has an original DK serial number and factory plate on it, so we got to work on it last weekend on bring back it is original identity. The game was originally called Monkey Kong but due to a poor Japanese translation it ended up as Donkey Kong, Mario wasnt Mario back in those days either he was simply known as Jump man. The game itself is no different to a regular Blue Donkey Kong, it just has that little bit of Nintendo nostalgia that makes it that much more collectible. I'll post final restoration pictures when the games finished. Here's Brad the T-molding Guru doing what he does best!

GET READY!!...

2009-09-29T20:52:00.000-07:00

Quite often more times than not when an arcade machine is brought non working you'll hear the expression " its more than likely just a fuse" of course it never is.. however in this case it was! Troy found no power to the monitor and hey presto!

New Addition...

2009-09-27T21:55:00.000-07:00

Tracy is a big fan of this game and when one came up for sale locally he and Fat Todd hauled some ass to go claim it. The game will need some attention but it will be another great vintage Atari black and white classic for the arcade.

Never Surrender

2009-09-24T21:58:00.000-07:00

Today Billy kindly signed a Lawton Game not Over T-Shirt, he even said a few words to Troy on the phone.

Billy is one of the coolest people Ive met, nothing like the person he is made to look like in the 2007 documentary "The King of Kong". Billy even sent me home with some of Ricky's Famous Hot sauce for Terry to check out.. The T-shirt will be mounted and framed and take pride of place above the Pacman machine when the new place is completed. Hopefully Billy will come visit the arcade, have a couple of beers and perhaps even few games of Pacman.

vacation...

2009-09-17T21:19:00.000-07:00

I'll be in Florida this week. Going to look at some games while im down there and hopefully go try say hi to no other than the man himself mr Billy M . Troy told my wife it was somthing that I needed to do, kinda like a bucket list for an arcade junkie so I guess we'll be eating at Rickys until i get that one and only photo shoot.
I can promise on my return that there is another deal ready for another warehouse buy out. Stay tuned for more games on the way..

Stale Sunday...

2009-09-13T20:49:00.000-07:00

Terry cleaned down a lot of cabinets, me and Troy farted about for 6 hours in the warehouse.
nothing much to really yell about today....

Somthing Old.. Somthing New...

2009-09-11T11:16:00.000-07:00

I was in Lawton Thursday and myself and Troy took a walk over the remains of the old building. It was pretty moving to walk amongst the rubble and ash, For me, I guess it was a final good bye to such an amazing place and some great memories. I took a few pictures of some arcade remains I found laying around.

Unidentifiable remains of an arcade pcb

Coin Door

After looking at this for about 5 minutes I had to leave and we went over to the warehouse and started to mess with some restoration machines. In little under an hour troy figured out a missing +5v on a Space Harrier and we also brought to life a Konami Gt. The day turned out not so bad after all.

Family Settled

2009-09-07T20:05:00.000-07:00

Terry has rented a home for his family to live in..They moved in today..They have a great start on rebuilding their lives due to the generosity of so many people..Thank you to everyone that has helped him and is family!!

A Final Glimpse of what was..

2009-09-07T12:35:00.000-07:00

Goodbye...

Just in case you dont read the comments, Nan has posted some great pictures and video of the demolition work at the old building.

View the full set of Nans Pictures Here: -

http://picasaweb.google.com/nanzell/TerrysPlaceComingDown#

Road Trip time again...

2009-09-07T10:16:00.000-07:00

Another warehouse located, ive been in talks and it looks like a deal should be wrapped up sometime this week.

Step One Complete!!!

2009-09-06T09:43:00.000-07:00

After a long two days..the old building is demolished and almost hauled away..This finally brings closure to everyone that was effected by the fire..Now on a brighter note, everything is on schedule for hopeful gound breaking mid October..

Our Friends In Tulsa

2009-09-01T20:55:00.000-07:00

Justin and the crew at JustinEdlich.com. have donated an Elevator Action to the arcade. Justin writes: "Troy, Terry-I have my donation for Phoenix arcade ready for pick up. I know I don't even know you guys, but I can only imagine what you guys have lost. I have a lot of respect for your attitudes persevering through this whole thing. After talking about it last Saturday with my wife, Zim, Slider, Paco & Namzep, I've come to this decision. Please feel free to contact me at your convenience to pick this machine up free of charge. My best wishes to you & your families, and I hope everyone's outreach has helped you through this. Dean, you've done a good job working with Troy to help recover & rebuild, I'm really impressed with what you guys have been able to accomplish. Keep up your good efforts. I donate this on behalf of everyone at JustinEdlich.com."

Thank you!

New Building in the Works

2009-09-01T19:42:00.001-07:00

I talked to Terry tonight about the new building..The way it looks now it will be a 9000 sq feet building with 6000 sq ft. of it for party room, arcade, and game room and 3000 sq feet for private living area..floor plans are still in the works..lots of ideas to explore..hopefully construction can start mid October..for those of you who were at the old location, the entire building was 6000 sq ft. More to come!!!!!!

Here comes the Fire Truck....

2009-08-30T11:57:00.000-07:00

This time I'm pleased to say its here for a better purpose. Strange things happen, it only seemed like yesterday we were looking at charred remains of an arcade full of games through the ash-covered rubble.Bizarrely in the turn of events one of the first new games we located is an Atari Fire Truck. Terry was first to crack a joke about the irony of it all. It seems the more common games we thought would be easier to replace are taking a back seat while all these rare games are turning up. Troy worked on the firetruck and in less than an hour it was up and running and what better way to play test this machine than with real firemen? So during the UFC on Saturday night the Lawton Fire Crew came over and played a few games. Awesome Stuff!

What's Up?

2009-08-26T18:04:00.000-07:00

There's a lot going on behind the scenes right now, some of which can be discussed and much of which hasn't been decided yet.

New locations are being looked at for the Phoenix Arcade. Yes, that's right -- last I heard, the new arcade will not be built on the old property. Don't worry though, the new location won't be far from the old one, and being outside the city limits has some advantages ...

The guys have spent the past couple of weekends looking for games, buying games, storing games, and fixing games. Last weekend the guys drove multiple moving trucks several hundred miles in yet another warehouse raid. From what I understand, several more are planned. If you guys thought the old arcade had a nice collection of games, you won't believe some of the new machines that have been purchased.

I'm hoping to check out the warehouse this weekend -- if I do, you can bet I'll sneak a few pictures and post them here!

There are also rumors of a website in the works, complete with blogs, pictures, and all sorts of cool stuff. Keep an eye out for that over the next few months.

Vrooom Vrooom!

2009-08-25T07:12:00.001-07:00

3 days of hell

2009-08-24T08:35:00.000-07:00

Over 12 hours driving, an insane beer drinking father Christmas lookalike and Terry wrestling with a Stern cabinet the end results of the weekend made the whole thing worthwhile.

One of the hardest to find games and we got one! A little bit of loving and some wiping down this will look great in the new arcade. Well worth the Trip! A big pat on the back to Myself, Troy and Terry, we're proud of this one!

Williams Sinistar Cockpit.

Road Trip

2009-08-23T06:55:00.001-07:00

"Collecting arcade machines, that's so cool"

yeah it is, but there are times when it sucks ass.

if you don't believe me, then sit and look at this picture for 7 hours...

Latest Additions

2009-08-19T09:12:00.000-07:00

Good news, 2 games this week, Joust and Afterburner. The Joust is pretty much ready to go just some little loving and it'll be quite a nice example. The Afterburner is playing blind, so immediate guess is it needs some kinda monitor work. Its nice to find a replacement Joust and something new that wasn't in the original collection. Thanks to Big Rob for helping haul the machines.

Update on Plans

2009-08-17T21:30:00.000-07:00

I talked to Terry tonight..the first order of business is to get the old building demolished..plans are in the works even as I am typing this on the new building..Depending on the city if we rebuild at the existing location or at an alternate location..more details to come soon...just be ready for a whole bunch of surprises..

Face Book

2009-08-17T10:03:00.000-07:00

Some of Terry's family members have set up a facebook page dedicated to Terrys Place. It is for everyone to upload pictures and share memories of the good times that were had there by all. Heres the Link!

http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=remembering+terrys+place&init=quick#/group.php?gid=60204934959

News Channel 7

2009-08-16T16:26:00.001-07:00

The Circus is in Town

2009-08-16T15:38:00.000-07:00

Acquired this 1977 Exidy Circus. It will need some loving, the sideart is gone, I'm not a big fan of the original sideart and I don't think for the time being we will go to any great expense to reprint any. I'll work on it this week and have it ready for storage by the weekend.

A Swift KICK ...

2009-08-14T18:28:00.000-07:00

I got a call last night from Phosphor Dot Fossils (PDF), proprietor of TheLogBook.com. PDF read my blog post about TNT burning down and, like many of us, was generally moved by the liss. While PDF had never set foot in the arcade, he has a deep appreciation of arcade machines, video games and old computers.

The reason PDF was calling to ask if I thought Troy and Terry would be interested in his Kick machine. Kick, for those who don't know, was the predecessor to Kick-Man (the latter had Pac-Man added in with the balloons). According to KLOV there were only 1,600 Kick machines. PDF said he felt like the game would be more appreciated and get more use in a more public setting. He said they would be willing to donate it if they would be willing to accept it.

While there are still some logistics involved in getting the machine from PDF's place (in Arkansas) to Lawton, Oklahoma, I know the machine will be genuinely appreciated in its new home at the Phoenix Arcade. I can't wait to see it there in line with all the other classics soon to come!

The Demolition man

2009-08-14T09:27:00.000-07:00

Terry has acquired a demolition permit from the city. This will enable him to start tearing down the old building and making plans to rebuild. According to a local newspaper the address is outside of the city developement area so it looks promising that the Phoenix will be built in the same location. I think everyone is looking forward to salvaging what memories they can for Terry from what lies underneath. Myself and Troy are on the road this weekend heading to Texas to look at some warehouses and games to start the replacement process.

Fund Raiser Night

2009-08-13T20:02:00.000-07:00

Where:
Guys and Dolls
405 NW 2nd StLawton, OK 73507

When: 6:30pm Onwards

Why: Fundraiser for Terry

Local Business and people are donating items for a silent auction to raise funds for Terry and Family. I do not have a complete list of items however I have been told that they will include a UFC Signed Glove, Nascar Signed Baseball Cap and a MS PACMAN GALAGA 25" Multigame.

Myself, Arcadefan and Troy built a 25" Multigame cabinet that will be available for someone to take home this weekend at Guys and Dolls. Just turn up, have a beer and bid.

Internet donations have now topped $1000. Thanks to everyone for your support, watch out for a "friends of Phoenix arcade" blog soon. If you haven't donated its not to late. Paypal: ebay.machines@ntlworld.com
All donations are to provide Terry and family items and help them get back on their feet. This is not a fund to replace arcade machines this is for everyday essential stuff.Once again a big thank you to everyone who has shown love and support.

New Beginings...

2009-08-12T10:27:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX ARCADE
The name of this mythical bird comes from that of which it can burn up and then regenerate from it's own ashes. It's the symbol of immortality by resurrection. .
In Roman mythology, the bird was associated with the resurrection of the Empire.
The legend of the Phoenix can be simply interpreted to mean that the end is only the beginning.
And so it Begins...

PHOENIX ARCADE
LAWTON, OKLAHOMA