A long running Op in North Wales recently sent me some pictures of
approximately twenty boards. “Let me
know if they’re of interest,” he said.
“Or they’re off to the tip.”
Needless to say a date was promptly made for a visit!
The Op is located in a small
town close to the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, the longest aqueduct in Great Britain
and the highest aqueduct in the world.
After the Raid we went for a
walk along it and enjoyed the views.
Just don’t look down if you’re not a fan of heights!
Anyone for Bara Brith? I had to Google it and apparently it’s a
tea-flavoured fruit bread.
The Op is a family run
business, and the operation has changed over the years, more towards fruit
machines and pool tables.
I remember playing these down
the local pub not so long ago.
Back in the day, the Op had a
lot of arcade machines in pubs. He
mentioned that as large dedicated machines became more common, it was
increasingly difficult to move them through pub doorways, resulting in video
games becoming a smaller part of the business.
The only machine the Op had
left in the workshop was a modern cocktail cab, due to go back out on
site. I often hear stories of Ops
smashing up machines. I can see why they
would have done this once machines stopped taking coin or required expensive
repairs, especially with limited space and resale value. I think I have become desensitised to it,
instead focusing on the positives of what’s being saved, but it did hurt a
little when he mentioned OutRun as one of the cabs which got the hammer.
Here is the list of titles in
the haul.
1. 1942 – Capcom – 1984
2. Arkanoid – Taito - 1986
3. Cabal – TAD Corporation -
1988
4. Choplifter – Sega - 1985
5. Double Dragon 3: The
Rosetta Stone – Techn?s
Japan
– 1990
6.
Football Champ –Taito / Team Dogyan - 1990
7. Ghosts ‘n Goblins – Capcom
– 1985
8. Golfing Greats – Konami -
1991
9. King of Boxer – Wood Place
Inc. – 1985
10. Legend of Hero Tonma
(with original license seal) – Irem – 1989
11. Pit Fighter – Konami / Atari
Games - 1990
12. Punk Shot – Konami - 1990
13. Rastan Saga – Taito –
1987
14. Shinobi – Sega - 1987
15. Splatterhouse – Namco –
1988
16. Star Wars: Return of the
Jedi – Atari, Inc. – 1984
17. Tecmo World Cup ’90 –
Tecmo – 1989
18. Unknown – Possible Capcom
bootleg?
19. Unknown, possibly Pollux?
– Dooyong
Splatterhouse is the
highlight for me, absolutely awesome game and one you don’t see very
often. I used to play it in a local
Chinese takeaway of all places. I’ve
been playing this a lot in MAME recently and plan on making a Splatterhouse
themed cab.
I also picked up these Konami
guns. Hopefully they will be useful to
someone.
The PCB stash loaded up. Mission
complete!
approximately twenty boards. “Let me
know if they’re of interest,” he said.
“Or they’re off to the tip.”
Needless to say a date was promptly made for a visit!
The Op is located in a small
town close to the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, the longest aqueduct in Great Britain
and the highest aqueduct in the world.
After the Raid we went for a
walk along it and enjoyed the views.
Just don’t look down if you’re not a fan of heights!
Anyone for Bara Brith? I had to Google it and apparently it’s a
tea-flavoured fruit bread.
The Op is a family run
business, and the operation has changed over the years, more towards fruit
machines and pool tables.
I remember playing these down
the local pub not so long ago.
Back in the day, the Op had a
lot of arcade machines in pubs. He
mentioned that as large dedicated machines became more common, it was
increasingly difficult to move them through pub doorways, resulting in video
games becoming a smaller part of the business.
The only machine the Op had
left in the workshop was a modern cocktail cab, due to go back out on
site. I often hear stories of Ops
smashing up machines. I can see why they
would have done this once machines stopped taking coin or required expensive
repairs, especially with limited space and resale value. I think I have become desensitised to it,
instead focusing on the positives of what’s being saved, but it did hurt a
little when he mentioned OutRun as one of the cabs which got the hammer.
Here is the list of titles in
the haul.
1. 1942 – Capcom – 1984
2. Arkanoid – Taito - 1986
3. Cabal – TAD Corporation -
1988
4. Choplifter – Sega - 1985
5. Double Dragon 3: The
Rosetta Stone – Techn?s
Japan
– 1990
6.
Football Champ –Taito / Team Dogyan - 1990
7. Ghosts ‘n Goblins – Capcom
– 1985
8. Golfing Greats – Konami -
1991
9. King of Boxer – Wood Place
Inc. – 1985
10. Legend of Hero Tonma
(with original license seal) – Irem – 1989
11. Pit Fighter – Konami / Atari
Games - 1990
12. Punk Shot – Konami - 1990
13. Rastan Saga – Taito –
1987
14. Shinobi – Sega - 1987
15. Splatterhouse – Namco –
1988
16. Star Wars: Return of the
Jedi – Atari, Inc. – 1984
17. Tecmo World Cup ’90 –
Tecmo – 1989
18. Unknown – Possible Capcom
bootleg?
19. Unknown, possibly Pollux?
– Dooyong
Splatterhouse is the
highlight for me, absolutely awesome game and one you don’t see very
often. I used to play it in a local
Chinese takeaway of all places. I’ve
been playing this a lot in MAME recently and plan on making a Splatterhouse
themed cab.
I also picked up these Konami
guns. Hopefully they will be useful to
someone.
The PCB stash loaded up. Mission
complete!