Arcade Memories Game Of The Week - Space Invaders

[Bods]

One that really kicked off the Arcade Video Games in a big way yet I don't remember seeing one

We would be in the Arcades on holiday when young playing the Pushers, old type cranes that I remember, Wheel em in, Electro mechanical shooting games, so it would of been late 70s very early 80's as parents started narrow boat holidays in mid 80s yet I have no memories of playing Video Games at all

First time playing Space Invaders was when my Brother bought an Atari 2600 from school mate though we did play video games before that as my dad bought one of the pong type consoles from his mate when he got ZX80, pretty sure he got that when was first out or not long after so had Pong one from 1980/81 which does make me wonder why I don't remember playing video games in arcades then, whether I did play any and just don't remember I'm not sure

So it wasn't till early 2000s when I started buying machines I was in Chapel St Leonards to see what they had there, the arcade on the right side still had Space Gun and first time I saw Rail Chase which I had a go on



Then I popped in the one on the left and they had bowling alley one side and on its own a Midway Space Invaders, ashamed to say I didn't know they had mirror with the backdrop to make it look like they float in middle, the half mirror trick is superb on the older machines and really makes it worth owning cabs compared to standard monitor setup or the cocktail table type

The sounds on the game are classic and not one I'd even thought about buying untill seeing that, shame if didn't play one in the 80's

I'm guessing many of you remember playing it in the early days, what memories do you have of it and was it a game that got you into video game playing?

 

[Lenty]

Midway SI was the first machine i purchased to restore. Sits pride of place in my lounge. I still now stare at the invaders side art and disappear to the first time i saw one....
My dad worked for an amusement machine operator and he used to take me with him at times... walked into a local club must be around 1979 (i was 13) and there it was. Another thing that makes me laugh is that I'm sure It was bigger back in the day or did i get taller !!!! The rest is history... but bloody good history for me.

 

[big10p]

Saw it all over the place, but I didn't play it much as I was a bit crap at it compared to mates, so wanted to avoid ridicule. Lol

 

[Bods]

Midway SI was the first machine i purchased to restore. Sits pride of place in my lounge. I still now stare at the invaders side art and disappear to the first time i saw one....
My dad worked for an amusement machine operator and he used to take me with him at times... walked into a local club must be around 1979 (i was 13) and there it was. Another thing that makes me laugh is that I'm sure It was bigger back in the day or did i get taller !!!! The rest is history... but bloody good history for me.

Awesome mate, pretty cool one to have in the Lounge

Wish I could remember seeing one at least but no recollection of video games in my younger years

I enjoy watching older films and seeing the arcade cabs in them but then you watch later stuff and get a huge surprise when a randomly placed machine is there in a movie, it doesn't get more of a surprise than Windchill from 2007 when it's set on a deserted road in a snow drift and on Christmas Eve I think so I'll be watching again then as I got it on Bluray now and you find this

 

[Bods]

Saw it all over the place, but I didn't play it much as I was a bit crap at it compared to mates, so wanted to avoid ridicule. Lol

Was one reason I didn't play a few of the games, specially when loads watching lol

Good question that, how many are good at the game? I enjoy playing it even though I'm not great

 

[pooman2084]

I think SI was the first video game I ever played.
It is only a vague distant memory but my parents friends had a hotel and we were there the day after a SI cocktail had been delivered. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. A tv where you could control the picture and sound! It blew my (what must have been) 3 year old brain.
They left me to play it whilst they were hanging out and catching up and play it I most certainly did, triggering a lifelong dedication to crt gaming.

 

[Bods]

This was a highlight when watching Minder DVD set, Arthur on The Invaders

Someone could own the machine featured and not know it, that would be cool

 

[69er]

I had several space invader games in the 80s mainly as they came a bit cheaper
About six or seven Midway , two or three Taito and about 4 or five zaccaria The Invaders and perhaps a few woody generic SI rebuilds or kitted systems? And a few cocktail cab models too

It was the game every other game was termed an invader machine for a while?
I still have a cocktail b/w with iirc a SI pt lll in it not been powered up for about 15-20 years as it’s under another cocktail Konami circus Charlie I used to use to test Konami boards….. I only recently about 2022 sold my last zacc the invader cab but it had a colour direct monitor with a jamma multi game yet the b/w monitor was still in the bottom and I gave the buyer a mirror pane & moon plastic background with light , so if he ever wanted try change it back????

My last working Midway sold on to Forcefulfil Phil Evans around 2005? Who at the time of picking it up introduced me to join Jammaplus & was surprised I never used it before that time… iirc I think I also delivered it to his home arcade in cellar of his house which was adorned with quite a good selection of games and an nsm city jukebox I think?…. Tho we just put it in the ground floor room that day via the front door as the stairs to the arcade were narrow and steep….😜 and the lower room already full

New in late 1970s there was one in our local pub ‘white barn’ cuddington and you couldn’t get near it to play most days

My first was from hazelgrove music in Stockport about 1980 but still cost around £600 …. I later got one or two from Herondata (Coinvend in those days) Brian Harriman became a regular supplier to me in the 80s

SI a great simple game but easy to make the complacent mistake of getting shot thinking the houses would protect you from dropping missiles.. 8 bit tech we soon learned that counting 14 fired shots and awaiting the mothership saucer the 15 shot, if successful shooting the saucer would be 1000 pts OOF as would the 23rd shot and 31st shot and if bonus ship was set at 1500 then it was easy to get 4 ships to your game and clear at least one full sheet of aliens

The thumping noise too was iconic and if you could clear a shooting space through the 5 rows of invaders thevwowow noise of the saucer gave time to get good aim in

I still enjoy playing it (SI) myself on a 60 in 1 we have in a jamma cabs and just recently showed off to one of my grandsons now14 never seen the game before,, but we swapped the wife’s neo puzzle bobble horizontal for the 60 game vertical in the conservatory a few weeks ago…. He preferred ‘tank’ tho and played it and some other games instead ? But now it’s handy it will get more use!

I so loved the alien artwork - the black and red monster on the white panel sides of the Midway that I stencilled it and sprayed it Banksy style on my mobile disco light boxes ( Quite trendy back in the 80s everyone thought ) I still have an alloy midway cp on my workshop door …

As colour games came popular we converted some of our invaders to Lunar Rescue or pt ll. , pt lll , or invaders revenge which we bought as EPROM chip sets from JCM or competetive video of surbiton Surrey, and it meant cutting and bypass wiring several tracks and some pre designed links on the game board and abandoned the original mask roms . We later did similar conversions ourselves on Galaxians to make moon cresta or uniwars.
Later on single cartridge games could be mounted on Galaxian for Frogger or Hunchback from century games. We also found it cheaper to kit up Scramble to Donkey Kong donkey etc. which is maybe why so many pcbs from the early 80s are bootleg and sometimes fiercely butchered.

The little girl in the pictures is now 42 years old so the invader Pics are maybe 1982-3 ish one is her trying playa midway just to compare side art with just visible , my light box side art - all four sides had the alien on

Another thing I still have is my dancing Coke can sound operated rocker dj assistant positioned on front of our Saxon stereo decks - he got the kids dancing at parties … a quirky 80s novelty 😂

 

[Mr20to5]

Ah, the daddy of them all. In the mid 80s, at big school, the lunch options were varied, sit in or head out, with the latter throwing up a host of options, from the butty van outside, 3 chip shops to choose from or spending it all in the sweet shop.... I chose none of the above, instead, choosing to sprint to my nana's house, nearby, wolf down some lunch, then meet some mates in the the back of the local hotel, where they had a small 'games' room, with a pool table, dart board and of course, a Space Invaders arcade machine. It was, I'm quite sure, the Zaccaria version. It certainly played with buttons and not a stick, and didn't have the sticky out, white front of the Midway.

Like most, it blew me away when I first saw this cab, probably much earlier, with the 'floating' invaders, multi-colour screen, and taunting sound score. But it was those school days, crowded around the cab, with a bunch of mates, each trying to outdo the other, that really forged it way into my memory banks.

So, once I'd found my way into this ridiculous hobby, later in life, I snagged myself a Zaccaria Invaders cabinet (not working) and restored her back to her prime.

You can read a short blog on the resto progress HERE

I'll regret typing this last bit, but she still plays faultlessly, never missed a beat, and is probably my most played dedicated cab, on average.

 

[TheDaddy]

Yeh i mean its the most iconic game surely ?

One of the most simplest concepts ever and one of the most indictable. To me this is why I am always amazed by games , How simple and silly but so so so much fun.

My memories of this is probably on the ZX Spectrum more , But also remember playing it at Rhyl and Blackpool as a youngster.

Dave.

 

[cyberbear]

Played it in the early eighties at carnivals, can't remember seeing one in the arcade thought it was ok, not very good at it, a bit slow preferred Galaxian, Super Breakout and Phoenix. Iconic and beautiful looking cab all the same.

 

[Bods]

I had several space invader games in the 80s mainly as they came a bit cheaper
About six or seven Midway , two or three Taito and about 4 or five zaccaria The Invaders and perhaps a few woody generic SI rebuilds or kitted systems? And a few cocktail cab models too

It was the game every other game was termed an invader machine for a while?
I still have a cocktail b/w with iirc a SI pt lll in it not been powered up for about 15-20 years as it’s under another cocktail Konami circus Charlie I used to use to test Konami boards….. I only recently about 2022 sold my last zacc the invader cab but it had a colour direct monitor with a jamma multi game yet the b/w monitor was still in the bottom and I gave the buyer a mirror pane & moon plastic background with light , so if he ever wanted try change it back????

My last working Midway sold on to Forcefulfil Phil Evans around 2005? Who at the time of picking it up introduced me to join Jammaplus & was surprised I never used it before that time… iirc I think I also delivered it to his home arcade in cellar of his house which was adorned with quite a good selection of games and an nsm city jukebox I think?…. Tho we just put it in the ground floor room that day via the front door as the stairs to the arcade were narrow and steep….😜 and the lower room already full

New in late 1970s there was one in our local pub ‘white barn’ cuddington and you couldn’t get near it to play most days

My first was from hazelgrove music in Stockport about 1980 but still cost around £600 …. I later got one or two from Herondata (Coinvend in those days) Brian Harriman became a regular supplier to me in the 80s

SI a great simple game but easy to make the complacent mistake of getting shot thinking the houses would protect you from dropping missiles.. 8 bit tech we soon learned that counting 14 fired shots and awaiting the mothership saucer the 15 shot, if successful shooting the saucer would be 1000 pts OOF as would the 23rd shot and 31st shot and if bonus ship was set at 1500 then it was easy to get 4 ships to your game and clear at least one full sheet of aliens

The thumping noise too was iconic and if you could clear a shooting space through the 5 rows of invaders thevwowow noise of the saucer gave time to get good aim in

I still enjoy playing it (SI) myself on a 60 in 1 we have in a jamma cabs and just recently showed off to one of my grandsons now14 never seen the game before,, but we swapped the wife’s neo puzzle bobble horizontal for the 60 game vertical in the conservatory a few weeks ago…. He preferred ‘tank’ tho and played it and some other games instead ? But now it’s handy it will get more use!

I so loved the alien artwork - the black and red monster on the white panel sides of the Midway that I stencilled it and sprayed it Banksy style on my mobile disco light boxes ( Quite trendy back in the 80s everyone thought ) I still have an alloy midway cp on my workshop door …

As colour games came popular we converted some of our invaders to Lunar Rescue or pt ll. , pt lll , or invaders revenge which we bought as EPROM chip sets from JCM or competetive video of surbiton Surrey, and it meant cutting and bypass wiring several tracks and some pre designed links on the game board and abandoned the original mask roms . We later did similar conversions ourselves on Galaxians to make moon cresta or uniwars.
Later on single cartridge games could be mounted on Galaxian for Frogger or Hunchback from century games. We also found it cheaper to kit up Scramble to Donkey Kong donkey etc. which is maybe why so many pcbs from the early 80s are bootleg and sometimes fiercely butchered.

The little girl in the pictures is now 42 years old so the invader Pics are maybe 1982-3 ish one is her trying playa midway just to compare side art with just visible , my light box side art - all four sides had the alien on

Another thing I still have is my dancing Coke can sound operated rocker dj assistant positioned on front of our Saxon stereo decks - he got the kids dancing at parties … a quirky 80s novelty 😂

Awesome Stories as always, love the Invaders on disco lights and I have one of those Dancing Coke Cans next to my bed, mate had one in the 80s so I got one off ebay years back

This was Space Invaders I got off ebay, changed to Super Earth Invasion II and in wrong section so I got it cheap

 

[Bods]

Ah, the daddy of them all. In the mid 80s, at big school, the lunch options were varied, sit in or head out, with the latter throwing up a host of options, from the butty van outside, 3 chip shops to choose from or spending it all in the sweet shop.... I chose none of the above, instead, choosing to sprint to my nana's house, nearby, wolf down some lunch, then meet some mates in the the back of the local hotel, where they had a small 'games' room, with a pool table, dart board and of course, a Space Invaders arcade machine. It was, I'm quite sure, the Zaccaria version. It certainly played with buttons and not a stick, and didn't have the sticky out, white front of the Midway.

Like most, it blew me away when I first saw this cab, probably much earlier, with the 'floating' invaders, multi-colour screen, and taunting sound score. But it was those school days, crowded around the cab, with a bunch of mates, each trying to outdo the other, that really forged it way into my memory banks.

So, once I'd found my way into this ridiculous hobby, later in life, I snagged myself a Zaccaria Invaders cabinet (not working) and restored her back to her prime.

You can read a short blog on the resto progress HERE

I'll regret typing this last bit, but she still plays faultlessly, never missed a beat, and is probably my most played dedicated cab, on average.

Great memories and great work on that cab , I overlooked the Zac one myself though I believe it is a bit smaller than the others which is a bonus at times, I just prefer having joystick over buttons so got Taito one but if I'd played one bitd I would of gone for the cab I played also

Probably see more of The Invaders ones in old UK TV shows than the others too like Minder which is cool

Another cool thing with Space Invaders you can say it's from the 1970's which just makes it sound even more amazing

 

[Bertie_Mollie]

I remember first seeing one at the holiday camp arcade in Caister, Great Yarmouth. Was probably about 10 at the time. I approached it with a bit of hesitation and dropped my 10p in. BAM!, that was it, I was hooked! That's where all my holiday savings went after that.

Went home and local to me in Isleworth was "Johns Kebab House" where they had either a Zac or Midway machine (can't quite remember which). We used to try and get the high score on 9990 so it didn't roll over and would stay there all day.

The following year, went back to Caister and they had a colour Taito cocktail Pt 2 in the clubhouse bar. They used to open the fire doors at lunchtime so I used to sneak in and play it.

Have previously owned a Taito space invaders upright but sold it and regretted it. Missed the marching sound, just so iconic. Found myself a really nice Taito Pt2 cocktail which I had for a while until I replaced it with a red Taito Pt2 upright came up for same with a braze kit.

 

[griffo83x]

First game i ever played was space invaders it was at my cousins wedding reception i was probably 7or 8 im guessing it was 79/80 not sure for certain .
it was at a location called buildwas abbey in shropshire , i remember having to sit on a stool to play it as i was to short to play it standing up maybe i was even younger cant remember ,i remember asking for 10 p's off my parents and auntie and uncles to get my next fix haha i was probably rubbish on it as never seen anything like it before as it was totally brand new at the time , needless to say thats what started it all off i got a galaxy invader 199 for xmas after that which i still have amazingly , and a Astro wars the following year , happy days ,
i can remember space invaders all over the place in the following years mostly chippys and cafes , but i will never forget the first time i seen one , i did have a nice original taito table top with a black and white monitor and colour strips on the glass to make it look colour that i sold to a member on here many moons ago , obviously wish id kept that , would be pretty cool now in the front room .

 

[TWB]

The first time I saw Space Invaders was in the summer of 1979 we were on holiday at Butlins Barry Island. I had been playing arcade games for a couple of years the likes of Sea Wolf, Sprint and Gun Fight were favourites, but could take them or leave them.

Space Invaders took arcade gaming to a whole new level. The sounds, the aliens that eerily floated in front of a moonscape. Another difference was it wasn't on a timer and the better you got the further your 10p went.

It quickly started to gobble my 10p’s I was absolutely mesmerized by it. I spent days of that holiday just standing around the arcades on site watching people play. I was gutted when we had to come home as there were no video arcades in my town at the time and I knew it would a year before I got to play again.

Then in the Autumn of 79 my local chip shop got one installed. Actually, it was ‘The Invaders’ by Zaccaria. When I think of it that Chip shop probably had more off me in 10p’s going to video games than chips I bought and that was it I was hooked on video games.

 

[Lenty]

Midway SI was the first machine i purchased to restore. Sits pride of place in my lounge. I still now stare at the invaders side art and disappear to the first time i saw one....
My dad worked for an amusement machine operator and he used to take me with him at times... walked into a local club must be around 1979 (i was 13) and there it was. Another thing that makes me laugh is that I'm sure It was bigger back in the day or did i get taller !!!! The rest is history... but bloody good history for me.

Just added a picture or my SI from my sofa !!!