The arcade is a relic of times gone by.  An institution that once was as common as a Starbucks is now a footnote in pop culture history.  I don't mean the modern re-inventions that include ski ball and ticket reclamation.  The arcades I'm talking about were dark, dingy, and cramped.  They were a means of socialization, a hangout, a place to loiter, and a place to see how your skills fared with other. Competition was either direct, facing off against an opponent that you may or may not know, or indirect, as you chase the high score on your game.

When I first heard of the Galloping Ghost arcade in Brookfield, Illinois I was intrigued.  It is about forty-five minutes from where I live, and literally down the street from one of my good buds from college.  We first ventured here about four years ago.  Since then, we have gone at least once a year and watched it expand each time.  They are reported to have over 400 games on the floor, and I don't doubt it.  There are so many games, that you will have to circle the maze-like floor plan just to see all that they have.

The admission fee is $15 for entry, and all games are set to free play.  They have nearly everything that you could possibly remember from the old arcades, and then some.  There will no doubt be games that you haven't ever seen before.  In some cases, cabinets will have two games available, and a toggle switch will change the game that you want to play.  The combinations of games make sense, as they are sequels, spiritual successors, spin offs, and the like.    
Upon entering, the initial impression is overwhelming.  You don't know where to start.  After some closer inspection, you realize that the layout is themed.  One section is dedicated to early classics like Donkey Kong, Robotron 2084, Pac-Man, and so on.  Another features beat'em ups like Final Fight and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Another hosts run'n gun games like Robocop and Contra.  There is a section for 2-D fighting games, namely Street Fighter and the Marvel spin-offs.  Against the wall are the 3-D fighters.  The back right corner is where you'll find light gun games like Silent Scope and Terminator 2: Judgement Day.  An annexed room in the back left is dedicated to shoot'em ups.  This is my favorite room, as it is my favorite genre.

One of the coolest games present is the sit-down version of F-Zero, known as F-Zero AX.  It is essentially the same game as the Gamecube version, except that it is a ride with hydraulics, shaking, and seat belt!  It has a slot for a Gamecube memory card, so you can transfer your saves to it and save to it as well.  I love the home version, and this was truly a riveting take on a modern classic.
The last time I was there there were three fellows trying to top each other's score on Donpachi.  The game was roped off, and there was a laptop and camera running.  I asked the clerk what was going on, and he said the three guys were the world record holders for the game, from first to third respectively.  They were live streaming their games and competition.  This was pretty cool to see.
The Galloping Ghost has score placards for every game, listing the world records as well as local in-house records.

So if you want to experience arcades as they once lived and breathed (sans the smoke and ash trays),
where you can play nearly everything you ever wanted, you should check out the Galloping Ghost in Brookfield, IL.  Plan on staying a long time.  You can even leave to eat at the diner across the street and return the same day as long as you have your receipt.  It's open until 2 am.  Every game should check it out.  
Check out their website for more information.

I have been retro gamer/collector for over ten years now, my collection has grown beyond what I thought it ever would, perhaps beyond what it should have. As new consoles are acquired, new libraries of games open up as does potential for growth. Like most retro gamers, I started out collecting for a specific console or two.  I would pick up games for these systems at flea markets, garage sales, thrift stores, and online.

The next thing I knew,  I was finding deals on a consoles that I didn't necessarily grow up with, but had some fond memories of playing its games at friends houses.  A friend was cleaning out his parents' basement and gave me another console.  I watched "hidden gems" videos online and sought out a specific game based on the review.  This happened repeatedly and now have more gaming material than I ever did as a kid.

 I have all the games that I have nostalgia for, and so finally my rate of accumulation has slowed to only the exceptional or niche. Even still, I had a minor epiphany the other day, that I will probably not play all of the games that I own.  I have too many to reasonably sit down with, given that I have a full time job and a family.  So I took a hard look at exactly what my intentions are at this point.  After putting up additional shelves in the game room, I took notice of what I re-shelved.  I do not have strong connections to many of my games.  I just have too many games.  If I am am scanning through my collection to find something to play, and I have no idea after five minutes, a change needs to be made.  I started to make some restrictions for my collection, and here's what I came up with.

1- No unnecessary doubles of ports
This occurred to me as I was re-shelving my SNES collection.  I have all four Street Fighter games released for the SNES, yet I never play those versions.  My go to are the Saturn versions, as they are Arcade perfect, and the Virtua Stick gives it the authentic arcade feel.  Same goes for my Genesis Street Fighter games.  As much as I love the Street Fighter Series, I don't need this many copies of essentially the same game.

Smash TV and Total Carnage are just okay for the SNES, but they are soooooo much better on the Midway Arcade Treasures collections for the Gamecube.  The analog stick works great for the eight-directional movement, and the c-stick works nicely for direction of fire, I much prefer it over the four face buttons on the SNES pad.  Not to mention that my introduction to these games were in the Arcade, and they are perfect ports on the Gamecube.

I have Super Mario World and Super Mario All-Stars, as well as the Super Mario World & Super Mario All-Stars combo cart.  I don't need all three (not to mention Super Mario All-Stars for the Wii). There are instances of this kind of redundancy all over my collection, and it is unnecessary.  Sonic is another culprit.

Raiden was huge during the 16-bit era; it was ported to nearly every system.  The Genesis port is ok, but suffers from a stale color palate.  The SNES version is stretched out.  The PC-Engine port is very good, but I don't care for the newly revised CD-quality audio.  My favorite port is the Playstation version, as it is arcade perfect and has a decent options menu.

Thunder Force III (Genesis) and Thunder Spirits (SNES) are often compared as ports, but Thunder Spirits is not a straight port; it contains stages from TF3 and Thunder Force AC, which was the arcade version of TF3.  Even so, my preference lies with the Genesis version as its gameplay is smoother and music has more "punch".

Zombies Ate My Neighbors, Captain America and the Avengers, etc, are all examples of multi-platform ports that should be weeded out.  Instances like this abound all over my collection, and I have started making decisions about the better ports so I can whittle down the ranks.

2 - Get rid of games that I have decided I don't like
Once I have decided that a game sucks, it is unlikely that I will return to it and give it another chance. I'm no completionist, so I don't need to have all games in a set just to have the set.  Street of Rage 3 is an example.  I have the vastly superior Japanese version of the game, Bare Knuckle 3.  I never play SOR3, as it feels broken.
I wrote a couple of posts about shooters on the NES.  In preparation for those, I replayed all the NES shooters that I had at the time, and I rediscovered some gems (Silk Worm, Recca) and some crap (1942, Xevious).  Time to trim the fat.

3 - Redundant controllers and systems
Everytime I go to a thrift store and see a SNES controller for four bucks, I generally pick it up.  I recently inventoried my controller bin, and realized I had ten SNES controllers.  This is a bit much. I will have two out by my system, and another two for back up/parts, and the rest are just adding to clutter.

I love arcade sticks, but how many do I really need?  Even though I have several for most major retro systems, I don't use them all.  I have several for the Saturn, but only really use my favorite, the Arcade Virtua Stick (the white one).  I have the official Sega driving wheel, but I realized that if I don't really like driving games by now, I'm not going to start.  I even have the limited-use Sega Mission Stick, which is only (and arguably) needed for After Burner and Space Harrier.  That this is pretty big accessory to have lying around for just two games, especially since the default Saturn pad (model 2) is nearly perfect on its own.
There was even a point when I have a double nearly every system, just in case.  Then I asked "why?". These systems are all at least 20 years old, and they work just fine now, so chances are they will still be fine since I take pretty good care of my stuff.  Optical drives might need replacing, so I will keep my backup Saturn and Dreamcast, but my extra SNES and Genesis consoles can go.

4 - Embrace the Everdrives
While I still prefer actual carts of games, the Everdrives can be a powerful ally in the quest to pare down the collection.  At one point I had a goal of collecting all the shooters for the PC-Engine.  This was foolhardy and expensive.  I can at least test out the rest of the games that I still don't have, and if I find one or two that really blow me away, I will buy them eventually.  I'm sure that they won't all be that good, so there is a huge benefit to the ability to try games out on the Everdrive.

Fringe and even bad games can be played from these and not take up real estate on your shelves.  I don't feel bad about letting go of the lower tier games.  This will eventually give my collection a curated feel to it as I strive for quality over quantity.

5 - Some Exceptions are OK
Even with these newly founded rules, I take license to make exceptions for truly exceptional instances:
Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for Dreamcast and PS2.
Ikaruga on the Dreamcast and Gamecube
Contra on the NES and Famicom
While the Famicom version is superior, the NES cart has high nostalgia value and I can't ever see me getting rid of it.
Strikers 1945 II is one of my favorite games, and I have both the Saturn (import) and Playstation (domestic) versions.
There are a few others.

This is a struggle that every retro gamer/collector will encounter here and there, and so I just wanted to share my perspective on it and my possible solution.  While this hobby is predicated on nostalgia and physical media, there is a slippery slope that can lead to some unchecked hoarding if one is not careful.  Its hard to take a step back and see this happening in real time, but I think it is necessary for one's health and well-being to be able to self evaluate.  Let me know your thoughts and what you do to help keep the collection under control.  Thanks for reading.

This summer I had the chance to vacation in Japan with my family.  We stayed is multiple locations, one of which being Tokyo.  Being a family vacation, the majority of activities were sightseeing and family-friendly activities.  On one of the days I was able to slip away and go to Tokyo's famous electric town, Akihabara.  This neighborhood is jam-packed with technology goods stores, anime stores, pachinko parlors, arcades, and the like.  Anticipating that I would eventually make may way here, I procured a map online from retro-video-gaming.com to help me navigate efficiently through the area.

The area is relatively compact, and blocks are not as large as here in the states, so things were not as far as they might appear.  My first stop was the most well-known retro gaming store in Japan, Super Potato.

This store is has the largest selection of all of the stores that I visited.  The store is actually spread over three floors.

The Mega Drive section was relatively small, but some prominent titles were available.

The Super Famicom section was well stocked, but most titles were arranged standing in rows, with Japanese labels.  I spent some time flipping through them, but I had to budget my time.  The big titles were on display, like Mario, Zelda Rockman, etc.

There were a plethora of used Nintendo consoles, all aged to that yellow perfection.  Notice the Famicom and Disc systems.  Original controllers were strangely sparse.

The PC-Engine Shuttle, with a form factor that was aimed for a younger audience.  Who wouldn't want a console shaped as a ship?

The Sega Saturn did very well in Japan, and hence the large number of released titles.  Alhtough there are a good amount of shooters on display here, many of them had "sold out" stickers on them.  The prices on these were about average eBay prices.

These Titles were in the locked case.  I didn't even bother to see them, based on their prices.

The top floor has a small arcade, candy for sale, and Solid Snake statue which I forgot to take a picture of.

There's a pretty sweet stairwell.

Overall it has pretty steep prices for games in high demand.  For common games, the prices were a bit above average, but manageable.  I didn't buy a lot here, but it was still amazing to see in person.

The next stop was Mandrake.
  They did not allow photos in this store, but I can tell you that its prices on everything were through the roof.  I spent the least amount of time here.  The selection was decent, but as I wasn't willing to pay over top dollar for what they had.  Moving on.

Trader is a resale chain that has several locations.  It had a decent selection of games, and a lot of hardware.  It was here that I lucked out and found an official Sega Saturn-style controller for the Playstation.  I have always disliked the d-pad on the Playstation controllers, and this is my wish come true.  I had always put if off, because being a rarity, it was pricey (>$100).  Here I found it for about $45!

Not many have heard of this controller's existence.

RPG's on the Super Famicom are a dime a dozen here.  Chrono Trigger, which usually goes for about >$100, is just under three dollars.  These and Final Fantasy games litter the bargain bins.  Of course, in order to take advantage of the savings you need to be able to read Kanji or get a translation patch and play through a Retron 5.

Top tier games are locked in security cases.

The King of Fighters ($30) and Rez ($9) I purchased from Super Potato.  Capcom Vs. SNK 2 I got for a dollar from a street sale outside Meiji Castle, and Macross VFX2 I got for $5 from Book Off.

I have been waiting for the eBay prices on Waku Waku 7 to drop for a while, and then I find it at Traders for $20.  Golden Axe the Duel was $11, and Mr. Bones was $13.

Kid Dracula was purchased from Friends for $22, Rockman Soccer was $8, and Super Fire Pro Wrestling was a bargain bin pickup from Book Off for a dollar.

Dungeons and Dragons collection is a reissue of the Sega Saturn release, with the same games ($18).  MVC3 was $5.

For some, part of the joy of retro game collecting is the organizational and display aspect.  Obviously playing the games is top priority, but there is something to be said for how you organize, store, and display your collection.  Over the past decade, my game collection has undergone several changes, based on the logistics of quantity, space, material, and preference.  At this time my collection has undergone another shift, and my means of shelving has changed.

In one of my earliest posts, I discussed my collection and organization.  At that time, I was using the Atlantic Oskar 1080 media shelves for my cased SNES and Genesis carts.  My NES carts were in another vertical media stand.  Along the broad wall of my game room were six Ikea floating cd shelves (now discontinued).  I had a rather large cd collection after college, and the vast majority of it reflects that time period.  There was some wall space that had a framed Guided By Voices poster above my stereo, that I always felt could have been put to better storage use.  Lo and behold, as I was poking around Craigslist I ran across six more of the same exact floating shelves, for five bucks apiece!  With these, I was able to fill in the wall with matching shelves.  I then transferred my cds from the floating ikea shelves to the atlantic media media shelf.  This freed up the ikea shelves for my cased cartridges.

    Now normally this may seem like overkill, but since I have invested in housing my carts in reproduction cases, there is significantly more space needed.

SNES carts in universal game cases and covers from thecoverproject.net fill in the first bank of shelves.

NES carts in Bitboxes from stoneagegamer.com take the middle bank of shelves.

Genesis games in original clamshell cases round out the final bank of shelves.  Not all of the covers are original, in fact most aren't.  The majority of carts were purchased loose.  I purchased cheap sports and filler games in bulk from online auctions on the cheap, and printed covers for the games I wanted to encase.


Altogether, I like how they turned out, and how I have just the right amount of wiggle room left in each.  I feel that I have most of the games that I want, and so my rate of acquisitions has slowed (thankfully) to a crawl.  I can focus on enjoying what I have, knowing that even though they are all on the order of 25+ years, hopefully they will last that much longer.

Of course these are just my carts; my disc-based games are stored in a media cabinet with shelves opposite of the bank of shelves.

When closed, the cabinet looks nice and tidy.

When open, the games can breathe and be perused.


 The center top rows are my import Saturn games; mainly shooters and fighting games.  These shooters are the pride of my collection.

The center middle is host to my Dreamcast games.  Domestic games to the far left, Japanese imports in the middle, and both in dvd cases to the right.  Not my favorite console, but some of the DC shooters are my favorites, like Zero Gunner 2 and Under Defeat.

The middle to bottom of the center are my PS2 games.  The PS2 is not my favorite system, but there were so many games released for it.  Gradius V, Metal Slug Anthology, R-Type Final, and Contra Shattered Soldier are my favs.

The top right are my PC Engine games: Hu Cards, and CD Roms. There are some repro cases (Onslaught reproductions) for loose Hu Cards, and some repro Hu Cards at the bottom right, courtesy of the guys at the Turboreproductions FB group.

Below the PC Engine games are a small collection of GameBoy Advance games, all newly cased.  That little bag contains my SNES to Gamecube controller adapter, as the analog Gamecube controller is not the best fit for 2D gaming, in my opinion.

My Gamecube collection rounds out the right side.  I have really started to appreciate this system of late.  I just wish I had the component cables.


 The top left of the cabinet is my Playstation collection.  Some great shooters here, but the early 3D visuals were a bit of a barrier for me to really get into.  I have three import games: Gradius Gaiden, Raiden DX, and Gunners Heaven. Note that Raiden Project was originally a long box game, but I just printed out a jewel case cover for it.
The middle left is where I keep my Sega CD, Domestic Saturn, and Japanese PS2 games.  I have never liked the oversized Sega cases, so I sold the few that I had and just printed some repro covers in standard DVD cases.  Notice how my Japanese Saturn collection dwarfs my American collection?  That's what I think of the library that they released here.  I don't think I'm alone in thinking this, but the Saturn might have had a fighting chance if some of the Japanese exclusives were released worldwide.

The bottoms left is for my "modern" games.  Most of the Wii games are for my kids.

My beloved Sony Trinitron Wega.  I hope you never die, because I don't want to have to move you ever again.
Top row, left to right: fat PS2, slim Japanese PS2, Japanese Sega Saturn model 2, Dreamcast with Region free bios.

Middle:  Non-TMSS Model 1 Sega Genesis with model 2 Sega CD, 1-chip SNES, component modded PC-Engine Duo

Bottom: Bandridge scart switch and monoprice component switch, RGB modded NES-101, Gamecube and Gameboy Player, N64.

Well, that is that for my collection.  As my taste evolves, I trim and prune the collection here and there, and tailor it to my preferences.  I really try to keep the overall numbers down, and if I feel like it is out growing my space, I weed out more nonessentials and setup a sale on eBay.  As of now, I like how everything fits, and there is a sense of necessary containment that is important for family reasons.  Who knows, maybe in a year I will have an entirely different setup.  I guess it will give me another thing to write about.