Arcades In Bournemouth

 

Fun Central, Westover Road

This arcade had the usual selection of modern games as well as these awesome triple OutRun 2 SP DLX cabinets.

 

Bournemouth Pier

The pier had some of the latest releases, including Time Crisis 5, Jurassic Park, and Star Wars Battle Pod.  There was also an Airline Pilots DLX triple screen cabinet.

 

The arcade also had an impressive selection of some of the latest pinball tables.

Pleasurewood Hills Theme Park

 

I recently visited Pleasurewood Hills Theme Park, near Lowestoft, Suffolk.  I remember going on family outings and school trips to the theme park, my last visit being around twenty years ago.  I was never one for roller coasters and would spend most of my time in the arcade.  The arcade was quite dated compared with what we had down Yarmouth seafront and the only game I really remember was Prehistoric Isle in 1930, by SNK (1989).  I liked the theme of the game, a horizontal shooter with dinosaurs, and I hadn’t come across it in any other arcade.

Twenty years later and the arcade is completely different, with the usual selection of modern games.  However it was nice to see an OutRun2.

 

 

 

The biggest surprise was Final Lap 2, Namco (1991).

 

 

There is a good chance that this would have been in the arcade on my last visit twenty years ago!  I can’t remember seeing or playing it, but with it’s release five years after OutRun I can’t imagine my younger self would have been particularly impressed with it either.  However this time around I enjoyed a few credits, still set at 20p per go!

I wonder if this ride was inspired by the Atari classic?

Capcom Mini Cute Restoration – Part 6

Monitor
Without doubt the most problematic aspect of the project.  The monitor had some serious burn and the image was terribly washed out.  It was non stock, with a Hitachi tube and a Toei chassis.  Unfortunately 18” monitors are virtually impossible to get hold of in Europe.  They do appear fairly frequently on Yahoo Japan, but shipping costs and the risk of damage makes it an expensive gamble.  I purchased a brand new 17” monitor for this project.  Although not a perfect solution, the new monitor should have a really nice picture and can still be tated. 

 

I made some brackets to fit the monitor in the original frame.  If I ever get hold of a nice 18” monitor, ideally stock Toshiba tube and Sanwa chassis, it will be a straightforward swap. 

PSU
The new monitor has an input voltage of 240V.  The original power supply unit outputs 110V, so I decided to replace it with a new Min Dong unit.  It has a 100V / 220V input selector switch. 
New power supply wired up ready for fitting.  It’s a different size to the original, and I’ve made a new mounting plate.

Control Panel
Some pics of the fitted panel.

NERG 2015

NERG 2015 was held at Gateshead International Stadium on the 20^th and 21^st of June.  The event had an awesome selection of arcade cabinets, pinball tables and consoles.

 

 

Here are some of my gaming highlights of the weekend.

Space Harrier

Welcome to the Fantasy Zone.  Get ready!

 

 

 

I last played the arcade machine a couple of years ago in Mikado arcade, Japan.  One of Sega’s greatest arcade games, it was awesome playing it again.

 

Star Wars Racer Arcade DLX

This was the most popular title of the weekend, with people queuing up to play it. 

 

 

There is a cool story behind this machine.  The cabinet was salvaged from a warehouse in Sunderland in 2014, and was formerly sited at Metroland at the Metrocentre in Gateshead.  Easily the best thing to come out of The Phantom Menace, the game is loads of fun and the graphics still impress today.

 

Hikaru power!

Midnight Resistance

Awesome game, I really need to get this set up in one of my cabs.

Road Blasters

I vaguely remember this from back in the day, it was great to revisit this classic.

 

However I’ll have to improve my game to get a t-shirt!

The console section was impressive, with several machines I had never played on before. 

It was cool to finally play the FM Towns Marty Splatterhouse conversion.

 

There was a nice selection of traders.  I picked up a Retron 5 console and a couple of Megadrive games.

 

I had an awesome weekend of gaming and I’m already looking forward to NERG 2016.  Here is a video of the arcade section and some more pics.