Shorpy pics

Shorpy is a wonderful site if you like browsing wonderful old photos at good resolutions.  Here are some photos that tweakbod shared on the Gaming Alexandria server.

1899 Toledo, Ohio. Produce Exchange
Mutoscope!

1905 - Rockaway, New York, circa 1905. The Bowery looking east - 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co
shooting galleries on either side of the street 

1906 - Salem, Massachusetts, Town House Square at Washington and Essex Streets
penny scale 

1910 Utica, New York - United Commercial Travelers of America building
2nd floor shooting gallery

1913 Arcade building, Washington
for the "when did the contemporary game center meaning of arcade first emerge?" research

1922 Washington, D.C. Coin-operated radio in barbershop

1940-02 Truck driver in diner. Clinton, Indiana
1-ball horse race gambling pin

1941 Penny Arcade Kids - Rolling Green Park, located between Selinsgrove and Sunbury, PA

1943-03 Sam Bens and Noah Booher, drivers for Associated Transport Company, having dinner with a textile mill truck driver at a highway stop along U.S. Route 11 near Wytheville, Virginia
another 1-ball gambling machine

1944-06-07 Maser Music showroom, Mission and Washburn streets, San Francisco
Note the gambling pinball machines from Mills at the back: One-Two-Three and Spinning Reels, and a Ray's Tracks or similar derby horserace game.

1950s (late 50s) arcade in Upper Dauphin County, PA

1954 Phenix City, Alabama -- Russell County building and pinball machines
zoom in.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This blog stands in protest against the USA's horrific attempts to eliminate trans people from society. Trans people have always existed, in every society, but the administration has embraced a moral panic, declared a war against reality, and says that trans people can no longer be allowed to exist. This includes making their healthcare illegal, censoring books and school curriculum from university level down to elementary school, banning trans people from bathrooms, and declaring trans existence to be child abuse.

This blog stands in solidarity with all of the youth who are being terrorized by a fascist president that has declared them to be threats that must be eliminated.

The USA is disappearing random brown people off the streets via unidentified masked gestapo and shipping them off to concentration camps and notorious foreign prisons, all with no due process. The world witnessed ICE execute a mother and a nurse and then lie about what we saw. Solidarity for all who are in the gaze of this American Nazism terror campaign against its own people. 

Please read: Elon Musk’s PAC makes transgender people its multi-million-dollar midterm target by Jacob Ogles

Please read: ICE Treatment of Transgender Women Reversing Years-Long Practices by Beth Schwartzapfel

Boss Battle Games in Ottawa!

There is a new retro arcade opening in Ottawa on July 31st! Boss Battle Games first opened in Indianapolis (USA) but now have an Ottawa (Canada) location opening as well.  I was invited to the soft open and have so many pictures and much excitement to share!

 

BOSS BATTLE GAMES!

near St. Laurent mall door #4, right by the Transitway!

located across from the TD Bank

We have to start with my personal forte, PINBALL!  They have a very respectable 7-game lineup with 3 modern LCD machines, 3 DMD games from the 90s, and 1 DMD from the 2000s. These games are all dialed-in and a delight to play! I was so happy to spend some time on Cirqus Voltaire again.

2 minute walk through:

OTTAWA IS NOW A WORLD-CLASS ARCADE DESTINATION.

We just have Experience Social opening with over 70 classic pinball machines.  We have Boss Battle Games giving all of the communal and retro videogame arcade bliss.  We have House Of Targ giving us pinball+perogies+heavy metal+more.  We have Lowertown Brewery giving us pinball amongst big screen sports games. We have the Canadian Pinball Museum just an hour East with another 40 classic pinball machines.

Go check the Ottawa Pinball Map! But that doesn't give you the full picture since Boss Battle has great pins but is a showcase of the arcade games you want to share with your friends.

The curation of machine here is SO INCREDIBLY GOOD!  They cover so much of what you're craving from a retro arcade experience:

• Dance Dance Revolution Super Nova 2 and other rhythm game Guitar Hero.
• Arm Champs II
• Uncanny X-Men 6-player and most of the quarter-sucking team-up group games you could want, including Rampage World Tour, The Simpsons, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Gauntlet Legends
• G-Loc (!!!!) where else are you going to get to experience G-Loc with the hydraulics-controlled cabinet?  They have other hydraulics games like Jurassic Park and Out Run Turbo.
• the immersive Star Wars Trilogy Arcade deserves it's own note because it's so satisfying to sit down and play through the entire thing.
• House Of The Dead and other "on rails" gun games like Razing Storm, Gunblade, Big Buck Hunter Pro, Time Crisis 3, Zombie Raid, and Virtua Cop 2.
• original Lunar  Lander plus other vector games with unique controller schemes, like Tempest, Robotron, and Star Wars!
• a Punch-Out!! and Play Choice 10 with their stacked CRT monitors
• linked driving games like Motor Raid, Hydro Thunder, and Initial D Version 3
• an entire room dedicated to candy cabs!!
• a huge selection of PvP fighting games like Tekken 5, Soul Calibur II, Street Fighter IV, Street Fighter III Third Strike, Street Fighter II Turbo, Marvel Vs Capcom, Legion of Heroes, Killer Instinct 2, Mortal Kombat II, Mortal Kombat 3, Mortal Kombat 4.

If you are a retro arcade and pinball fan, you need to seriously consider a trip to Ottawa to play.

Boss Battle Games @ St. Laurent Mall
1200 St. Laurent Blvd unit 301

 

And now on to the rest of the game pics!

I think the DK has a multi-board in it but the rest seem original.

ROBOTRON 2084 FTW

G-Loc: just an amazing experience

Jurassic Park lives up to the "ride" designation and will massage your ass 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This blog stands in protest against the USA's horrific attempts to eliminate trans people from society. Trans people have always existed, in every society, but the administration has embraced a moral panic, declared a war against reality, and says that trans people can no longer be allowed to exist. This includes making their healthcare illegal, censoring books and school curriculum from university level down to elementary school, banning trans people from bathrooms, and declaring trans existence to be child abuse.

This blog stands in solidarity with all of the youth who are being terrorized by a fascist president that has declared them to be threats that must be eliminated.

The USA is disappearing random brown people off the streets via unidentified masked gestapo and shipping them off to concentration camps and notorious foreign prisons, all with no due process. The world witnessed ICE execute a mother and a nurse and then lie about what we saw. Solidarity for all who are in the gaze of this American Nazism terror campaign against its own people. 

Please read: Transgender ballot initiative could require genital exams for WA secondary school students by Sarah Mizes-Tan

Please read: Idaho pushed anti-trans laws for years. Then a teen died. by Jo Yurcaba

Please read: TERF Activist J.K. Rowling Threatens To Finance Wave Of Attacks On Amnesty International Over Report On Anti-Trans Groups by s. baum

Experience Social: Ottawa's new pinball arcade

Currently in their "soft open" phase, Experience Social is a massive pinball arcade located on Greenbank near Hunt Club.  They have over 70 pinball machines, plus numerous other arcade machines.  They're open long hours and have many days that are $20 to play all day.

If you are in Ottawa?  You need to visit.
If you are not in Ottawa?  Plan a visit.  After the photos I will include a section for people who want to come. 

https://experiencesocial.ca/
250 Greenbank Road 

You can check their lineup on the Ottawa Pinball Map and they also have a games list on their website which also includes the videogames. Please tolerate this barrage of  photos from my old phone.

 

tech hard at work on Baby-Pac

 

 

Video courtesy the PinBallers:

 

 

Visiting Experience Social

If you stay at a hotel near the airport, Experience Social would be about a $20 cab ride to-and-back from Experience Social.

map from Ottawa Airport (YOW) to Experience Social

The venue allows outside food and drinks, but also sells snacks and I believe they will soon be licensed as well.  The venue is all-ages, outside the occasional band-nights. The only downside is that the venue is down a flight of stairs.

So not only is it an economical choice for a family outing, but I think it's the perfect destination for travelers that want to go on an epic pinball vacation without going to the USA.

Experience Social in the broader context of North America

 

Ottawa International Airport is code YOW.  There are some very affordable hotels and motels between the airport and the arcade.  Ottawa is also the capital of Canada so there's lot of great tourist stuff to do here, but let's be real: You're coming for the pinball. 

We have so much pinball to offer you.
(picture unrelated)

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This blog stands in protest against the USA's horrific attempts to eliminate trans people from society. Trans people have always existed, in every society, but the administration has embraced a moral panic, declared a war against reality, and says that trans people can no longer be allowed to exist. This includes making their healthcare illegal, censoring books and school curriculum from university level down to elementary school, banning trans people from bathrooms, and declaring trans existence to be child abuse.

This blog stands in solidarity with all of the youth who are being terrorized by a fascist president that has declared them to be threats that must be eliminated.

The USA is disappearing random brown people off the streets via unidentified masked gestapo and shipping them off to concentration camps and notorious foreign prisons, all with no due process. The world witnessed ICE execute a mother and a nurse and then lie about what we saw. Solidarity for all who are in the gaze of this American Nazism terror campaign against its own people.