Environmental Discs of Tron Roadside Pickup • Hacker News Board

Re: Environmental Discs of Tron Roadside Pickup

#61

Post by ryantgtg » Fri, Jul 28, 2023, 3:04 PM UTC

I had a similar, though less impressive, find last year. I was going to the park with my daughter and spotted a pinball machine dumped near the entrance (in a couple pieces). I did a triple take and then immediately called a friend to help me. It was a Bally Midway Spy Hunter. Much of it was in decent condition, though it clearly had been outside for about a week.

The issue was the previous owner had literally torn the backbox off of the cabinet, and had snipped the two bundles of wires connecting the two (at least 50 color coded wires). So it required woodwork to mount the backbox back on, and rewiring.

It sat it my garage for a few months before I accepted that I wasn’t making progress and I gave it to a friend.

Anyway, yeah, people dump this stuff! My hobby dev project is a pinball one, so it felt very serendipitous to find one sitting on the side of the road.

Re: Environmental Discs of Tron Roadside Pickup

#62

Post by acomjean » Fri, Jul 28, 2023, 3:08 PM UTC

BashiBazouk wrote: post #54

That is a really nice find. I played this one extensively back in the day and it's one of the better games of the era but beyond that it's one of those games that really needs the custom controls. I got it set up on MAME but never found a control mapping that was pleasurable to play.

Custom controls make a huge difference. I remember playing the Atari "Assualt" tank game in college.

It was fun. 2 joysticks, one for each tread (forward and back). You could roll the tank using the joysitcks left right together, or turn the tank up by pulling the joysticks apart. The fire button was on the joysticks. Sounds weird but was pretty intuitive. I tried it emulated, even with 2 analog sticks it wasn't the same.

Tempest has the spinning nob. Centipede had the trackball. That sitdown helicopter game with the elevation control at your right hip. Or intellivision with that wierd 16 direction disc and the keypad. They don't work as well without. analog sticks help some (robotron for example).

There is also the chance that memory of those games has given them a more rosy glow. For example I can't imagine grinding up ulitma3 levels today.. But I did so fairly happily in my youth.

Re: Environmental Discs of Tron Roadside Pickup

#63

Post by op00to » Fri, Jul 28, 2023, 3:09 PM UTC

furyg3 wrote: post #18

baz00 wrote: post #6

I'm not surprised at seeing this. Most of my electronics "purchases" in the 80s to 00s were perfectly good discarded things just thrown out on the street because they were inconvenient or someone bought something shinier. I even got a 2 year old Intel Mac Mini once and used it as a desktop for nearly 3 years! An arcade machine, regardless of how rare it was, would be something I walked straight past though! Too big a…

My friends and I were into computers before this, but four of us got into systems administration and network architecture primarily from dumpster diving around the SF bay area in high school. Sun Microsystems and SGI workstations, Cisco networking equipment, IBM and DEC servers... we got good getting enterprise and/or obscure technology working and talking to each other which gave us a more generalist or fundamental…

I dumpster dived the IBM offices in North Jersey in the 90s. They would trash brand new in the box model Ms, plus huge piles of more esoteric keyboards, equipments, manuals, etc.

Re: Environmental Discs of Tron Roadside Pickup

#64

Post by flapjaxy » Fri, Jul 28, 2023, 3:16 PM UTC

I always wonder, for rare games like this, do folks copy the firmware/ROM to preserve the software for others?

Re: Environmental Discs of Tron Roadside Pickup

#65

Post by epiccoleman » Fri, Jul 28, 2023, 3:24 PM UTC

nsxwolf wrote: post #58

ZiiS wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the price is silly but https://www.ebay.com/itm/275969869915

This is a crazy rare version of an already rare arcade cabinet. I've seen exactly one of these in my entire life. The price may not be that silly if it is in good condition.

As someone who just recently spent a wistful afternoon looking at listings on Pinside, this price barely even seems crazy. It's a bit different since pinball tables have all the mechanical bits and bobs, but still.

Owning a Medieval Madness table has become one of my "boy, if I ever won the lottery" fantasies, and will likely remain that way.

Re: Environmental Discs of Tron Roadside Pickup

#66

Post by jglamine » Fri, Jul 28, 2023, 3:30 PM UTC

I just played this for the first time earlier this week! For anyone who lives in NYC, they have one at the Barcade on 24th st and 7th ave.

Re: Environmental Discs of Tron Roadside Pickup

#67

Post by ryandrake » Fri, Jul 28, 2023, 3:35 PM UTC

acomjean wrote: post #62

BashiBazouk wrote: post #54

That is a really nice find. I played this one extensively back in the day and it's one of the better games of the era but beyond that it's one of those games that really needs the custom controls. I got it set up on MAME but never found a control mapping that was pleasurable to play.

Custom controls make a huge difference. I remember playing the Atari "Assualt" tank game in college. It was fun. 2 joysticks, one for each tread (forward and back). You could roll the tank using the joysitcks left right together, or turn the tank up by pulling the joysticks apart. The fire button was on the joysticks. Sounds weird but was pretty intuitive. I tried it emulated, even with 2 analog sticks it wasn't the…

I feel the controls are an inseparable part of each game. Even if the original cabinet used generic buttons, the precise positions of those buttons are still important. That's why I never really got into MAME cabinets. Wiring up some game ROM to a "least common denominator" (or greatest common multiple) stick/button/ball layout is just unsatisfying and does not adequately replicate the experience of the original cabinet.

That, and emulation is just not perfect, and you can often "feel" when you're playing through an emulator and not the OG electronics.

Re: Environmental Discs of Tron Roadside Pickup

#68

Post by mustacheemperor » Fri, Jul 28, 2023, 3:39 PM UTC

gabereiser wrote: post #17

Dude just happens to find a fully working and in great condition arcade cabinet deluxe from 1983 in 2023? Jesus! What a find! I’m a huge fan of old arcade games and even built a few mame cabinets myself - this is extraordinary. There aren’t very many of those games left let alone working in great condition. Many have lost their CGA monitors or fried their boards.

Per the placard over the Tron pinball machine at the Pacific Pinball Museum, the licensed arcade games made more money than the original Tron movie!

These cabinets are so rare, I have to wonder how it wound up on the curb. I'd imagine there's no way it's a happy story, unfortunately. Someone apparently felt that was worthless.

Re: Environmental Discs of Tron Roadside Pickup

#69

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jul 28, 2023, 3:45 PM UTC

RajT88 wrote: post #19

baz00 wrote: post #6

I'm not surprised at seeing this. Most of my electronics "purchases" in the 80s to 00s were perfectly good discarded things just thrown out on the street because they were inconvenient or someone bought something shinier. I even got a 2 year old Intel Mac Mini once and used it as a desktop for nearly 3 years! An arcade machine, regardless of how rare it was, would be something I walked straight past though! Too big a…

There used to be awesome retro tech to be had at thrift shops, before they figured out there was a collector's market for it. The great finds are far more rare now.

[deleted]

Re: Environmental Discs of Tron Roadside Pickup

#70

Post by ryandrake » Fri, Jul 28, 2023, 3:45 PM UTC

Luc wrote: post #4

I saw this a few days ago on an arcade collector's forum (not based in the US), and the majority reaction was disbelief. People seemed to think it was a hoax. That thing is museum quality. I wonder if it's due to those suburban garages, allowing people to pile up stuff for decades. That and having more cash to buy goodies than most of the rest of the world, of course.

Incredible is really the perfect word to describe this: Both the "extraordinary" definition and the "impossible to believe" definition.

It's too bad the two top-level comments doubting this story have been downvoted into oblivion and dunked on for being cynical. We might not like that line of conversation, but I think it's a legitimate POV that adds to the discussion. This find just seems so...incredible. In what actual universe do you see these kinds of things just left out on the curb?? The only things I see on the curbs in my neighborhood are old junky furniture and kids' toys.

I subscribe to estate sale newsletters to find treasures like this, and have never seen something like this even for sale, let alone free by the side of the road. What an amazing read!