Seattle Pink Gorilla Shmupmeet & RanBats - November 27

[RNGmaster]

Can I bring some food next time? Just want to make it a bit more welcoming, and thus more likely to seem like a full-blown event.

[marus]

I'm cool with food, as long as its not super messy or anything.

[marus]

Hey guys. sorry for the slow updates. I'm just waiting to figure some stuff out with the store before I post anything.

Oh yeah, hi Dan!

[bobbyconover]

Hey everyone, I can only imagine most of you have heard the news by now, but if not.. The arcade's finished. I posted some goodbyes and thank-yous on Facebook if you guys would like to read them.

You guys, and our shmupmeets, will endure as my favorite memories of the arcade. Believe it or not I'd still love to try to pull something together for future shmupmeets, even if it's just a bunch of us hanging out in someone's garage. I'll drag a cab or two out to wherever we can find space! And better yet, I will be actively looking for a new place to put my games in the future, so there's still a lot of hope. If I launch a second arcade it can only improve upon the previous one, so I'm looking forward to it!

I'd write a lot more but I'm totally exhausted from the emotional and physical stress of moving all these games around, not to mention the bitterness and slander that some of the PG guys have been spewing. I still have a lot more moving to do tomorrow, but I'll stay in touch and answer any questions anyone might have. Also you all might want to join my "20XX Amusements" page on Facebook, where I'll announce developments in the future (if there are any!)

Thanks.. I love you guys!

[EPS21]

Oh man this is horrible, I regret not being able to come up there more often, because an arcade like this is so rare and honestly didn't think I'd live so close to such a place up here in the pnw... although it always seemed the relationship with this gig and the PG guys were always on ice, I didn't think it'd end so soon Sounds like things got pretty ugly the way you put it, but at least you don't have to deal with them anymore.

Good luck with your future endeavors, glad to see you keep trying and I'll be behind you 100%, all the effort to making the arcade great for us players and organizing all the events really showed how much you care about arcades and the culture, something that is so rare in most other of these establishments.

Looking forward to your updates, and I hope our shmupmeets will continue, somewhere else temporarily and than at your bigger and better place

[marus]

It's sad that it had to come to this, but in all honesty this is probably for the best in the long-term. PG never really saw eye-to-eye with Bobby about how to run the arcade, so in the end it'll be better for all of us when Bobby can find a setup that's more agreeable. From what I've been hearing, we will be looking to set up some other machines in the back (including possibly buying our own), but in all seriousness we'll be lucky if we can find people that were even a fraction as passionate about running the arcade and organizing events with different communities as Bobby was.

Best of luck to you Bobby in finding a new place. This was the best arcade I've seen in the U.S. I'm happy I got to take part of it, and I hope we can all take part in a bigger and better one down the road!

As far as the shmupmeets go, I'd still like to continue them in some fashion for now, even if not as big as before. One of the best things to me about these past meets was seeing so many people come together to play such a niche selection of games, and I don't want to see that end. Unfortunately, this turn of events pretty much leaves us at the same point we were before PG in that we need to find a new place to run events. I'll be thinking about other places we could hold meets, but until then if anybody has any suggestions I'm all ears.

[bobbyconover]

From what I've been hearing, we will be looking to set up some other machines in the back (including possibly buying our own), but in all seriousness we'll be lucky if we can find people that were even a fraction as passionate about running the arcade and organizing events with different communities as Bobby was.

Well, if you keep working there I sincerely hope they don't end up roping you in to be their "new arcade guy" or anything like that, because I think you'll find it's really not worth it.

When I first signed on, many people who had had bad dealings with PG in the past warned me that I was "making a deal with the devil" and such, and I basically laughed and shrugged them off, and spent the following year trying to defend PG to them. But at the end of the day they're just indefensible.

[marus]

Well, I don't really know what my long term plans are as far as the store goes. Right now I'm just treating it as my part-time job, and then I'll see where life goes after I get my college degree. Internally things can be kinda messy, and I know some of the guys here treated you like shit, but for now I still enjoy working here and don't have any plans to leave. I do hope though, as far as a new arcade goes, that they're plan isn't just to have me take care of everything, because: a) I only know a little bit about arcade hardware, so I'd basically be learning as I go, and b) I'm not going to be there forever. Of course if we do start a new arcade I'll do my best to run it properly as far as keeping everything in good shape and organizing events, but realistically speaking there's only so much I can do by myself. But yeah, I'm just taking things one step at a time for now.

Anyways, I'd rather not clutter this thread with drama about the store, so if you want to talk more then message me on facebook or something (but not today, I need to focus on finals!). Let's keep this thread focused on finding a new venue for meets!

[wnka]

Thanks for everything Bobby. While it really sucks to see you go, hopefully your new endeavors will be better for you. Let us know when and where we can dump quarters into your machines again!

[Vexorg]

Sorry to see the arcade go, but it sounds like something will work out. At some point I'm going to need to get my Dodonpachi board back, but I'm not in a big hurry.

[bobbyconover]

Anyways, I'd rather not clutter this thread with drama about the store, so if you want to talk more then message me on facebook or something (but not today, I need to focus on finals!). Let's keep this thread focused on finding a new venue for meets!

Yeah, that's probably best. Also I know you want to keep your job and are in a kinda awkward position as far as talking about it.

I'll have to see how it all pans out as far as the eventual places for the cabs, but I might end up having to keep several of them in my unfinished living room upstairs at my place. It's basically a construction site but it has space, so maybe just maybe I can end up hosting something. For the moment let's not bank on that, though, since I obviously have a lot to sort through in the immediate future.. I'll let you guys know if it ends up being a real possibility.

And Vexorg, of course, I'll pull the DDP PCB and get it back to you ASAP. I haven't even finished unloading the candy cabs from the truck yet, though. Thanks a ton for letting me use it -- I know everyone really appreciated it!

[RNGmaster]

Oh man, this came as a huge shock to me just reading through. I'll be busy thinking of places to organize - my parents probably aren't OK with my house being used as the site (obviously) but I can think of some places that might be willing to host us. And if it comes down to starting from scratch, I'd be happy to donate what little I have to make things work.

[seattlexc]

Sad news but I'm glad you finally got out of that shitty situation that seemed to be more stressful then enjoyable for you. It's really too sad that the PG people were such a pain in the ass to work with, but I hope you got some great experience and at least a few quarters out of the whole ordeal.

If you need any help on your future endeavors, let me know. I'd love to help you create a second arcade in a more positive environment. Also, if you ever get a location set up and have space for another cabinet, I've got a lonely Sky Shark cab that could use some lovin

[RNGmaster]

Guys guys I just had either the best or worst idea ever. What if we buy an 18-wheeler truck, hook it up to a generator, and place the cabs in there? If we add lights and furnishings, it would be really comfortable, and we would have the distinction of being the only moving arcade in the world! I got this idea from all the taco trucks in Seattle.

So, can we?

[marus]

EDIT: That actually sounds pretty fun, but there's no way we could make that work.

[bobbyconover]

Haha! That's actually not the worst idea ever. I have run extension cords out to trucks full of games and played them that way, including F-Zero AX Deluxe, which felt like it was about to make the truck topple over when the seat moved!



One thing that might work is that I'm renting my friend's garage.. It's packed full to the brim right now but I'm probably going to be selling some cabinets off -- nothing any of you would be interested in like candy cabs, more like the broken Police 911 and STUN Runner. But theoretically once I do that, and have more room to maneuver around, I might be able to set up candys in an arrangement that would work for a meet. It'd probably be at least a couple of months until that could happen, though. We might just have to come to terms with the fact that we have to put the meets (and the RanBat "season") on hold for a bit, unless someone wants to host an all-console type of gathering in their apartment.

[RNGmaster]

All right, so how can we get the arcade back on track? It's clear that we won't be getting into Pink Gorilla's good graces anymore, so it's up to us to start a new arcade. Hopefully, it'll attract more gamers from around Seattle if it's in a space advertised as JUST a Japanese-style arcade, and not a game store/arcade.
We'll need open space and money to pay the rent, as well as publicity and money for other infrastructure (lights, heating and cooling, food). To that end, I'd like to know how much we can communally donate to the arcade's starting costs. However, we can't do this alone.
And thus begins Project Arcade Resurrection. Our goal? A place to create new bullet-fiends and arcade-apppreciators, a place that can house our meets and accommodate larger crowds as the meets grow and evolve.

I'm starting a thread on the Shmups board that outlines our cause and asks for donations. I have no doubt that some of our fellows will sympathize with our cause and agree to help us out (and considering the scope of our collections around here, I suspect some of the denizens have very deep pockets).

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!

I'm already in charge of a year-long project or two in school (I'm helping to build a MAME console for drafting class, and that involves a good deal of scheduling, making lists of deliverables, personal communication, and goal-setting). I figure that it's best if we go about our task by first looking at our options, making a list of what we have and what we still need, and generally thinking before we take steps into the treacherous ocean of the real estate market (and this is without even considering if an arcade could even be financially viable on its own in the current economy - I'll be looking into that first thing).

I would appreciate suggestions on how to proceed, as well as any ideas that might pop into your heads.

[marus]

I'm glad that you're excited about reviving the arcade, but really this is Bobby's establishment, and none of us should be intruding on him to get a new arcade up and running unless he asks us to. We especially shouldn't be doing things like asking for donations on his behalf - first of all, no one but Bobby has the right to do so, and secondly there isn't even any reason to do so until he has a solid plan in place. The main way we can help him right now is to try and find a place that would be suitable and willing to have a Japanese-style arcade.

About the shmupmeets, I'm still thinking about ideas for places, but until we find a better setup I'd be willing to open my apartment for meets once in a while. Honestly it's not very big - I could probably hold up to 8 people comfortably; maybe a few more but it would get pretty crowded past that. I currently have 3 setups we could use (a tate-able 22" LCD monitor, 27" CRT, and a 32" LCD TV which honestly isn't that good for shmups but still works, or could be used to show superplays or play something else). There's room to house a few more setups or cabinets as well, as long as we don't blow any power. It won't be as grand as before, but it'll still give everyone a chance to come together and play, as well as talk about what we want to do in the future. What do you all think?

[RNGmaster]

I'm glad that you're excited about reviving the arcade, but really this is Bobby's establishment, and none of us should be intruding on him to get a new arcade up and running unless he asks us to. We especially shouldn't be doing things like asking for donations on his behalf - first of all, no one but Bobby has the right to do so, and secondly there isn't even any reason to do so until he has a solid plan in place. The main way we can help him right now is to try and find a place that would be suitable and willing to have a Japanese-style arcade.

I should probably refrain from being so enthusiastic. I'm certainly glad to help contribute by looking for new places - and in fact, some of the people in the Starting an Arcade thread had some good ideas of what kind of places.

And yeah, it would be fine to hold the meets in your apartment for the interim, but how will we get the cabs in and out, and will your neighbors object to the noise?

[marus]

If we do it at my place it would have to be mostly consoles, which is the main downside. I'm on the third floor - there's an elevator though, and I think my doorway is large enough, so it'll be doable to bring cabs as long as you can get them to my apartment somehow - but yeah, it won't be painless.

About my neighbors - I've had people over before for video games, and haven't had any complaints. Frankly, most of my fighting game friends are louder than you guys, so I doubt that would be a problem as long as no one gets out of hand.

[RNGmaster]

Frankly, most of my fighting game friends are louder than you guys, so I doubt that would be a problem as long as no one gets out of hand.

[renardqueenston]

if it's in a space advertised as JUST a Japanese-style arcade, and not a game store/arcade

a bit off track here, but just saying that this won't attract anybody new at all. just "arcade" works fine. anything else is way too niche for most areas.

[RNGmaster]

That was a stupid suggestion I made earlier; pay no attention to it. The main talk about a new arcade has moved to the "starting an arcade" thread and the equivalent on TIGsource. If you look there, you'll see that not only am I absolutely not in charge of what's going on (it's up to Bobby and Dragonmaw), but the proposed arcade is a combination cafe/meeting spot/arcade/pinball venue.

This thread is just about planning meetings in the interim while the new arcade hasn't been completed yet.

Speaking of which, marus, should we wait a while before the next meet or can we start polling for the best time in the near future?

[marus]

I'm still trying to find other places we can hold meets, but if everyone's okay with doing a mini-meet at my place, then sure, it's okay to talk about what day works for everyone. Sundays work best for me - if we decide on Saturday then I'll need a couple weeks to make sure I can get that day off from work, unless you want to start the meet late like 10pm or something.

[gum_drops]

Damn, sucks that it shut down so quickly. Thats what I get for dragging my feet. I wish I had at least visited once, I only live about 10 minutes for the district