The Lost Coin-Op: One Last Hitch …
(Photo by Vincent Diamante - again!)
Me: “Okay, so let me confirm. You bought the Mr. Do! - the same one I played as a kid - from Duane Webb Holden in 1996.”
This guy I’m on the phone with: “Yes.”
“And you sold it to someone around 2000. And the someone you sold it to still has it.”
“Yes.”
“So you know where this game is, right now, right this minute?”
“Absolutely.”
Jackpot!
… But there’s a catch.
I was on the phone today with a video game collector, who prefers to go nameless. So let’s tag him The Collector. In 1996, he bought my Mr. Do!, and then he sold it to someone else. And he can tell me the buyer. But naturally, he wants something first.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to make you talk dirty to me or anything,” he said with a gruff guffaw. I was about to offer to let my boot talk dirty to his backside, but I held my tongue.
He went on, “You’re web-savvy. You’re a blogger. There’s something you can help me with.”
The Collector is starting a social networking site that gathers game scores. He’s planning to compete with Twin Galaxies, but instead of cataloging high scores, he wants any scores. Instead of asking for videotaped verification or calling in referees, he just wants to hear your stories - who was watching over your shoulder, what kind of chili dog you ate afterwards. It’s your typical social networking 2.0 community. And he wants to make a billion bucks.
“Can’t you just set something up on Ning?” I asked.
Snidely he replied, “How am I going to get venture cap on a Ning site?”
Okay. So here’s the deal: he needs seed content. That means he needs people’s scores. And he gave me an unusual proposition, and I need all of your help.
We need to go out and play coin-op video games. Any video game, anywhere. Retro is preferred, but modern games, e.g. Big Buck Hunter: Sarah Palin 2012 Edition, will do. Play a game, get as high a score as you can, and write it down - a picture of the screen is best, but shooting the whole coin-op is fine, and if you don’t have a camera, just write in and tell me what you scored and where you were. The Collector is very trusting. (This is Web 2.0, after all.)
Here’s what we’re after: all of the points that all of us score will be added into one big pile. As soon as we get 100,000 points, the Collector will give me a hint about where the Mr. Do! ended up. As we get more points, he’ll give up more clues, at 500,000, 1 million, and 2 million. And if we hit 5 million points, he’ll just shoot me a map - and he’ll even throw in a plastic cup full of quarters.
This is the end of the line. But I have to get my hands on that coin-op before the end of the month, or I lose my bet. So we’ve got all this week, plus Memorial Day Weekend. If you’re at a rest stop on the highway, if you’re staying at a resort, if you go out for pizza and you see a Ms. Pac-Man in the corner - give it a spin. In fact, as silly as this exercise sounds, I think it’ll be good for us. Remember when people used to play retro games in public, and not on Xbox Live Arcade? Remember when that last life mattered, because it would cost you 25 cents to get another one? Well - you’re about to.
I’ll keep the running tally here on the scoreboard, and every time I get a new clue, you’ll hear from me here or on Twitter. Post your data here or send me your pics and info at snarl.pixel.vixen [ at ] gmail.com. And good luck!
UPDATE: To clarify a rule: I just confirmed that the Collector will only take one score per game per gamer. That means, please don’t play Ms. Pac-Man 20 times and add up your scores; just send in the best one. But you can make the rounds of your local arcade and send in 40 different scores.
19/05/2009 at 2:53 pm Permalink
Just @ ClubHouse pub played their “Pub Quiz” Machine, made it to Round 2 of questions- then got hosed by a bunch of british pop culture Q’s because I’m just a Yank here in Oxford. ‘Fraid we don’t have arcade machines over here- just our Pub quiz machines! Hope that will do!
19/05/2009 at 5:33 pm Permalink
what a fun challenge.. I brought 3 high scores to the table today for a super grand total of 1,292,265 points!!
(Pics of scores are here!)
Take THAT Mr Mystery Collector Dude!!! hehe
19/05/2009 at 6:45 pm Permalink
Tom - You’re making me laugh. I can’t even imagine the kind of questions that would make up the challenge round of a British pub quiz machine. I’m not sure I can use this without a score but I will make sure to keep that story.
TWiG - Whoa! That’s awesome! But I need to check with the Collector to see if he’ll take multiple scores, or just the highest score per person per game. But we’ve got at least 621,192 on 1944: The Loop Master. That alone is good for two hints. Expect to hear more tomorrow!
20/05/2009 at 7:42 am Permalink
Very entertaining series of posts, but I call husspit on the whole thing. There will probably be a big reveal at the end that this is all some meta, real life ‘mmo’ example of new game design or something. If this all devolves into a gotcha moment, or a long discussion into whether or not this is a post modern video game, or the theory of what makes something a video game, or (heaven forbid) just a gag to drive up readership… I am going to be P.O’ed.
I am fully expecting a picture of you playing the heck out of that flipping game after all of this…
And I scored 3045 point units at Bubble Bobble last night whilst I was eating some cream of ice. Please to add those to the total. Thanks you Missus Vixen.
20/05/2009 at 8:21 am Permalink
Joker - psst: http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2009/05/reality_as_it_is_today.htm#more
And here’s my Galaga score from the Bowlorama in Portsmouth NH. It’s not that high, I might go back and try to beat it.
20/05/2009 at 5:54 pm Permalink
There aren’t any arcades locally that still hold games, but earlier i played on a MAME cabinet they’ve got at a club i visit a couple of times a week (it’s got the coin box enabled so technically it counts as a coin-op) and scored 418,600 on the Tehkan game Star Force, reaching Theta area in the process. i might be there again tomorrow (well, today since we’re well past midnight here) so if i get the time i’ll have a go at getting a couple more scores.
What is mildly bizarre is that even after reading the link savetherobot posted i still want to help… s’almost like i’m ignoring what i read, but my grip on reality is questionable even on the good days. =-)
20/05/2009 at 6:07 pm Permalink
Hmm, savetherobot’s first link doesn’t work for me for some reason. God, are you posting pictures of your kid again? Don’t make me disemvowel you.
Jason - awesome! You just pushed us over 1 million! I put up a scoreboard to help us keep track, and I’m adding yours now!
23/05/2009 at 1:07 am Permalink
Got a couple more scores yesterday: might have some time to go play today as well depending on how things pan out.
261,760 on Konami’s Thundercross 2 (reached level 4).
208,040 on Capcom’s 1942.
25/05/2009 at 4:13 pm Permalink
Jason, thank you! Got ‘em on the scoreboard. Thanks to you, we’re almost at the last clue!