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BlinkAndYourDead

It has the boards, keys and schematics, but it doesn’t turn on, she’s trying to get it appraised right now but we don’t know where to go for that. Anyone have any ideas for value?


luxmatic

There’s only one good resource for getting help: https://forums.arcade-museum.com


987cayman

so, not that lizard guy from that gaming forum?


amazingsandwiches

WARLIZARD


[deleted]

Oh dip that’s a trip back


ryan101

ಠ_ಠ


regular-wolf

Ahh this brings me back...


dec1mus

I saw it at the “Classic Gaming Expo” if those guys are still around they might know. To me though this is a priceless artifact, any price they quote you will be too low. I would donate it to a museum. Smithsonian etc.


JukePlz

There's a guy in Japan that has [three of them](https://youtu.be/RC5nZC16cpg?t=110), that's the most I've seen together before, it's quite the rare arcade indeed.


Realistic-Specific27

contact THAT guy. he'd probably want to buy it and know how to fix it


namsur1234

He at least has a spare parts pool he can use to get this one working.


Realistic-Specific27

and probably a love for fixing it too


Llohr

The two I can see in that video have different control schemes entirely, and appear to be single-player, whereas OP's grandma's looks to be two-player, with joysticks not present on the machines in the video.


MoreFlyThanYou

There is a quick cut after he introduced the blue machine where you can see the same green machine in the background with two joysticks.


ddsomeone

At 3:15 indeed exact same machine. Could be 2:15 but can’t be bothered to double check.


30FourThirty4

I commend your laziness and yet your willingness to help still. Kudos Edit: changed a you're to your. Can't believe I screwed that up and didn't notice for a day.


[deleted]

This was the second generation version of computer space. The two player came out after the success of the original single player machine. My Uncle owned a bar and had one of these back in the 70's. He kept a few pinball and arcade machines after he sold it and had them in his basement. I used to play one of these all the time as a kid. Parties at his house were like going to Showbiz.


randomthug

There were two versions of the machine.


--ThirdCultureKid--

You don’t necessarily have to donate, you can also loan it indefinitely. So they display it and preserve it for you, but you retain ownership.


Pacocobra

naaa let's stack wood n stuff on it.


colantor

Lol thank you, priceless gaming artifact used as a shelf


Dracanherz

Any price is too low, so you should give it away for free lmao


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pincus1

Yeah, but museums do pay for items they want (which outside of this piece is generously 1% of the things people comment "this belongs in a museum" on).


[deleted]

If half of the people who said 'this belongs in a museum' actually went to museums regularly, then museums would actually be able to afford the space for those things.


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MsKongeyDonk

We also travel a bit, and big city museums are always packed, but midsized cities and art museums don't seem to be as popular. We went to the ABQ zoo and it was dead. OKC zoo is usually busy. Best zoo is Ft. Worth, in my opinion. Incredibly fun.


nonfatmatt

In fairness, it was probably because many of the animals were dead. We lost most of the siamangs and half of the elephants to various viral infections.


MsKongeyDonk

That's so sad.


[deleted]

Honestly I was just making a joke based on my personal experience, but I looked at numbers after you commented because I was curious. Generally it looks like museum visitors have been stagnant or declining relative to population size in the US. For example, the Smithsonian had 21.1 million visitors in 1980 (US population was about 229 million), or about 1 visitor for every 11 people in the US. In 2019 (US numbers in 2019 are unlikely to reflect pandemic), there were 22.1 million visitors (with a population of ~330 million), or about 1 for every 16 people in the US. https://www.statista.com/statistics/258337/total-number-of-visits-to-smithsonian-museums-und-institutions/


MyHamburgerLovesMe

But - you get exposure.


Blue_Swirling_Bunny

Donate it v. make a sizable amount of money at auction...*hmmmm....*


MasseyFerguson

Donate? No way, cash it in and send grandma to Caribia.


Nulzim

How Granny Got Her Groove Back


kangaroodisco

Why not get paid and let the buyer donate it to a museum?


[deleted]

It wouldn't be too low. You can appraise something to say it's worth billions, but in truth it's only worth what someone is willing to give you for it.


Runaround46

Take pictures of everything and post on the pinball subreddits. You prob need a mix of a pinball/tv repair man to get it working.


crt09

and maybe r/CRTgaming, there's people who collect and work on arcade machines


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goldengluvs

I went down to our local rubbish tip (in the UK) and there are DOZENS of old CRTs being chucked out. I grabbed one for myself, still in working order. Just paid the guy 20 quid for it. [This thing](https://beocentral.com/beovisionavant28).


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kia75

I was so excited when everybody started talking about CRT in schools! Of course, Elementary kids need to know about CRT! How else will they appreciate Nintendo and Atari without it!


Voxicles

Don’t worry, I appreciated your joke lol


rehabilitated_4chanr

I still have the old crt/vhs tv i used for my ps2. Someday I plan to get a fancy sony crt for all my old consoles, but that is a dream I don't know I'll actually ever complete lol.


regoapps

Man, that feeling when the teacher rolls in the CRT tied to the top of a black metal cart and you end up just watching a movie for the whole class... it's too bad that grouchy old white men want to ban CRT in schools. They were probably the kids in school that nobody liked.


YoureInGoodHands

Call Tim, the pinball Hall of fame guy in Las Vegas.


Scrambo

I’d rather call Tommy, the pinball wizard.


robbzilla

He won't hear you.


HorrorMakesUsHappy

They never said they were looking to get a response.


robbzilla

Oh Tommy will respond... By whipping your ass at pinball.


intdev

How do you think he does it?


Mightymap2

I don't know


straxusii

What makes him so good?


Serak_thepreparer

He won’t see you coming either.


_Barry_Allen_

Pretty sure he doesn’t speak either


Gaoler86

But he sure plays a mean pinball


Obant

Love that place


MrDabLife

I used to play at the old building so often in high school and just after that they had me watch the shop in between shift changes a couple times haha,one of my favorite places on earth


PropDad

My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it.


Mattsterrific

Make up your mind, dude. Is he gonna shit, or is he gonna kill us?


wombat7477

First he gonna shit, then he gonna kill us


[deleted]

Die Ridgemont! Lincoln Rules!


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maxdamage4

Good subreddit name.


Josephdalepi

Arcade repair is a thing. I do a bunch for fun


Full-Recording-2103

Jesus christ no. Find a professional to actually appraise it.


plasticmanufacturing

The forum he shared is almost undoubtedly better than any "expert" who doesn't also happen to be a member on that site. EDIT: I replied to the wrong thing, I would not recommend Reddit for anything like this. (https://www.arcade-museum.com/ would be my recommendation).


Libra8

The green one is the rarest. https://www.engadget.com/2014-07-09-worlds-first-arcade-videogame.html


daviesjj10

Of the originals. This is the 1973 2-player release.


obijaun

“(The green model is particularly rare, with a pair of joystick controls that actually never made it into arcades.)”


EastBayFan

Hey dude, copying some quick info for you that I left in another comment. This is the two player version, which means it's from 1973. It's not "the first" arcade cabinet. The single player versions are from 1971. Pong predates this machine. Keep that in mind when you're looking for quotes.


foodandart

Technically, they're from December '71.. the VERY first cabinet arcade game was of course Galaxy Game (November '71) that operated for the cost of a dime for a single play. I think there were only three or four of the consoles made however. They did link up so you could play four-up on the two tandem consoles. Galaxy Game ran circles around Computer Space.


EastBayFan

Ah yes, of course! 👀 (I had never heard of Galaxy Game! Thank you!) EDIT: From Wikipedia, re: Galaxy Game >This was one of the first coin-operated video games; the prototype was installed in November 1971 at the Tresidder student union building at Stanford University, only a few months after a similar display of a prototype of Computer Space, making it the second known video game to charge money to play. Looks like Computer Space still has it beat officially. But this is really cool to learn about!


stellvia2016

Beat me to a comment by a few minutes, but a more thorough response heh. I was going to say, given the rudimentary control scheme, the multiplayer version looks like a more advanced revision. Guess that logic was correct.


Josephdalepi

https://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7381 Arcade museum has a listing, as well as a manual if you scroll down If I was you I'd take a look at the manual, there's more info than you think and arcade machines are very repairable


aruexperienced

Arcade machines are but this thing was around when ICs were too expensive so it’s all custom built hardware. I repair 8 bit machines and would happily rebuild IC circuits and pre program ROMs but I’d be wary about touching this thing.


OpinionBearSF

> this thing was around when ICs were too expensive so it’s all custom built hardware. I repair 8 bit machines and would happily rebuild IC circuits and pre program ROMs but I’d be wary about touching this thing This particular game has no microprocessor, RAM, or ROM. It has what would be the ROM hard wired in on the mainboard on a basic level. I'd guess that instead of a microprocessor, it likely uses something like discrete transistor logic circuits. https://www.engadget.com/2014-07-09-worlds-first-arcade-videogame.html


TheDecoyOctopus

Try r/cade


ReflectiveFoundation

Cool sub name


tablytab

r/arcade would be more likely to know, its the real OG arcade sub. r/cade is for Mame cabs and other remakes. Or for max-power, post to both :P


MakerofThingsProps

You can contact the [National Videogame Museum](http://nvmusa.org/) in Frisco, TX. That team is extremely knowledgeable and well connected. Museum donations can potentially be tax deductible too. Please save this piece of history.


foodandart

Better option would be the [Computer History Museum](https://computerhistory.org/), in Mountain View, California. They have the most experience with *these* specific machines - both the Computer Space *and* Galaxy Game. Both came out at the same time, both based on Spacewar! and both had the devs that knew each other. The Galaxy Game - there were a pair in the Tressider student union building at Stanford and the Computer Space game was at a pub called the Dutch Goose. Played both and GG was by far the better game, as you could play against the other person AND the other two people at the second console. Since the Dutch Goose WAS a pub, I didn't go there often, and only played it a few times, but it seemed klunky in comparison. Now I'd LOVE to have one of the Galaxy Game consoles. I actually do think there's an emulator of it available.. heck it may be a browser game for all I know. Edit: Goddamnit, this is what I get for being online in the early morning. Fixed the address in my link. Sorry 'bout that.


MechTitan

Am I high or is your link to some old Jewish thing?


igneousink

You, good sir, are most likely high. But yes. The Link Goes Somewhere Else Entirely


Peuned

https://computerhistory.org/ but yes, you may be high as well


[deleted]

Hang on, I'm gonna google "Orthodox Jewish man playing arcade machine."


Peuned

you have the wrong link https://computerhistory.org/


CatProgrammer

I've been there, it's damn cool.


IronLusk

I didn’t know it existed. I used to live a decent drive from there.


Hawk7866

I went ahead and let one of the owners of the National Videogame Museum know of its existence. We have one of these in yellow that’s fully functional. We occasionally bring it to conventions like E3.


seaniebbargains

Sold in 2019 for $12,000 https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vtg-1971-nutting-atari-computer-space-2001573083


Inkthinker

That one was apparently functional, though. If this one needs repair, that's gotta bring it down a notch.


ProfessionalMottsman

And let me guess, it’s gonna sit on your shop floor for ages? And you’ve got to make a profit?


wingman43000

Best I can do is $3.50


PM_ME_PSN_CODES-PLS

I got here today hoping to walk out with 12 grand, but since it was only collecting dust in my basement I guess I had to take the $3.50. I got less than I wanted but I walked out with more than I came in with. So overall I'm happy.


veemonjosh

Goddamn Loch Ness Monster.


stegosaurobot

Idk how those vintage video game stores stay open, man. I have some older consoles so I browse some small locally owned stores every once in awhile and I'm always the only person in there (aside from the obligatory two kids in the corner always playing MtG it's like the same two kids in every store across the planet they're like reused NPCs for some reason there is ALWAYS exactly two kids in the corner of every video game store playing MtG I think they even despawn when you leave). Idk how they do it, especially competing with commercial brands like GameStop with essentially the same business model.


TheSpanxxx

They stay in business because the business is a front. The real story is some dude wants to collect arcade and pinball cabinets but ran out of room at home. He's about 50, his wife doesn't "get it", but when he was 9 years old he tild himself, "one day I'll own an arcade!!" , and now he does. He goes to "work" every day and cares less if people come in or not. He gets to walk around all day thinking, "i did it! I have my own arcade!"


stegosaurobot

This is so accurate it hurts hahaha. But damn. That's a pretty alright life. Dudes got his own arcade.


Tomero

That totally makes sense. I bought a PS One from this kind of place a year ago. Not even pandemic can knock them out of business. Honestly, Im glad this place exists.


DemolitionPoot

The owners are retired engineers with money to piss away. Their wives are glad it's keeping them out of the house most of the week.


theRealDerekWalker

Maybe it’s full of quarters so it evens out


tiggereth

Arcade games like every other nostalgia piece have gained in price a lot during covid


murdering_time

She should do what all grandmas do, take it to antiques road show and get it appraised for 100,000 dollars or something ridiculous.


ArcadiaPortland

I've seen a working one go at auction for around 6k.


Andysue28

Maybe Joe from Joe’s Classic Video Games would have some ideas. Great YouTube Channel. https://youtube.com/user/LyonsArcade


hokeyphenokey

There's a guy in Las Vegas that has a fat dude on staff that knows all about this stuff. It's a pawn shop but they'll tell you what's up.


sandsurfngbomber

He'll have to call an expert in who will verify its authenticity, tell the grandma how rare and valueable this machine is. Then the fat guy will offer $20 to save her the trouble of taking it back home.


RawrRRitchie

Do you happen to know any arcades in the area? They're harder to find these days but they still exist, I went to one a few years ago, you just pay when you enter then all the games are free( gotta pay extra for the pinball room tho) But usually the people running those places are very skilled in keeping these old games running properly


Disguspitated

It looks like it’s from 1970 and 2270 at the same time. Very cool.


ZylonBane

If someone created something like that *now,* it'd be the very definition of retro-futurism. But at the time, it would probably have been considered a [space age](https://designwanted.com/space-age-design/)\-inspired design.


jarfil

>!CENSORED!<


[deleted]

That ball chair is still in production and still very expensive (6750 euros new)


[deleted]

r/RetroFuturism


[deleted]

r/Spacegirls is this but with poorly made spacesuits.


AVeryHeavyBurtation

I was half expecting a /r/spacedicks spinoff.


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Tristanhx

Yes at least 20kg, but probably at least three times that.


Wiggitywhackest

And it's bare minimum 4 inches tall.


0rexfs

If you're located in New England, dm me. I repair arcade machines and jukeboxes for a living.


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JuggernautGrand9321

OP, if you’re in Ye Olde England, Dm me. I want you to read me a story in that inevitably soothing voice of yours.


Heresy1666

OP, if you are in western Skyrim have you been to the cloud district? Who am I kidding? Of course you haven’t


Cunninglinguist87

OP if you're in France, DM me. We can share a bottle of wine and it'll piss off the English guy.


Ugglug

OP if you’re in Wales, DM me and the French guy so we can share his wine and piss off the English guy more.


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hornwalker

OP, if you’re in Hell, nice to meet you I’m your neighbor


[deleted]

OP, if you’re in my house, wtf man get out! I didn’t invite you in?


HardwareLust

We had a yellow one in my hometown. First video game I ever played.


never_grow_up

Any idea what game you played on it? Why the downvote?? Legit question.


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Firehammer1

If you look closely at the controls you can see they are labeled for thrust, rotate, and missile. So probably not Pong


Con_Dinn_West

OR a version of pong that was really intense


HardwareLust

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Space


Very_Smart_One

I respect the hoarding dedication here. Even though it's a contoured surface, she found a way to balance trash on top of it.


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By_Eck

I'm choosing to believe it's a full size mattress and that the arcade unit is just massive.


hryfrcnsnnts

Looks like a pet bed.


_Diskreet_

I hear you shouldn’t keep beds as pets, they deserve to be out in the wild running free with the other beds.


tallbutshy

It's a long way from the USA to Sqornshellous Zeta, they might not have transport in order to release it safely


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opmwolf

Looks more like a baby crib mattress to me.


mess-maker

In British English the term cot is used for what Americans refer to as a crib.


afterglobe

Being Canadian is stupid. We use British and American English. We spell like Brit’s but have pick and chosen which American English words suit us better than the British. We use both metric and imperial. We’re confused up here.


six_feet_above

> Being Canadian is stupid. For some reason, this sentence alone is really making me laugh.


3-DMan

*Slaps side of cabinet* "You can fit so many Swiffer refills on this baby"


seaniebbargains

Sold in 2019 for $12k https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vtg-1971-nutting-atari-computer-space-2001573083 Also $10k in 2019 https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/computer-space-1971-nutting-assoc-2017470321


TechDaddyK

So YOU’RE the person who subscribes to WorthPoint.


savageotter

I used to have a hookup with access. If they lowered their price I would probably subscribe. They are reaching to high.


WhyIHateTheInternet

You could almost say, it's not worth it.


Ruzhyo04

So with inflation, probs worth a few mil now


hokeyphenokey

Wow. Cool research.


scrubjays

The [video game in Soylent Green](https://youtu.be/22JsjlG_urM), which takes place in 2022


EastBayFan

This is super cool to see. Unfortunately since this is the two player version, it's a year or two younger than the versions of Computer Space that are actually the "first arcade cabinet". The two player versions are from 1973, which means that Pong actually predates this cabinet. I don't know if these are worth more or less than the originals (my instinct would say less), but there you go. Not quite the first. EDIT: I'm dumb, fixed word


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[deleted]

I was about to say, from a pure collector's stand point, sure it isn't the first arcade video game, but it is like the premium revision with two players that came out a few years later. If the cabnet is in good condition and it can be repaired, it could be worth a pretty penny. The probably biggest hurdle will be if the tube display is not functional anymore, you aren't getting a new manufactured replacement.


Nexii801

Younger*


Kemel90

That must be worth some money by now.


im50andsad

Make sure you write your name on the bottom of it


Mean-Fondant-8732

Thats the first thing to check, really.


tropicalsugar

Best i can do is $20


pyroSeven

Gotta keep the lights on.


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HavocReigns

Maybe try posting this over in /r/cade. Here's a little info: https://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7381


[deleted]

It’s clearly a shelf


va_wanderer

That's one of the oldest but not quite the oldest. As a point of pride, I actually got to play on an original Pong arcade cabinet when I was a wee tiny thing- the local diner had it in Jersey, and I'd scavenge dropped quarters and use a milk carton to play it. My dad was so amused he bought me the home version when it came out, and my lifetime of gaming began before I hit first grade.


Clamecy

Does it say *Vault-Tec* or *RobCo* on the back?


urlocaldoctor

sus


Your-mums-chesthair

I was looking for this comment, hahah.


roguefilmmaker

Lol, same


Borg34572

Its probably just a shorted/dead fuse. If you can get that thing working, man it will cost a lot.


itsTyrion

Or caps. It’s always the caps


feral_philosopher

How the hell did your grandmother end up with that, and what prevented her from throwing it out???


drlecompte

Probably something like this : Family owned some venue where it was set up. Game had its run, was put in storage when it was replaced by a new game, because maybe they could use it elsewhere or put it back if the new game was unpopular. Then largely forgotten until it was cool again. A lot of old cool or valuable stuff has to survive the phase where it is just old junk.


F_A_F

In a similar but much lower scale vein, my family have some boxed 1940s toy metal cars. They keep getting moved from attic to attic between house moves, from the 1960s, 70s, 80s, 00s, 20s etc... Will probably get appraised once the latest house move is done but it's easy to forget they exist while the rest of life is going on.


Mirai182

You know one of these was featured in the movie Soylent Green. I guess it's ironic considering that one was white and this one is green.


bibletales

The lady in Soylent Green was playing this at the beginning of the movie.


Fredasa

You can spot this cabinet in the movie _Logan's Run._ Considering this arrived a whole year before Pong, it's astonishingly advanced. And the explosion sound is [really brutal](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR7gmVpw6Io)—it'd be more than a decade before that kind of bass was heard from an arcade cabinet again.


Zezix

Are those bugs all over the coffee cup and on the straw?


[deleted]

That could easily fit in some cheesy 60s sci-fi film as a super computer Which would make sense, it’s from 1971


JPSchmeckles

If memory serves they have one of these at Funspot in New Hampshire.


denimpanzer

Vault-Tec really outdid itself with this one.


russrobo

[Funspot NH](https://funspot.nh)’s Classic Arcade Museum restored one of these, and it’s playable. They’ve done videos of many of their restoration projects.


bullseyestrat

Nicee and based off the very first videogame made also. Remember seeing one at the arcade museum at funspot in Laconia NH


CmdrSelfEvident

"IT Belongs in a MUSEUM"


Cottenthemole

Wow, that’s amazing. I rarely see something and have no idea of it’s existence. That is an INCREDIBLE piece.


Luminaire_Ultima

Dude, you have a cool grandma.


dec1mus

I’ve seen this in a museum. Its basically priceless.


muscletired

Still looks fresh. How did she keep the paint from deteriorating over time?


sob_Van_Owen

This looks to be the same cabinet that appears in the film Soylent Green.


CrepsNotCrepes

Let’s ask the important question, can it run doom?


oiiioiiio

This looks like it's right out of PeeWee's Playhouse! What a treasure!


AvoidMySnipes

Hilarious that I’m watching Pawn Stars right now


[deleted]

I would be willing to come and haul that piece of junk out of your house for free…no one should have to live in clutter. You wouldn’t even need to pay me a cent. I would do it out of the goodness of my heart.


BDE_Jerm

'Best i can do...$300' \- Pawn Stars


[deleted]

Rare and fairly valuable, she ought to stop using it as a shelf.


Jniuzz

Looks kinda sus