Top all-time · #2388
The Arcade Blogger
Personal blog · arcadeblogger.comgameshistory
The Arcade Blogger is a personal blog at arcadeblogger.com about games and history. Since 2016, 34 different Hacker News readers have linked it 70 times, most often “The Last Ridge Racer”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-20, and you can follow it by feed.
A blog about classic coin operated video arcade machines. Atari, 70s, 80s and Missile Command are featured as well as arcade articles and arcade restorations.
Most-linked posts?
- The Last Ridge Racer4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2022-11-21
- Atari Tempest Time Lapse Photography3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2017-01-11
- Rescuing vintage arcade video games from an abandoned ship (2016)3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2016-05-08
- Bally Sente: Saviour of the Arcades? (2019)2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2019-11-10
- GDI’s Slither: A $1.3M Arcade Crash and Burn2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2017-06-05
- Atari Centipede’s Hidden Code Trap2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2019-06-29
- The Development of Robotron2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2020-06-27
- Recreating Jamie Fenton's GORF 2 arcade source code2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2026-09-26
- Atari Asteroids: Creating a Vector Arcade Classic2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2018-10-26
- Creator of MajorBBS Tim Stryker's Aztarac arcade game is found2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2017-01-20
What Hacker News says?
I feel something similar, where i live most arcades have disappeared, sign of the times. If you feel too nostalgic , take a look at this documentary "History of Arcade Video Games" [1] and visit this fantastic blog [2] (not mine). [1] https://youtu.be/NO0yJ54f-RU [2] https://arcadeblogger.com/
Comment linking /
on “Masaya Nakamura, Japanese arcade pioneer, has died”Submitted Rescuing vintage arcade video games from an abandoned ship (2016) as a story · 270 points
HN discussionBetter? https://arcadeblogger.com/2016/05/06/arcade-raid-the-duke-of...
Comment linking /2016/05/06/arcade-raid-the-duke-of-lancaster-ship/amp/
on “Rescuing vintage arcade video games from an abandoned ship (2016)”Submitted Soviet Arcade Games from the 70s and 80s as a story · 256 points
HN discussionI assume you're referring to this article https://arcadeblogger.com/2022/11/20/the-last-ridge-racer/ contact Tony (the arcade blogger) he's a nice guy to deal with - his book is also great by the way. Maybe he can do a follow up?
Comment linking /2022/11/20/the-last-ridge-racer/
on “Restoring the Galaxian3 Theatre 6, 1992 six player arcade machine”Submitted Atari's Mike Jang as a story · 237 points
HN discussionIn the mean time there are some "conventions" that feature arcade machines (because they're more fun to play than just look at) https://arcadeblogger.com/2020/01/17/free-play-florida-2019-... IN NH arcade machines are now housed in a playable museum: https://www.funspotnh.com/-Articles/pc-nhtodo.htm
Comment linking /2020/01/17/free-play-florida-2019-review/
on “Nintendo Play Station Super NES CD-ROM Prototype”Submitted Atari Tempest: Dave Theurer’s Masterpiece as a story · 232 points
HN discussionWhile I am not implying these were used as such, another purpose these complicated sequences can hold is as a code trap for clone detection. Code Traps: https://arcadeblogger.com/2019/06/29/atari-centipedes-hidden... And the discussion here a month ago about code traps: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20312256 Along similar lines in both the digital and non-digital world people would include false landmarks and…
Comment linking /2019/06/29/atari-centipedes-hidden-code-trap/
on “I found an easter egg from 1977”Submitted Atari Asteroids: Creating a Vector Arcade Classic as a story · 155 points
HN discussionReminded me of the Ridge Racer Full Scale recovery/restoration story: https://arcadeblogger.com/2022/11/20/the-last-ridge-racer/ In which a very limited edition version of Ridge Racer in arcades used a full-size Mazda MX-5 (technically the Eunos Roadster) shell and panoramic projection.
Comment linking /2022/11/20/the-last-ridge-racer/
on “Ditch the sim rig and use your car instead (2019)”Submitted The Last Ridge Racer as a story · 147 points
HN discussionRelated, Ridge Racer Full Size based on an MX-5/Eunos/Miata https://arcadeblogger.com/2022/11/20/the-last-ridge-racer/
Comment linking /2022/11/20/the-last-ridge-racer/
on “Virtual Vette – Racing Simulator Built from Wrecked Corvette”Submitted Arcade Raid – The Duke of Lancaster Ship as a story · 140 points
HN discussionhttps://arcadeblogger.com/arcade-manual-archives/
Comment linking /arcade-manual-archives/
on “Repairing a buggy board arcade machine”Submitted Atari Centipede’s Hidden Code Trap as a story · 120 points
HN discussionhttps://arcadeblogger.com/2016/05/06/arcade-raid-the-duke-of... is a much better article. Here’s the list of games: http://www.opdenkelder.com/muerto/arc/shiplist.png
Comment linking /2016/05/06/arcade-raid-the-duke-of-lancaster-ship/
on “An abandoned ship held a treasure for 30 years: 50 arcade machines”Submitted Pete Davies: The ‘Invadar’ Arcade Collection as a story · 117 points
HN discussionThe rotation step may be 5.625 degrees. That would be equivalent to a division of 90° by 16, which could be accomplished by a simple 4 bit shift One of the original design documents mentions a 90°/16 division operation: https://arcadeblogger.com/2018/10/24/atari-asteroids-creatin...
Comment linking /2018/10/24/atari-asteroids-creating-a-vector-arcade-classic/
on “Asteroids: By the Numbers”Submitted How Atari created the Star Wars arcade game (2017) as a story · 99 points
HN discussionThe Pinball Hall of Fame is notable for having a working Pinball Circus[1], of which there were only 2 ever built. I try to give it a play every time I'm in town. It's also got quite a few other rare games that are very difficult to find elsewhere, including a significant collection of electromechanical games that usually don't get much representation in arcades. I do agree that the level of maintenance isn't great,…
Comment linking /2018/07/06/arcade-holy-grail-the-pinball-circus/
on “Getting into Pinball”Submitted Bradley Trainer: Atari’s Military Project as a story · 75 points
HN discussionThe artist for the image on the basic programming cart was Rick Guidice. He did a lot of art for Nasa in the same style. [1] A big reason video artwork from that period is so interesting is that the game graphics were limited, forcing a lot of artistic interpretation. Semi related, I recently found this, which seems like a futuristic reimagining of the original Atari style. [2] Atari was a real pioneer in this space…
Comment linking /2022/12/04/what-if-ataris-pong-was-a-sci-fi-movie/
on “Atari 2600 Manual: Basic Programming”Submitted The Taito Taitan arcade cabinet as a story · 70 points
HN discussionYes, screen printing, but there's more to it than those two words! And the video in the post was sourced and uploaded by...the blog post author. Also, let's be serious, that blog has been writing about arcade related things for over a decade https://arcadeblogger.com/2013/04/01/1814065/ and running a podcast since 2020, and the author wrote a book in 2020. One could say he puts real effort into all this, you know?
Comment linking /2013/04/01/1814065/
on “How did Atari apply side art to Arcade Cabinets?”Submitted Atari Coin-op Archive Footage as a story · 62 points
HN discussionI'd find it easier to believe this comment is AI generated, given that the account is only 53 minutes old. The text on the t-shirt looks totally normal to me. The fact that this blogger, who's blog I'm reading for the first time today, has been posting archive footage and imagery, using a pretty similar format, from the same factory since at least 2019 ( https://arcadeblogger.com/2019/12/26/atari-coin-op-archive-f..…
Comment linking /2019/12/26/atari-coin-op-archive-footage/
on “Unseen Footage of Atari Battlezone Arcade Cabinet Production”Submitted The Development of Robotron as a story · 49 points
HN discussionNeeds less Blade Runner and more Pong: https://arcadeblogger.com/2022/12/04/what-if-ataris-pong-was...
Comment linking /2022/12/04/what-if-ataris-pong-was-a-sci-fi-movie/
on “Atari Hotels”Submitted GDI’s Slither: A $1.3M Arcade Crash and Burn as a story · 34 points
HN discussion
