Arkanoid Arcade Action

I’m a sucker for some classic video games, so naturally I jumped at the chance to snap up this Arkanoid Arcade game a few years back. Arkanoid is a classic game released in 1986 by Taito. The premise of this addictive bastard can be summed up through the description below taken from its wiki:

The player controls the "Vaus", a space vessel that acts as the game's "paddle" which prevents a ball from falling from the playing field, attempting to bounce it against a number of bricks. The ball striking a brick causes the brick to disappear. When all the bricks are gone, the player goes to the next level, where another pattern of bricks appears. There are a number of variations (bricks that have to be hit multiple times, flying enemy ships, etc.) and power-up capsules to enhance the Vaus (expand the Vaus, multiply the number of balls, equip a laser cannon, break directly to the next level, etc.), but the gameplay remains the same.[4]

So I was searching for weeks, for a cool arcade in a presentable cabinet to pop into my home and was even willing to drive several hours if the right deal was found.

At the time, I found Craigslist to be a great place to find spectacular deals on Arcade Cabinets. I’m not sure how helpful it is now as years have passed and there are many new sources to search for these such as Facebook groups and Apps such as Letgo.

I was specifically searching for this game along with a couple of others and found it in Baltimore which is only about 2 1/2 hours from me. The dude wanted $250 and we agreed if I came that day he would do it for $200. To me this was a dream come true as I love this game so I hopped in my car and hit the road.

About 6 hours and $200 later I had my Arkanoid. It works perfect. The controls are tight and the monitor looks crisp although it’s hard to tell in the pics.

The sound is purdy as well. The only real issue with it now is that I need to replace the lock on the front. It’s since been moved to my shop so I had to recently ghetto it up as the lock broke and I’ve been too lazy to repair it. I also notice that the cabinet is not original. I cannot place the artwork surrounding the monitor. Any experts able to weigh in??