Hidden Treasures Arcade Running Kickstarter for a Permanent Home in Champlin
Posted by Jason Ingolfsland on Tuesday, October 4, 2016 at 12:00 AM
By Jason Ingolfsland / October 4, 2016
Comment
Video games have radically changed over the last few decades -- online multiplayer, realistic graphics, vast worlds, and complex programming are all taken for granted today. But in the 1980s they weren’t even fathomed as an option. Today, instead of running to the arcade to play with friends, gamers can log into their home console and play with strangers from around the world.
Many don’t know that video games came from humble, albeit fun, beginnings. Those that do know, may be aware of Pacman, Galaga, or Mario, but haven’t heard of the thousands of other games available at the time.
Nathan Block has made it his mission finding these arcade consoles, traveling far distances in the process, and letting others enjoy them at his Hidden Treasures Arcade. He has so many arcade consoles that he’s run out of room to house them, until recently. He’s found a prime location in Champlin, MN that can house the arcade systems he owns with room to expand. However, in order to purchase this property, he needs to put down a large down payment, and has reached out to arcade patrons and supporters to help him in his Kickstarter campaign.
I had the opportunity to talk to Nathan about his love of video games, his high scores, his Kickstarter campaign, and his vision for Hidden Treasures Arcade.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Minnesota Connected: What’s your favorite arcade game that you own? Nathan Block: Oh man, there’s sort of a difference between what my favorite game is and out of the one’s that I own. I’m really proud of Qbert and Gorf. I’ve loved those games for years and I was fortunate enough to have them. Honestly, If I had to pick my favorite arcade game… That’s really tough. Gauntlet. Dragon’s Lair. There’s a whole bunch I dumped tons and tons of money into at the time. I’d probably have to sit and give that some thought. Minnesota Connected: Is there a game that you really want to add to the arcade? Nathan Block: There’s a whole ton of them that I’d love to add, but I think the one that I’d really like to add, that I think would be a real attention-getter, would be Dragon’s Lair. Like if I could find a working Dragon’s Lair that would be something else. But they’re pretty difficult to find in working order because those laser disc players can’t handle all that use. If I could find one of those, believe me, I’d jump on it. Minnesota Connected: Any high scores that you're really proud of? Nathan Block: Oh boy, that’s a good one. I’m not really sure what my score would have been but the Mercs came out in the early 90s and I can get through that on one quarter. So I guess it would probably be that one. I’m pretty proud of that. I’ve scored over a million on the Star Wars Trilogy game. I can get through that on one quarter also, or I guess you could say one credit. (Laughs) Let’s see. I’ll pull up my high score file. Yeah, I’m that much of a nerd I have an actual file. I’ve score 362,750 on Mr. Do, which I’m pretty proud of. Over 100,000 on Millipede. I got 112,000 on Donkey Kong once. I know that’s not anywhere near the record, but that’s still pretty darn good. (Laughter). Minnesota Connected: Yeah, Donkey Kong is really hard. Nathan Block: Yeah, it is. It absolutely is. Minnesota Connected: How did you start collecting all your arcade systems? Nathan Block: Well it sort of fell into my lap. I had a buddy who used to clean foreclosed houses and he found a Gauntlet II in the basement of one of them that was in four inches of water. So he pulled it out of the basement and gave it to me, and of course the thing didn’t work. I actually own a couple of movie theaters, that’s what I do for a living. And I got a vending company that puts video games in them and I talked to the owner, and he and I are on really good terms, and I talked to him about it and he said, “Oh, bring it down here, and we’ll fix it up for you.” And so I did and they got it looking brand new. They cleaned off all the mold. They fixed the monitor and the side panels, and you can see it prominently in the Kickstarter video. I do my interview right next to it. It’s the first game I ever got and I’m very proud of it. Then, I hadn’t had any aspirations of getting anymore, and then I saw Karate Champ on Craigslist and that’s one of those specialty games that the controls are pretty specialized and it’s difficult to mimic it on MAME. So I bought that and the guy that had it had a couple others, and so the next thing I know I had three games, and the next thing I know I’m on Craigslist again and all this stuff starts popping up. Next thing I know I’m renting a truck and going to Des Moines, Iowa, to get sixteen games from that trip. Then I got a storage locker and it becomes an addiction, really, really quick. But it’s so much fun. And there’s nothing quite like finding that game you played thirty years ago and suddenly you own it. Minnesota Connected: Did you find most of your arcade systems on Craigslist? Nathan Block: Craiglist is a gold mine for people who are arcade collectors. I’m not really sure why. It’s just because games are pretty hard to ship so you don’t see them much on eBay. I actually only bought one off of eBay. I bought a Mr. Do’s Castle on eBay and the shipping cost more than the game itself. 95% of my collection came from Craigslist.
Post a Comment