Funspot: The Spot for Fun

Written by Dan Zuccarelli

Friday, 01 May 2009 09:52

Is it weird that this has become one of my favorite pictures of myself?

It's such a rare opportunity these days to visit an actual arcade. Not some crap Dave and Busters type knock off but a legitimate arcade in every sense of the term. So it was no small thing to me to be standing in Funspot last weekend in New Hampshire surrounded by rows and rows of arcade machines. Of course it meant a lot for the simple fact that my friends and brother had all gotten together and planned the trip for my bachelor party. But more than that was the sense of comfort the place brought me.

As I sit here thinking over the trip my mind is filled with the games I didn't get a chance to play. The longer I think the longer that list gets. That probably speaks partly to the amount of games they had there but also to the fact that I felt no desire to just play everything in there.

I didn't treat this as a "once time chance" to be surrounded by an arcade but rather a trip back to my childhood. So just like back in the day I parked myself in front of a cabinet and stuck it out for the long haul. Tempest is a cruel mistress.

Pinball games seemed to be the order of the day for me, for while it's been forever since I've had access to so many video arcade machines it's been even longer for pinball. Jumping Jesus do I LOVE pinball. I'd honestly forgotten since it's been so long.

Ryan did a better job than I ever could wrapping up what Funspot was like, and Xav did all the work type interviews to get the down and dirty info on the "museum." so I'm going to skip over that stuff. What has stayed with me in the week since the trip (besides how fucking awesome my friends are for doing this) is the sense of comfort and nostalgia the place gave me. It's a bizzarre choice of emotions, but since it's nigh impossible to enjoy an arcade anymore it really almost is like stepping back in time. A trip you didn't think possible since I've grown up watching arcades die off.

To be totally honest I never thought the place would live up to expectations. I figured as a student of the arcade I'd be able to point out tons of games that they didn't have and it would be filled with lots of filler. And while it's true there are games could name that were missing that I wanted to see (Lunar Lander and Spy Hunter being top of the list) the sheer number of games makes it a folly to try and point out a few omissions as an issue.

You know what I think I miss the most about those old games? How hard they are. Today's games are made with zero challenge in mind when compared to these beauties. Of course they were hard to ensure arcade owners a constant stream of quarters, but at least they were challenging. Of course the home console helped bring down the arcade but I'm starting to think that people's desire to be placated to might have something to do with it as well. People today I think like the ego stroking of a game where it's a bygone conclusion that you'll win, where killing thousands of guys is as simple as the press of a single button. Everyone these days is special afterall. Give me a game that'll kick my ass in 30 seconds anyday of the week.

It was a ridiculously awesome trip and I quite honestly cannot wait to get back there, even though it's a 6 hour drive away. I can't thank my brother and friends enough for pulling it all together and coming out.