Jul 26, 2023 17:00:00

A super rare arcade game machine costing over 1 million yen is rescued from a garbage dump

Because it is difficult for the general public to own arcade game machines that are placed in arcades due to reasons such as securing space and maintenance, it is difficult to find arcade game cabinets in good condition. There is a problem that it is difficult to remain. An episode that accidentally discovered a super rare arcade game machine based on the 1982 science fiction movie '

Tron ', which became a hot topic as 'the world's first movie that fully introduced CG', at a roadside garbage dump. is introduced by the arcade game-related blog 'The Arcade Blogger'.

Environmental Discs of Tron Roadside Pickup! – The Arcade Blogger
https://arcadeblogger.com/2023/07/22/environmental-discs-of-tron-roadside-pickup/

There are two types of arcade games in the movie 'Tron'. One is 'Tron' produced by Barry-Midway, famous as a pinball maker, and the other is 'Disc of Tron' produced by Barry-Midway. The former 'Tron' became very popular and is said to have recorded sales of at least 30 million dollars (about 3.6 billion yen at the rate at the time) in one year after its release.

by

Darth-Wiki-Man Wikimedia

On the other hand, the second work, 'Disk of Tron', was unpopular due to its complex and difficult gameplay. It was ported to the Xbox Live Arcade in 2008, but the game criticism site Metacritic has a metascore of 44 out of 100.

The feature of 'Disk of Tron' is its housing (Kyotai), which was unusual at that time as a box shape. This was designed to allow the player to immerse themselves in the game, and the dark interior incorporates a backlight that resembles Tron, making it a very luxurious enclosure at the time.

When

Mr. Tim Lapetino , a writer who is familiar with the history of games, asked relatives living in the suburbs of Chicago, his niece said, 'I saw something like Tron on the side of the road when I was riding a bicycle. It is said that he said. Mr. Lapetino rushed to the place as soon as he heard the story because it was a place where he could go immediately by car, and it seems that the housing of 'Disk of Tron' was placed in the garbage dump.

The box-shaped housing appears to be in fairly good condition with no major damage.

The glass inside the housing has almost no scratches or cracks, and the buttons and sticks are intact.

However, only the large glass on the back of the housing was missing. Mr. Lapetino has already ordered a replica and is also looking for the original parts at the same time.

The enclosure was owned by a local resident, and had been placed in a sidewalk garbage dump, assuming that garbage collectors would take it away. However, it seems that the dealer did not collect it because the housing was too big and was left as it was. Below is a sticker on the housing, with a handwritten message from the vendor saying 'Break Down'.

Thinking that he would never have such an opportunity again, Mr. Lapetino contacted his friend and requested a collection. Until the case was ready to be transported, Mr. Lapetino visited the person who would have been the owner of the case, and said, ``I left it in the garage for years,'' and he said that it was free. He said he allowed me to bring the housing. However, it seems that the word was clouded as to where the housing was obtained.

A case carried on a trolley

Mr. Lapetino called an acquaintance and asked him to check the contents of the housing. All the boards are original, and there was no problem with the operating condition.

It looks like this when it works. A game scene that reproduces the scene of fighting with a backlight production and a shining flying disc that is conscious of the movie 'Tron'. 'Disc of Tron' is unpopular and few in number, and there are almost no good ones left, so the arcade cabinet in full working condition, including the backlight, is probably $ 10,000 (about 1.4 million yen) It is considered worth more.

Looking at the credit counter inside, it shows '2663', and you can see that the number of plays so far has not reached 3000 times.

A piece of paper for a game test report was found inside the enclosure. Mr. Lapetino speculates that it is a housing that was placed experimentally at the game center.

``I'm a huge Tron fan and love the game, so this was a game I'd always wanted to own,'' Lapetino said. I never really believed in coincidences, but this is a really strange story.'