Taito Taitronics 1978 Space invaders Upright Arcade Machine.

[@RMCRetro]

What an absolute beauty! Great pickup Alex

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thank you Neil It’s going to a be a great attraction soon 😎👍

[@segadan3709]

Your story behind why you love this cabinet and game is just as interesting as the game it self mate! Space invaders really is timeless

[@TheArcadeArchive]

It is and I think anyone who remembers this game from bitd will have a story to tell. Such a iconic machine.

[@FuKnOveRkiLL]

44 years later and it all suddenly makes sense...nice!

[@TheArcadeArchive]

One of the most important games of our time. Thanks for watching

[@Thomaslubbock]

Lovely cabinet and great to see the innards! You reminiscing of being in a pub shed, crisps and lemonade happy to have Space Invaders (and I always remember Galaxians being a pub favourite too) took me straight back!

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Galaxians is another stone cold classic with a ton of nostalgia attached to it. Thanks for watching

[@stephenelliott7071]

Space Invaders and Balloon Bomber bring back so many memories, and fantastic that people like yourself are keeping the machines running.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Well it’s my hobby and what a great hobby it is when I get nice comments like this, thank you Stephen.

[@TheHobbyLodge]

Just an iconic bit of gaming history, an awesome addition to the collection, it looks amazing!

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks Martin The art work is absolutely amazing.

[@ericvonbergen7223]

Great overview. Great cab. Classic

[@shain6946]

beautiful, a piece of history. I never saw a real Space Invaders cab back in the day, only played it on the 2600 when I was a kid.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Oh that’s a shame You must try and get to play it on a full-size cab on day.

[@lancairw867]

Some of the best cabinet art . Space Invaders is a must in a arcade collection.

[@properjob2311]

Amazing game and pristine cabinet. A true classic. The GOAT.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

It’s certainly is mate

[@davess61]

Seeing these games today is a bit like digging deep into your earliest childhood memories of the birth of the video game market. Amazing touch to open it up, the sticky key/lock just added to the suspense! Damn those games were hard though, I don't think I ever got past the third wave of aliens 🙂 Space Invaders on the Atari 2600 was my first video game. Pretty sure it was over £30 at the time which is a scary sum of money for the early 1980's

[@retroimportgamer513]

That's a thing of beauty you've got there Alex, iconic artwork on that cab and looks in such great condition. Awesome to have the extra games on it too. Looking inside was really interesting to see how they created the effect. Stunning 👍✌️

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks James Glad you enjoyed it mate You don’t always get to see the inside so I thought I’d do something different. Thanks for watching

[@Bulla666]

Iconic cab and fantastic multi kit. I remember playing Space Invaders, Lunar Rescue and Balloon Bomber all on Cocktails. Classics

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Fantastic games mate and such beautiful cabinets. All still so much fun to play even today.

[@Rob.Coleman]

Best side art ever, and coming from a diehard SEGA fan that's high praise indeed 😁👍.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

That’s definitely Is 😎👍

[@OGDuffy]

This video took me right back matey ! I can remember visiting pubs and playing video games with a bottle of pop (with a straw) and the salt and shake crisps !!!!! Space Invaders is still a game I play today... But that cab is awesome ! My first ever job a guy that lived on site had a Space Invaders cab that he got from the local pub. He let us have it in the workshop and every break we would all play and compete on it ! If I recall correctly it was all buttons and no joystick. A great video buddy took me right back 😎

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks OG Fond Memories mate and good to see you yesterday. Hopefully your get to play it again soon. Cheers mate

[@rmrepairs]

Beautiful cab, looks so much better than the midway.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

I agree mate It’s so iconic

[@nerdygeezer78]

Who doesn't love a Space Invaders cab. For me when I think Arcade it's that cab that always springs to mind. Great video mate 👍

[@TonyElyod]

What an amazing and iconic machine.. I was 14 back then, escaping the teachers and breaking out of school at dinner time and spend my lunch money on this game. HAPPY DAYS...

[@TheArcadeArchive]

It’s like a time machine isn’t it mate. Takes you right back.

[@From_Heller]

Came here to subscribe directly from the upstairs cave, RMC. Best of luck with the channel and the new place. Looking forward to some progress videos!

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thank you for the sub it’s much appreciated and for your kind words. Hope you enjoy the channel 😃👍

[@RetroGamesCity]

SPACE INVADERS. One of the best games I had ever played and your arcade console is really amazing. Right now I'm getting a lot of memories. Thank you for the reminder and greetings from RetroGameCity 😊👍

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks for watching and glad you enjoyed it.

[@pacscalatorarcade5736]

We both have the same game in our collection! :) Love the artwork on that cab, also need to get the braze kit for our game. Hope all is well 👍🏻😎

[@TheArcadeArchive]

That’s awesome you have one mate Such a beautiful cab it really is. I’m ok Big changes on my channel soon so keep a eye on new and exciting things to come.

[@ewstargamer]

That cab is a thing of beauty Alex it looks so good for it's age When you were taking it apart it reminded me of when I used to take fruit machines apart and how careful you have to be not to damage anything, Feltham was my hometown but sadly can't remember playing any video games at the swimming pool but I do remember there being an arcade in the shopping centre area which I used to play pacman in Great video mate 👍

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Feltham swimming baths only had space invaders as I can remember and it was around 1979. It’s a very long time ago for me so the memories are vague but that cab and my friend Tom are remember well playing it. Later in the early 80s we had a arcade in Twickenham which was cool called Dazzle.

[@properjob2311]

Space Laser looks like a cool game that I have never seen before. It would have been great as a 2 player vs game on a table cab.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Yea don’t think I’ve ever seen a cabinet of it either. Interesting game for sure.

[@retro_reflections]

The sense of satisfaction when you complete a wave is still absolutely amazing - only to be replaced with utter trepidation as the screen refills...

[@GenerationPixel]

Mate, that is a think of beauty. The first cabinet I ever saw. In a Chippy 1980, and is without a doubt the event that set my course in gaming. Would love to see another in the flesh again. Maybe one day. Thanks for showing this 😎👍

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks for watching dude I think for most of us it brings back so many memories. The Godfather of all games 😎

[@RetroReels]

Awesome cabinet - was great to see whats inside and how it works!

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Cheers mate

[@simonperry8569]

First time I ever played this was on holiday in a decaying seaside hotel in Weston-super-Mare. I met a girl called Jodie and by the end of the two weeks it was game over... Wow! Loved the history there and the 'tour' of the insides. As you said, the back panel is like the cross-over between carnival art and the start of the electronic age. Absolutely fascinating and so rare to have it in that condition. I imagine replay value is somewhat limited, but amazing to have as an iconic piece of history and as an artwork - especially in that nick - and good for gaming parties.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

We went to Weston -super -mate a few months ago it’s in a sorry state unfortunately.But I can imagine it was really nice back in the heyday. I hope you got give Jodie 2up on space invaders 😂 It is limited game play but with the kit it’s worth owning. Thanks for watching Simon

[@PlanetHarriers1]

Awesome machine and great to see it back up and running, you must be well chuffed with it. Really interesting to see the internals as well, such a clever design. Thanks for the video. :)

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks mate Glad you enjoyed it. Iconic cab that doesn’t get enough love.

[@red7even52]

Amazing cab, great to see you getting it up and running again and back to it's former glory ! Like you this was the game that seeded the arcade hobby for me, a friend of the family gave us a space invaders cab as a gift and i use to spend hours on it, I was absolutely fascinated by it and felt like a genius when I worked out the coin mech😂 the thudding sounds blasting from the speaker, what an epic game ! our cab didnt have side art like the American dedicated cab, just wood grain, I was so gutted when my Dad sold it when we moved house. Eventually I will get one back, one day ! Great video Alex, it brought back a lot of memories !

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Cheers Nick Interesting you had a wood grain version maybe it was a bootleg clone ? I know the game play is limited but it’s always worth a play every now and again. Having the cabinet makes it so special. Thanks for watching buddy

[@red7even52]

@@TheArcadeArchive yeah it might of been, we got it in '83 the guy who gave it to us was probably trying to get rid of it as by then it was being phased out of the arcades ! was such a cool gift, was gutted when is sold ! laters mate

[@romanpk69]

That is a super tidy cab, I have the Midway but always found the Taito much more pleasing to the eye, managed to rescue a Taito one from fleabay that someone was selling to jammarise. Have done a full restore on it but artwork was in good condition and I love it, my L shape board only has the single volume control and had real fun getting the board working and the chassis lost sync which was also fun to sort. I am glad it’s not just my Braze kit that Galaxy Wars won’t coin up on free play 😁

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Oh that’s interesting your doesn’t work either. Must be the braze kit then that’s at fault. I’ve owned one before and it worked fine. Strange.

[@romanpk69]

@@TheArcadeArchive I have two kits Midway & Taito (albeit apparently the only difference is the number of digits for the score so I was told) I have emailed the guy who created the Braze kit, he has helped me out before and was super helpful after I managed to damage one of the small ceramic caps on the kit. I will let you know what he says.

[@romanpk69]

Got this reply from Scott……I never did the patches for freeplay for galaxy wars, I ran in to issues, and rather have bugs I just never implemented it. Coins up fine and have to say very addictive game

[@GASHPAN]

I can imagine what it must have been like back in Japan when they opened these dedicated Space Invaders game parlour / arcades for the first time, with rows and rows of cocktails - awesome! I wonder if any of the employees went mad listening to the sound effects all day from the entire room?

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Haha probably got tinnitus 😂

[@M-NX]

Hi Alex.. with this awesome background ur Machine looks so fuxkin cool.. love it🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Cheers buddy really appreciate it 👍

[@obsidian1710]

Nice! I'm looking forward to finally getting my Numskull quarter scale version of this... hopefully sometime this year.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

I’ve got that ordered too.

[@NES_Wizard]

Awesome video. I always will have a soft spot for these games. Love the channel man. Been watching for a few months now.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks dude Much appreciated 😎👍

[@chefsolidOriginal]

Super iconic cab, I'd love one but it's as big as a small moon 😂

[@TheArcadeArchive]

It’s a huge cabinet I don’t blame you 😃

[@ElectricLuvz]

Nice! This is the cabinet I grew up with! It was always odd to me as a kid whenever I came across a Midway Space Invaders and it had button control.. my little hands couldn't do the buttons lol The other beautiful one is the Taito Space Invaders Part 2 cabinet.. with the red sky background and arguably better artwork than Midway Space Invaders Deluxe. But it seems those are a little more rare.

[@paulb1034]

An interesting vlog, I agree the Midway using 2 buttons instead of the joystick was naff, I always looked for a Taito to play. Some shot counting to get 300 pts for each space ship always significantly improved the score.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Yea I think it’s random isn’t it ?

[@paulb1034]

@@TheArcadeArchive At the start of each level the 23rd shot that hits the spacehsip will score 300 pts, after that it's the 15th shot.

[@wolfbeast80]

This game is massive hit and pathed the way for so many in the arcade industry and left a huge impact or crater (I guess you could say) on the arcade community. so much so that it was referenced in the National Highways tailgating campaign! '' don't be a Space Invader'' 😂

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Yea it’s become a video game icon it really has and rightly so. 👍

[@Sinisteve]

Glad you finally got her going mate👍 Stunning cab

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Cheers Steve 😎👍

[@RetroSK3L3]

The cabinet looks in great condition. Really pleased you've got it working, its been in the back of the Arcade for while now. Hopefully you'll find space for it somewhere 😉 Great video as always mate.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks buddy Much appreciated as always

[@davidretrogamesplayedbadly3533]

Such a stunning cab, absolutely love the artwork. Takes me back to the arcades in Minehead I used to play in on holiday. Really enjoyed seeing inside the cab mate, such a clever way of getting depth.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Cheers David It’s interesting how they projected the image inside the cabinet. It’s amazing how this game is so iconic today. Thanks for watching mate

[@neilloughran4437]

Space Invaders was so important for me too. Probably saw it in 1979 in a local cafe along with one of the Gunfight variants. From memory they had 2 standups in the main room and then a cocktail in the back. I preferred the cocktail back then with the joystick as I could not use the buttons for some reason :D Never saw the standup version with the joystick until I went to Blackpool a few years later... These machines were everywhere, cafes, sandwich shops, the front of Asda... was pure magic for us young kids...

[@TheArcadeArchive]

They seemed to be everywhere and in the arcade for at least a decade making a ton of money. One thing I’ve always noticed with space invaders, is you could hear it over every other game in the arcade. It really was the Grandaddy over all games. Such fond memories.

[@neilloughran4437]

@@TheArcadeArchive The sounds are awesome too! I have no idea how they synthesised such beautiful sounds...

[@RetroEdUK]

Looks ruddy lovely Alex. So interesting to see the “innards”, and that moonscape 😍. An ingenious magic trick when you think how they further pushed the innovation via the lighting, half mirror etc. In beautiful condition too 👌 cheers for sharing

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Yea I forgot to mention in the video it’s called peppers ghosts that trick. It’s been around since 1862

[@oscardelmontay]

Northolt Swimarama for me Alex so not a million miles away from Feltham 👍🏻 Great to see it working and looking so clean 👏🏻

[@TheArcadeArchive]

I used to work around Northolt many years ago Cheers mate

[@newfiekiyaygaming2139]

Very nice Alex and great video,cheers from Canada!

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks mate So nice to see yourself from Canada watching, thank you.

[@DarrenMcCowan280470]

The ultimate nostalgia game for me. I would have been 8 years old when this was released and our local village youth club had a cab right next to an early electrical / mechanical pinball table who’s name has long been forgotten unfortunately. Why is my memory tricking me to believe there’s sound effects missing from your cab Alex? Da, Da, Da, Da, Da …….faster and faster as you shoot more aliens?

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Hi Darren Yea that sound effect is present but it’s quite low. Could be a different pot I’ve not adjusted yet but it certainly needs turning up. It is the ultimate nostalgia game I agree 😎👍

[@rorz999]

The cabinet is beautiful! Definitely nicer than the Midway one

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks mate It definitely is much more striking.

[@jimjam928]

Hi Alex, I've just subscribed after seeing you on The Cave. My first time with Invaders was at our local swimming pool too; in Norwich but sadly demolished now. It was quite an event when this arrived, eating crisps after swimming with a big crowd around it waiting to get a turn. Around the same time my dad remembers one at a hotel with a crowd of business guys in suits all waiting to play.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Similar memories to me jim Was it salt and shake crisps and a bottle of Rwhites lemonade? 😃

[@jimjam928]

@@TheArcadeArchive that's right, from the vending machine and they get stuck! Jumping off the top board took guts! then spending all your change including your bus fair and walking home with your mates kicking your swimming bag. You've got some good content on here I'll be sure to check it all out. cheers.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

@@jimjam928 that’s a great story love it 😎👍 Thanks for your sub

[@electricadventures]

Space Invaders is an absolutely icon title, starting with the cabinet artwork (and wow your unit looks to be in extremely good condition), and then the game play which stilll has that 'just one more go' thing about it. Even how they did the coloured art backdrop and of course the sound effects makes it even more desirable. I have an original Taito cocktail Space Invaders cabinet with black & white monitor with the coloured celephane over the glass. The monitor works and the board has been repaired (as long as I haven't messed it up installing the Blaze kit - three layered cage board, a bit more fiddling than the L board layout), I have just been trying to see if I could restore the original power supply, but I am probably at the stage that I really should just replace it with a modern power supply and be done with it. It's been a project for far too long :) Out of the additional games, my favourite is Lunar Rescue, loved it back in the day, so much I wrote a version for the Spectravideo and MSX computers, in Basic with a little bit of machine code that sold quite well. I have in more recent times written a 100% machine code version that will run on Spectravideo, MSX and Colecovision. It is pretty much done, bar some additional sound work and some play testing. I am going to release it along with two other games (Depth Charge and Stunt Cycle) as EA 70's Arcade classics for all three systems later this year. I haven't actually played the laser one, that looks pretty cool as well.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Wow Tony you have been busy coding. You can never get enough space invaders. Have you played the vectrex version ? It’s absolutely incredible for a vector as it looks like sprites. I would definitely put a modern psu you in there and be done with it. At least your have it working. Did you see many uprights back in the day in Tasmania?

[@electricadventures]

@@TheArcadeArchive There were some uprights, an upright was the very first arcade that I played. A couple of friends have them locally and there seem to be a couple of Part II (red) cabs around as well.

[@mooch4274]

Very interesting video matey. That can looks and sounds amazing a real work or engineered art.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Cheers Mooch Got to be seen and played to understand it’s success at the time.

[@lowmoon9025]

That was brilliant Alex, loved the history at the start, really well researched and explained. Great stuff! And those sounds, timeless!

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks buddy really appreciate it So much story behind the game it’s hard to condense it into one video. Thanks for watching

[@adamstar7516]

I sold one of these in 2003 for £600! Wish I still had it.

[@SwainyAtRetroAsylum]

Love the Japanese version, always reminds of a youth centre that I used to go to as a kid. Not only did they have the machine but someone had re-created the artwork on the outside wall of the place.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

That sounds cool mate I think everyone who remembers this from bitd has so many nice memories. But to have it in your youth club must have been amazing.

[@SwainyAtRetroAsylum]

@@TheArcadeArchive I barely got a look in with it mate. Always too many people playing it.

[@arcadeages3917]

The screen effect is called “Pepper’s Ghost” it’s an old theatre trick

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Oh that’s right Forgot there was a name for that, thank you 😎👍

[@jasonsteverson4609]

Good stuff, Alex. Have a beer.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Cheers jason 🍻😃

[@rollerxcore]

its funny how Taito got anoyed for their game getting cloned, when the imagery was cloned from Forbidden planet. lol. i remember a few games back in the day that did the reversed reflective screens. they were so cool. but its only space invaders that know of now. some nice memories of a fantastic looking cab! ✌

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Haha yea Although they would never admit to that at the time it all came out more recently. If you go back and watch the movie which is really old now you can really see the similarities. A classic game with so much history. Thanks for watching Ed

[@raggersragnarsson6255]

I remember the cab and the artwork, but when I was playing it there was no moon, just a black screen and varying colours as the sprites moved across the screen, something like that at least. There was a lot of green involved and it was not fancy at all. Maybe the one I played wasn't a Taito somewhere around 1979 to 81? Though I played it in different arcades I have never seen the moon shown. The famous cab art was definitely the same though

[@invaderboy7187]

Love it :-)

[@retrorobbins]

I have to confess I never played the arcade Space Invaders!, that was fascinating to see how they've used a bit of analogue technology to make that cool effect of the backdrop, I'd probably change it if it was mine,to a 48k spectrum image of the backdrop , and reprogram the sprites to look like Commodores 🤣,now that would make a good shoot Em Up lol , definitely played the spectrum version an awful lot, and the Commodore for that matter very good, but if I had the choice between spaceinvader and galaxians, galaxians is my favourite ,

[@DavidMohring]

I used to play the hell out of Lunar Rescue at the fish & chip shop at Melton Road, Mt Wellington, New Zealand back in 1979-1981, but the version I played didn't have the mines on the decent stage or the meteors on the assent, must have been much easier as a single 20 cent NZ piece used to last me 20-35 minutes with ease. Black & White screen, coloured by acetate, half silvered mirror, similar background to original space invaders. I'm wondering if it was a prototype machine? It seems too early to be a clone.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

I don’t recall the version you are referring too but I’m interested now to find it on mame.

[@THEMARTIALARTSCHANNEL-bb4fx]

Everyone needs space invaders in their collection, you say? Well, in Sweden (where I live) they cost between 25.000 to 30.000 kronors (about 2500-3000 dollars!!!). If you could even find one 🤣

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Oh that’s a shame, tbh not even Japan has many uprights mainly cocktails due to space but even a cocktail is cool enough m, if you can did one of course. Good luck

[@jumpingeneral]

Good video 👍 any plans to come to any upcoming events in the United States ??I’d like to meet the legend of arcade games ..Arcade Alex 😎🍻. 5 stars ✨

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Would love to come back over mate. Hopefully a next year and a trip to Chicago 😎👍

[@theautoguy96]

Just stopped on this vid because I am on my way to 10k points on the 2600 version of this game (5.4 k now but I'll get there). Very nice cabinet

[@Younghead]

@ Nintendo Arcade Hey first I wanna say congratulations for getting this piece of treasure and well done for bringing back to life. It’s also more than important for sharing and educating this piece of art. Let me know if I’m wrong, but I always thought Taito was pronounced kinda like (ai) as ate and not as (ight)….?

[@paulmorphy6187]

On space invaders part II its any bottom space invader left last is a 500 point bonus...

[@paulnguyen8910]

There's a trick about getting the mystery UFO to max out each time. For each level, after the first 22 or 37 shots, shoot the UFO to top out at 300. After next 14 shots, repeat this procedure hereafter. You'll see I use this to jump to 10-20K scores very easily.

[@timh5236]

I think Alex your missing the thump thump thump sound effects of the aliens.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

It’s there Tim it’s just quite.I think the adjustment is on a separate pot so just need to turn it up a bit more.

[@remka2000]

Hello Alex ! Thanks for sharing this footage. I am working on a small non-profit history of Taito and Michael Kogan for KZbin, and was wondering if you would be ok to feature a bit if your footage. It would be a couple of seconds only and you would be credited of course. Let me know, and thanks again!

[@OneSwitch]

Brilliant machine. Loved the video. Mine has proved to be such a pig to keep running, that I've wired in a Raspberry Pi, but it still thumps and feels 99% right. Does trigger memories everytime I see it. You might find this interesting if you've not seen. A ton of Space Invaders inspired songs: kzbin.info/aero/PLqrLFTwrYemOwILr9ldLH_91azpGAUrLv

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Love that play list they all sound completely different 😎👍 Cool you still got your space invaders. It’s always hard to keep these machines going if you don’t know or don’t know any one that can help out. At least you can play it mate

[@OneSwitch]

​@@TheArcadeArchiveAgreed. People defintely got obsessed with that machine, and outer-space in general back then. Not a bad thing to be obsessed with I'd say compared to all the things that trouble people today. Agreed on access to help. I do know a few smart / well-contacted people who have helped, and it's miles better than it was, but just not quite there. Has horrendous speaker hum if you use the original power supply. The game resets from time to time. It also has an annoying monitor issue with the left-side of screen sort of vibrates extremely fast by a fraction of a pixel. Even with a switching power supply in place. Strangely the Raspberry Pi seems to fix this on the old B/W monitor. Sometimes a bit of pot-luck comes into these games. I've had an invaders cocktail machine (cost me £75) since the mid 1990s and apart from getting the game board repaired once, it's been rock-solid. I'm rambling.

[@ianslong]

Wasn’t there a cheat to get 300 on every space ship I’m sure it was shoot 21 times then shoot 16 times to get the 300 😀

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Oh I’ve not heard that one before. That would definitely be quite hard to do I would imagine.

[@stegarv66garv64]

@@TheArcadeArchive yes the cheat was 21 then shoot the ship then it was 14 then shoot the ship for 300 great game nice cabinet 👍👍