From Coin-Ops to Table-Tops with Mike Diver | Electronic Tabletop Retro Gaming

[@Zombies8MDingo]

We used to bring toys into school for the last day of term. Anyone who brought one of these in was always very popular, usually Astrowars. 😊

[@newsbender]

Yep. I had Caveman and can confirm 🙂

[@bigjob4096]

yep renember us guys doing the same❤

[@binkman853]

Excellent presentation! Thanks so much. Loved my Demolition Derby and big Simon back in the day.

[@licensetodrive9930]

I'm glad I spent the time cleaning all the games I brought along, dismantling most of the table top ones so I could clean each button & switch individually, they look great on camera. Sound bleeps wise, most of them have sound ON/OFF but surprisingly one of the generic brick games goes through 4 volume levels when you press the sound button. I still find it bizarre they put headphone sockets on some of the wrist watch games and included earbuds in the packaging so you can listen to it screaming louder.

[@gavmiller]

I loved my Astro Wars! Christmas Day 1981 memories!

[@RMCRetro]

Thanks for watching, here are some useful links relating to the episode! Buy Mikes Book in The Cave shop: rmcretro.store/products/from-coin-ops-to-table-tops Find Mikes book at Numbskull: numskull.com/products/from-coin-ops-to-table-tops-the-essential-electronic-games Follow Mike on X: x.com/mikediver Visit Retro Collective: retrocollective.co.uk

[@imaginitivity7853]

What i love about these devices is how they had to work with the limited available tech of the day, but were still innovating. Hard to convey today, but when the previous screen tech was LCD (black/grey with colour overlay, such as the Nintendo game/watch series) to have actual illuminated display was much more engaging. EG Astrowars and Puckmonster. (And I can still remember the trick to always land the ship in the docking stage of Astrowars, and even the tune it played once you did!)

[@Drew-Dastardly]

I recall the VFD games which ate expensive batteries came first. Nintendo Game and watch LCD which was tiny and only needed a CR2032 was a couple of years later.

[@user-qf6yt3id3w]

Those Tomy games with the vacuum fluorescent displays were technical masterpieces given the limitations.

[@imaginitivity7853]

Yep, but they sure ate batteries!

[@KirstyCaddick-ne4vk]

I remember having Astro Wars, which I absolutely loved and, as you mentioned, I played on the living room carpet when I was young x

[@celynjones4958]

Many thanks. Being a kid in 70s and 80s you have brought back many happy memories and the stress of somewhat expensive and unreliable rechargable batteries. My favourites were CueBall, Merlin, and Astrowars. Cheers ❤

[@Graterstuuf]

I loved these things as a kid. Your collection is beautiful. Shocks me how many I played.

[@BarthaxDravtore]

@1:17 "Has your mother never told you to open a book by the edge of the page! You'll ruin it!" 🤣

[@MisterSplendy]

Heyyyy i had one of these (Galaxy 2) in 1981! It has such a warm glow and feeling. I was addicted to this unit, felt like Galaxian and the sounds were great!

[@darrenball4620]

What a blast from the past! I remember lusting after many of these games as a kid and spent most Saturdays playing them in various shops in Coventry. I had Galaxy Invaders (based purely on the fact you could fire 3 bullets at a time), Astro Wars, Munchman and a Crazy Kong game and watch - which bizarrely didn't star Kong except on the box....I still have Galaxy Invaders and play it now and again (and wrote a version in Python for my PC). I also still have my Astro Wars - which used to get me in trouble with my parents back in the day, due to the sound volume of that thing...

[@bazza5699]

great to see puckmonster.. not only was it the very first experiience i had of gaming but it's also a game i recently re-purchased to bring back all those memories of being 9 years old.

[@Aeoringas]

I had the boxing game by Bambino and I remember having mini tournaments with my two older brothers. While the Bambino games did not appear in Argos or Tandy, they were found at Beatties. I remember regarding my local Beatties as a place of wonder as it had everything in it that I loved.

[@neilloughran4437]

Ooh I remember those! I wanted Astro Wars so much and was surprised to get an Atari 2600 for xmas in 1980 or so. Invaders From Space was amazing for the time...

[@simonhanford9542]

I "borrowed" Astro Wars from my Brothers girlfriend in 198x, it now sits on a shelf in my eldest Sons (19) bedroom along with Caveman, Puck Monster, Firefox F7 and Super Space Invaders 2. Wonderful memories!! Fab channel, keep doing what you're doing. I'll be ordering that book asap.

[@JonoHalle]

I've still got my Marios Cement Factory, in box with instructions! Still play it every so often to this day.

[@broderperdurabo]

Great video, i only had the Pac-Man from round 80's in yellow. My parents where not straped with cash back then. And yes i got Simon from my grandmother, maybee she saw something in me that no one else did.

[@StevenJennings-x8w]

17:06 love astro wars!!!! What an epic game !

[@play_history]

7:35 Tiger was initially the subsidiary of another company - the first thing they did under their brand was actually a dedicated Pong-style console. The mini phonographs came after they had released their first handheld.

[@voidmind108]

18:06 I used to have Galaxy Invader 1000, and I think I even finished it. This was in Sydney Australia in the mid-eighties. I remember my thumbs hurting from the metal "joystick". It lasted a long time but died at some point, and when I tried to repair it I ended up destroying it, unfortunately. Great to see it again!

[@tss20148]

When my parents dragged me to the mall as a kid I would go to Montgomery Ward, a now dead nationwide department store chain in the US, and play the demo unit of Bambino Space Laser Fighter while they shopped. They eventually bought me one for Christmas and I played that game endlessly for years. Even after I had my beloved C64.

[@ChrisHull]

It's nice seeing a donation on a video 🐸

[@xandercruz900]

Back at the turn of the century, you could find these units by the busload at thrift stores. I must have had dozens of units! Sadly I sold many of them off in the 2000s (I miss my Qbert!), but I still have Tomytronics Pacman, Colleco Donkey Kong, Maniac, and some of the Mattel sports handhelds. Always a joy to power them up.

[@CaptainCaveman1170]

I know it's accurate, but man please don't "turn of the century" us yet. I prefer to think of the advent of the automobile/airplane or maybe of the Titanic disaster when people use that term!

[@xandercruz900]

@@CaptainCaveman1170 LOL! I do feel the same way whenever I have to use it.

[@spazzman90]

I loved all things electronic games back then, but had no money. Glad I had lots of friends with a lot of these fun toys!

[@cfc3972]

i had a few of these as a kid and loved each one , now im a old lad i want to start and try and collect some of these , i have the Entex Super Cobra coming to start my collection off , such fond memories

[@manofsteele60]

Played Firefox F7 to death and completed it several times. A golden era of Christmas presents!

[@tommylakindasorta3068]

Great episode. I had the Zaxxon and Donkey Kong tabletops back in the day. While not all that fun by today's standards, they seemed like pure sorcery to my 10-year-old brain.

[@fredsmith1970]

My older brother used to have the yellow "Invader 1000", which I thought was amazing at the time. He also had some 2 player boxing game which came in a beige bakerlite type of case, if I recall. (edit - it would help if I watched the whole video before posting 🙂 The boxing game came up towards the end of the video)

[@steveglass5307]

Invader 1000 on the last day of school for me, some one else had Astrowars, swapsy for the day:)

[@burnrubber7547]

I was born in 75 and I my step dad in 79 bought galaxy invader by cgl. That cream coloured one with the red textured button. Its my earliest my earliest memory of an electronic type game. I remember being fascinated by the way it was lit and the noises it made. I got good at it as well. You could plug a 9v adapter in to the top of it if I remember right. Thereby not having the worry of the batteries running down. I remember opening it up when i got older to see what magic was within and caught my first look at a microchip. I'm so happy to have been born at a time when all of these things were just starting out. The game Simon was my namesake so of course I remember that.

[@005AGIMA]

Loved this. And loved the little nod back to last day of school, and being allowed to take in games for a change. Good times. I'm off to the arts and crafts table to make a tank out of a cereal box and some toilet roles.....again.

[@LurchNZ]

I had Astrowars as a kid, amazing! If only I could get my hands on another one :)

[@Scopie33]

I still have my grandstand Dracula and Crazy Monsters table tops. They were surprisingly built to last.

[@SMlFFY85]

I got hand me downs of Alien Attack and the Grandstand Scramble, I loved the look of the VFD displays, so cosy.

[@DeanandLisa1803]

Not mentioned was that a lot of games also had a “Demo” mode to give that arcade feel. Awesome video and I need that book! G’day from downunder 🙃

[@BrennanYoung]

Someone needs to make a handheld with a decent subwoofer

[@GrumpyOldGit-zk1kw]

I had Astro Wars back in the day (mid 80s). Something happened to the power supply and I killed Astro Wars by plugging in a power supply with either too high a voltage or the wrong polarity. Oops!

[@Daz555Daz]

Nice callout for Puck Monster. Still my favourite Table-Top to this day. It was better than Munchman and probably a better game than the original arcade Pac-Man as crazy as that sounds. I still have the one I got for Christmas back in the day.

[@OneSwitch]

I remember the Bambino Boxing game, and maybe some others being really cheaply sold in Essex in the early/mid 80s. Maybe a John Menzies / maybe independent electronics stores like Nobles/Tower(?). I bought the Boxing game with pocket money, so it was definitely cheap, as I never let my pocket money build up very high. Enjoyable video by the way. Love the glimpse of the Pocketeers too. The fruit machine one was my first I think. And I remember getting a very bad Bandai (or Bandai rip-off) Beam Fighter game, after asking for an Atari and not hiding my disgust. Still embarassed that I wasn't more grateful at the time. Kids!

[@RetroCCTech]

I have Astro Wars, Firefox F7 and Scramble, all boxed. F7 was the one I had as a kid.

[@anthonykearney608]

My first type of gaming such as these was the tomy car one. Had the dash. Etc. Couple yrs later. My cousin gave me his tomytronic 3d. The racing one. Loved it

[@ano_nymouse]

We were never able to afford any of these games brand new when I was growing up. I did find a broken donkey kong circus panorama at a flea market. That was probably one of the first electronic thing that I ever fixed. Didn't really know much about how the system work but know enough to look for broken traces on the pcb. It was a simple repair but that first taste of success is probably want kept me fiddling with electronics and computers all these years.

[@ACatCalledSnow]

This was a really good video, thank you. Back in the day, I always wanted a Tomy Outrun game, and my friend had a Grandstand football game that I always wanted too. Sadly, I never had either. I've been looking for the Grandstand table top football game, I just remember it was massive and was green and white. It's probably terrible to play though. Keep up the great work.

[@cjh0751]

I loved my Astro Wars as a kid. I wonder if it's still at my father's house 🤔

[@joonglegamer9898]

I have the Grand Stand Astro Wars, the display is gorgeous but I had to put an resistor into it because the volume was just too loud with the bleep sounds. I was driven home from school one day in modern times (yes I worked as a substitute), and she had her kid with her, and he was going to play that game while his mother and I had some coffee, he would not leave because he could not stop playing Astro Wars - so yeah, they hold up even with todays modern games.

[@925cerberus]

As usual a great video from RMC. I was lucky enough to the the book as a present, I is a quality item a good read an lovely to look at. I only wish it have covered the item I covet the most Tomytronic/Tomy 3d Sherman Attack.

[@tayzzed]

My mate had Astro Wars and I had Missile Invader that was a turquoise handheld with orange buttons. I got the max score on it where letters would appear in the score. My cousin had the orange donkey Kong game and watch. I also had Pocket Simon which was great.

[@NeilsNonsense]

Great talk on a subject close to my heart :) Although I only ever owned 'Astro Wars' as a child, in later life I've purchased dozens of these little tabletop treasures in various broken states and repaired them where I could to see what I missed out on! I don't have the space or mindset to collect them though so I've passed most of them on after having my curiosity satisfied. A few however (usually really bad examples that became 'donors' to other repairs) have been gutted and converted to run real arcade games of the period under emulation using Raspberry Pis. There's a few on my channel if anyone's interested.

[@Realmasterorder]

Well done this looks very cool and this needed to be made !

[@sheep20011]

Still have my Puck Monster, pocket scramble and crazy kong. Had Cue Ball, and always wanted Astro Wars and BMX flyer. Have also now picked up g&w donkey kong, and a couple of the ‘3d’ Tony games.

[@exidy-yt]

I had Digital Derby as my first 'hand held' electronic game, and keeping it in batteries was a problem as I recall. I also got for my 10th birthday the Gameboy-sized Mattel Hockey which actually had some good logic to it, but I eventually learned to score at will and it lost its charm. The one I REALLY lusted for as a kid was Tomy Atomic Pinball, that thing was buzzy and noisy AF, but it really replicated the pinball experience in a small form-factor. Never did get one, but the programmable Big Trak tank more then made up for it!

[@kenknight5983]

think I sold my mortal kombat to a mate at school for a fiver. Miss my S.L. Bankman, that game actually played quite well

[@DavidDatura]

I had Astro Wars, still do. I also still have Simon and that works fine too. Oh and Tomytronic 3D Sky Attack, Speak n’Spell, Grandstands Munchman, Nintendo’s Donkey Kong Jr. Game n’Watch, UFO Master Blaster…but the joystick on that one is almost nonfunctional, etc…but Microvision was my dream machine, that I never got. I went to the shop that was selling it with my father (Keddies in Southend I believe, long gone now) with the intention of him purchasing it for me. But they were out of stock. So my father got me something else instead, an awful 2 in 1 Space Invaders/Breakout thing that used red LED dots for the display. Just terrible looking back on it, even for the 80s. I still have that and it works too.

[@Drew-Dastardly]

I feel bad for the bored young lad. I'm sure if they gave him an Astro Wars (modified with much lower volume!) he would be happy.

[@RMCRetro]

Ewan had a lovely day! Shout out to Ewan 🥳

[@BFOOT-retro]

Ha, didn't expect to see Frankie J. Holden on this channel (the man in the Galaxy Space Invaders add).

[@bigjob4096]

YESSS RMC you the man 👌🏻 grew up owning alot of these back in the good old days remember my auntie having all the latest ones as the poor lass was in a wheel chair so obviously she was at home alot👍🏻 nice one RMC ❤ this channel.

[@CaptainCaveman1170]

Some really neat engineering and all, but for the most part, this is the one aspect of retro gaming that I prefer to un-remember. Quite unpleasant experiences from all of them, mostly just money grabs. But I can of course understand their newfound collectability...they look great on a shelf.

[@chriswright6558]

I remember playing the tomytronics tank game that you put up to your eyes like binoculars the middle one on the shelf behind you

[@fLaMePr0oF]

I got an Entex Pacman2 one Christmas, I played it so much I found a pattern which won every time; the movement of the ghosts never changed if you did this pattern, but the game got faster and faster. Eventually I knew it so well I could do it with my eyes closed just by the beeps of the machine, I would play and win over and over again, level after level, with my eyes closed, until I got too tired and it got too fast for my fingers to keep up (I could clock it back to normal speed multiple times and clock the score back to zero)...

[@5HlNOBI]

Loved table-top games back in the day. Sold them all dirt-cheap at various family garage sales, with later regret. imo the closest to "arcade-perfect" is Entex's Defender VFD game. Never played the table-top Stargate, but I assume it is just as good.

[@paulnash4425]

I had Tony caveman and scramble as a kid and loved them. My older brother had a pac man games, but it was vertical and looked a lot better than the ones in this video - anyone remember this version?

[@jonnyspeed8974]

Game and Watch was very cool. Snoopy Tennis

[@se4m0nkey]

I had a few as did my brother. We had PacMan 2 where the second player could play the ghost. Caveman.Tron,Mini Munchman,Missile Command,Defender and a football game that just used led's as players and lights.

[@barrykerslake7762]

Love Astro Wars

[@kazinwho]

I have a near complete collection of Nintendo's Game & Watch line, and that's entirely down to their quality as Mike says - I bought the Zelda G&W and was surprised by how much fun it was, followed by Green House and Vermin, and all but the most expensive are now in my house haha.

[@davidlewis1787]

Loved my Firefox as a kid

[@SomePeopleCallMeWulfman]

@33:48 The Bambino Space Laser Fight. I had that one as a kid. Great fun until I attemped to "fix" it.

[@licensetodrive9930]

Game recycling happened a lot back then, starting with the mechanical Pocketeers games, I have two which are mechanically identical but different stickers; Rat-A-Tat & Copter Fight. Tomy's Pocket Arcade Copter Combat & Attack In Space games also share identical mechanics with different graphics. The Tomytronic 3D's in The Cave too; Sherman Attack, 3D Stereo Skyfighters, & Tandy's Sky Duel 3D are all the same game but Sherman Attack has a different LCD panel, and Casio's Jet Star LCD handheld has the same gameplay but different graphics.

[@mattsword41]

loved my red tomytronic 3d!

[@MisterSplendy]

18:25 Grace Brothers?? Did Mr. Humphries do a demo of the unit?

[@johnnyutah892]

Loved Astro Wars as a kid.

[@SidneyCritic]

18:00 I heard an Aussie accent in Galaxy Space Invaders, and I think that's the comedian Russell Gilbert - lol -.

[@TheBerendir]

Mum I want mortal Kombat... You've got Mortal Kombat at home. A young cousin of mine actually said that to his mum after playing my mega drive MK, and ofc she referred to the lcd tiger ( or tomy) thing. Poor kid. I always wondered why his son was a right spoiled brat growing up 😂.

[@jcardboard]

Oh the memories as soon as that chime for astro wars hit.

[@robertmoss556]

It's ripped off from Moon Cresta... kzbin.info/www/bejne/mIjEmK2eabuBa7ssi=v83MdZv-zBkuGOkH

[@nemysisretrogaming3771]

I remember astro wars and Firefox. Good memories from those days.

[@paulhall9811]

A modified 1978 Galaxy Invader can be seen in Episode 2 of Star Wars Ahsoka. How many table top games appear in Sci-Fi shows and films?

[@seebarry4068]

2:42 first game i ever clocked. Closely followed by Donkey Kong game and watch, then jetpac on the speccy.

[@robertskitch]

'Demon Driver'/'Digital Derby' always feels like it's a home adaptation of Chicago Coin's 'Speedway' to me. I wonder if that's an overly obvious comparison to make though I don't think I've heard the two mentioned in relation to each other.

[@videogamebookreviews]

That's not Atari VCS Defender. 2:42 That version of the game has buildings, not terrain. I aim to clarify, not to criticise. I don't recognise the screenshot. Is it a remake of some kind? Cheers!

[@MikeDiver1980]

You're right. I picked the screenshot. The layout is VCS but the terrain is wrong. How odd. I can't find what this actually is, as its listed as 2600. Maybe a remake indeed, in the style of.

[@Jimbaloidatron]

I found this... Defender Vector (Defender Hack) (2003) (Steve Engelhardt)

[@MikeDiver1980]

@@Jimbaloidatron Looks like our suspect, thanks for finding that. (Will update my slides accordingly!)

[@videogamebookreviews]

@@Jimbaloidatron I didn't know about that! Cheers!

[@videogamebookreviews]

@@MikeDiver1980 Cheers! And I appreciate enthusiasm for old games!

[@TheBerendir]

As someone born in 79 this is pure nostalgia!

[@ritchwaghorn6541]

Crazy Caveman all the way!

[@witte_reus]

so cool.

[@vibaek78]

I had an Astro Wars in my childhood. I wonder where it is today?

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

Where those games made by GAKKEN available as kits to let you build them instead of purchasing it as a fully build game.

[@stephenpalmer9375]

I don't know if I am angrier at my Mother selling my VIC-20 or my Tron tabletop when I left home... The former I have been able to replace.. the latter.. too pricey!!

[@bruce_just_]

18:26 Australian accent detected. Also, a couple of those retailers still exist. Not so sure about that Rose Bay one - it’s probably since been redeveloped into waterfront property with its own marina.

[@x7heDeviLx]

Neil be honest, did you after opening the first one so violently lol change the way you opened the second one cause you didn’t realize it would be so aggressive of a mechanism the first time haha 😅 24:50

[@RMCRetro]

Batteries may have been launched XD

[@juddery]

Can anyway tell me the name of the space invader style game at 10:26? I used to have it as a kid, but can't remember the name and have never been able to find one. edit: Never mind, it shows it clearly at 16:33. Galaxy Twinvaders. The amount of times I clocked that thing was unreal. 😁

[@toastrave7820]

this is very cool

[@MatthewExplores]

still have my working astro wars

[@darthnagus5457]

I had donkey kong jr2 and super mario Game and watch i also had Astro wars and a bmx game by grandstand

[@g33kl33t]

13:44 😊

[@DaraM73]

There was a Clash Of The Titans lcd game, but wasn’t called that. Anyone?

[@videogamebookreviews]

Are you thinking of Fights Of The Titans by Epoch?

[@andrewdunbar828]

buying are expensive

[@TimelordUK]

9:30 please stop saying "off of" it really grates on me

[@DimasFajar-ns4vb]

coin comes with many size sir