World’s largest arcade introduces interactive Wall of Fame
Many of the world’s most talented classic arcade gamers have walked through the doors of the famous Funspot and American Classic Arcade Museum (ACAM) doors to compete over the years.
The current world records on some of the biggest hits in arcade history were set within the New Hampshire location, including the current records on iconic titles such as Donkey Kong and Space Invaders, not to mention the first official perfect Pac-Man score.
At the recent 13th Annual International Classic Video Game Tournament, a new shrine to forever honor these record gamers was introduced with the addition of an interactive kiosk, replacing the overcrowded wall of photographs that had appeared in countless online photos and The King of Kong film.
This new 42″ touch screen kiosk is located near the “Pac-Man Wall” within the top floor of Funspot. Arcade Game Examiner recently managed to catch up with David Hernly, founder of Aurcade.com, to learn more.
[youtube width=”600″ height=”480″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCa8moSI8s8[/youtube]
Q: How did the idea for the Kiosk come about?
A: The Kiosk was created to accommodate a few issues that were facing the American Classic Arcade Museum (ACAM) at Funspot. Gary Vincent, Mike Stulir and myself put our heads together and came up with the idea that you see as the Kiosk today. The two key issues that faced ACAM where:
The first was a simple issue of space with the original Wall of Fame. ACAM had simply run out of space to keep adding to it, and many gamers were anxious to see their achievements recognized. As the new Kiosk is updated in real time, it is always up to date. This way players never have to wait to be included since their score(s) are always current. When the new Kiosk is in ‘attract’ mode, it cycles through a portrait gallery, showing each and every player with a local high score or world record.
The second goal was to provide visitors to the museum a modern way to look up information about the games available right there on the floor. Anyone can walk up to the Kiosk and find information by the games name, year of release, manufacturer and even genre. Player profiles can be viewed on the Kiosk as well, which shows their local high scores and world records.
Q: What other features will be included in it in the future?
A: The History section of the Kiosk will be greatly expanded with more pictures showing Funspot over the years, as well as the creation of the American Classic Arcade Museum on the third floor. We will also constantly be tweaking the interface to make improvements to the user experience. While version 1.0 of the Kiosk is solid, there is always room for improvement. We do have a few brand new features we will be rolling out over the next year in conjunction with the Kiosk, and we’ll be announcing those closer to their unveiling.
Q: How did the attendees of the event respond to it?
A: It was an overwhelming success, and some of the most gratifying moment for me was watching people take their picture standing next to it with their profile showing on the Kiosk. I also think people loved having direct access to all that information. Need to know the record on Vangard? People walked over and pulled it right up. Every time I’d walk by the Kiosk it would have a crowd around it. And as successful as it was, it’s only going to get better.
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You can learn more about Funspot and ACAM by visiting their websites at http://www.funspotnh.com/ and http://www.classicarcademuseum.org/.
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