Teacher's Pet wrote: Fri May 26, 2023 12:03 pm
Any vintage video arcade game experts out there?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/FSSoctsGWYsqAktY6
I think this is from a sort of bootleg or generic arcade console.
Any idea what game this is? Or more likely, which game it's intended to resemble most?
Street Fighter?
Item shown is a plexiglass panel with graphics silkscreened onto the back surface.
I think this is the piece that would go across the backlit (?) top panel of an arcade game.
Late 1980s vintage I would say.
I'd say you're about right with the date, just because of what is depicted. If this were earlier in the 80s, it would likely be sci-fi (and more likely to be made of glass). Street fighting kung fu guys means it's probably from 1988 or later. You're right about where it goes, also. This is called the "marquee" and in a generic cabinet they are designed to be interchangeable, so when you change the game board, you just swap the marquee for another one. They are not all exactly the same size however and the precise dimensions might be a clue as to what kind of cabinet it fits in (to somebody more expert than me).
Your marquee doesn't have any name on it, which makes me think it is intended to be a generic marquee. Sometimes an arcade would build their own cabinets (since anyone with a bit of carpentry skill can do so), and they'd print their own marquees to go in them, intended for no game in particular. Which could make it difficult to identify as it might be unique to a particular arcade. It's a nice example, could be rare, who knows.
If you're at all interested in this crap, here are some that I own...
This is a generic marquee that was made for an arcade in my town, although I bought this one from somebody in a completely different city. Originally, all the cabinets in the arcade would have had this same marquee. Helpfully, it has the address and the date on it (1981) along with the name of the arcade. Screenprint on glass. A real work of art! Some local draftsman having their best crack at a Chris Foss spaceship.
This off-model Bomb Jack looks like a bootleg, but it's actually one of many officially licensed imports with a marquee created by the local importer, Chaston Chastronics in Christchurch, who also built their own cabinets and leased them out to fish & chip shops all over the country. Apparently they would change their marquee designs regularly. I guess this is probably from 1984 or 85. Screenprint on plexi and not nearly as cool.
And finally this is the kind of crap that would end up stuffed in a cabinet's marquee slot at the end of its life after everybody stopped caring.