A retro games expert in the US is Briton Freddy Bailey, some of whose 50-plus years in the coin machine industry have been spent in New Jersey, where he lives today with his family, and has a little factory where he remakes the famous video games of yesteryear.
But Bailey’s passion for the iconic hits of the '70s and '80s is not misplaced, as the growing trend in the US market today is for retro arcade bars, usually containing both video and pinball games from the "golden era."
Bailey started developing cabinets to hold retro game boards in the basement of his house, building them from the raw plywood to a laminated finish, including the artwork, wiring, control panels and even to designing the flyers himself. Initially, it was to satisfy the home market where the teenagers of the '80s wanted to relive the gaming days of their youth.
Now with the retro arcade bar market expanding rapidly across the country, Bailey has found a new outlet for his products, which these days come from a state-of-the-art workshop he has had built.
“The passion of the '80s youngsters for their games has been recognised throughout the industry, including companies like Stern Pinball, who are reacting to the new enthusiasm being shown by these venues. The basis of my business at Game World Group (he ran a company under the same name in the UK in the '80s) has been with the home market. I sold to a group of diehard gamers, mostly brought to me by word-of-mouth. But since the success of the bar-arcades, local operators are now coming to me for these retro games.”
Bailey said that for a US$1,200 investment, they can give their locations a new game that will generate a steady $30-$40 per week. “The biggest problem in the amusement industry today is the high cost of new games. Most manufacturers are concentrating on big and spectacular games that are only suitable for the big and spectacular locations such as Dave and Buster’s. They are ignoring the traditional ‘street operator,’ who has been desperate for something new at a realistic price. The strength of the internet has killed off many games so all that the operator has left is jukeboxes and the occasional pool table.
“Some operators are running pinball, but these days they too are a costly item. I am working on more new products such as a new weighing scale and mini-crane for bulk vending, as this sector has always been strong. Kids want to have games that are interactive and the mini-crane fits the bill.”
The 76-year-old Bailey still works daily at his little factory turning out the retro games. His Defender Series contains all the classics from the old Williams Manufacturing Company, including Defender, Robotron, Joust and Stargate, along with the Nintendo Super Mario Brothers and other games like Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins. In all, it contains 19 games played on a 40ins HD LCD screen with two joysticks.
Other games available include Galaga, X-Men, Space Invaders, Star Trek, Street Fighter and Pac-Man. There are around 1,200 titles in all.
