The Amazing Art of the Video Game Marquee
Dan Sinker recently visited an arcade full of old school vintage arcade games and documented some of the wonderful typography and design of the game cabinet marquees.
After a while though, I became captivated not by the games themselves but by the incredible art on the cabinets and specifically the marquee, the sign set above the screen, tempting a kid from 1983 to spend their hard-earned quarters. The marquee back then had to do a lot of work, because the games themselves were all low resolution and blocky affairs. The marquee had to sell the idea of the game, the excitement around the concept and the story because the on-screen graphics alone weren’t going to do it. So you made sure that your marquees did the job, filling it with exquisite hand-lettered logos, art borrowed from the pages of fantasy novels, sci-fi, and comics, and vivid color palettes that would shine out into the dark arcade.
I’ve been to Funspot in New Hampshire a few times and it’s so fun to walk around and marvel at all of the 70s, 80s, and 90s graphic design — to see what the past thought the future was going to look like.
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Galloping Ghost is so amazing. Great way to spend a few hours.
If you're ever driving up I-91 in MA, you can take a 5 min detour to The Quarters in Hadley where they have unlimited retro gaming for $10/hr.
Right on the bike trail, and they have vegan food!
The past thought the future was going to be better than it is.
Wow! These are great!
My friends and I make a trip to Galloping Ghost every 2 years or so from Ohio. If you grew up in up in arcades and miss the amazing sound of countless attract screens you must visit this place. The best part is not the sheer number of games but the fact that they are well maintained!
Non sequitur but I still found it odd; last Friday, while riding my bike from from work, I was sitting outside at Imperial Oak (across the street from GG), enjoying a beer with some friends, I noticed that there is also a Galloping Ghost Gym and a Galloping Ghost Garage. No where near as cool as the arcade.
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