09/17/2026
📖(RETRO WORLD STORY TIME) 📖
With all the Recent Postings of our Newest Game Release i Figured I’d give a little backstory to its importance to me, not just because it would be most any arcade owners Grail piece but it lies deeper than that.
Growing up as a kid in Abilene, I lived a very humble and simple life , I was so intrigued by the ending 80s Era as most of my Friends had the newer Game systems such as The NES, and Sega I was still on the Atari 2600 , setup playing Missle Command, pitfall, Tank, and (PONG) on a little black n white woodgrain TV Set and Joystick or joystick paddle in hand… i became really good. (I was unstoppable! Until it was bedtime and was told to shut it off) 😏
As I got older it always stuck with me even in school seeing Atari computers and automatically thinking of video games i couldn’t get it outta my mind, Eventually I grew up and went a different route in life, bieng a Automotive Refinish Tech for many Years and growing tired of it, one day i decided to get back into Retro gaming and started collecting again, and then came the Arcade bug and bit me, my gaming collection grew from consoles to full size machines as well as the games I wanted, but pong had always been at the top of my list, well realizing a game that was 53 years old is insanely hard to find and a museum piece at that it clearly became a I’ll never own one of those…. Until one night my friend Kyle gave me leads on one that was for sale bieng a skeptic with a deal online I imposed a deal to buy, not getting my hopes up too high in case I was left hanging , well the deal got made and we traveled a few hours to go pickup a cabinet that had seen better days with the bottom half missing from water damage and elements, and with plenty of Battle Scars…
So I called in My buddy Eric Gough a master Carpenter that has helped Repair some of the Most damaged Cabinets and bring new life to them, in the past, with his amazing Repairs the build was underway, with my backround in Collision Repair the bonds were seamed and mended smooth … oil base was then applied to ensure adhesion of the walnut viynl that was applied by our Staff members Jasmine Neaveh😉 and myself…working Endless Nights
Almost there and looking good the original PCB went under some slight adjustments and maintenance but one problem stood the original monitor was missing and had been replaced with a monochrome monitor so we searched and searched with no luck until we found one with our buddy Donny Moen at Fox Computers 💻 that became a lifesaver…. With everything coming to its final stages the original coin door had been modified and was in bad shape , a bright orange Credit button stood out and wasn’t very pleasing , so who do u call at a time of needing something custom?… The Lab ATX that’s who ,they created a unique one of a kind Atari press Credit button to add to our final touch! And like that Pong was Ready for its Big Debut at the Spark Science center and Kids Museum… Bieng a Small Buisness and localy Owned we stuck with working with other small businesses to bring this to life.. so we thank u all for being part of our story and History.
It’s Release to the public was for National Video Game Day 2026 along with my childhood systems setup to surround it, it was well received by many families and those remiscing on past times… tho it is a Meuseum Piece and never Really available to play anywhere we figure we would House it at Retro world Arcade for everyone to enjoy, because this is a Labor Of Passion, Not Really Profit for us, we do this to share Rare & Unique Pieces of History and stories with the Abilene Community, Because one Day Maybe sumone will share a Story and mention us is Arcade History and it will all have Been worth It….. 🕹️
