Green neon light casts an eerie glow over dimly painted cement walls. Covered in luminescent graffiti and relics from the past, those same walls reverberate sounds from over thirty years ago. Does this room contain some sort of dystopian future or is it a time machine to the past? Neither. The room in question is Studio 313, the personal arcade of Grant Garvin, and those relics from the past are more than twenty classic arcade games anxiously awaiting their next player.
The style of my arcade was very much drawn from 80’s Cyberpunk book and film influence. While I was creating it, I was imagining what a hidden, classic arcade would look like in a dystopian metropolis. Much like our hobby centers around the restoration and appreciation of these classic games, I considered what a collector would do with these games in a universe like “Blade Runner” or “Snow Crash”, and the look of the place flowed from that. From the industrial elements, to neon everywhere, and even blacklight reactive graffiti, I wanted my space to be kind of retro-futuristic, and almost a little dangerous looking.
The largest neon light helping to achieve the futuristic look Garvin mentions happens to have some history behind it as well. The twelve foot sign bearing the words “Just For Fun” was discovered in a barn covered in dust, having been forgotten for many years despite its original function as a marquee for an arcade of the same name. Though the Western Massachusetts arcade for which it was created closed in 1986, the ambient light it casts is a perfect match for its new home.
Garvin’s personal collection includes some of the most popular games from the golden age of the arcades with such titles as Asteroids, Galaga, Tempest, Ms. Pac-Man, and his personal favorite Tron. His desire to have such classics as part of his collection stems from an early exposure to gaming. Some of his earliest memories are those of standing in a shopping cart as a four or five year old in order to play (and beat) much older challengers on the arcades in the snack bar of his local department store. His infatuation was encouraged from that early age by his parents who seemingly took delight from such a young kid beating teenagers on Joust and Space Duel. Young Grant was hooked. While his friends began obsessing about the Atari 2600 home console, he remained true to his love for the actual arcade which persists to this day.
Having experienced the second arcade boom as a teenager and seeing lines of people nearly twenty deep clamoring to play the newest fighter like Street Fighter II, it was only appropriate that the first arcade he would purchase for his collection was Mortal Kombat conversion he bought for $50. Many games have come and gone since that first purchase, and his collection now boasts just over forty cabinets, some of which are on display at TempleCon, an event Garvin organizes each year. In addition to even more classic titles such as Tapper, Galaxian, Spy Hunter, and Gauntlet, Studio 313 also contains some rare lesser-known gems. Next to an unusual looking Q*Bert cabinet stands the similar looking War of the Bugs and Jungle Prowl. Manufactured and sold in a grey market by Glak they are perhaps the only ones currently known to exist.
“When the classic model of the arcade began to die off, it wasn’t being replaced by anything. The concept of competition within a community that the arcade experience offered was quickly becoming nothing more than a memory. Anyone that experienced that era knows that there was nothing cooler than being completely in the zone with a game, having no other awareness of anything else outside of you and the controls, except for the indescribable feeling of a crowd slowing growing behind you, watching you win or lose. I think a lot of why I’ve put so much effort not only into restoration of arcade games, but also exposing them to the public by bringing my collection to events, is to reconnect people to that same feeling.
I love the high ceilings! Really makes it look like a real arcade.
Will this arcade be available to the general public other than at TempleCon? Thanks!
Hi Laura! While I’m not opening 313 to the public at the moment (It’s also my workshop, and I always have projects hanging around in there somewhere), I may have some open house days this year I’ll be letting people know about.
ji Grant! That would be awesome! Please add my info. To you open house notification list! Thanks! Have a great day!
Looks great! I’ve been considering some of those propaganda posters (especially the TRON ones) for my own gameroom.