Technology can change so fast that within a few years, each of the gadget that we use ends up becoming an antique. Consoles that we used a decade ago fetch a lot of money among collectors and gadgets that were used many decades ago can fetch a small fortune.
Arcade games have always been popular, and their popularity rose from the 1970s. Coin operated pinball machines provided a very rudimentary sort of entertainment to folks back in the 1930s. Even earlier in the 1920s, people use to insert coins into exotic looking ‘arcades’ which were a far cry from what we understand by arcade games today. These ancient arcades were mostly used by fortune tellers and gypsies who would play mechanical music for their enthralled audiences.
One such arcade game was recently ‘discovered’ by modern day collectors in an old Montana town. Virginia City, an old mining town in Montana has suddenly come to the spotlight with its mysterious classic gypsy fortune-teller booth which once drew crowds in the early 20th century. This could be the only one left in the world, or maybe there is one more. thus, the classic gypsy fortune-teller booth has been valued between $2 million to $3 million by various auctioneers, collectors and illusionists. Virginia City’s authorities and the directors of the Montana Heritage Commission have declined to sell it, though the city is in great need for money.
The money could help to revive this dusty and remote town which has only 150 inhabitants. The people of the town feel slightly annoyed at the idea of people ‘discovering’ their beloved gypsy fortune telling arcade machine, and feel distraught at the idea of selling it to auctioneers, even if it fetched millions of dollars. The elaborately decorated arcade machine could actually be the prototype of all the machines that we know today. One can understand the defiance put up by the people of the town in safeguarding their beloved arcade machine as no one would want to part with the most important chunk of their history.
Moreover, if we are talking about one of the oldest arcade machines, and possible the only one that is still available, the city can actually make a tidy sum by investing a little money in tourism marketing and PR, so that gaming tourists visit the dusty little town to pay homage to a forgotten arcade machine, which used to tell its audience mysterious ways of fate and destiny. you could also take a look at 22 TARDIS Designs that we had featured earlier. The GBA SP Arcade Table is another gadget that brings back the memories of arcade machines.
