J.Kohls: from Fri January 7th "Arcade"

When O'Gorman started talking to us about arcade games I was reminded that I happen to work at one of very few (to my current knowledge) establishments in KW that still have arcade games. Yes, there are the occasional stuffed animal claw machines, or whatever you want to call them, and that hateful game Stack 2 Win at almost every Wal-mart where you try to match the blocks on top of each other as they increase with speed after every line. I think that it plays on the time it takes for your brain to react to your vision and then send the signal to move your hand. So you think that you've won but really its moved before you've processed that reality. Cruel. Then there are the theaters with Dance Dance Revolution or "D.D.R." as quoted from Russel Peters.

What interests me, and what identifies the establishment that I work in as unique, is that its not only in a restaurant but that the machines are so old. Instead of D.D.R., Buckhunter, Pro-Golfer, or any other modern video gaming, we're dealing with Pinball, Sega, Atari and PacMan. The O.G.'s of arcade. They aren't extremely popular either; remnants of a more fruitful past. Its funny to think that at one point people probably lined up for their shot at beating scores. Now the games are tinkered with occasionally but most often act as casters for guests to put their condensation laced glasses on while shooting pool. They are kind like the mummies, suits of armour, and samurai swords of the Kunstkabinett.

Its a bit ironic, or appropriate, that we are tasked with transforming these shells of arcade games into kunstkabinetts themselves.
Imagine the number of hands that hit those buttons; what those people had experienced. The dates, the entertainment, and other things going on around the machines. I wonder what stories lie in existence swirling around these artifacts of entertainment.
Im getting curious about the Kunstkabinett- and I like saying that word!

Walking through the hall,they stand as silent armies; mummified by time