View Full Version : Dallas / Fort Worth area BYOAC/MAME/Digital Pinball/Emulation Usergroup.
Over the past couple months I've received about 10-15 messages from people in my area that are interested in building a cabinet. *I've had several people come to my house and check out and play my machines and get tips on starting their own cabinets. *I've been looking for a Dallas / Fort Worth area BYOAC/MAME/Digital Pinball/Emulation Usergroup, but I haven't had much luck in finding an existing one...
I'm thinking about creating such a group. *This group would be a group that would meet face to face on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. *The object of this group is to get people with like hobbies together in the real world. *We could sit and BS about games and emulation. We could also offer help to new people that are looking to get started in this hobby. *Share resources and teach people how to compile and use MAME and various front end systems.
Meetings would be located at what few local arcades are still around. *I don't know of many arcades that are still around, but Tornado Terry's, in Keller, is about 2 miles from my house and would be a great place to meet. *They have a meeting/party room, Free Wi-fi, plenty of arcade games on free play all you can play all day for 12.50 per person. *Not to mention he has many commonly used arcade parts for sale in his shop. * *
I was wondering if anyone here knows of such a group, or would be interested in joining such a club/usergroup. *If I can drum up some interest I'll pull the trigger and setup a meetup.com page where we can organize such events.
Anyone interested?
You can now Join this group on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/DFW-area-ArcadePinball-Usergroup/143996822319206)!
juanchocnva
11-29-2010, 07:38 PM
man that sounds awesome but live in chicago...great idea...hope 2 do this here two
bajaresident
11-29-2010, 08:07 PM
Yep.. sounds fun. West Coast here though...
Shanenashley
11-29-2010, 08:47 PM
Yea that sounds cool especially since i have no one to share this hobby with where i'm at. Hey i'm only 5 hours away from Dallas though.
jeremysoft
11-30-2010, 01:10 PM
Hey Dazz Im a member of a arcade collectors forum , that has individual groups for cities all across the US its mainly for collectors of originol machines but they have a mame/emusection as well. The members ive met so far are all really knowledgeable in all aspects of arcade repair be it cabinet repair electronics wiring etc.. they helped me out a ton when i bought my first cab to mame up. Anyway i just wanted to tell you about it dunno if its cool to drop the name on here or not so i didnt shoot me a msg and give it to ya
jeremysoft
11-30-2010, 01:14 PM
I know id love to find some local people here in NC that are interested in Arcade and Pinball Emu. I built my Cab to try to get some of my fam and friends into the mix with my passion for classic gaming but really none of them could give a hoot so alas i play alone
snatex
12-02-2010, 11:57 AM
I'm in Dazz. Hope to see you soon.
Jon Burns
12-05-2010, 11:30 PM
I am in Frisco, and would be interested in joining.
Nice to see a couple people from here interested. I have a pretty good list going between here and BYOAC forums. It looks like we have enough to have a pretty nice sized group meet sometime. Our first meet will probably not be until after the the holidays and the first of the year.
nezzah
12-27-2010, 09:10 AM
I would be interested Dazz ..I don't think my schedule would allow me to be there in person but maybe once every 6 months, but I'd be happy to help and participate as much as I could.
anyone in or around the northeast? Rhode Island,Mass,Conn..?? pm me if so,this is a cool idea and something that needs to be done
coffynut
01-05-2011, 08:54 AM
Hey Dazz. Sounds like somehting I would be interested in. I am relatively new to the hobby. Finally have my cabinet complete and working on HS Frontend and CP.
In Mansfield now, but work up by Keller.
Nick
snipersspam
01-10-2011, 03:27 PM
I'd be interested too, I dont have facebook any more though.
Hey guys,
I'm going to really get this group up and running very soon.
Zinger19
01-23-2012, 07:44 PM
I bought some parts on ebay from Tornado Terrys. Very pleasant business to deal with and the parts I received were in excellent condition. Too bad I don't live in Texas or I'd be game.
betic
01-23-2012, 07:45 PM
If I were still living in Ft. Worth I'd love to be there. The last arcade I went to in Texas was Stephen Spieldberg's Gameworks in Grapevine Mills Mall in 1999/2000. Was asked to sing there for a party and got paid, as many games as I could play for free and free drinks (only sodas, but still free). Was fun. I think the Gameworks tanked a while back (at least that location). Haven't lived in that area since 2003. Was a good 7 years while there.
If I were still living in Ft. Worth I'd love to be there. The last arcade I went to in Texas was Stephen Spieldberg's Gameworks in Grapevine Mills Mall in 1999/2000. Was asked to sing there for a party and got paid, as many games as I could play for free and free drinks (only sodas, but still free). Was fun. I think the Gameworks tanked a while back (at least that location). Haven't lived in that area since 2003. Was a good 7 years while there.Gameworks as a company closed all of their locations about 2 years ago. The place has been turned into a really nice aquarium.
guruguys
01-23-2012, 08:31 PM
If Texas wasn't so darn big... something like this would be cool down here in Houston as well.
exoscoriae
01-24-2012, 08:18 AM
lol @ gameworks. The last few years of it's life, half the place was crane games. Same with the arcade in the Metreon in San Francisco last time I was there.
One of my faves here in DFW is Nickel mania, a nickel arcade in Carrollton:
http://www.nickelmania.com/
The pics sort of look like a chucky cheese, but they have a ton of older cabs there (or did the last time I was there a few years ago).
Tornado terry's sounds quite interesting - I hope I'm able to make it out that way.
Man, I wish I still lived in Texas. I would actually love to meet some of the people I have gotten to know on these forums, then they could really see what a fat nerd I am in real life lol! I have to admit though, this sounds like oodles of fun!
dfwArcade
01-25-2012, 06:58 AM
Dazz, I'm in too. Sounds like fun. I've seen Terry's postings on CL and Ebay. Looking forward to seeing his arcade and meeting fellow Spinners. Thanks!
Sakodax
03-19-2012, 03:57 PM
lol @ gameworks. The last few years of it's life, half the place was crane games. Same with the arcade in the Metreon in San Francisco last time I was there.
One of my faves here in DFW is Nickel mania, a nickel arcade in Carrollton:
Can't post links yet :(
The pics sort of look like a chucky cheese, but they have a ton of older cabs there (or did the last time I was there a few years ago).
Tornado terry's sounds quite interesting - I hope I'm able to make it out that way.
I think we have a nicklemania over in Garland, I can't believe its still open.
I think we have a nicklemania over in Garland, I can't believe its still open.
Yea! Another North Texan! Welcome to the club!
adam763
03-20-2012, 01:04 AM
Dazz, if/when you guys do meet up, it would be great if a few videos were shot and placed on here/YouTube, allowing the rest of us to see the US scene and how your modern-day arcades compare to here in the UK/Europe.
You could even bring out a yearly DVD..?
Sakodax
03-20-2012, 09:07 AM
Man, two people from Keller. I grew up in Keller and graduated from Keller High. My in-laws still live over on Keller Haslet, If I remember correctly thats not too far from Tornado Terrys...ahh the memories.
Memnoch9299
03-20-2012, 01:47 PM
I'd like to come hang out and check out Tornado Terry's, I'm in Irving about 20-30 mins away depending on that horrible construction traffic on 183 Airport Freeway, might be faster to go up 360 to Grapevine and take 114 west once you get past the construction in Grapevine. My cousin who lives in Grapevine and I used to frequent Gameworks pretty often as it was right by the Movie Theater and we'd hit up both pretty often before Gameworks closed. There's also a Main Event in Grapevine which is more about modern games and of course bowling, pool, laser tag etc and they have one in Lewisville and one other one in DFW somewhere or other. Someday I want to make my own cab, I've slowly been gathering the necessary software and pretty soon intend to set up HyperSpin with all the relevant wheels and emu movies on my second PC that is also connected to my 42 Inch LCD tv via HDMI
Sakodax
03-20-2012, 02:37 PM
I'd like to come hang out and check out Tornado Terry's, I'm in Irving about 20-30 mins away depending on that horrible construction traffic on 183 Airport Freeway, might be faster to go up 360 to Grapevine and take 114 west once you get past the construction in Grapevine. My cousin who lives in Grapevine and I used to frequent Gameworks pretty often as it was right by the Movie Theater and we'd hit up both pretty often before Gameworks closed. There's also a Main Event in Grapevine which is more about modern games and of course bowling, pool, laser tag etc and they have one in Lewisville and one other one in DFW somewhere or other. Someday I want to make my own cab, I've slowly been gathering the necessary software and pretty soon intend to set up HyperSpin with all the relevant wheels and emu movies on my second PC that is also connected to my 42 Inch LCD tv via HDMI
How is that construction treating you in Grapevine?
I have the software installed and have been just messing with hyperspin, I have a 42inch LCD I'm going to create a mount for and have everything hook up to that. Connected to all that might be my cab, I have some old LCD monitors laying around, I think i'm going to create something from the ground up.
Texas Pinball Festival is this weekend in Grapevine. There will be several of us there this weekend. If anyone wants to come out and hang out please send me a pm for contact information.