Pick Date: 9/21/08    What is considered a classic arcade game? Typically those made during the Golden Age of videogames, between 1981 - 1983 before the videogame crash of 1984.

Lets count the Nintendo classics during those years.
    1. Donkey Kong - 1981
    2. Donkey Kong Jr. - 1982
    3. Popeye - 1982
    4. Mario Bros. - 1983

Hmmmm.....which one was I missing? Oh wait, I know, I was missing a Donkey Kong Jr. Why? Price, its always about the price. Oh how I longed to round out my Nintendo collection and proudly boast them underneath my nice new neon Nintendo sign. For all those Gameboy and Wii kids, Diddy Kong was the new name given to the Donkey Kong Jr. character. Just like Princess Peach was only known as "Mario's girlfriend" back in the day.

Enter Craiglist *again* on a late Saturday evening. Specifically it was 10:45PM. I didn't want to call that late so I wait until Sunday morning. I call first thing and ask if the game is still available. They answered that it was, so I ask if they will knock $50 off the already low price if I show up in 1 hour with cash. They accept, and I'm on my way down the road. I had to carry this thing up the steps because they didn't have a walkout basement. I hate that, but a bargain is a bargain.

I get the game home and start to go over everything. The back door was missing the lock so I had to drill that out just to get inside. Once in, I get the monitor all adjusted to a nice vibrant picture. Then I pull the bezel and clean off all the dust and grime. The marquee light wasn't lighting up so I pulled the marquee out. It appeared that some weirdo decided to replace the marquee light with a 60watt bulb and bulb fixture, which of course was also burned out. I get the marquee light replaced so now everything is lighting up beautifully. Next I focus my attention on the control panel. The buttons had mismatched colors and the instruction cards were faded. I replace the buttons with new ones, and print out new instruction cards and replace. Eventually I installed a hiscore save and freeplay kit in the game.

Taking a step back I observe my prize and handiwork. This game is looking good. I squeeze off a few games and give Mario a good fist punch after rescuing papa. I now have 4 very pretty Nintendo cabs sided by side, who would have thought?

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