A Small Team Chronicling the Golden Age of Coin-Op Gaming
We are archivists and arcade historians in Giza, cataloging cabinets, PCB variants, and the culture that grew up around every quarter dropped in a slot.
Learn the HistoryWhat Guides Our Cataloging
The principles behind every entry in the archive
Every cabinet entry is cross-checked against manufacturer schematics, distributor records, and firsthand inspection before it enters the archive.
We don't pad entries with sponsored gear or resale links. Our notes exist to document machines, not to sell you anything.
Collectors and former arcade operators regularly send in corrections, photos, and serial numbers, which we fold into the record with credit.
Beyond the big Western releases, we track Japanese, European, and Middle Eastern coin-op distribution histories often left out of mainstream archives.
We'd rather publish a cabinet profile six months late than get the PCB revision or release date wrong.
Our priority is documenting hardware and culture accurately, not chasing trends or clickable headlines about gaming's past.
The Archive So Far
Numbers behind years of cataloging arcade history
Readers of the Archive
Sent them photos of a Galaxian cabinet I found in a warehouse near Cairo and within a week they'd identified the PCB revision and pointed me to the original distributor paperwork. Genuinely careful work.
Their piece on regional coin-op distribution in the Middle East filled in gaps I'd never seen documented anywhere else. Cited sources, old shop photos, the works.
I run a small repair shop and reference their cabinet profiles constantly for wiring diagrams and control panel layouts. Saved me hours on a Pac-Man restoration last spring.
Read the article on how coin-op culture shaped arcades in Egypt during the 80s three times. It's the kind of detail you don't find in the usual retro roundups.
They followed up on a correction I sent about a Sega cabinet's release date and actually updated the entry with a note crediting me. Small thing, but it says a lot.
The write-up on regional bootleg cabinet variants was the most thorough thing I've read on the topic. Clearly written by people who've actually opened these machines up.