Stage 3: Wookin' Poo Nub In All Da Wong Pwaces

Now, for any MAME purists out there, I know that overhauling a vintage machine for MAMEing is considered verboten. I'm all for restoring and archiving classic games, and if there was some other way to make this project happen without gutting a classic machine, I'd be all for it. I was hoping to find someone who had an old curbside-bound machine somewhere in the local HRM area, so I'd feel less bad about ripping a piece of arcade history apart for my selfish desires.

The Yellow Pages were decidedly non-helpful. The one place I did want to peruse was this shady-ass joint on Gottingen Street called "Darrell's Coin Machines", a sooty nightmare of a place that usually had 3-4 vagabonds and/or drugdealers slumped over in the doorway. Mike Drake eluded to this temple of gloom in a comment on a previous post.

A phone call put me in contact with the oldest sounding answering machine I have ever heard on a telephone. Convinced that I would not be getting a phonecall back, I showed up at Darrell's in person one day, and after awkwardly deflecting several solicitations for spare change and cigarettes from the colourful locals, I pressed my face up against the filthy windows only to see that Darrell appeared to have flown the coop. I considered calling the police, as from the level of disarray and offal on the inside, someone appeared to have set off a small explosive device recently. My search would have to continue elsewhere. And by elsewhere, I mean the Internet.