Earlier this year, I had a realization. The SIU Student Center, like so many buildings that have been around a long time, has a bunch of old CRTs in storage. What if, instead of just letting them sit there collecting dust, they could be brought out to serve their original purpose? By which I mean, of course, letting people play Duck Hunt on the NES with nice, satisfying Zapper Gun clicks at Saluki Con this past weekend, from the 18th to the 19th.

When I first contacted Saluki Con about the possibility of setting up free-to-play retro games at Saluki Con, Nathan Bonner of Student Affairs was enthusiastic about the idea. So was Ryan Burger, the publisher of Old School Gamer Magazine. He offered four Ataris from his personal stash for the event. Unfortunately, there were only two gamepads in that stash, one of which can’t go down. Fortunately, Nathan Bonner had an old copy of E.T., so on that first day I just set E.T. up with a broken controller, figuring no one would understand the game well enough to realize that they’re supposed to be able to go down.

Unsurprisingly, even when I changed up the display on the second day, consolidating the Atari games to a single 2600, no one could figure out what they were supposed to do. One family did manage to figure out how to beat Adventure though (the little Stormtrooper was one of them), and a teenager who initially hated H.E.R.O. got to appreciate the obscure, late age Atari title. Pac-Man is, well, Pac-Man. I did get the idea to set up an old Pac-Man plug-and-play just to show off how crude the Atari 2600 port is compared to something that more clearly resembles the Pac-Man we all know and love. I also set up the Epilogue Playback with some Game Boy games, mostly because a lot of people asked for Tetris that first day.

Overall, the event was quite successful! I thought three TVs would be plenty, but demand was high enough that I requested a fourth one for the second day. Now that these CRTVs have been awakened to their true purpose, they can slumber for the next year awaiting the moment when they will be called into service again, dazzling children with their beautiful scanlines. Maybe next year we can have a second NES too, with Hogan’s Alley. Until then, a merry welcome to any new subscribers who scanned our QR code for that free digital subscription!

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Chansy: How did you start collecting arcade cabinets and building your current private arcade? 

Connor: I started as a kid growing up in the ’80s when these games came out. These provided an escape for me, so I would go to arcades with whatever money I had. From there, I liked console and computer games, which we gave up when we had kids.


I later found out that people collected arcade PCBs, so I started with a SuperGun. My friends had the generic Japanese candy cabinets, so I then started collecting those. 
Once I reached the limit of what I could play with those, I found out people collect dedicated arcade cabinets, and I started to collect those that had either special controls or monitors.

I met a gentleman named Francis, and he was the purveyor of the premier home arcade at the time called the Ataricade. 
Somehow, I got on his very exclusive invite list, and I was probably the most frequent guest invited. 
He was a pre-eminent Atari curator; he had prototype games, original artwork, and everything else. He encouraged me to build a home arcade. When we purchased this house in 2011, I envisioned that we could have a home arcade here. We tore down the garage and rebuilt it for that purpose. Whereas Francis’ arcade house had around 26 games, I have 43 games, including After Burner Deluxe and Tournament Cyberball 2072. 


I started collecting arcade games probably around 2002-2003, but I just recently completed this arcade because I had a 10-year hiatus due to my kids. 
I was always working overtime, so I had no time to actually pursue this. I recently got a promotion six months ago, and that’s allowed me to have weekends off. With my wife’s encouragement, I worked to finish the arcade. I almost gave it up; if you saw what this room looked like four years ago, it was just a mess. 
She told me either to do something with it or get rid of it, so I chose to do something with it. I host arcade parties for free most of the time, and I have some good friends who come over to fix the arcades when something is broken. Francis also insisted that I purchase his change machine from him, and said, “Trust me, you’re gonna want it.” 
After all this time, I’m so happy to have a change machine. All my games are on quarter operation, just like the old days.

Walter Day with the Change Machine

The Ataricade sign that you saw was from his arcade. After he got rid of it, it was up at the Vintage Arcade Superstore where Gene Lewin said, “I can’t sell it to you,” but I said, “Francis is my buddy. If he ever comes back wanting that thing, I’ll bring it right back to you”. He sold it to me for 500 bucks. 

That’s my homage to my buddy. When Walter Day came, he told me many times that this is the best arcade he’s been to. It says a lot because there’s a lot of private home arcades, and that guy’s a legend. There are home arcades out there with 150-200 arcade cabinets, but it’s just nice to know that you know I’m in that category, and I think people have a good time when they come out and visit.

Ataricade

Chansy: You held a private arcade party and screening of Arcades and Love Songs with Walter Day. How did that idea come to be? 


Connor: Throughout the years, he’s been a fixture of the arcade world for a long time. Google “Father of E-sports,” and his name pops up. Around March, my friend Paul Dean, who’s the world record holder of Frenzy and Spy Hunter, let me know about the premiere of Arcades and Love Songs at the Art Theater in Long Beach, CA, where Walter Day and maybe Billy Mitchell were going to be. When I went there, I saw Billy Mitchell in the lobby. Billy’s got a gruff persona, but he is the nicest guy in person. I got a chance to meet Walter Day after the movie and Q&A,  and he seemed genuine. 
I wondered if he’d be willing to come out to an arcade party in his honor, and to my surprise, he agreed. 
We were talking about the party and how it would be cool to just screen his movie here. That’s how we got the director Ed Cunningham involved. We exchanged numbers, and we’ve been in touch ever since. 
When he came by, he gave me an autobiography as a gift. He said he enjoyed his time so much that he’s already talking about wanting to come back next year. I want to celebrate people while they’re alive. 
Some couldn’t make it, so they’re gonna get another opportunity next year.

Owner Tom Connor with Walter Day

Chansy: What was the most memorable thing about this event? 

Connor: Prior to this event, most of my parties were on the smaller side, from 15-30 people. We ended up with about 100 people. The most memorable thing was seeing all these people and their reaction when meeting Walter, who was gracious to take photos and sign things.

Walter Day at the Private Party Screening

Chansy: Which arcade cabinet is the most storied in your collection? 

Connor: It is the crown jewel of my collection: After Burner Deluxe. It’s got two electric motors with little rubber wheels, one’s for the pitch and one’s for the roll, and that’s how it kind of controls the motion. 
I bought that game in working condition on eBay. 
I was a mechanic, so I got some channel iron, bought some heavy-duty industrial wheels, and bolted those on there. Then my buddy from work came after working overtime, and welded those things at the bottom. Now the game rolls so easily. 
Over the years, I have tracked down replacement parts, new/old stock parts, new/old stock flight controllers, and plastics. One of my crown jewel parts that I can never find ever again is the monitor plexi. 
My game is almost perfect; it’s just a showstopper.  When Top Gun: Maverick came out, Gene asked, “You want to sell your After Burner?”. I said, “No”. I thought to myself and said, “Gene, if you want me to sell it, let me take a couple things off that machine”. He goes, “What?” He’s paying me because he knows what I’ve got on it. I can’t because I can’t find those pieces again. Somebody out there that wants to pay a lot of money for that. 
I said, “No” and I still have After Burner (laughs)!

The Most Storied Cabinet: After Burner Deluxe

We thank Tom for hosting this private party to celebrate Walter Day and for allowing us the opportunity to interview him. Please check out @_fatherpain_ on Instagram or email Tom at fatherpain@hotmail.com for more information on his “Garcade” and upcoming events. If you’re in the area and get a chance to visit, let us know!

The post Arcades & Love Songs – Private Party Interview with “Garcade” Owner Tom Connor appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

I was able to interview Michael Lepsch on March 11, 2025, at my company function, where we all played a ton of games and had some great food. Michael owns Arcade 92 at the Flower Mound, Texas location, one of their two locations; the other is in McKinney, Texas. You can see more of Arcade 92 at their website: https://www.arcade92.com/

Todd Friedman (TF): Are you originally from Texas?
Michael Lepsch (ML): So, I’m a Yankee. I was born in New York and lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma for a short bit. Tulsa was my first interaction with video games as an eight-year-old. I’ve been in the Dallas–Fort Worth area for now well over two-thirds of my life. I’m not from here, but most of my life I have lived in Texas.

TF: When did you decide you wanted to open an arcade and why did you choose these two locations?
ML: The funny thing is I want to say that I decided to open an arcade sometime in 2018, and while going through my parents’ attic, I found a box of some drawings I did in the third grade. Inside that box was a drawing of myself that I did, and it says one day I am going to have one thousand dollars, and with that money I am going to open a video game store. So apparently, I had this idea when I was in the third grade, and I just forgot about that.

TF: Do you own both locations, and which one did you open first?
ML: We opened our McKinney location at the very end of 2019. In fact, we opened on November 29 because that’s the anniversary of Pong. I specifically wanted that date, and we got it to work out. I really wanted to open on that same date here at Flower Mound, but we missed it by a week because of some city inspections, so we opened here on December 4, 2023.

TF: How was the reception when you first opened? How is the turnout?
ML: In McKinney, it was great. This is like a retirement job. So, when I first had this idea, I was pretty sure this would work. I can honestly say that when it came to opening day in McKinney, I remember unlocking the door after spending an insane amount of money on construction and all those things and being like, this was a good idea, right? You know that that weekend we were packed, and it stayed that way for a while, so that was great. Here in Flower Mound, I felt a lot more confident. It kind of had the same beginning to it, but I felt much more like I knew what I was doing. I think that McKinney had that excited nervousness. Here it was far less, but it’s been great. Both locations have done fantastic, and like I said, McKinney met and exceeded all my expectations, so I was like, hey, why not do it again? We’ve been here in Flower Mound for just a little over a year now in the second location. I’m having a great time.

TF: How important is the maintenance of the machines, and how do you handle the wear and tear?
ML: When we first got started, I was the technician, and now we have four people who are techs, but I will chime in when things get busy. I kind of Google-taught myself to fix the machines. All four of my tech crew are under the age of 25, so that’s cool because I’ve been able to kind of keep that going. I tried to put out an ad for a retro game technician and no one’s answering those. I go in, but sometimes they must cross-pollinate, but I’ll tell you it is not easy. One of the tough things is when a monitor goes out. You can’t get new monitors, so a lot of times you must sacrifice a game to make a new game work, and that’s a tough decision. You don’t ever want to see taking a game out of circulation.

TF: What does it take to keep Arcade 92 fresh, and do you try to circulate different games?
ML: We have a general strategy. About every month we recycle three titles. So, three games go out, which makes sense, and it’s easier now that we have two locations because we can swap between those. We have about 120 games at the Flower Mound location, and I’ve got 100 at the McKinney location, plus we’ve got about 30 or 40 games in storage, most of which are working.

TF: Do you see yourself expanding and opening more arcades?
ML: Maybe. It is kind of like a retirement job for me. I did this because I could never not work, and I wanted to do something fun. I also did this because, you know, my story goes back to when I retired from the industry I was in before. I was definitely working too hard.

For the full interview with Michael, please go to https://www.oldschoolgamermagazine.com/arcade-92-the-full-interview/
To see more of Arcade 92, visit their website: https://www.arcade92.com/76

Presented by Spawn Point Coffee

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