An evidence-based research archive devoted to overlooked arcade games, forgotten companies, unusual cabinets, unresolved histories, and the people whose work deserves to remain part of the record.
Brian D. Semler said the company expected seven more games that year. Their identities and fates remain unresolved.
Open questions in arcade history guide the next archival search.
Four paths through the collection
Manufacturers, developers, distributors, trade relationships, short-lived ventures, and companies whose histories were never properly pulled together.
Deep profiles of the games that rarely got a proper historical treatment.
Kiosks, minis, prototypes, conversions, and machines that never fit the usual mold.
Programmers, engineers, artists, designers, operators, and others too often left out.
Missing documents, unidentified people, conflicting dates, prototype mysteries, and research leads.
Company histories and sources
Evolution Soccer and Rage of the Dragons: the Mexican creative team that entered Japanese arcade production, with BrezzaSoft and Noise Factory.
Super Tank, Port Man and Triple Punch: an operator-led company linking imported games, licensed manufacture and distinctive cabinet presentations.
A short-lived California manufacturer whose four known production videogames turned theatrical sound, unusual premises and strong cabinet identity into a remarkably distinctive catalog.
Cabinet maker, integrator, assembler and marketer. The history distinguishes 14 game families from a broader group of 21 associated families, reflecting the company’s varied roles.
The company behind five distinct arcade games, traced through program credits, regional licenses, flyers, technical documents and surviving machines.
Rights holder, licensor, cabinet vendor, conversion specialist and original hardware/software operation behind Eyes, Macho Mouse, Mr. TNT, The Spirit of ’83, Lizard Wizard and a remarkable group of nearly lost projects.
Yachiyo helped create games such as Space Stranger and Swinging Singles, while also building and assembling arcade machines for others. Its story reaches from electronics manufacturing into the early Japanese video-game industry.
An early California electronic-amusement manufacturer behind Star Trek, Rally and Sport Center, plus the unusual ZX-1040 Bio-Computer.
The overlooked Korean studio behind 38 conventional arcade releases, recurring internal teams, protected custom hardware and a company trail that continues into the software era.
Game histories, play and design
Technos Japan’s beginning: fruit-delivery commands, eight repeating layouts and a rising score multiplier.
Seibu and Taito’s fantasy arcade hybrid: cursed treasure, barter, towns, maze routes, and the knowledge needed to survive.
Data East and Jorudan’s pirate adventure: magic, shops, second-loop survival, and the rules hidden inside its arcade program.
Pacific Novelty’s getaway-car maze chase, with eight maze layouts, a criminal-rank ladder and cassette-driven police-radio chatter.
Meadows’ discrete-logic flight combat machine: cockpit illusion, conflicting rules, and the challenge of preserving a game without a CPU.
Taito America’s colony-defense shooter: limited weapons, upright and Trimline cabinets, and the extra-coin Extended Weaponry experiment.
Nova Games’ miniature embassy: tools, guards and a complete spy operation.
Sega’s treasure-maze puzzle: map deductions, rocks and a flying camel.
Cabinets, kiosks, conversions and machines outside the usual mold
Atari’s 1976 factory instructions describe modular groups of two, three or six machines. A separate hardware article is not yet available.
People recovered from the margins of the record
Weekly selections from the collection
Shark Attack, Thief, NATO Defense and Mr. F. Lea reveal a California manufacturer with a distinctive approach to sound and cabinet presentation. Follow its founders, licensing relationships, prototypes and the questions surrounding its short operating life.
A separate Black Hole article is not yet available.
Article forthcomingAtari’s factory instructions describe modular groups of two, three or six machines. A separate hardware article is not yet available.
Article forthcomingElcon’s documented Michigan activity spans 1975–1982. It built and assembled fourteen game families and offered seven additional games from other companies, alongside adaptable cabinets and multi-game installations.
History & sourcesDocuments, histories and open questions
Corrections, photographs, manuals, flyers, company records, firsthand recollections, conflicting evidence, and new leads are welcome. Nothing is automatically published: submissions are reviewed first. Meaningful contributors can be credited prominently with permission, or remain anonymous if they prefer.
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Arcade Side B is an ongoing research archive devoted to the overlooked corners of arcade history— the games, companies, cabinets, ideas, and people whose stories have often been scattered, forgotten, or poorly documented.
We follow the best evidence we can find, distinguish fact from uncertainty, and consider nothing here beyond correction or improvement. New information, conflicting evidence, photographs, documents, and firsthand knowledge are always welcome.
Not everything documented here was famous, successful, or even great. It mattered because it was part of arcade history, and the people who created it deserve to have their work remembered.
Mexico’s brief bridge into Japanese arcade production.
A New Jersey operator’s place in the arcade boom.
Elcon’s Michigan history spans adaptable cabinets, outside game programs, acquisition by Micropin and the Crazy Kong litigation.
Amenip’s history follows five distinct arcade game families through program credits, regional releases, licensing records and surviving machines.
Techstar’s history connects licensing and cabinet sales with custom hardware, computer games and unfinished projects.
From Space Stranger to quiz games, Yachiyo helped create some arcade games and built others. Its history follows both sides of that work.
Pacific Novelty’s four production videogames, theatrical audio and unusual amusement products reveal a distinctive California company.
Thief combines a getaway-car maze chase with eight street layouts, escalating criminal ranks and recorded police-radio chatter.
A spy mission inside a miniature embassy.
A Sega treasure maze with surprising depth.
Cursed treasure, barter, towns and a journey reconstructed from surviving artifacts.
The full arcade story, with original documents and program-analysis findings.
Meadows Games, 1976: the complete historical and preservation profile.
Taito America, 1981: colony defense, development, cabinets and preservation.