Things you really miss?
Hi,
This is a topic about thigns that may have disappeared that you used to enjoy. Now, I don't mean people who may have died, I don't want this topic to get depressing.
I'm talking about fun things, such as toys, or places you used to go, that you reallky remember but can't really go to anymore.
For me, at the moment, it's the Trocadero arcade in London, in the UK. The place has now closed down, and is sort of open but is a shadow of it's former self.
One thing I really miss is a motion simulator called the Sega Mini rider II.
This was a sort of capsule thing, you insert your coins, slect what sort of adventure you want to go on, and the seat moves and there was a screen, and lots of sound. It was very different from traditional capsule simulators.
I don't know how, but the machinery on this thing was a beast. On most simulators, you select your ride and the thing just tilts around a bit. Sure, they were fun, but th
is one, for me was a ten out of ten, and here's why:
The sound, first of all, was crystal clear. You literally couldn't really hear anything else once the speakers started up.
Secondly, was the movement. Honestly, I don't know what they have on this thing, but when I first rode this, here's how it went:
I asked one of my parents to ride with me just to be sure I was safe. Of course, after the first ride I just went alone, but I digress. Back to this first ride...
I was told tha you could pick the Astro Canyon Coaster, which seems to be a popular simulator ride. I use this as the benchmark, if I can, when riding simulators, as I'm rather familiar with it.
So low and behold, we took our seats, put the coins in, and selected the ride. The familiar sound of a spaceport started up, then the thing started to shake. I thought ok, this is new, but I wasn't too impressed. It reminded me of the very shaky mad wave motion theatre, which wa
s quite fun but just shook you around a bit.
So here I was, feeling this thing shaking, thinking aah well, this is gonna be quite fun, I'm enjoying this, but it's an 8 out of ten so far. it's loud, which is nice.
Then the thing sort of swung forward and from then on, that was it. It tilted, swung left and right, swung backwards... and my mind was completely immersed. This was what a simulator should be. The chance to really escape and to feel like you are part of the action.
Two different rides later and I had a final verdict: ten out of ten. This thing had done things I'd never seen before in a small simulator, including, god forbid, started going forward followed by a thrust forward, and a pivot, during a space race ride. and have not seen anything like it since.
Then, we go up to london a few years back, and here's me, looking forward to that mini rider, which by now had become the king of simulators for me. I could only experience it
a couple of times a year.
So here we go! Into the trocadero, walking, up the escolator... oh wait... no. We stop at the top of the escolator. Something's wrong. Something sounds quiet.
I thought oh, maybe there's another entrance, maybe they are rebuilding?
Then we found ou the news that the place had closed due to rent or some such thing. I... couldn't really understand it. every time we' been here, the place was really busy!
We went out, and I was sort of lost. No mini rider for me. All those memories. The motion simulators, stuff that I don't ahve near by, just... gone.
We then went up next time, hre was me hoping that it might be open. We then went to the trocadero again. It was closed.
I finally started to realize. It then sunk in, big time. It did not ruin my trip to London, thankfully, but I don't look forward to it as much anymore. The trocadero was always a highlight. It had stuff I'd never seen in any local a
rcade of mine, and especially that mini rider, which, to this day, I still think about and secretly hope that I'll find again.
One thing's certain: if I find it, I am going to make the most of it. I will do all the adventures it has to offer, time permitting of course. Nothing has removed it's crown for me as of yet, but who knows. Maybe I'll find something better? After all, it's sequel, the mini rider 3d, was announced last year by sega. But then where would that be in the UK? What sort of arcade would host that now? Whre can I even find those simulator-type machines?
URL: http://forum.audiogames.net/viewtopic.php?pid=166401#p166401
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