Travelling Back in Time with Musée Mécanique

Back when I was younger, I spent enough time in the arcade to build up countless memories of that place. It wasn't like the modern day arcades. Back then, fighting game players sat right next to each other and there weren't any of those fancy rhythm games with blinding lights and loud music. The price was much cheaper, and almost all of them only cost a dime.


When I first heard about the "Antique Penny Arcade", I scoffed at the idea of it, mistakenly believing that it was calling 90s arcade machines antiques. I mean, you wouldn't call the 90s arcade machines as "antiques", right? It didn't take long until I realized that the word "Antique" was there for a very good reason.

 

Located in Fisherman's Wharf, Musée Mécanique has a collection of over 300 arcade machines from the early 20th century, as well as modern arcade machines. I for one, didn't know that "arcade machines" existed back in the early 20th century.


However, the history of arcade machines goes back much further than I thought. In fact, it goes all the way back to a familiar name, Thomas Edison, and his Kinetoscope. While it is primitive by today's standard, it fulfills the most important criteria of an arcade machine - it eats up coins.


Along with Sawual, I took a trip down, further than my memory lane, and went all the way back into the early 20th century at Musée Mécanique. 


Here is what we found during that trip.

▲ After a long drive.
▲ Through the beautiful wharf.
▲ Behold, the magnificent Musée Mécanique!
▲ Admission is free...
▲ ...everything else is not.
▲ By this machine's standard, it really was authentic and 3-D.
▲ He had to find out.
▲ I guess it is technically 3-D.
▲ There were a lot of fortune-telling machines.
▲ For a small cost...
▲ It tells you a fortune. They are all generally positive.
▲ This one actually pretends to read your palm.
▲ I wonder how many palms this machine has seen?
▲ "GRYFFINDOR!"
▲ Wait, doesn't this defeat the purpose of the Sorting Hat?
▲ Let's see how attractive my collegue is...
▲ WAT
▲ Come on, it probably gives you a high score no matter who you are.
▲ At this point, I was sure that this machine was broken.
▲ Even back then, people were asking the important questions.
▲ According to someone, it was pretty tame. Don't ask how he knows.
▲ There were many dioramas and penny arcade dolls.
▲ Some were a bit...creepy.

▲ Apparently this is Musée Mécanique's mascot.

▲ Nightmare Fuel.


▲ I cast Chain Lightning!


▲ Jolly Jack was...something.


▲ Even more Nightmare Fuel.

▲ Finally, something not creepy!
▲ The details are phenomenal.
▲ Ring of Protection +1
▲ This one had a stronger grip than its modern-day counterparts.
▲ This one was surprisingly fun, even today.
▲ Split-screen feature ahead of its time.
▲ Guess what time it is?
▲ "It's high noon..."
▲ Not McCree, was disappointed.
▲ Continue? 10, 9, 8...
▲ How tough are you?
▲ Everyone's favorite arcade machine.
▲ Do we call this Hoosball?
▲ A vintage pinball machine.
▲ They've come a long way since the original.
▲ Rico! My cousin! Let's go pinballing!
▲ Doesn't this usually come in a smaller size?
▲ It sounded enchanting nonetheless.
▲ This is the oldest machine in the museum.


▲ It sounded a bit creepy like everything else.

▲ Suddenly, these machines feel very modern.
▲ *Relatively* modern.
▲ No deers were harmed in the making of this article.
▲ This was one of my favorite arcade games!
▲ "I am trained in gorilla warfare and I’m the top sniper in the entire ROK armed forces."
▲ It suddenly felt like I was back in Korea.
▲ I'll forever be reminded of Jolly Jack whenever I look at this souvenir.

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