Favourite Arcade Memories?

A couple of video games posts today, just to lighten the mood from a very serious week.

This is for the older folks here, though the rest of you can take part too (see below).

Many of us love video games. Some people have some very fond memories of their first console, be it SNES or PS1 or whatever.

But some of us go back even further, and remember vividly the time when the arcade was the favorite hangout for masses of kids. Back when it wasn't Chuck-E-Cheese, but Showbiz Pizza.



And back when they had video games there instead of just Skeetball and Dance Dance Revolution (or whatever the hell they have there now...do they even have a few video games?).

Back when Aladdin's Castle was king.



And Dragon's Lair was the cutting edge.



I grew up on coin-ops, playing them even more than my Atari 2600.

I have a lot of fond memories of hanging out for an hour or two at the local arcade at the mall, playing tons of different games. Dig Dug, Donkey Kong, Missile Command and Space Invaders, and so many others.

But my fondest coin-op memory is not actually from an arcade.
It's from where I worked in high school.

My senior year of high school, I worked at Ganzo's, a Mexican restaurant in Davenport, Iowa. As an aside, if you're ever in Davenport and have a hankering for Mexican food, you have to stop in there...it's delicious, and I stop in there whenever I'm home.

Anyway, there was always a couple of video games in there (still are, actually, with Galaga last time I was there), and I would go in to work sometimes an hour early and play one game in particular: Operation Wolf.



This game was so awesome, and it was one of those that would let you continue if you put another quarter in before 30 seconds was up after you lost. I played that thing almost to the end, pumping numerous dollars into it. It was really hard to stop and go to work at the allotted time, but I was a conscientious kid. I couldn't play after work because I was in high school and had to get home, but  I loved that game to death.

So what are some of your favorite arcade (or just coin-op) memories?

And so you young whipper-snappers don't feel left out, what about your favorite console memory?