California Speed (1998 Atari Games)
Click on Marquee for KLOV listing.
The Story: I sure have fond memories of first playing this game about 10 years ago at my local Wal-Mart (this was back before it turned into a Super Center). I was a young bachelor who worked late and stayed up late. I would frequent the Wal-Mart after work to shop for necessities and would frequently drop quarters in this game in the process. It was fun and exciting. It reminded me alot of Cruis'n USA, but with enhanced graphics and gameplay. The soundtrack was also nice and the N64 port couldn’t touch it. I always thought of this game as Atari's answer to Cruis'n, but would one ever be within my financial reach?
The Score: Fast forward to 10 years later. On my quest to build up the game room, I wanted a sit down driving game and had my sights set on "Rush the Rock", which I had only recently discovered at a local laundromat a couple years ago. "Super Auction Saturday" in Saint Louis was approaching and the turnout was decent. There were lots of sit down driving games to be had. This included a pair of Rush games, but unfortunately they looked like they had gone thru a tornado, they had been gutted and there was no way to make one complete, even out of the pair. I was also competing with a friend, a fellow arcade collector nearby who also wanted a Rush, but both of us looked at these games and said "no way". There were more drivers to be had though, including a nice Cruis'n Exotica and a pair of California Speed games. What was even better, they were all dedicated games, no conversions, nice. Alli was with me and played them all, and especially liked Exotica. The bidding went to that one first and rapidly went out of my reach. Rats, I suppose the California Speed games will be no different. The auctioneer got to those next and started the bidding as "choice". I placed my high bid of $400, but I was in a bidding war with one other person and he outbid me and won by $25. The auctioneer gave him the typical buying options and asked him if he wanted both games. He only took one. Awesome, I still have a chance at the other one. Now normally, the auctioneer would start a new bidding war on the other game. Instead, he asks me if I want it for my $400 bid. Really? Wow, that was easy.
The Service: This game needed nothing but a good cleaning at first (and a marquee lamp, typical). I can tell it has spent some years in a smoky bar with the tar odor and buildup on the glass. It had a good picture, and after a few months the focus would go out on its own. A new flyback solved that little problem. Otherwise the game appears to be all original and in decent shape. I also replaced the hard drive with a Compact Flash card & IDE adapter.
The Score: Fast forward to 10 years later. On my quest to build up the game room, I wanted a sit down driving game and had my sights set on "Rush the Rock", which I had only recently discovered at a local laundromat a couple years ago. "Super Auction Saturday" in Saint Louis was approaching and the turnout was decent. There were lots of sit down driving games to be had. This included a pair of Rush games, but unfortunately they looked like they had gone thru a tornado, they had been gutted and there was no way to make one complete, even out of the pair. I was also competing with a friend, a fellow arcade collector nearby who also wanted a Rush, but both of us looked at these games and said "no way". There were more drivers to be had though, including a nice Cruis'n Exotica and a pair of California Speed games. What was even better, they were all dedicated games, no conversions, nice. Alli was with me and played them all, and especially liked Exotica. The bidding went to that one first and rapidly went out of my reach. Rats, I suppose the California Speed games will be no different. The auctioneer got to those next and started the bidding as "choice". I placed my high bid of $400, but I was in a bidding war with one other person and he outbid me and won by $25. The auctioneer gave him the typical buying options and asked him if he wanted both games. He only took one. Awesome, I still have a chance at the other one. Now normally, the auctioneer would start a new bidding war on the other game. Instead, he asks me if I want it for my $400 bid. Really? Wow, that was easy.
The Service: This game needed nothing but a good cleaning at first (and a marquee lamp, typical). I can tell it has spent some years in a smoky bar with the tar odor and buildup on the glass. It had a good picture, and after a few months the focus would go out on its own. A new flyback solved that little problem. Otherwise the game appears to be all original and in decent shape. I also replaced the hard drive with a Compact Flash card & IDE adapter.
