A little while back, I covered the arcade that showed up briefly in Dawn Of The Dead (1978) (GOF #17)
While prepping for the forthcoming GAMES ON FILM video series. (That’s right, stay tuned for more info on that.) I was able to identify some machines from this scene that were previously a mystery to me; without further ado, here are the newly identified machines.
(Before the “ado”) In addition to the new machines, I’ve learned more about the actual arcade and its location in the Mall itself.
Flying Ducks, 1973, Chicago Coin Machine Co. (played in the background, but no gameplay shown)
The second duck-based game to be seen in the film.
An electromechanical arcade shooting game, and another duck-hunting game. Unlike Qwak, this machine is an EM machine that uses physical targets in a shooting gallery-type setup. The machine is actually seen from a few different perspectives throughout the sequence; this eventually helped me identify more machines and map out the arcade floor plan.
Crash ‘n Score, 1975, Atari (Not played on screen)
Another early driving game from Atari controlled by a steering wheel and pedal. Visually and gameplay-wise, it could be described as a sanitised Death Race (1976, yeah, even though it came later). The player drives a car to flag checkpoints before they disappear.
The front of the cabinet can be seen somewhat clearly (if you know what you’re looking for) when Roger (Scott Reiniger) is playing F-1. You can just about make out the steering wheel, but it can also be identified by the two white buttons on the front of the machine. The Crash ‘n Score is next to Gun Fight (1975).
A capture-the-flag mode not dissimilar to Crash ‘n Score was added to Indy 500 (1977) on the 2600. In the background you can see Peter (Ken Foree) leaning over to play Gun Fight (75) with (Stephen) David Emge.
Anti-Aircraft, 1975, Atari (not played on screen)
An early example of a “Shooter” blasting enemies out of the sky, pre-dating the likes of Space Invaders (1978). The game was slightly reimagined and updated for the Atari 2600 as Air-Sea Battle (1977).
The corner of this cabinet can just about be seen near the very start of the scene, when Reiniger takes the rifle from the Qwak. It’s fairly dark, but I think you can just about see it, so it can be said with a degree of certainty this is Anti-Aircraft. The cabinet is probably between Sprint 2 (76) and Crash ‘n Score (75).
F-114, 1975, Allied Leisure Industries (Not played on screen)
This is a huge machine; you can’t see it in the film, but it has a large chair with an attached joystick that simulates a flight cockpit and features a large widescreen projection display. Gameplay is a time-based objective: see how many enemy fighters you can take down in the allotted time. The gameplay uses a projection-based system, so it doesn’t really have any native graphics and is more like an interactive film, with the only player input coming from moving the crosshair and firing; it works similarly to Wild Gunman (1974, Nintendo).
The cabinet has a lot of flashing lights and sound; it puts on quite a spectacle for what, at its core, is a fairly basic game.
Top Card, 1974, Gottlieb, D. & Co (Not played on screen)
I can’t 100% confirm this, given how out of focus it is. However, there are some aspects that do match up quite well, so I’d say there is a fair chance that this is it.
Although it is hard to see, there does appear to be another Pinball machine next to it. I Speculate that there was likely a row of pinball machines.
Ace, 1976, Allied Leisure Industries (Not played on screen)
Located near the entrance in the corner next to a row of other arcade machines. A two-player aerial dog-fighting game. Very basic gameplay and graphics with a stark blue background; however, it does include the added detail of your pilot parachuting out of the plane when it gets hit.
Mapping it out
Given this newfound information, I tried to map out a floor plan for the arcade for what it might have looked like. In my original post, I speculated that the mysterious black box thing behind Peter (Ken Foree) was a light bounce board or something similar. On closer inspection, there is also what looks like a chair.
Paying closer attention to the scene, I can say with a good degree of certainty that the machine directly behind Foree is F-1 (1976, Atari). This is made even more apparent when viewed from Reiniger’s perspective, when his character is playing the F-1 game. The game seen over his shoulder is Flying Ducks (1973) and Gang Busters (1974). The side of Flying Ducks (73) can also be seen from a different angle when Foree is playing Gang Busters.
Ace (76) is located close to the entrance in the corner. Like others, this can be seen from several different angles once when Peter(Ken Foree) and Stephen (David Emge) are playing the games near the front, and again seen over Roger’s (Scott Reiniger) shoulder when he’s playing F-1.
Unconfirmed, but Starship 1 (77) might be the machine Emge’s is playing in the foreground.
Here’s a Rough layout of the arcade based on my new findings…
This floor plan is by no means accurate, especially as it gets towards the back of the arcade.
The arrangement I can be sure of is F-1, Gang Busters, and F-114. We also know Qwak is near the row of Gun Fight, Crash ‘n Score, and Anti-Aircraft, Sprite 2 and Steeple Chase. I’m just not sure where Qwak and the row of arcade machines are in relation to the other games.
The arcade was located near the entrance to the second floor of the Monroeville mall (according to a 1978 floor plan) and was called North American Amusements.
What’s in a name?
Originally, I speculated where the arcade was located in the Mall; I was sort of right in guessing that the arcade would be near other filming locations, such as the main store (Penny’s). What I didn’t realise (and somehow overlooked) was that the answers were there the entire time.
In the actual film, when first exploring the security room, not only is there a huge map of the Mall hanging on the wall, but they also take out a smaller floor plan where the arcade location is clearly shown on screen.
A problem with finding more information now is that “North American Amusements” is such a generic name that it is very difficult to search any information about it.
According to another floor plan from Nov 1981, North American Amusements was no longer there, replaced by a place called “Machine shop 2”, again another really generic name.
At some point the venue changed again to “Tilt” (parent company Nickels and Dimes Incorporated) according to a 1987 floor plan.
In 1992, it was a Electronic Boutique. It can be assumed “North American Amusements” moved out of the Mall sometime after 1978. (Between 79-80)
Some more speculation
This is based on nothing but a guess, but “North American Amusements” might have been the name of the parent company that owns the arcade, that’s called something else, and for whatever reason it was listed on the floor plan under its brand holder name and not the name of the actual arcade brand. (Is this making any sense, or have I been staring at old floor plans for too long?)
That’s all folks, for now…
There are still some games I was unable to identify; they are just too out of focus and in the background. Not to forget the machines that are simply not on screen.
One other thing about this scene is the apparent absence of Gaylen Ross’s character Francine. In the context of the film, it would seem she’s at the ice skating rink. The arcade was on the second floor, and the ice rink is on the ground floor. Being so largely separated during a zombie apocalypse might not be the best idea. Then again, they had secured the mall by this point, and I suppose that the larger idea was to show that they had become more used to their new environment, treating it like home. (I’m just nitpicking at this point.)
Given more time, I think I could figure out what some of the machines near the entrance are, but I wanted to get this update out, so they’ll just have to wait until another time.
The dead can rest easy once again, that is, until I identify those pesky last remaining machines.
Stay tuned for more Games on Film and the upcoming Games on Film video series.
Huge thanks to monroevillemall.org and historicpittsburgh.org, that where a very helpful resources!
Arcade Flyers via: arcade-museum.com
Dawn of The Dead: United Film Distribution Company (USA), Titanus (Italy)
Written and directed by George A. Romero
Starring
- David Emge
- Ken Foree
- Scott Reiniger
- Gaylen Ross
Special make-up effects by Tom Savini
Produced by Richard P. Rubinstein
Cinematography by Michael Gornic