Back in the day...well, for my generation at least, it was during the 1980s and early 90's...there was a staple in local shopping malls called a video arcade. I'm sure you remember those things. Video arcades, I mean...not malls, unless of course you were a mallrat complete with a mullet and denim jacket back then.

For me, going to a video arcade was as about as exciting to me as going to a Toys R Us when I was even younger. Gee-whiz! Depending on how big of a video arcade your local shopping mall had, you could spend all of your quarters on an any given number of arcade games. And when you ran out of quarters, you begged your mom and dad for their extra! I know I did. There went a lot of my allowance...

The arcades I frequented as a kid had such popular multiplayer favorites such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game, The Simpsons, as well as standards like Pac-Man, Skee-Ball, Vs. Super Mario Bros., Shuffle Bowling, Basketball, etc. There really was a limitless amount of games to choose from, especially from a kid's point of view.

For Christmas 1987 or 88, I received what is still one of my all time favorite Christmas presents: an NES. I spent a lot of time playing that! When the Sega Genesis came along a couple years later, I just shrugged it off and said “who cares?”. So what if Sonic the Hedgehog could run faster than Mario ever could even with the help of a Game Genie code? It wasn't until I went to a roller-rink that I was introduced to a different system that had some cool features, but also had one that, as a ten year old, I viewed it as a total ripoff. I'm referring to the PlayChoice 10.

 
PLAYCHOICE-10 SUCKAS.  COMIN' ON DOWN FROM THE SKY AND WHAT NOT.

The PlayChoice-10 was an arcade system manufactured by Nintendo that allowed you to choose from up to 10 different games. Arcade owners were able to decide which games were installed on the machines. Now sure, I could play Super Mario Bros. 2, Double Dragon, or Contra at home for free, but there's something hypnotic about inserting a quarter and playing a game you like at an arcade. Nintendo arcade games had those big buttons and joysticks which gave playing a different feel than what one would experience on a home console.

 
TWO PLAYA ACTION

A great feature of this system was the fact that you could try out other games you might not have played yet. Many of us remember how much of a big deal Super Mario Bros. 3 was when it was released. Thank you, Fred Savage. This system gave people the opportunity to play that game if one didn't already own it.

 
Gettin' all up on that Mario 3 like Jimmy Woods in Californy.

There were three different PlayChoice-10 models. There was a small counter top model, a single screen model, and what was probably the most common, the dual screen model. On the dual screen model, the bottom screen was where you could select your game and play it, and the screen above displayed the instructions for that particular game.

Everything I just described about it sounds fine, but I did mention there was a component that I viewed as a ripoff. The system had a timer! Yes, a timer. That's not too bad of an idea coming from a business standpoint because you're still making money off of kids wanting to play video games. Best case scenario you're profiting from that more frequently. But as a ten year old you don't care about business, you just want to play a game uninterrupted and by spending as little money as possible.

One quarter gave you three minutes of play, while two quarters would grant you an
additional two or three minutes, depending on what the arcade owner set it to. This timer was awfly inconvenient if you were playing a big game that had many levels, such as Super Mario Bros. 3. Depending on your skill in the game, you would be finishing the first or second level and you would run out of time. I repeat: ripoff. But the timer did allow you to do one thing that a regular arcade game didn't: choose to go back to the menu screen without inserting another quarter. With the allotted time left, you could select another video game until time ran out.

 
PICK YOSELF ANOTHER OWSHUM GAME!

In my area there's a local video game store and they recently opened up a classic video game arcade. It's great! They opened the place with some real classics, including The Simpsons, Burgertime, Contra, Double Dragon, and yes, the PlayChoice-10. I decided to stop in one day after work and revisit the experience of playing on a PlayChoice, since I haven't played one in years. After peruising the wide-selection of games available for the system – I say that in jest as only about 7 or 8 were listed – I selected Super Mario Bros. 2 and put in two quarters, which meant not only that the system gave me a time limit of 6 minutes, but also that I was taking this sucka to town.

I have Super Mario Bros. 2 on my NES, but playing it on the PlayChoice-10 brought back memories of doing this as a child, with the funky controls, timer, and all. When it was time to select my character, I chose to play as Toad. Toad's legit. I raced through 1-1, collecting all the mushrooms, cherries, and picking up and throwing enemies faster than you find a clever way to use the term “swamp donkey” in a sentence. Go ahead, crack at it, Reggie. Since Toad could pick up items quicker than anyone else, so I could have more chances at winning extra lives in the Bonus Chance game.

Because I was racing the system timer, I took the shortcut to the boss battle with Birdo, who met her defeat pretty quickly. I owned that battle, but I didn't do too well in the Bonus Chance game. With about eight coins collected in the level, I only managed to snag up two extra lives. Most of those blasted cherries ended up in the wrong slot! This game must kill in Vegas.

I went through about halfway of 1-2, once again as Toad, but now I was getting a little bored with it, and being mindful of how much time was left on the clock, I decided I wanted to play something else. That stupid Bonus Chance game didn't help much, either! I went back to the menu screen but I don't exactly remember what I selected! Regardless, the timer ran out during whatever game I played next and I decided to leave.

All in all, the PlayChoice-10 is a unique idea Nintendo came out with and if you haven't played one, then I would recommend trying it out if you can find one in your area. It was a lot of fun revisiting the experience of playing one. I still hate that blasted timer, though! Oh, and bring quarters. Lots of quarters. Or dollar bills if those things make you use tokens instead. Tokens or quarters, which do you prefer? I guess that's another article for another time...

-Joe
6/5/11
 

Thanks to our friend Joe for twisting our arm long enough to let him write an article for us.  And thanks to Lee for finally taking the photos of his beloved PlayChoice.

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