A Fistful of Quarters

I noticed a review in today's paper for a new doccumentary called "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters." It concerns the efforts of a man to beat the record at the perenial arcade game, Donkey Kong and the forces that conspire to oppose him. I've not had the opportunity to see it yet, but I hope to soon. I remember the first time I spied the brand new Donkey Kong at a local arcade and the game's had a spot in my personal hall of fame ever since. Actually, there's a lot of games in that hall of fame, many from the arcades - too many in fact. Which is why I decided to put together a cabinet designed to play an assortment of arcade games (see Gamecreature Arcade) It saves on money and space.

Back in the day, there were numerous guides designed to make one the champion of these games. I once owned an excellent book on the subject, but have since lost it. In my efforts to find it again, I picked up a couple of other such books, including "How to Win at Donkey Kong" pictured on the right, which I picked up for one whole dollar. These books now reside in the bottom of my arcade machine, where the coin box would sit (if I had one, which I don't - if someone has a Williams-type coin box to spare, let me know how much you want for it). Sadly, there don't seem to be a lot of used book stores where I now live, so my search for these books has been hampered. If you folks happen to run across "Score! Beating the Top 16 Video Games" by Ken Uston or any other books on beating classic arcade games (not console games, mind you) let me know what you want from me to take them off your hands. I've got that Pac Man Fever!