Atari - 1982 
Xevious.... another awesome Atari game! This was the game that launched the genre of vertical scrollers. It was a huge hit in Japan, although it only gained limited success in the states. I was drawn to its impulsive music
and pseudo-3D graphics as a kid. The unique cabinet design and ultra cool glowing console drew the player into the gameplay. This game took many a quarter from my youth, but no more.
It was time to own my own Xevious. Yes, it was time.
I picked up my Xevious from ebay. I got lucky as it was in good shape and working, but just needed a little TLC in some minor areas. The usual repairs had to do with non-working lights, dirty bezel and monitor, and minor adjustments to the picture on the monitor. The side art and control panel overlay were in fairly decent shape. Minor nicks and tears, but nothing serious. Thankfully there were no cigarette burns. I really hate that. The one thing I noticed when shopping the game was there was a second speaker in the lower part of the cabinet that had no sound. When playing the game all the sounds were present so I was a bit baffled. I traced the speaker wiring and it was in parallel to the top speaker, so it was the same sound channel. The lower speaker probably gave the game a bit of a bass effect. I was lucky enough to have a spare speaker the same size. I replaced it and sure enough I had lower speaker sound also. The game also has a second fluorescent light in the control panel that lights up the lower area. This of course wasn't working. I had to replace every part to get the second light working again but it was worth it. The game now completely lights up and gives it a unique appearance in the dark. Good deal! As with all good things it couldn't be easy for me to get this game. It was 3 states away but worth the drive to get it. You can read about the road trip to Kentucky to pick this game up by clicking here. |
Repairs and Restoration
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