The very first sketch in the IFC comedy series “Portlandia,”
is a song that talks about the dream of the ‘90s, a time where people “could
sleep ‘til 11” and “spend a couple hours a week working at a coffee shop.”
“The dream of the ‘90s is alive in Portland.”
Now, let me tell you about the dream of the ‘80s.
It was a time when people didn’t have smart phones. There
were no app stores or online play. If you wanted to play video games, you
either played on the NES or Commodore 64, or you went to an arcade, a magical
place where there were beautiful standup cabinets with dynamic artwork and
screens with bright minimalist graphics. There were joysticks and buttons that felt
springy when you pressed your fingers against them. And there were people. Real
people. You weren’t cooped up in your room on the Xbox or hunched over your
iPhone like Quasi Moto. The games were out there in the open, for all to gaze
upon.
The dream of the ‘80s is alive at The Quarters.
Located at 8 Railroad Street in Hadley, MA, off of Route 9,
and sharing the same building as the Blueprint Gallery and Tattoo Parlor, the
Quarters is a restaurant/ bar/arcade combo boasting 20+ classic arcade games. When
you first walk in the door, you will find a hallway with large pixel art of the
original Super Mario Bros. posted on
the wall. This gives you a good idea of what you’re in for, as you enter the
main room. There is a bar at the side, tables at the center, and beautiful
Technicolor arcade machines lining the walls. It is a little more cramped than
one would prefer. People in attendance included the young, the young at heart,
and gentlemen with handlebar mustaches.
There is an assortment of eclectic food varieties as well,
including fried chicken fingers and traditional New York pups, basically the
White Castle sliders of the hot dog world, with ketchup, mustard, and onions. What
fun is a normal hot dog, though? There are macaroni and cheese pups, kimchi pups
and banh mi pups. There’s even chili-lime edamame. The New York pup is $1.50, and the other dogs
are $2.00, which sounds good, but you need at least two or three to feel
satisfied. You could order French fries, but a serving costs $5, and it is a
fairly large load, so share with friends. The hot dogs are a little on the
salty side, but add some toppings, and it is perfectly consumable. I had the
Mac and Cheese Pups, sweet potato fries, and a couple of my friend’s fried
chicken fingers, which were the tastiest item. Sodas are $3 each, and are
served in mason jars. A nice aesthetic. Free refills are nice, too.
The games include classics like Ms. Pac Man and Galaga, as
well as Street Fighter III: Third Strike, and my personal favorite, The Simpsons.
Electronic noises produced a great ambience in the room, like a jumbled up chip
tune/Daft Punk remix, but I think Asteroids may have been the only cabinet to have
had any actual audio when I played it. The Ms. Pac Man machine was out of
commission, due to a kill-screen, which results in a player completing all the
levels of a game, and the system crashing. Two of the machines ate my quarters.
And as compensation, I got game tokens to replace them. So the staff that
provided them was basically saying “Your quarters are ours, no matter what, but
as thanks, we’ll let you play free games.” What if I just wanted to leave with
my quarters?
Also, as much as The Quarters is supposed to be a social
setting, there were surprisingly few arcade machines that had a multi-player
option. I wanted to play one game, but my friend who was there with me wanted
to play another. A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade cabinet would have been
the perfect antidote.
As much as it is rough around the edges, The Quarters is a
welcomed piece of nostalgia. I’m hoping those buggy machines get fixed, and
that more multiplayer options are available, because I certainly want to be a
loyal customer.
