Vintage arcade games return to a San Francisco BART station

On Saturday morning, an unusual noise rang out across the lobby of the Powell Street BART station in downtown San Francisco—the nostalgic roar of digital explosions and the familiar detonation of 8-bit spacecraft.

Just outside the entrance gates, four vintage arcade games brought commuters back to a wild moment in Bay Area transit history, when BART formed perhaps one of the most unimaginable partnerships yet.

1976 was a tumultuous year for the transit agency. It was accompanied by the grand opening of Embarcadero Station and extended opening hours, as well as a slew of financial and technical difficulties. This included a hot summer day when the system’s control boxes overheated, resulting in a fleet of stalled trains along what is now the Antioch Line, according to former spokesman Mike Healy’s book, “BART: The Dramatic History of the Bay Area.” Rapid Transit System.”

Eager to improve its public image and increase revenue, BART partnered with Atari, a peninsula video game company, and on Dec. 1, the staff erected a 7-foot wide, six-sided Atari Arcade Theater kiosk for riders to the Powell Street platform while they waited for their train to arrive.

December 7, 1976: Atari debuted several new games at the Powell Street BART station, including Tank and Le Mans.

San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst N/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Imag

“We first started transporting riders in 1972, and then Atari also came out with the first commercially successful arcade game, Pong,” Anna Duckworth, a BART spokesperson, told SFGATE at the station on Saturday. “The thought then was that Atari could promote their new games and this cool device that they had, and we decided to partner with them because we thought we could make some profit from the 25 cent game as well.”

At first, the transportation company tried to convince Atari to make a BART game, but changed their mind when they learned it would cost $150,000 to make, according to a 1976 article in the Examiner. Instead, “Pong”, “Space Race”, “Tank” and “Le Mans” were among the games installed. On a flashing screen above them, a digital slideshow provided information about the system’s operating hours (a study by BART at the time showed that only 30% of riders knew the trains were running after 6pm), upcoming special events and destinations of interest. , and BART’s slogan at the time: “BART keeps your nightlife moving.”

“In those early days of BART, the Atari arcade machines beeping alongside the bustle of the trains and the digital voices announcing destinations must have provided a very modern experience for the riders,” Alex Handy, founder and chairman of the board of BART board of the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment in Oakland, SFGATE told me in an email.

“BART was quite revolutionary at the time it was built, and the rise of the computer industry, which was going on at the time of construction, played a big part in the general sense that BART was something from the future,” he continued.

Five weeks after the games were installed, a January 1, 1977 press release from BART called the experimental promotion “very successful,” bringing in a total of $3,582 in revenue (that’s about $18,651.33 today, adjusted for inflation). Fifty percent of the proceeds were distributed to Atari. At the time, it brought in as much revenue as 2,591 additional riders for that period, and BART toyed with the idea of adding a new console at another station in downtown San Francisco.

However, according to cultural critic Peter Hartlaub of the Chronicle, who has written extensively on the subject, the games were removed without explanation within months. Duckworth could not confirm when the games were removed or how long the console would remain on the platform.

So the return of the retro games, in celebration of BART’s 50th anniversary, is somewhat novel. Unlike the 1976 promotion, they can be played for free, and you don’t need to ride with BART or Muni to access – although riders are encouraged to do so as Clipper card users get a 50% discount for the entire month of September on all rates.

People play on vintage arcade machines at the Powell Street BART Station in San Francisco on September 3, 2022.

Magali Gauthier

BART’s head of communications, Alicia Trost, came up with the idea earlier this year after repeatedly seeing vintage photos of the six-sided console on the Powell Street BART platform appear on social media every few years. The reactions were so enthusiastic every time that Trost knew what to do.

“She said, ‘We have to bring this back,'” Duckworth said, grinning. “And I was given the task of figuring out how to do that.”

It wasn’t easy. The six-sided Atari Arcade Theater Kiosk was virtually impossible to find, as were most games that briefly called the Powell Street BART platform home. Eventually, Duckworth tracked down South San Francisco-based video game rental company Video Amusement and asked if she could use four of the oldest games they had: Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Asteroids, and Galaga. One by one, the 250-pound arcade cabinets on dollies were dragged down BART’s elevator and wheeled to the 4th and Market Street entrances of the Powell Street station.

“BART Arcade” banners, as well as grainy retro imagery from the transportation company’s early days, replaced what would have been the informational displays above the games. On Saturday, teenagers lugging their skateboards behind them swarmed the Space Invaders game, while a father hoisted his toddler to the “Asteroids” screen so she could play.

Matt Lee holds his daughter up to a vintage arcade machine so she can play Asteroids at the Powell Street BART Station in San Francisco on September 3, 2022.

Magali Gauthier

“I wouldn’t call myself a gamer, but my brother would,” said Homer Chang, 74, as he snapped a few photos of the “Pac-Man” machine. “There used to be arcades all over town and people were playing, and playing, and playing. Just for fun, I decided to check this out.”

Levi Romano, who recently moved to the city from Austin, Texas, smashed the buttons on “Galaga.” When he looked up, he had tears in his eyes.

“I didn’t expect my favorite machine to be here,” he said. “I grew up with Galaga on a Nintendo NES when I was about 9 or 10 years old, and it just brought back memories of spending time with my family. I miss them, so it makes me emotional.”

Earlier that day, Duckworth said a BART driver approached her with a dollar bill and asked if he could exchange it for quarters to play the arcade games.

“I said, ‘You don’t need quarters, it’s free!’ And then he said, ‘Oh, it’s on,'” she said with a laugh. “He was here at least three hours.”

The BART Arcade will be available to play at the Powell Street BART station from 9am to 5pm through September 9.