William
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Post by William on Oct 12, 2022 18:15:23 GMT -5
I wonder if anyone remembers this or knows what I'm talking about…
Sometime around 2000-01, my family were on vacation and we went to a large entertainment facility that had tons of arcade games and mini golf.
At this place was an arcade game based on Wheel that I've never seen before or since. I've looked on the Wiki to see if it was mentioned there but it wasn't.
I don't remember anything about the gameplay, but if I had to guess, it was probably some kind of mechanical game rather than played on a screen.
I definitely do remember some cosmetic aspects of it: It was longer than it was tall, and the primary color of it was a mustardy yellow I think. I'm pretty sure Vanna was pictured on the side, likely alongside the logo. But most importantly, the Wheel pictured on it was the Goen R2-3 layout. I specifically remember the purple $100 next to Bankrupt. At the time, I had never seen a retro layout like that and didn't even know the daytime version had existed. So seeing that layout for the first time was a revelation for me.
Ring a bell to anyone?
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Hirsk26
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Post by Hirsk26 on Oct 12, 2022 18:54:25 GMT -5
I think you may be talking about this?  |
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William
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Post by William on Oct 12, 2022 20:40:26 GMT -5
Yes that's it.
I saw the description of this one on the Wiki but it didn't ring a bell at first. Seeing the picture and going back to read about it again, I do remember now that it wasn't actually Vanna pictured on the front, but a lookalike.
That doesn't really look like the Goen Wheel but we'd have to see a better quality picture to be sure. I'm 96% sure that was the one though.
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MarioGS
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Post by MarioGS on Oct 12, 2022 23:01:35 GMT -5
^ It's actually the layout used for the Wheel rug at center stage that Pat and Vanna stood on during closings until about Season 10.
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William
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Post by William on Oct 13, 2022 0:53:21 GMT -5
^ Oh ok, that makes sense. I found a slightly better picture on Google and could tell it was the 86-96 colors but couldn't really make out too many values.
Seemed like it was a much bigger game, but I was only about 7 or 8 at the time so everything seemed bigger. 😄
Thanks for the help guys!
EDIT: It clearly says “rug” template in the Wiki entry. Shows how good I am at research 😅
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germanname1990
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Post by germanname1990 on Oct 13, 2022 2:29:25 GMT -5
Gosh, I loved playing the daylights out of this thing at my local arcade when I was younger. I was very good at winning the Jackpot on it, and it had an awesome rendition of "Changing Keys" as well. I would be pleased to have another listen to it once again.
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William
Posts: 393
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Post by William on Oct 13, 2022 20:52:13 GMT -5
So on that rug layout there were several $100 spaces. I know for a fact that would have been the first time I saw $100 on the Wheel and the old colors, which weren't really engrained into my memory at the time. Season 13 (+12 reruns) is the earliest season that I have first-hand memories of, but they are fuzzy. Seasons 14-15 I have much clearer memories of and that time period in general. Gosh, I loved playing the daylights out of this thing at my local arcade when I was younger. I was very good at winning the Jackpot on it, and it had an awesome rendition of "Changing Keys" as well. I would be pleased to have another listen to it once again. I'm sure there's one out there somewhere that still works. 😄 I wish I had gotten to play it more that once. I probably spent no more than five minutes around that machine and yet it stuck with me. |
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MarioGS
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Post by MarioGS on Oct 13, 2022 21:05:33 GMT -5
The Excalibur in Las Vegas still had this game in their arcade until about 2018. I was there in either summer 2017 or 18 and played it a ton, although many of the game's lights were out so that made it a bit difficult. trisspinner went back a year later and noticed that it was unplugged and set aside. I imagine they threw it out by now. Here it is in a video taken in September 2017, with Wheel starting at the 1:16 mark. The arcade also had the 2012 model of the Raw Thrills game and the 2005 ICE coin pusher nearby, so that's where you are hearing the 1983 theme from. The FunHouse game played a synthesized rendition of the theme that you don't hear very well in the video. I also remember playing this game at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey circa 1998 and Lake Compounce in Connecticut circa 2003. I remember going the year after that and the entire arcade had closed. |
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Post by wheelrblx on Nov 6, 2022 8:32:00 GMT -5
I was able to find some promotional material from this game. The copyright date says 1996. Very interesting they would keep that game instead of the Gametek game from the 1990s.  |
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MarioGS
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Post by MarioGS on Nov 6, 2022 12:21:12 GMT -5
I found a couple old videos related to the game posted by someone who apparently used to work for the company.
A sales pitch video features several new games, with Wheel's segment featuring clips from episode #S-2281 (March 27, 1995), with Vanna noticeably cropped out (4:18). A concept design features assets from the Tyco board game, including the image of Vanna.
The game's sales were also mentioned in a presentation at ACME (American Coin Machine Exposition), an annual convention held in Orlando from March 7-9, 1996. The presentation used assets from the Sony Imagesoft PC game, including the 1992 theme, which the arcade game itself does not use, despite the presenter saying otherwise.
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