The game came out in Aug 87,and the 6 button fix was not added until mid 88 after the game had its run in arcades and failed. Ive spoken to plenty of vendors about this game local and ebay, as I did search for a pcb of it at one point in time to buy. It was not popular at all and did not earn its money back for anyone I spoke to who ran it regardless of the 6-button fix. Thats why there is plenty of pcbs available but hardly any original cabs,even in the collector scene. Unless the game is a major hit,its run is usually considered over within half a year in the AAMA/ American arcade scene with vendors, and its retired to gas stations,pizza places,ect.. to try to earn some meager cash back or stripped/destroyed, unless the person running the arcade has the space to simply let it continue to run and doesn't care.
Its obvious you don't really know much about this games run, how it was dreaded among AAMA members, or how vendors in general operate, and are just running off of memories of your childhood pizza parlor visits. Your dates are faulty just going off of child memories. Mid 88 is not considered soon after a game comes out when it was released in late summer 87,esp in the arcade world where unsuccessful games go away in months to take abuse in gas stations.
SF1 here was kept running only at a couple laundry mats and a diner near Rose City/the ghetto in my area,and it was suspected by me and friends that it was the same machine being bounced around on a retirement route because Godwins never popped it back up anywhere after it left the diner. It was prob picked up at a auction to begin with since Godwins didn't have it on route or in their arcades at release. This is the main reason why I did not get to try it until well down the road when I was in my teens,it was no longer widely available.
The main large arcades here did not even have the game when it was freshly released due to the complaints it had at the AAMA shows. Our local major vendors (King Koin,Galaxy Amusements, US Amusement Co., Godwins) were not interested in the risk when they could have Ninja Warriors, Shinobi, Outrun, Xenophobe ect.. running and making money and not breaking down as fast. If you want to ask around or do a poll of who got to play it as a two button set up,or 6 button set up, or how popular and widely available it was in either format,hit Klov /Vaps forum. You'll see there isn't many people owning cabs with 6 button fixes there, or even 2 button ones,or that the game was well received, liked, nor widely available everywhere. You will even find that Karate Champ stayed on routes longer if you ask around,as it was more popular and beat out SF1 for money,even after it had been out for about 3 years prior.
Also, honestly your memories of a guy constantly doing fireballs all the sudden cant seriously be taken, as your impressions of what was taking place are prob not what was actually happening given you were 7-8 at the time anyway. At anyrate, this thread is about Pc-Engine Hell,not about Rags Memory Lane Street Fighter experiences, defense, and debates. You are more then welcome to bump your old threads about the subject,but otherwise consider it dead on this thread as I would like to stay on topic about the site,not your memories as a kid or of your weird obsession with this game and its perfect experience.
