Tatlers Arcade, Walthamstow

Original article hand written on the 19th of February 2001.

If you ever needed proof of arcades being found on most high streets then you look no further that Tatlers as an example. It was one of many set up in what I suppose you could refer to as the golden age of arcade gaming, specifically the 1980s. This review however is not from personal experiences of having visited the arcade but from a guest contributor, Joe, who resided in the area and just a short walk from the location.

Tatlers was found in the heart of the town of Walthamstow in east London and described as a small amusement arcade set up very much like many arcades back in the 1980s. Joe describes it as being darkly lit, a bit dishevelled and grubby on the inside with a waft of cigarette fumes as you entered. But you weren’t here to admire the interior decoration but rather a slice of gaming action that you simply could not experience on your Commodore 64 or ZX Spectrum, something that was rich and vibrant in colour and vivid in sound.

The floorspace was split roughly half and half between the games and fruit machines. Even though this space was not very large, Tatlers managed to cram in several or so machines to cater for each leisure activity. Classics such as Double Dragon, 1942, Commando, Gradius, Salamander and the quite rare Japanese title Rabio Lepus were found in an array of upright cabinets. The latter title, called Rabbit Punch in the west, featured robotic rabbits firing photon missiles of all things in a horizontal scrolling shooter setting much like R-Type or Gradius. Best of all, they had an upright Sega Outrun, one the greatest driving games ever conceived.

Joe continues his story by saying that the floorspace could best be described as an 'L' shaped room with fruit machines initially greeting visitors as they set foot inside the arcade with the games found around the corner to the left of the room. It also appears to have been a family run business with two twin boys and their father on site. The games cabinets were also arranged in rows against the walls with about ten or so upright machines and there was a change booth right at the back where the owner sat. Now, as this was the 1980s, most of the game PCBs were based off the JAMMA standard which simply meant that they could be placed inside almost any upright or sit down style cabinet with a JAMMA connector. This made it easy to swap out games because new titles were released pretty regularly back then. It also allowed arcade owners to keep re-using the same cabinet over and over again. However, dedicated games and cabinets were also available back then which were housed inside a cabinet made just for that game. The more extravagant set-ups would have components such as hydraulics or force feedback to move in tandem with the on screen action.

Sega was one of the leaders in this field. Although Tatlers was not a very large location Joe mentioned that at one time or another they did manage to get hold of Space Harrier and Afterburner in deluxe cabinet form. Whether these titles were hired or bought by the owner is unknown as they were much more expensive than a JAMMA based PCB game. For example, a deluxe Afterburner would have been in the region of several thousand pounds so the cost of play in the arcades I would find the game was £1 a play, which was to recoup the initial high investment. And, on the subject of pricing I am informed by Joe that most of the games were between 20p and 50p a play. As for the overall condition of the games, well, they were not always in the best of shape with faulty joysticks and buttons which the owners appeared to care little about.

One small anecdote from Joe involved Double Dragon which had a slanted control panel. One of the unwritten rules of the arcades of the 1980s was and is that if you wanted the next game you made your intentions known by putting 20p on the control panel. In this case though, due to it sloped nature, the coins would fall on the floor resulting in players just putting their money straight into the coin slot. However, the start button was very close to the players' controls and it was easy to press this accidentally and use the next players credits. If this was not resolved, cue heated arguments over stealing credits or even fights breaking out!

Anyhow, it appears that Tatlers appeared to survive into the 1990s. It’s unknown exactly when they shut and according to Joe they never brought in the big one, namely, Street Fighter 2 which was all the rage in the early 1990s. However, before Joe stopped frequenting the arcade he mentioned a handful of other games that did put in an appearance. These included Smash TV from Williams inside a dedicated cabinet with two joysticks per player, a neat twist on their age old classic Robotron 2084.

In concluding his story, Joe says that after closure the front entrance had shutters in place for over a decade yet the signage above the entrance still proudly displayed 'Tatlers'. However, it was finally demolished in the latter part of the 1990s and a set of low rise flats were built in and around the surrounding space.