What's Your Favorite?
Word games with Lincoln Whisler and Devin Durham, co-owners of 1984.
Lincoln Whisler explains his approach when going for a high score on Robotron: “I need to have everything just right. I can’t have stuff in my pockets. I can’t wear my watch. If I have the wrong shirt on, or if I just don’t like the way it feels, I have to change that.” Lincoln and fellow co-owner of 1984, Devin Durham, have an ongoing competition in Robotron. Devin concedes, “He’s a little above me right now.”
It was this ongoing love of arcade games that created 1984. There are actually seven co-owners of the arcade. In the beginning, there weren’t supposed to be co-owners and downtown storefronts. “I had been collecting video games for a while, and I got Lincoln started on it,” says Devin. Then they started gaining interest and running out of room in Devin’s office. Lincoln adds: “I was thinking of a men’s club where other people would share their machines. It would be like an arcade co-op, and we’d all share the cost of rent. There was never a plan.”
After one expansion and now 60 games, they’ve evolved a plan. 1984 has all the sights and sounds of an arcade complete with beeps, buzzes and people standing shoulder-to-shoulder staring intently in front of them. It is like walking into a time machine. “We do get people who literally just stand at the front door with their mouths open,” says Devin.
People haven’t seen anything like 1984 because there isn’t anything else exactly like it, anywhere. “Having done a lot of research, I haven’t found one that’s exclusively ’80s like we are,” he says. As the owner of a small business, it can be hard to measure high scores, so high praise is a pretty good indicator. “There’s a guy in Scotland who says, ‘This is the most awesome place on earth. If I ever come to the States, I need to come to this place,’” says Devin.
What’s Your Favorite…
Game?
Devin: Robotron
Lincoln: Robotron
Name of an arcade game?
Devin: “Elevator Action. I don’t know who comes up with Elevator Action.”
Lincoln: “I really like Smash TV.”
Odor?
Devin: “There is a certain smell that pinball makes after you’ve played an awesome game of pinball. It’s hot components.”
Lincoln: “I don’t like the smell of a machine getting ready to meltdown. So the lack of fire is a good smell.”
High-score nickname?
Devin: “I’m always just DVN. It’s an abbreviation of my first name.”
Lincoln: “I use dirty words every time. If I get a bad score on Robotron, I just use his initials.”
George Orwell book?
Devin: “Animal Farm. It’s not quite as depressing as 1984.”
Lincoln: “Animal Farm.”
Song from 1984?
Lincoln: “I really like Billy Idol, so I’ll go with ‘Eyes Without a Face,’”
Devin: “‘Owner of a Lonely Heart.’”*
Facial-hair styling?
Devin: “Not the throat beard.”
Lincoln: “I kind of liked the really outrageous chops. I would love to have some giant mutton chops and a shaved head.”
Character from Facts of Life?
Lincoln: “I might have to go with Jo because Jo had a motorcycle that she worked on.”
Devin: “I’m not entirely sure I ever saw one. You can safely say I hated them all.”
Suggestion from a customer?
Lincoln: “Anytime somebody gets and recommends a game we don’t have.”
Devin: “When the suggestion that they make is in context, and it’s not something stupid. I like those.”
Arcade when you were growing up?
Devin: “Aladdin’s Castle.”
Lincoln: I really have a thing for Shakey’s. That’s as old-school as it got. It was the beginnings of the arcade, at a pizza parlor.”
Salad ingredient?
Devin: “Croutons.”
Lincoln: “I think you can’t underestimate the nutritional value of iceberg lettuce.”
Berry?
Devin: “Booberry.”
Lincoln: “Mulberry.”
*Editor’s note: “Owner of a Lonely Heart” actually came out in 1983, but who’s counting? We’re sure you could still hear it on the radio in 1984.
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