David Ellis has been a part of the gaming industry for longer than some of you guys have been alive. After working his way up the ladder at Microprose, he went on to help start Vicious Cycle in 2000. He works there currently as a game designer. He is also an award winning author with sixteen books to his name.

Sure, all of that is great, but you know what is even cooler? Dave loves classic games so much that he turned his garage into an arcade. He’s spent over $13,000 on his collection and has completely restored both a Donkey Kong and a Mario Bros. cabinet.

We asked Dave a few questions about his favorite games, his experience in the game industry, and what modern games he enjoys. Read on for his answers!

Can you give us a brief introduction to yourself and what you do at Vicious Cycle?

I’ve been in the video game industry for 16 years. In 1992, I started at MicroProse Software in Hunt Valley, Maryland as a customer service rep. From there I worked my way up through QA (testing) and, eventually, became a game designer. I’m also a published author, with 16 books to my credit and I write a monthly column for GameRoom Magazine.

I’m the senior designer at Vicious Cycle. I’ve been involved with most of the games we’ve released in the last three years in a design or writing capacity (occasionally both).

What games have you worked on?

I’ve worked on more than 30 games in my career. At MicroProse, I was fortunate enough to work on games in the Civilization and X-COM franchises. I also got to work on a Star Trek title (Klingon Honor Guard), which was the first game for which I wrote the dialog and story.

At Vicious Cycle, I worked as a designer on Curious George, Marvel Trading Card Game, and Ben 10: Alien Force, as well as an as-yet unannounced next-gen title. I wrote the voice-over scripts for a number of other Vicious Cycle games, including Dead Head Fred and Flushed Away.

From what I understand, you love classic games so much that you turned your garage into an arcade. Want to tell us about that?

I was in high school during the 80s, which was the height of the arcade boom, so I spent a lot of time playing coin-op video games and pinball machines. Like a lot of people at the time, I dreamed of owning my own arcade—but, obviously, a high school kid can’t spend $2000-3000 apiece on video games (that was what they cost at the time).

Flash forward to the late 90s. One of the artists at MicroProse was moving to California and offered to sell me his Sega Star Trek arcade game. Star Trek was one of my favorite games in the 80s, so I jumped at the chance.

Within a few days, the game broke and I had to go online to find out how to fix it. That’s when I discovered that there was a whole community of game collectors out there and that the games I loved in the 80s were amazingly affordable—and readily available!

When I moved from Maryland to North Carolina, I found out that there was an arcade auction several times a year in Winston-Salem, only 90 miles away. I went to my first auction and picked up two games (Spy Hunter and Time Pilot). It just snowballed from there. My wife is very supportive of the hobby and actually encouraged me to paint the garage black and turn it into an arcade.

How much has this cost over the years?

I’ve been asked that question a lot, and I actually started keeping track of it and posting it on my web site (www.davesclassicarcade.com). The figure might not be totally up-to-date, but I’ve spent a little over $13,000 on the hobby since 1995, including maintenance and restoration. Obviously, that’s not all at once. It was really branching out into pinball that made that figure skyrocket. The three pinball machines account for well over half of that figure.

What is the most expensive game in your collection?

My Family Guy pinball machine. I bought it used, but it was less than a year old and had very few plays on it. It was just over $3400.

Video games are a lot less expensive, at least initially. The most I’ve ever paid for a video game at the time of purchase was around $600, and that’s at least a third higher than most of the ones I’ve bought. At auctions, you can get great deals. For instance, I got Spy Hunter, which was working and in good physical shape, for $150. Of course, with 20-year-old electronics, you’re looking at the possibility of a lot of repairs. I’ve put an additional $700 or so in Spy Hunter to keep it running over the years.

You’ve also restored a couple of arcade machines. What goes into this process?

I’ve done two total restorations. That involves stripping everything out of the cabinet, sanding and repainting the cabinet, buying new side art, and so on. It’s a pretty involved process, but very rewarding. I have a complete log of both of the total restorations, complete with pictures, on my web site.

I don’t usually do much in the way of electronics repair…I’m borderline inept with a soldering iron. I can replace parts like buttons and joysticks, and put a new chassis on a monitor, but when it comes to boards I tend to just buy working ones to replace the ones that die.

What is next for your arcade? What games are you looking for?

It’s hard to say. My garage arcade was full, so I had gotten to the point where I’d have to get rid of something in order to get something new. I recently moved, however, and now I have a basement with room for at least five additional games.

I’m probably picking up Asteroids soon (I was made an offer I can’t refuse…free!). Beyond that, I think I’d like to add a couple more pinball machines to the collection. I’d love to have Star Trek: The Next Generation, for example.

How has your love of classic games influenced your work?

Classic games can definitely teach valuable lessons about the core elements that make a game fun. When you only had a tiny amount of memory and primitive graphics to work with, the gameplay had to carry the game.

I always try to keep that in mind when designing a game. Great graphics and fantastic audio will only get you so far.

What is your favorite game of all time?

I don’t think that you can judge all games based on the same criteria. It’s like movies–two of my favorite films are The Godfather and Dawn of the Dead. I like them equally, and it depends on my mood as to which one I want to watch on a given day. They’re so different from one another, though, that you can’t possibly compare them directly.

If we restrict the criteria to classic arcade games, though, I can definitely say that Spy Hunter and Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator are tied for first place.

Recent games like Mega Man 9 and Bionic Commando: Rearmed have brought back classic games in new ways. How do you feel about this retro resurgence?

I think it’s great. Anyone who grew up playing the classics knows that they are a blast to play, but a lot of the newer gamers have never been exposed to those games other than to see a screen shot and laugh at the primitive graphics. Given half a chance, though, most players love the gameplay in those old games. I think it’s a great idea to bring back the best of the past games and repackage them for a new generation.

If you were given the chance to make a new sequel to a retro game, what game would get the honor?

There are a lot of lesser-known titles that would translate well into modern-day platform/action games. Pengo, for example, would be a lot of fun to bring back.

We’ve talked a lot about classic games, what newer games have you enjoyed?

I loved BioShock. I was obsessed with that game…played it every chance I got until I completed it. I also liked Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune a lot.

The game I play the most these days is Rock Band (well, Rock Band 2 now). I love music, and the integration of music into games is just a fantastic idea. When I first played Guitar Hero, after a couple of songs I said, “Somebody needs to add drums and singing to this.” I bought Rock Band on day 1, and haven’t gotten even remotely tired of it. It’s a great party game, and one that I can enjoy with my wife who is not into most games. (She’s the drummer…and she’s good!)

David’s Arcade Website