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Episode 176: Short Circuit Arcade

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·16m 47s·analyzed·Feb 1, 2019
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.028

TL;DR

Matthew Russell launches Short Circuit Arcade, a rental arcade venue with 86 games in Alberta.

Summary

Jeff Teolis interviews Matthew Russell, creator of Short Circuit Arcade in Sherwood Park, Alberta—a two-story garage housing 86 playable arcade and pinball machines (174 total in collection) available for hourly rental starting January 2024. Matthew discusses his 12-year collecting journey, restoration expertise, preference for original hardware and CRT displays, and plans to expand the arcade as rental demand grows. The facility targets birthday parties and group events in a non-alcoholic, controlled environment.

Key Claims

  • Matthew has 174 total arcade/video games in his collection, with 86 currently in Short Circuit Arcade and the rest in storage requiring repair

    high confidence · Matthew directly states: 'I have 174, but I have 86 in my arcade.' He clarifies he has 16 pinballs operational and 24 total pinballs, with others needing repair before installation.

  • Matthew has invested approximately $250,000 in the building, games, and setup for Short Circuit Arcade

    high confidence · Matthew responds when asked about total investment: 'I'm sitting around $250 for the building.' (likely meant $250k given context of two-story garage construction and 174-game collection)

  • Short Circuit Arcade opened on January 1, 2024, and rents for a minimum of two hours

    high confidence · Matthew states: 'Yes, we just started January 1st' and 'We rent it for a minimum of two hours.'

  • Matthew has been collecting arcade and pinball games for 12 years, starting with Ninja Gaiden in 2007 for $100

    high confidence · Matthew states: 'Yes, I've been collecting for 12 years. I bought my first game in 2007. Which was that Ninja Guidance.'

  • All games in Short Circuit Arcade are original cabinet hardware; Matthew avoids multi-game emulation units (multi-cades) and is converting any LCD displays back to CRT

    high confidence · Matthew explicitly states: 'No, they're all original... I don't have any multi-cades. I have one game that has an LCD, but that's going to be changed out to CRT. I'm just keeping it all old school original.'

  • Matthew has converted only one pinball machine to color DMD (Monopoly) and keeps the rest on original orange displays, though he's starting to prefer color displays

    high confidence · Matthew: 'I have just done one because I blew up the display. So I got for Monopoly, I put a color DMD in there. But the rest are all the orange originals... I'm starting to lean more towards the color ones, actually.'

  • Matthew discovered approximately 10 pounds of dog food stuffed in the coin door of a Paper Boy arcade cabinet he acquired

    high confidence · Matthew describes finding: 'I acquired a paper boy, and that's a really, really, really heavy game. It wasn't working, so I started digging into it... there was about 10 pounds of dog food just stuffed in there.'

Notable Quotes

  • “I just like keeping it original. And with the old CRTs, it was low-res. And with the newer LTDs, they're high-res, so it doesn't look the same. You can see the pixels, and it just doesn't look original.”

    Matthew Russell @ ~17:00 — Demonstrates Matthew's philosophy of hardware authenticity and his rationale for avoiding modern LCD conversions despite longevity arguments.

  • “It's nice to have a little bit of color instead of just the orange. Yeah, it's nice to have a little bit of color instead of just the orange.”

    Matthew Russell @ ~19:00 — Shows Matthew's evolving preference toward color DMD displays despite his general originality commitment, indicating pragmatic balance in restoration philosophy.

  • “Everything's on free play, but you rent out the facility per hour, I guess, for groups, non-alcoholic. So it's a controlled environment.”

    Jeff Teolis @ ~8:30 — Clarifies Short Circuit Arcade's business model as event rental with all-free-play games and non-alcoholic restriction, differentiating it from traditional coin-operated arcades.

  • “Shoot the Death Star. Worst C-3PO ever.”

    Matthew Russell @ ~45:00 — Matthew's critical comment on Data East Star Wars pinball machine; aligns with community-documented criticism of C-3PO callouts in that title.

  • “I'm an old school guy, so I like the old games from the 80s and 90s, but the Iron Maiden and the Metallicas, I would love to have those. Those are my favorite bands and they would look really good beside Guns N' Roses.”

    Matthew Russell @ ~47:00 — Reveals Matthew's desire to acquire modern Stern premium pinball machines (Iron Maiden, Metallica) despite collector focus on vintage, indicating expansion beyond vintage-only collecting.

  • “Time would be the biggest problem because, as you say, you have 170-some-odd games. There are 86 in the arcade, so that means there's a bunch that still need to be tinkered.”

    Matthew Russell @ ~35:00 — Reveals Matthew's primary constraint is time rather than technical skill—a common collector challenge given the scale of his restoration workload.

Entities

Matthew RussellpersonShauna RussellpersonJeff TeolispersonShort Circuit ArcadeorganizationYegpin TournamenteventNitro PinballpersonDerek ThompsonpersonTommy Floydperson

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Yegpin tournament in Edmonton generates community investment and support through game donation program; Matthew contributed 30 games and won Q-Bert prize, demonstrating collector participation in regional pinball infrastructure.

    high · Matthew: 'last year I've been donating games for Yegpin. And last year I donated 30 video games for that.' Jeff confirms running draws at Yegpin event.

  • ?

    event_signal: Short Circuit Arcade opens to public January 1, 2024, as hourly-rental event venue in Sherwood Park, Alberta; represents emerging venue model for arcade/pinball collections.

    high · Matthew states 'we just started January 1st' for Short Circuit Arcade opening; facility described as available for birthday parties and group events with non-alcoholic free-play setup.

  • $

    market_signal: Media coverage of Short Circuit Arcade is driving inbound acquisition opportunities; Matthew reports receiving messages and phone calls from people seeking to liquidate 'dead games' in their garages.

    high · Matthew states: 'because of this news coverage, I've been getting messages and phone calls from people that have dead games in their garage that they want to get rid of' and 'this weekend I'm probably going to pick up a couple more.'

  • ?

    product_concern: Data East Star Wars Pinball receives negative assessment on C-3PO call-out quality from collector/restoration expert with technical knowledge.

    medium · Matthew's critical comment: 'Shoot the Death Star. Worst C-3PO ever.' Aligns with existing community documentation of Star Wars design criticism.

  • ~

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.050

0:00
it's time now for another pinball profile i'm your host jeff teals you can find our group on facebook we're also on twitter at pinball profile email us pinball profile at gmail.com and please subscribe on either itunes stitcher or google play we head out to alberta right now which isn't always the greatest thing to do in our frozen winter here in canada but we're going to Sherwood Park just 15 minutes south of Edmonton for good reason. It's called the Short Circuit Arcade and you might have seen a news piece on it because it's been on a lot of news pieces. It's the creation of Matthew and Shauna Russell and Matthew joins us right now. Hi Matthew, how are you? Hi, I'm doing good. How are you? So this Short Circuit Arcade, for those that haven't seen it and we've posted the video on our Facebook page on Pinball Profile, 86 different video games and pinball machines, but it's not necessarily an arcade. It's a special event place, if you will, on your property. In fact, it's a big garage that you built, correct? Yes, it's a two-story garage. So the cars can park below and the arcade is up on top. You built this with the idea of doing this arcade? Yes, I was going to keep it just personal of my private collection. And I decided to, hey, we can rent this out once in a while. Is the idea of renting it out kind of bringing you back to your youth when you and I and people of our age kind of went to arcades that were, you know, certainly a little more visible back in the heyday than they are now. And a chance for, you know, maybe some of the younger people, like when we were young, to experience what we had? Yes, I thought, well, I keep this collection private. Why not enjoy it or share it with other people so they can enjoy it just as much? And yeah, it does bring it back. You know, when the wife and I are in there, it's not the same, but when you get more people in there, it's just like good old days. We're younger. And everything's on free play, but you rent out the facility per hour, I guess, for groups, non-alcoholic. So it's a controlled environment. It's probably a lot of parties and stuff. And you just started doing it this month. Yes, we just started January 1st. And, yes, I put all the games either on free play or I added a little button that you can push, and it simulates the quarter drop. So you don't have to bring your quarters. And we rent it for a minimum of two hours. That's a great idea. Boy, if I had a birthday party in that area, I mean, that's the place to go to. I mean, how much fun would that be? I mean, you can only play laser tag so much, but give me an arcade. I'm there all day. Yeah, no, that was the idea that came after we got about 90% finished. But it had to start somewhere. Now, are you more of a video game guy or a pinball game? Because you have both there at Short Circuit Arcade. Yeah, I'm more of a video, but I have 16 pinballs in the arcade right now, but I have 24 in total. I have to do some repairs on the others before they get added. But yeah, I'm more of a video guy, but I do like the pinballs. I just remember when we were kids, they were 50 cents. So you get two games on the video or one pinball game. So I gravitated more towards the video. See, it was the other way around for me too, because the video games, I thought were very, very fun for sure. But I would get lucky once in a while on a pinball machine, maybe get a match, maybe get a special. And so that could last a little bit longer. So same kind of idea. Just I think it was cheap. I think that's all it came down to, me being a cheap guy and wanting to play a little longer. Yeah, definitely. It's nice when you get those free plays. Or not the free plays, but the specials. So a lot of people in the gaming community that have a partner sometimes have to convince the partner, hey, this is what I want to do. I want to buy one game, then two, then three, then 10, then 86 like you have now. Was Shauna on board the whole way with this? Yeah, actually, I have 174, but I have 86 in my arcade.

  • Matthew donated 30 video games to the Yegpin tournament in Edmonton last year and won a Q-Bert machine in the draw

    high confidence · Matthew states: 'last year I've been donating games for Yegpin. And last year I donated 30 video games for that. And I actually won a Q-Bert.'

  • “I hope that I can share the arcade with as many people as I can so they can see what we had when we were kids and the older folks to relive their youth through their children watching and playing games with them.”

    Matthew Russell @ ~59:00 — Articulates the core mission of Short Circuit Arcade: intergenerational nostalgia and arcade culture preservation through controlled rental venue.

    • Bruce Nightingale
    person
    Allentown Pinball Expoevent
    Pinball at the Zooevent
    Paper Boygame
    Dragon's Lairgame
    Space Acegame
    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtlesgame
    The Simpsonsgame
    Guns N' Roses Pinballgame
    Twilight Zone Pinballgame
    Rocky Pinballgame
    Star Wars Data East Pinballgame
    Monopoly Pinballgame
    Jurassic Park Data East Pinballgame
    Star Trekgame
    Ninja Gaidengame

    sentiment_shift: Matthew demonstrates evolution from strict originalist (CRT-only, no mods) toward pragmatic modernism (color DMDs, LED lighting, aftermarket toys); indicates collector mindset shift toward functional improvement within originality framework.

    medium · Matthew: 'I'm starting to lean more towards the color ones, actually' despite earlier commitment to orange originals; extensive LED modifications to Star Wars despite originality focus; multiple toy/figurine mods to classic machines.

  • ?

    technology_signal: Matthew demonstrates selective modernization philosophy: converting LED incandescent replacements and adding spotlights to enhance playfield visibility while maintaining CRT displays and avoiding LCD/multi-cade conversions.

    high · Matthew explains LED conversion rationale: 'You don't have to change the bulbs. That's the biggest reason I'm a big fan of LEDs' and 'it just makes the colors just vibrant.' Rejects LCD: 'doesn't look original.'

    • 3:42
    But she married into it. I had a little collection when we met. And then, yeah, she came on board and she helped me find them and pick them up and haul them downstairs and clean them. She's done a really good job of cleaning them. So she's been on board since day one. So, Matthew, I know the arcade only opened this month, but you have have to been collecting for a little while, haven't you? Yes, I've been collecting for 12 years. I bought my first game in 2007 Which was that Ninja Guidance I don know that game It your ninjas and you go around fighting other ninjas It was on the NES too And I used to play it a lot on the NES. I'm like, hey, you can buy these. So then I went and picked it up. $100 it cost me. Wow. I've heard you say on one of your news pieces, speaking of ninjas, you're a big fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And that's a game you've played for a long time. Yes, that one's probably taken the most of my money.
    4:36
    It's a good four-player game, and you get three of your friends, and you can just give her. Same with Simpsons. That's a good one, too. When I've seen the pictures of your arcade, these are the original cabs or maybe refurbished cabs, but it's one game, one cab. I've seen a lot of the games now being sold where you can have 64 or 128 or 500-plus knockoff games all in one unit. Are any of those in short-circuit arcade? No, they're all original. They're all original. Some of them might be in different cabinets, but I'm changing them back to what they used to be. I don't have any multi-cades. I have one game that has an LCD, but that's going to be changed out to CRT. I'm just keeping it all old school original. That's interesting because I thought about getting one of those. And to me, I wanted the LCD screen because I thought, well, it would last longer. But it's certainly not the same original. What's your reasoning behind that? I just like keeping it original. And with the old CRTs, it was low-res. And with the newer LTDs, they're high-res, so it doesn't look the same. You can see the pixels, and it just doesn't look original. To the pinball machines, have you converted a lot of the pinball machines to LEDs? I have just done one because I blew up the display. So I got for Monopoly, I put a color DMD in there. But the rest are all the orange originals. Which do you prefer, originals? I'm starting to lean more towards the color ones, actually. Just for the way they look? Yeah, it's nice to have a little bit of color instead of just the orange. I saw your Star Wars Data East, and that really popped. Have you done anything to that, or did it come like that? Yeah, no, I've been changing out all the incandescents and putting the LEDs in. And I put spotlights, because in the darker rooms, you can't see the play fields. You put those spotlights on, and it just makes the games pop. And you don't have to change the bulbs. That's the biggest reason I'm a big fan of LEDs. Yeah, they just make the game better. Like the back glass, it just makes the colors just vibrant. I don't know. I like to keep things original, but the LEDs sure did a lot for pinballs. They make them look great. I know you haven't had a lot of volume with many people in there at one time, but as this certainly grows, as people start booking short-circuit arcade for hours, for parties, for maybe even company get-togethers, who knows, you're going to see more use on these games. in what you've seen early on, where is the biggest wear and tear? Where are you finding, oh, I've got to do a lot of repairs on such and such. Where would that be? I haven't really seen too much yet, but it seems like every time I turn all the games on, there's one that's acting weird. So you have to go over and figure out what's wrong. Usually it's the power supplies or something. The pinball games, they've been actually pretty good to me. I've gone through them already, like you say, and rebuilt them. So with more people using them, and then I'm going to probably see some problems. But for now, they've been pretty good. Have you ever thought how much money you've put into not only the arcade, not only the video games, the pinball machines, but setting up the actual garage? Have you ever kind of thought of how much money you've put into it? Yeah, I've actually kept a detailed list. I know exactly how much I put into it. Care to give us a hint? Small fortune.
    7:46
    I'm sitting around $250 for the building. I noticed on your website, well, the building would have had to be one of the biggest expenditures. Yes. But it's a permanent fixture, so that's a good investment. Yeah, it's just an investment for sure. And as most people know, when they sell a pinball machine or even a video game, you don't really lose a lot of money on it. Especially you, a guy who's very technically sound, you can buy a game that's not working at a lower price, fix it, and sell it for a higher price should you want to. Yes, that's the plan. That's why I have so many games, but I just haven't got around to them yet. That is the plan though to buy them I bought quite a few cheap and then spent thousands restoring them Matthew what been your biggest stumper as far as fixing a game that you purchased
    8:33
    Tough question. I don't really have any big stumpers. I have a good group of friends that I know that can fix the PCBs and stuff if I can't fix them, so I send them off to them because they have the touch fixtures. and the biggest thing is just money and time. I guess time would be the biggest problem because, as you say, you have 170-some-odd games. There are 86 in the arcade, so that means there's a bunch that still need to be tinkered, if you will. Yes, that's the biggest issue. I've been trying to get this building done as soon as I could so I can concentrate more on the games. It's taken a lot of time, but now that the building is done, I can actually have more time to work on the games and restore and fix the ones that are waiting to be restored and brought back to life. How often are you buying now that Short Circuit Arcade is up and running and you've got a bunch in the shop, you've got 86 on the floor? Are you still purchasing? Yes, I've been getting, actually, because of this news coverage, I've been getting messages and phone calls from people that have dead games in their garage that they want to get rid of. So, yeah, this weekend I'm probably going to pick up a couple more. So it's never-ending. And you've never come across a game where you couldn't fix? Not yet, no, not yet. I've been able to find parts out of the US or Canada and get them all fixed up. Pretty much everything can be fixed nowadays. They have lots of reproductions and they have lots of parts. You can pretty much find anything you want. If you look for it, you have the money to pay for it. So other than lights and changing some of the bulbs and maybe some of the boards, I don't know if your DMD screens have all been good or you had to replace those. Have you added any mods to any of the pinball machines? I've added a few mods. I have a Twilight Zone 7. and I added the gumballs and added some of the little toys to them. And my Guns N' Roses, I added a Slash figurine in there. And Rocky Malinkle, I've got a few figurines in there. So, yeah, I do, and I've added a few aftermarket toppers. So I've added a few things. Would you say you're a good player at both video games and pinball? I would say that I'm an average player. Pinball, I'm not too good at. I'm trying to get better, but when you have so many, it's hard and tough to learn all the rules and remember what to do with which game. The video, there's a few that I'm good at, but there's some, like I say, that have too many. So I haven't really concentrated on learning them, but I do try a different game, you know, every time I go out there and try to figure out what's going on. I remember the first time I saw Dragon's Lair, and that took video games to a whole new level. But the disappointing part was it was a pattern. you know it wasn't you know like there didn't seem any randomness to it to me yeah no dragon's lair is all about the timing and and just memory i'm still trying to master that one i remember when i first played it it was do i play this game or do i buy 100 mojos because at the time you could get two mojos for a penny so 50 cent game was quite a bit and i opted to play this the dragon's lair and it lasted about 20 seconds i should have got the mojo but yeah it's a tough game to master for sure. If I think of all the money I put in Dragon's Lair as a kid, I could have owned one by now. Yeah, definitely.
    11:39
    I actually, Dragon's Lair, it has the laser dex, but now they have a replacement pie called a dexter. I put that in my Dragon's Lair and it runs awesome. It's a good game. I'm still trying to master that and finish it. Wasn't there a sequel to it, like Space Ace or something? Yeah, they have a Space Ace. I have a cabinet, Space Ace cabinet that I got to restore. They also had Dragon's Lair 2. I have that in the arcade. That one wasn't played as much. It came out later. It didn't really last too long. What do you think is the best multiplayer video game and pinball machine? The best multiplayer, I would say, is probably Ninja Turtles or Simpsons. And the best pinball game, I really like the Daddy Star Wars or the Daddy Jurassic Park. Those ones really appeal to me. Shoot the Death Star. Worst C-3PO ever. Shoot the Death Star Do So you were talking about some of the games you found I heard on one of the newscasts that the weirdest find or at least one of them I heard that in one game you found 10 pounds of dog food. Yes, I acquired a paper boy, and that's a really, really, really heavy game. It wasn't working, so I started digging into it and figuring out what was going on. I opened up the back door, and where the coin door was, there was about 10 pounds of dog food just stuffed in there. And I had to actually cut the wood to get it all out so I could get a vacuum in there and suck it all out. There must have been some little critter saving their food for the winter or something. Well, you'll find that in pinball machines too. My friend Bruce Nightingale, I think he bought, I can't remember if it was a cheetah game, but it was a rat's home for many, many years. Do you ever come across that? We don't have rats in Alberta, but yeah, you do find mouse poop and lots of bugs and just sawdust. You just find weird things, for sure. Is there a dream pinball machine you'd like to add to your collection? I'm an old school guy, so I like the old games from the 80s and 90s, but the Iron Maiden and the Metallicas, I would love to have those. Those are my favorite bands and they would look really good beside Guns N' Roses. You've done well, young Padawan.
    13:50
    Great games, great choices for sure. Yeah, yeah. I hope to, maybe one day, I don't know. It's kind of out of my vintage, you know, what I'm trying to keep, but I don't know. Those are great bands, and they're great games. One day, maybe. So if people are in the Edmonton, Alberta area, and they're having problems with their games, you service them for them, don't you? Yes, I do repair and restoration.
    14:12
    I'm working on a Star Trek right now for a fellow. And yeah, I rebuild monitors, and usually that's the issue, monitors and power supplies. So I do do that for people. Contact me and I can try to figure out what your problem is. Go from there. Well, Matthew, I'd love to see Short Circuit Arcade. I'm going to be coming in your area at the end of April for the Yegpin tournament. It's in Edmonton, run by Derek Thompson. It's fantastic. And there's some video games. There's a lot of pinball machines. But you should definitely check it out. And I might check out Short Circuit Arcade while I'm in the area too. Actually, last year I've been donating games for Yegpin. And last year I donated 30 video games for that. And I actually won a Q-Bert because every game you enter, you enter a draw to win a game. And I won the Q-Bert last year for my 30 games that I entered. Forgive me, Matthew. I was the guy who probably drew your name then. I was the emcee at that event. Oh, perfect. Thank you for drawing my name. I don't know if it was a draw. I think they went by, well, no, there were draws. That's the great thing about Yagpin. and they had a special VIP night for all the vendors, which was really, really nice. I know Tommy Floyd was there from Nitro Pinball, and that's great to hear that you donated all those games. I think that's a fantastic event. You know, there's other great events around, and last year it was the same time as Allentown, which is another fantastic event in Pennsylvania, but I went out to Edmonton, and even this year with the great Pinball at the Zoo show, the same weekend, I'm out in Edmonton. So I really was impressed when I went out there, and I'm looking forward to that this year and every year. So thank you very much, Matthew, for your donations to that. And congrats again on all the media coverage, and I hope you get lots of rentals for Short Circuit Arcade. This is great. Yes, thank you for the interview. This was good coverage too. And yeah, I just hope that I can share the arcade with as many people as I can so they can see what we had when we were kids and the older folks to relive their youth through their children watching and playing games with them and just hanging out and having a good time. Sounds like a win-win, and thanks very much for doing it, Matthew. Thank you. Appreciate it. This has been your Pinball Profile. You can find our group on Facebook. We're also on Twitter at pinballprofile, email us pinballprofile at gmail.com, and please subscribe on either iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. I'm Jeff Teolis.
    16:45
    you