Yesterday, we reported on the very welcome news that NMK / Banpresto's Super Spacefortress Macross is coming to Switch and PS4 as part of the long-running Arcade Archives series.
Based on the popular anime series Macross – which would spawn Robotech, a Western adaptation which fused it with other, unrelated franchises – this 1992 title might seem obscure to most English-speaking gamers, but, as ohfivepro points out on Twitter, it's probably one of the most famous coin-op titles in the UK – mainly because it was seen in the soap opera EastEnders for many years.
"It would be remiss of me as an arcade dork and a Brit to not point out that this is probably the most seen arcade game in British history as it was sat in the Eastenders cafe for years & was seen by 10s of millions every week," says the Twitter user, including a bunch of screen grabs which show the cabinet in the background of the Albert Square cafe.
This particular cab was in place for many years – the earliest sighting we can find online is 2007. It seems likely that the "cab" was destroyed when the cafe blew up in 2023, as it can be seen in the background.
For those of you who aren't from the British Isles, EastEnders is a television soap opera which has been running on BBC One since February 1985 and is set in the East End of London.
Actors who have found further fame after starring in the series include Craig Fairbrass (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare), Martine McCutcheon (Love Actually), Rob Kazinsky (Pacific Rim), Ben Hardy (Bohemian Rhapsody) and Michelle Ryan (Bionic Woman).