User:Dcivitillo/sandbox

'Richie Knucklez'Born (Richard Steven Vavrence) on July 30, 1968 was the lead singer for the NJ hardcore punk band Knuckle Sandwich for years before deciding to follow his childhood passion for old fashion arcade video games. He began collecting arcade games and restoring them back to life. He taught himself to fix the electronics and refinished the cabinets making them better than new. He put his heart and soul into each one he repaired until they took over his home that he shared with his then wife Paige, daughter Faith & step daughter Destiny. At that point he realized he must share his love of the games with others and opened a store in Flemington NJ where showed and sold his machines. All machines were set to "free play" and for a flat fee you could pay all night long on the weekends. Soon after he opened a location in Bridgewater, NJ. After years of success doing what he loved attendance started to decline and he was forced to close the business. You can see the story in the documentary "The King Of Arcades" based on Richie's journey in the arcade world. In December of 2018 he partnered with Video Game 911 in Denville, NJ and once again opened another arcade. He is currently fixing and repairing games along with having the arcade open Saturday nights.

Record Scores Space Invaders- world record of 184,870 points- record held from 2009 - 2018 Pleiades- holds the official Guinness World Record for this game with 279,090 points recorded on June 4, 2011 at the Annual Classic Video Game and Pinball Tournament at Funspot in Weirs Beach, New Hampshire

Notables From 2010 to present Richie Knucklez has been hosting Donkey Kong competitions, known as the "The Kong Off". They began in NJ but since has spanned the World with competitions in Colorado, California and Australia. According to Chris Columbus (Director of Pixels; 2015 Science Fiction action/comedy film), Eddie Plant is based on a number of 1980s video gamers, including: Richie Knucklez (tattoos), Patrick Scott Patterson (sunglasses & pose), Ken House (aversion to sleeves), and Billy Mitchell (haircut), who was featured in the well-known video game documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.

Early Years Grew up in NJ and while starting his band Knuckle Sandwich which toured the US in the 90's he made a living as an HVAC Technician

apprentice.