DALLAS — One look around Patrick Scott Patterson’s house leaves no doubt of where his passions lie.
From the Pac-Man clock on his desk to the row of standup arcade machines in his garage, he believes in surrounding yourself with the things that make you happy.
“It is pretty clear what I like and what I am into right off the bat,” Patterson said.
He explained that it all began as a six-year-old when his mother gave him a quarter to play Pac-Man at a laundromat in Garland. Since that moment, video games have been a part of his life as a collector and even a Guinness World Record holder for margin of victory in Madden NFL ’09.
But perhaps his biggest area of expertise comes from knowing games inside and out.
Literally.
“I would start buying (arcade) machines broken intentionally because I could save a few bucks, but I enjoyed bringing them back to life,” he said.
In his garage, alongside his collection of 80s arcade classics like Galaga and Donkey Kong, Patterson has an array of tools, circuit boards, and other materials one would need to fix and maintain machines now pushing 50 years old.
It's a service that still has plenty of demand and leads Patterson to people who share the same passion with his business, Hyperspace Arcade Repair.
“I am not fixing a washing machine," Patterson said. "I am fixing something that brings people entertainment and joy."
He recalls one recent fix of a Ms. Pac-Man machine that left the owner emotional and finally able to once again play the game she loved as a child.
“It is more than a paycheck; it is the joy of seeing someone absolutely elated," Patterson said.
It was a business he ran from 2004-2012 and recently restarted with plenty of customers already in queue, including a trip to Kansas City to repair one machine.
Patterson said his business shows no knowledge is useless knowledge if applied the right way.