I can so relate to this notion of a lost culture or era.
In grades 4-6 I lived near Olympia, Washington, as my father was stationed at Ft. Lewis. Me and my peers were all gaming/computer types. I had an Atari 2600 and a TI-99/4A, another had a Timex Sinclair and Intellivision, another a ColecoVision (no computer), and 2 others had an Apple II (no consoles). All of us played games on the computers, of course, and all of us tried our hands at programming, whether it was copying lines of BASIC from a computer book (I had BASIC Computer Games, Vol 1, I think) or exploring the rabbit hole of peeks and pokes found in magazines. In hindsight, I suppose this fact alone in the early 80s was a sign of privilege many never had.
There was a local arcade called Shadowfax, and my buddies and I would spend hours there on Friday or Saturday nights. The place ran on tokens, not quarters. And if you bought $10 worth, you'd get double the tokens -- 2 whole rolls. So $20 would set us young dudes up for hours of fun.
The low lighting, the neon, the thumping bass from the cabinets themselves, and the ambient music. It all set the mood. I'm pretty certain there was even smoking allowed back then, well before the Clean Air Act stuff kicked in.
A row of quarters on the marquee marking one's place in line for a chance to be the next winner or loser in the PvP game of choice. The thrill of making that pattern work in Pacman, and the rage of your last man getting eaten a mere 3 dots away from getting to see the 3rd intermission. The awesomeness of those vector graphics games (Star Wars, Tempest, Asteroids, etc.). The odd combination of annoyance, envy, and admiration of that one dude who through raw skill could monopolize a favorite game of yours for hours at a stretch. The token weasley kid who slyly showed you how to get free credits by using washers or jamming a flattened soda straw into the coin slot. Or that asshole who unplugged the cabinet and erased your hard-earned initials from the #1 rank.
Such good times.
Sure, some of the above can be chalked up to the rose-colored tint of reminiscing about a long-lost youth -- I'm sure guys 20+ years my senior can similarly wax poetic about the pinball era. But that time was so exciting for me, as it was for so many here I'm sure. The atmosphere and culture was so unique and interesting, with a camaraderie that was unique at the time. Video games were becoming big, and personal computing was just ramping up. I'm glad I was able to enjoy that era at the age in which I did. It had no small influence on who I am today. And while my kids were playing and loving the old classics thanks to MAME at a very young age, they'll never truly know the joy of the arcade.
In grades 4-6 I lived near Olympia, Washington, as my father was stationed at Ft. Lewis. Me and my peers were all gaming/computer types. I had an Atari 2600 and a TI-99/4A, another had a Timex Sinclair and Intellivision, another a ColecoVision (no computer), and 2 others had an Apple II (no consoles). All of us played games on the computers, of course, and all of us tried our hands at programming, whether it was copying lines of BASIC from a computer book (I had BASIC Computer Games, Vol 1, I think) or exploring the rabbit hole of peeks and pokes found in magazines. In hindsight, I suppose this fact alone in the early 80s was a sign of privilege many never had.
There was a local arcade called Shadowfax, and my buddies and I would spend hours there on Friday or Saturday nights. The place ran on tokens, not quarters. And if you bought $10 worth, you'd get double the tokens -- 2 whole rolls. So $20 would set us young dudes up for hours of fun.
The low lighting, the neon, the thumping bass from the cabinets themselves, and the ambient music. It all set the mood. I'm pretty certain there was even smoking allowed back then, well before the Clean Air Act stuff kicked in.
A row of quarters on the marquee marking one's place in line for a chance to be the next winner or loser in the PvP game of choice. The thrill of making that pattern work in Pacman, and the rage of your last man getting eaten a mere 3 dots away from getting to see the 3rd intermission. The awesomeness of those vector graphics games (Star Wars, Tempest, Asteroids, etc.). The odd combination of annoyance, envy, and admiration of that one dude who through raw skill could monopolize a favorite game of yours for hours at a stretch. The token weasley kid who slyly showed you how to get free credits by using washers or jamming a flattened soda straw into the coin slot. Or that asshole who unplugged the cabinet and erased your hard-earned initials from the #1 rank.
Such good times.
Sure, some of the above can be chalked up to the rose-colored tint of reminiscing about a long-lost youth -- I'm sure guys 20+ years my senior can similarly wax poetic about the pinball era. But that time was so exciting for me, as it was for so many here I'm sure. The atmosphere and culture was so unique and interesting, with a camaraderie that was unique at the time. Video games were becoming big, and personal computing was just ramping up. I'm glad I was able to enjoy that era at the age in which I did. It had no small influence on who I am today. And while my kids were playing and loving the old classics thanks to MAME at a very young age, they'll never truly know the joy of the arcade.