I’m feeling nostalgic about summer holidays in games arcades, spending a fortune trying to get my name on the high scores boards.
I missed the early 80s glory days of the games arcades, being too young. But by 1988 I was going into arcades with my jeans sagging under the sheer weight of all the coins in my pockets.
I used to play games like Space Harrier, Operation Wolf, the Atari Star Wars game, Outrun, PacMan, StreetFighter 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Donkey Kong, Frogger, Dig Dug, Afterburner, Sega Rally and many more.
Neon lights everywhere and dance music playing to keep you pumped. You could stop and get fries and a Coke while you try figure out why you keep dying in the same place. Then go to the change machine for more coins.
If other kids gathered behind you to watch you knew you’d got further than they had and your score was going to be good. And if girls were watching even better- but at that age you had no idea why. 😆
Then you’d walk home wishing you didn’t have to be up early for school or whatever and thinking how you’d be back as soon as you could.
It’s great that modern kids have online gaming with their friend groups. But I think what I did was a more social thing. It always makes me sad to drive past a closed arcade.
I used to play games like Space Harrier, Operation Wolf, the Atari Star Wars game, Outrun, PacMan, StreetFighter 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Donkey Kong, Frogger, Dig Dug, Afterburner, Sega Rally and many more.
Neon lights everywhere and dance music playing to keep you pumped. You could stop and get fries and a Coke while you try figure out why you keep dying in the same place. Then go to the change machine for more coins.
If other kids gathered behind you to watch you knew you’d got further than they had and your score was going to be good. And if girls were watching even better- but at that age you had no idea why. 😆
Then you’d walk home wishing you didn’t have to be up early for school or whatever and thinking how you’d be back as soon as you could.
It’s great that modern kids have online gaming with their friend groups. But I think what I did was a more social thing. It always makes me sad to drive past a closed arcade.
46-50, M
