Revisiting the 70s

Howdy all,

My article for issue three of the mag is a history of gaming in the 70s.  I spent the past few weeks reading about and reminiscing about all the fun stuff from way back then.  I dont want to give too much of the article away, but I thought Id share some of the interesting things I thought about, but did not ultimately include in the article.

The first thing has to be how cool my parents were to me about gaming.  We never had much money when I was a kid, so we did without a lot of things.  but, when it came to something that was important to one of us kids, my parents did whatever it took to try to get it for us.  This meant that I enjoyed a lot of gaming goodness as a child, while my mom wore clothes that were out of date, served us macaroni and cheese, and spent evenings sewing patches in our jeans.  It was an important thing to recall as I think about the things I sometimes deny myself for the greater good.  Makes me think I have a long way to go to be in my parents league.  And, while its nothing new for parents to sacrifice for their kids needs, my "need was not a cheap one, so it really made me appreciate them all the more.

Another interesting thing was how often I just happened to have the right items and games.  By this I mean I just happened to have many of the games and items that turned out to be milestones in gaming.  This was absolute luck, although I like to think it was more like destiny.

One point I made in the article that I want to talk more about here is how games were designed back then.  In the 70s, you didnt really have much to work with in terms of graphics or sound, so you had to spend your energy on gameplay.  And, did they ever do that!  Its especially an interesting thing to think about with the arrival of the "next-gen" consoles.  Prettier isnt  always better, as some folks have found out recently.  To be fair, there are clearly some excellent games being made today too, but I have yet to see anything that shakes me the way I was shaken the first time I played Space Invaders or Pac Man, or Combat for the 2600, or Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy on PC.   But that doesnt mean I dont envy those of you playing on a 360 - I do.

I think the thing I miss the most from the late 70s and early 80s is the arcades.  Back then, every mall had an arcade, and it was a good one.  When you put your quarter in, the length of the game almost entirely depended on your skill in playing the game, and had little to do with a designers intent of forcing you to put more money into the game.  I happened to be in an arcade with my nephew a few weeks back.  It was not surprising that I didnt last too long in the games I tried, but it was very surprising that neither did my nephew.  Hes 16, and a gamer through and through, but he didnt last much longer than I did.  The weird part though, is that that didnt bother him.  He was perfectly willing to keep pumping money in to "continue."  When I think back how a single quarter in a Galaga machine would keep me occupied until my mom was done grocery shopping, it does not surprise me that arcades are not more popular than they are.  The games seem very rigged against you, and its not surprising to me that there were only four other people in the arcade.  Do you remember standing in line to play a game at the arcade?  I sure do.

Oh well, enough old-timer talk for now.  Got to head to the Early Bird special.......