The world don’t move to the beat of just one drum. At least that is what we learned growing up watchin’ the weekly antics of Arnold, played by Gary Coleman, when the sitcom Diff’rent Strokes was beamed across the airwaves.
Of particular interest is the fifth episode of season five entitled “Shoot-Out at the O.K. Arcade!” In this classic 1982 episode, Arnold is feeling a bit inferior to his older brother Willis and decides that he’ll become a champ by besting his older brother at the arcade game Space Sucker. This fictional coin-op was described as “a space man with a jet backpack that has to blow all the mutants and asteroids out of the galaxy before the space monster sucks you up! But, if you hit the monster on a soft spot he spits you out and makes a funny sound.”
After the boys settle on a two-week time frame to better their space sucking skills, Willis agrees to kiss his brother’s lil’ tush in front of Macy’s department store if Arnold wins. Their father, Mr. Drummond, gives Arnold a motivational speech about trying his best to attain his goal. Arnold later daydreams that the organizers of the Super Bowl haul a Space Sucker machine out to mid-field where he plays a record game to the cheers of the spectators of the half-time show. Humorously, the alien enemies in his dream all have his brother’s head, which he blasts furiously.
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Michael Thomasson is one of the most widely respected videogame historians in the field today. He currently teaches college level videogame history, design, and graphics courses. For television, Michael conducted research for MTV's videogame related program Video MODS. In print, he authored Downright Bizarre Games, and has contributed to nearly a dozen gaming texts. Michael’s historical columns have been distributed in newspapers and magazines worldwide. He has written business plans for several vendors and managed a dozen game-related retail stores spanning three decades. Michael consults for multiple video game and computer museums and has worked on nearly a hundred game titles on Atari, Coleco, Sega and other console platforms. In 2014, The Guinness Book of World Records declared that Thomasson had “The Largest Videogame Collection” in the world. His businesses sponsor gaming tradeshows and expos across the US and Canada. Visit www.GoodDealGames.com.
