I was trying to think back to some of the memories of some of the games that I played. I was starting to ask myself why are they always the bad memories that I don’t want to remember? I guess it’s cause I loved the games so much. Guess it really doesn’t matter if that is the case.
It was 1982 and I was trying to determine what sport I wanted to play as a kid. Shame Four Square wasn’t a team sport or part of the community. But I digress. Of all the sports, I actually loved soccer. I played fullback for a total of three years. It was actually pretty fun… with the exception that when we played shirts and skins, I was a skin and didn’t really like that. Yes I was chubby for my age. But anyway, the team that I played for was called the Strikers. We were actually a good team too. In 1982, we won first place and was undefeated. There was even a play where the goalie kicked the ball and it just bounced from one end of the field to the other teams goal. It was pretty hilarious. Shame there weren’t cell phones.
Unfortunately, I was playing the game before and I swore and the referee caught it and gave me the red card. WHAT THE HELL?!?!? No warning or anything. That really sucked!!! So I unfortunately didn’t get to play the final game, but I got to go to the celebration party. Lucky me. And we all got to choose the place that we wanted to celebrate. Rocky Rococcos. Yeah it seems like my stories end up here a lot. Not true actually.
So the party began and everyone was given $5 to go play games. And off I went with my friends. There was a good line up of games from what I remember. There was Pole Position, Asteroids, Pacman, Battlezone, Space Invaders and Dig Dug. Oh how I didn’t stay away from Dig Dug. This game was so awesome and the fact that there was a pattern helped a lot. And I actually had the first nine levels memorized. But dang that 10th level. After playing a few times, we all sat down and enjoyed our pizza and got our ice cream choices. We were high on so much sugar at that time. The coach started to talk, but before I heard him speak, I was off and running to the arcade again. I just couldn’t get enough of Dig Dug. Something about blowing up dragons was a lot of fun.
But I am still to this day trying to figure out why my dad yanked me away from the game. Was it the fact that the coach was talking and I just didn’t listen? Or the fact that I got to the 10th level again and died instantly and strongly took my middle finger and hit the screen. I just can’t figure it out. To this day I’m puzzled. All my dad said was, I don’t remember that happening. Yeah, right. I guess I have a lot of aggression with video games. Maybe they do make you violent. Maybe they make you stupid, maybe they make you smart. All I know is that I still love the game and will never stop playing it to this day.
Although I did stop playing soccer the next year. After we were getting ready to take team pictures one day, we were playing 500. Really old game. But anyway, I was running backwards and slammed my head into the goal post and had to get eight stitches in my head, Sure, I can yell and swear and scream at the hospital when my head is gushing blood, but the minute I raise my middle finger to a game, I’m screwed. I just don’t understand parents these days, especially because I am one now. Oh how the tables have turned. I guess for now I will have to just….
Keep Calm and Insert Coin
Brad has been a die hard arcade fan ever since he can remember. From the first time he played Space Invaders, to the first time he played Pacman, Brad has always had a love for video games. Hanging out at either the Great American Fun Factory in the mall, or spending the night in front of the glowing games at the local roller rink, he was always thinking about when he can spend the next quarter. He also worked at Babbages, which is now GameStop, for over six years. Mostly because they had a really sweet checkout policy on new products and great discounts. But since he had the Atari 2600, he has never looked back and owned some of the greatest home machines, NES, SNES, GENESIS, Turbo Graphix 16, GameBoy, Game Gear, Lynx, Playsation 1,2,3,4 and Vita, XBOX, Gamecube, and N64...just to name a few. Brad is also a reviewer for Mobile Beat Magazine as well as a freelance videographer, part time disc jockey, performing artist and photographer. But has a true love is for video games and Star Wars, as he is a member of the 501st Central Garrison. His ultimate dream is to own a fully working pinball machine and arcade machine. Difficult to say which one, but a Star Wars one would be nice start.
