Page 35 - OSG Presents Classic Gamer Magazine #8
P. 35
Pixel Memories
Kyle Snyder reminisces about an era when arcade games could be found just about anywhere...
Nowadays, children will
never know the bliss kids in
the ‘80s experienced when
even a mundane trip with
your family to run errands
typically meant playing coin-
op machines in several
different places.
The gaming industry referred
to them as “street locations”
-- non-arcade businesses that
devoted some floor space to
serve video game players.
You were almost guaranteed Because this was the only
to find at least one game "Many quarters, place I ever saw the
placed in every restaurant, many games Hanglyman variant, I
laundromat, store, pharmacy, played, and many referred to it as “Kay Cee
movie theatre, and hotel Pac-Man.”
lobby. I have a strong formative hours of
fondness for these places, as my youth were The fourth game, Zero Hour,
the majority of games I spent in Kay Cee was certainly the “odd man
played in my youth were in and Maloney’s out” of the group. The other
these street locations. three games were well-
doing what I still known hits, but Universal’s
Almost every weekend, I love best, playing 1980 slide-and-shoot
would stay with my arcade games." definitely lingered in
grandparents. After Scooby- obscurity even back then. It
Doo and Spider-Man and his combined elements of
Amazing Friends each standard-issue Midway and Galaxian and Asteroids, and
Saturday morning, we would Stern classics, but the Pac- featured a cool landing
drive to a local pharmacy Man machine was outfitted maneuver that required you
called Kay Cee Drugs to pick with the “Hanglyman” ROM to align your spaceship on
up the paper, play the lottery, set, even though it was top of a dormant volcano for
and sometimes grab milk or a housed in an authentic bonus points.
few other groceries. Bally/Midway cabinet. As
Sometime in 1981 a local much as I enjoyed the I recall two employees
vending company installed a “regular” Pac-Man maze, I specifically: “Dinky” and
nice row of four future always looked forward to Sheila. Dinky, whose real
classics right near the front playing Hanglyman. The name I never learned, was an
door. Going from left to right open areas above and below older woman who had
on your radio dial, was the side tunnels were a lot of worked alongside my
Galaxian, Berzerk, Pac-Man, fun, as spastically rotating grandmother in the 1960s as
and Zero Hour. Galaxian the joystick quickly in these a telephone operator on
and Berzerk were the areas made Pac-Man stumble Capitol Hill. She was always
around like he was drunk.
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