It's funny how much the tone changed from news reporting here in the early 80's which seemed more curious about it, to the reporting in the 90s where it's all just blaming the games for everything under the sun.
Nintendo Thumb I think there were some controversies surrounding video games even at the time. I would argue, though, that it wasn't intensified as much as it was in the 90's.
Probably has something to do with the games getting much more realistic and violent in the 90's - there was nothing anywhere near "Doom" or "Mortal Kombat" during the 80's, and violence was either vehicle on vehicle or bloodless. Not that I agree with the sensationalism in the slightest, but I can see why they latched onto games as a popular scapegoat for larger societal issues.
Mortal Kombat (1992) was the game changer (pun intentional). Blood was shown for the first time. Characters were real actors, not cartoons. And of course there was the fatality, which meant that not only was your opponent defeated, he was dead and YOU killed him. Hyperrealism. Parents groups even tried to have the game banned. Which of course only made the game more popular. Ten years doesn’t seem like a long time but after the collapse of the USSR and the end of the Cold War, 1992 was a world away from the innocence of 1982. Violent crime (associated with crack cocaine) kept increasing throughout the 1980s and peaked in the early 1990s. In the post-victory Cold War era big studios really wanted to test the limits of censorship, arguing that entertainment should be allowed to reflect the violence in the real world. But of course it was all about the bottom line. More gore, more controversy, more promo means more dollars.
I was 12 in 1982 and everyone was playing arcade games in 1982. This was the Hayday for arcades. There were so many amazing arcades games that came out in the early 80s
I was 6 years old in 1982. I've got many awesome memories of the arcade scene in the early 80's, but also many awesome memories of Nintendo in the late 80's.
My dad was a truck driver in the 80sand I can remember stealing quarters from his little coin bag to play Pac-Man and stuff in truck stops man them where are the best times of my life
@Sandy V. No they weren't. 1979-1985 was the golden age for arcades and the hundreds of video games in them, nothing after that came close. Nothing! The 90's, who are you kidding? I'll give you Tetris or Street Fighter, that's it.
"Oh dear, the children are getting small blisters from playing these games. Better ban them!" By this logic every single physical activity should be banned too. God damn people.
That's exactly what I thought! When they explained how kids were developing blisters and calluses, I thought " and on the other hand physical activity can lead to broken bones and sometimes bleeding induced trauma ( mostly in extreme sports)... Well, better ban video games! A lot of parents just love to nitpick on things that aren't school or work to the point of banning them altogether for no good reason besides calluses and rubbing hands on a board 😐.
Flippy With the blister part, I was actually surprised I have it on my knuckle when playing games like Injustice and Neon FM. I guess maybe this is what happens when I give it “too much beating” when playing too aggressive, lol. But hey, according to the media blaming video games for these conditions, it is not the game’s fault for these conditions. It is the player’s own fault, even I say it is my own fault since I CHOOSE to play and I get these effects. Take a look at the Berzerk controversy where it is revealed that the game didn’t cause a curse to the players’s deaths, but it was the players’ own faults for their deaths since it is revealed they had serious conditions of their own and proceeds to care less about it and more about playing a video game they are dying to play. But hey, like most players, we don’t care as long as the gaming pace we play at isn’t too severe. Also, these less severe conditions the media stated is just the usual we deal with. For instance, my hands get tired when I play Injustice, and Neon FM. My fingers get tired when I play House of the Dead, King of Fighters, Marvel vs. Capcom, Galaga, Guitar Hero, Big Buck Hunter, Tomb Raider, and Street Fighter II. But who cares? At least it doesn’t affect us severely. It’s the same effect as typing frequently at office work, doing PE exercise, working at a fast paced restaurant, etc. Also, games of retro and modern are just there for fun and they don’t do anything to create deaths. It is us the players that we have take responsibilities of our own health. Like the Berzerk players, if we have a serious medical condition we need to check before it goes, we take that responsibility. If we ignore it, it’s our own fault and not the games.
im glad i was born in the era of real coin op arcade games, it was truly an amazing experience to have as a child, loud jazzy rock music, arcade sounds coming from all the games in the arcade center smell of popcorn and pizza not too far away, man i wish it were the 80's and early 90's again!!!!
@@yellowblanka6058And like every person who blames quality on nostalgia, you think all time periods are equal... The only person with a waxed view here is you, funnily enough. Reverse nostalgia is real. The ”NEW IS GOOD” mentality, where objectivity goes out the window because of your rose-tinted glasses for all that is simply not old.
I got a lot of respect for game devs back then. They didn't have Photoshop or GiMP, they didn't have Blender or Autodesk, they didn't have Unity or UE3/4, and they didn't have advanced programming languages. And they had extremely limited hardware on both the consoles and the computer systems used to program them. Yet they still made the most awesome and memorable video games in history.
Me too. Some of my most memorable video games growing up was ninja turtles 1989 arcade without a doubt a true classic Superman made by Taito another classic and Simpsons arcade WWE wrestlefest etc.
I remember looking forward going to the shopping mall to play video games. Now, the beloved video arcade @ my mall is no longer around. Darn, I miss those days! Let's bring back the video arcades!
i go to a mall with a japanese arcade in it. no classic games there but the competition among players of the japanese games is strong and arcade culture is very much alive there :'D
I’m in the UK and we have arcades (usually at a seafront). They aren’t like American arcades though, it’s mostly just 2p coin machines, claw games and then arcade games but only the modern ones. I’d love for retro arcades to be a thing.
I was 16 years old in 1982 at the highlight of the video game era. This brings back some fantastic memories. Man did I spend a LOT of time at our local video game arcades in Daytona Beach, namely the Daytona Mall arcade, and the arcade at Volusia Mall. Both were great arcades. All the arcades were darkened and very dimly lit to make all the different games "pop" with color and those alluring sounds that drew you in and "made" you spend money! LOL. Great times, and great memories.
Reporter of this segment, Josh Littman, died in 1987 at age 35 of leukemia. He turned the camera's on himself, relentlessly recording the rollercoaster swings of hope and despair, remission and final decline for his documentary "Castles in the Sand".
haha yeah. and game levels were called "boards." that's what me and my brother called them. was that common usage? "No, I haven't gotten to the dungeon board yet."
5:12 Yes, everyone remembers where they were when they played their first Toasters and Chainsaws game, it swept the world by stom and put Pac Man and Donkey Kong out of business ...
1978 - 1984 best years ever Starting with home play Atari 2600, to Asteroids and then full arcades in 1980-84 with some of the coolest games ever. What a time!
Little did we realize that 40 years later, the type of video games and the gaming culture we will have with the explosion of computers and computing power. Can you imagine the type of video games we will have in the next 40 years?
Looking at the travesty of mobile gaming, I fear that addictive gambling mechanics and microtransactions will be even more prevalent. I'm glad for indie games keeping the quality there, though. While the big publishers keep finding ways to get players to shell out more money, the indie devs work hard to deliver real art.
There was always something magic for a young boy going to the arcade, the sounds and the atmosphere was great. Meet up with friends and watch and play, things have moved on, now alot is online rather than face to face which is a bit of a shame.
Came here from Hi-Score by Botnit. I love the 80’s and 90’s eras they hold a special place in my heart I grew up with that 80’s tv sound and the nostalgia I get from watching old media like this really invigorates me.
I enjoyed this five-part news piece. It's always cool to see news coverage of the arcade craze of the late 1970s/early 1980s, especially when the reporters show respect for video games and don't condescend to those who enjoy playing video games. Well-done! Off-topic, but Tawny Little is incredibly gorgeous here.
I’m really thinking of setting up my ColecoVision and start playing..Got about 25 games, original controls and in great working order. Yeah, I’m ready to play some Burger Time and Zaxxon.🤘
This was almost before me. I was 3 in 1982, too young to play in the arcades. I didn't get my first console until 1988 with the NES, but IIRC I did play a few arcade cabinets in the mid-80s when my parents took me to some pizza joints. Those early years are kind of a blur, but I'll never forget slapping Super Mario Bros. into my NES for the first time.
Funny that in 1982 they thought that pinball machines were a thing of the past, being replaced by video games. Now, in 2023, if there is an arcade the video games are long gone but the pinball machines are still there.
I was 4 years old during this time and would bum change from my parents to play at the arcade. I had to stand on something to see the screen. My favorite was Pole Position. I still have my Atari I got for x-mas 1982. This brings back fond childhood memories.
Pole Position is my Favorite Namco Arcade Game I also love Galaga. I got the Arcade 1UP of Galaga Christmas of 2019 and I play it all the time. I've been playing it ever since I got it for Christmas almost 2 Years Ago.
I was in middle school during the early 80's. These video games where everywhere! You could play them at convenience stores, bars, gas stations and grocery stores. As a kid growing up in school we talked about our high scores. Arcades popped up everywhere too at all the strip malls. That is where you started having issues. These were places to go to get drugs. I believe this started the decline of arcades along with Nintendo's coming out later in the 80's.
1. John Morgan of "Zoo Keeper" fame in 2001 appears to remember that day's interview: In 1982, Keith Egging was the Director of Creativity (or some weird title like that). He always had a human skull on his desk which opened up on a hinge and was filled with Hershey's kisses. One day a TV news crew came over to do some interview, and Keith showed them around. He took them back into our area and really played it up (feed them some pretty thick bull which they really ate it up). He took them to the farthest office of cubicles and said that this was DEEP THOUGHT - where all the heaviest thinking took place. Of course this was just made up (the office being picked for it's distance only), but hey, they bought it. The main programmers (me, Mark Blazczyk and Rex Battenberg) took off on this and other of Keith's tall tales and frequently made up whoppers about everything under the sun to one up each other with our far fetched stories. Pretty cool for those days. 2. According to Mark Blaszczyk, the real reason for the fake marquee is as follows: It is correct that Toasters & Chainsaws was never a real game. It certainly was never tested. All it was was a marquee. Keith Egging came up with the name to try to trigger our creativity to come up with some new game concepts.
In the 90s I only got to experience the old 80s machines in old run down arcades and the odd abandoned machine in a hotel lobby. Best thing about them was the prices hadn't been adjusted for inflation, so you could get a few credits for dirt cheap. Respect for arcades bringing video games to the masses and opening the way for the incredible 3D graphic we got in the 90s and home consoles becoming powerful.
Ooooh... Sweet memories... I was there... The magic was real... The smell of warm wood and circuit boards... The sounds of 100 machines all playing at once... The excitement of having coins in your pocket... Then the emptiness of having none left.
@@HeIsTheBluesCat it was retitled "cowboys and Indians" or something to that effect, and that concept was later stolen to make an adult stand-up x-rated version of the video game showing frontal nudity.
The glory days of arcades. They were everywhere you went. I certainly do miss that. Now with the internet and more powerful games consoles we're confined to home. It's a win lose situation.
I’m thankful for whoever recorded this I remember the fun times I had I’m glad I was part of the last generation to experience this born in 1985 definitely grew up in the last greatest generations I remember going to the arcades so much fun memories back in the day
I remember playing pinball machines when it was all the rage. Then came video games, and then video arcades. Those were fun times playing games in arcades :) I have most of these old games on CD and play them on PC sometimes. Although it's not nearly the same experience as the *real thing*, it's as close as one can get to going back to those fun times :) The 80's was THE single best decade of my life. I sure miss it . . .
"Toasters and Chainsaws" was just a name they gave to cover up the game actually being worked on, which was most likely Elevator Action. Most other Taito games released in 82-83 were direct imports from Japan that just had to be nationalized.
I have recently become obsessed with retro video games, and when I play them, it's like I'm traveling in a time machine. Anyone who reads this should try playing a retro game, even like Adventure in Serenia online. If you want, you can even get a vintage console on eBay. Try it, you won't be disappointed!
Terrific report. Sad about the reporter, Josh Littman. He died of leukemia some years ago. But not before making a documentary about it called Castles in the Sand. I'd like to watch it someday.
I love the Tron parts. Tron was one of the best best movies of the 1980s. I didn't feel like watching it, not because I didn't like it, I love it, and that I felt there was much much much more to the movie than the average time of a typical cinema film.
It's annoying that the segments are cut off. I get why it happened from the description, but man, makes me wish we had a more complete recording available somewhere. Glad to have this rather than nothing, though. I was only a year old in 1982 and actually didn't, as far as remember, spend much time in any arcades. I just played on the Atari 2600 and then the NES and SNES, whether at my house or a friend's, during my childhood. Never really lived in a good area to visit an arcade during those years, having lived in the country and then in a very small town during those years. I had rentals instead of arcades in those latter years.
Man. The game industry has changed an awful lot since this report. I started playing a few years after this with the Nes and Master System. I was completely enamored with the arcade experience especially considering the types of ganes we got back in the late 1980's. "Just like the arcades" became words that burned into my head like a laser. I hated getting home with a game expecting an experience that never truly matched up. Yes, I played many types of games and really enjoyed the longer games just beginning to hit. I was a pretty casual player until one fateful day in 1989...when I got my hands on a Sega Genesis. That machine turned me into a gamer for life. I remember the resurgence of the arcade with Street Fighter and SNK. Oh how I wanted a Neo Geo AES but it was not to be until many years later. Today in 2020, I'm 39 and my home is one giant playpen for gamers. My fiancee is a diehard gamer like me and we don't do things small here. We have in our master bedroom two of every console including the enhanced machines connected to two 4K UHD's screens. We have a full retro gaming room with everything from the Atari 7800 through the Xbox One and PS4. Yes, when the new machines hit we will geg two of each as we hate having to share. Finally, we have a full sized arcade complete with stand up coin-op cabs in our living room (all 1990's games).
you are an inspiration! I want my own home arcade also with dedicated cabinets. I would be the only one playing them so that's what's holding me back for the most part.
@@Drizzt_Do_Entreri Thank you! Well it's 2022 and we're still gaming like crazy! I hope you do decide to build your arcade and maybe sharing your love of gaming might entice others to join you. ;)
Just like VR is now? In some ways I’m excited to see how it is in 10 years but in other ways I’m dreading it. Video games used to be an escape from reality, a luxury just like VR is now. Now video games are almost something people expect. It’s not something you would just do on the weekend.
Arcades were a fad. The games kept increasing in quality, but the widespread craze they were talking about here didn't last long: this "golden age" lasted a measly 5 years, give or take, and, even though so many people played them, it failed to leave a lasting impression for most of them. It was Japanese consoles and 8-bit computers that fostered a life-long interest in video games in a new generation. The young adults and children of the late 70s became the clueless parents of the kids growing up with videogames in the 90s.
I enjoyed the games in that era, but can also related to the injuries as well. In my case, the injuries were blisters from the way I held the joysticks. The games that gave me the worst blisters were Robotron and Galaga.
Loved being a kid in the early 80s with the sights and sounds of arcades. My dad never gave me more than $1 to play, though, so I always sucked at games. lol
WOW I remember playing video games pac man donkey Kong, Super Mario Brothers, Castleviana, I miss the 80s so much back then everyone hung out a the video game place in some various malls. It was fun back then now everything is shit now .
As someone born in 1999, I feel like I've missed out on such a cool and exciting cultural phenomenon. Video games nowadays just aren't the same as arcades.
Cool thing I remember as a kid in the 80's was every random store had 1-3 arcades at the exit locations, it was a joy when my parents would let me wait by the exit to play games while they shopped, sometimes kids hogged the machine but even then they respectfully let someone else play. Kids would have to be dragged away as their guardian was ready to leave.
Seattle had video games everywhere.. Seattle center had a giant building full of games . God father's pizza at the end of the block. The burger place zestos 3 blocks away. Sunset bowl 8 blocks aways... And pizza and pipes they had great prices and good pizza games and a man would play the giant organ and play old fashion comedy movies. 1980s
@@deborahchesser7375 the quality of the restaurants and family restaurants were gone. They had the all you can eat pizza and salad and video games .. the family can enjoy together...
If this was "Super Galaga", I could stay all 256 levels for as long as 140 minutes. In "Space Invader", I can go 25 minutes and quit after 9,990 points. I decided to concede when I get there.
I'll be surprised if video games stand the test of time. By 1986 i think we will only recall video games as a passing fad. Like jumbo shoelaces and Rubiks Cube. Mark my words.
… Once upon a time there was a tavern Where we used to raise a glass or two Remember how we laughed away the hours Think of all the great things we would do? … Those were the days, my friend We thought they'd never end We'd sing and dance forever and a day We'd live the life we choose We'd fight and never lose For we were young and sure to have our way La-la-la-da-da-da La-la-la-da-da-da Da-da-da-da, la-da-da-da-da
I was 20 in 82, the Arcades Rocked! They had dim lighting and I never, Ever saw people fighting in an Arcade. (I am sure many fight happened in some arcades, not the ones i was in),. Arcades where awesome back then!!!! You go there, spend some quarters and if you were as good as me, you had the high score!!
I started in 1978 when I was 9 years old. Lived in thise places until around 1994 when they really died. I was already married by then and getting tons of stuffed animals out of crane games 😀
I disagree that they died in '94. Fighting games were huge then, and the graphics on the home system couldn't quite compare. I really noticed the arcade starting to die around 97' or so (when graphics began matching arcade quality). Also, once online play took off, people started staying home. I had to lol at the crane comment.. :) My dad used to love those, and all the young kids standing around would end up with a stuffed animal.
My 2 friends and I were Mortal Kombat (both 1,2 and 3) champions in our hometown. The arcades were FULL up until about 97 or so. People were playing MK, Killer Instinct, Street Fighter, and Daytona Racing. All of those games allowed multiplayer competition, and it was a big deal at Tel Twelve Mall and Space Station arcade, my two spots to play in the 90s. There were 2 MK 2 machines right next to each other and my 2 friends and I would tag team in a rotation taking on a constant opponents, most of whom were easily 10 years or more older than us. What was our highest score, you ask? Well, on a Saturday sometime in the mid 90s, we won 94 games in a row off of 1 quarter. That's 94 different battles against a lot of different people. It was the highlight of our gaming childhood and we still talk about it today. Gotta love childhood!
I miss playing the 4-player co-op beat-em-ups like TMNT or The Simpsons with my friends. Nothing was better than a Saturday at the mall with my buddies...cute girls, arcade games, music stores, and good friends. I feel lucky that I grew up in the late 80’s/early 90’s, before Facebook and Twitch and Fortnite, before school shootings and culture wars and identity politics and cyber bullies.
Remembering in the end of the 80's when arcades were shutting down en masse and convenience stores were taking the games out. I _had to_ travel by bicycle quite a few miles to a bowling alley to play some third rate video games they had left. Burgertime was the one I plunked my quarters into, lol!
Mark, that's incredible! Taito (by far) was/is still my favorite arcade manufacturer of all time! I used to live in Arlington Heights for a couple of years, a little north of your operations. What became of "Toasters"? Looks like they showed a screen shot of Wild Western along w/ it - same game? Would love to hear some more Taito stories from you!:)
When you walk into an arcade, don't forget a bit of Froorf or Mouse Trouse or Frog Trap or Chand Grampion or Grand Dad or Grogger or Mouse Crap or Grogger or Chad Grandpa or Frog-Man or Mouse-Man or Man-Man or Hand In Ass Champion or Outhouse Poop Trap or Pog Champ.
I bought my first 1up Arcade machine and I am hooked. Playing these 1up cabinets really brings back memories and the feel of a bygone era. I miss the 80's so much.
If this arcade was still here I wouldn’t be going to it ever again I’m thankful I never did what these people did put thousands of quarters inside the games I would just go and look the game I loved playing was Pac-Man then years later I bought arcade machines to save my quarters then mame 32 was on PC which made my life so easy having over 1000 games to play the sad thing about these games they don’t save your score once the game is turned off but be aware these arcades do break if you don’t know how to repair them they will be broken forever At least o have a store that can fix mine I only bought the ones that were classic
![Ice On My Teeth - ATEEZ エイティーズ 에이티즈 [Music Bank] | KBS WORLD TV 241115](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/c-n92OgbbwA/mqdefault.jpg)
It's funny how much the tone changed from news reporting here in the early 80's which seemed more curious about it, to the reporting in the 90s where it's all just blaming the games for everything under the sun.
Nowadays internet is a popular scapegoat.
Nintendo Thumb I think there were some controversies surrounding video games even at the time. I would argue, though, that it wasn't intensified as much as it was in the 90's.
Probably has something to do with the games getting much more realistic and violent in the 90's - there was nothing anywhere near "Doom" or "Mortal Kombat" during the 80's, and violence was either vehicle on vehicle or bloodless. Not that I agree with the sensationalism in the slightest, but I can see why they latched onto games as a popular scapegoat for larger societal issues.
That tone got worst in the late 80's and early 90's to now.
Mortal Kombat (1992) was the game changer (pun intentional). Blood was shown for the first time. Characters were real actors, not cartoons. And of course there was the fatality, which meant that not only was your opponent defeated, he was dead and YOU killed him. Hyperrealism. Parents groups even tried to have the game banned. Which of course only made the game more popular. Ten years doesn’t seem like a long time but after the collapse of the USSR and the end of the Cold War, 1992 was a world away from the innocence of 1982. Violent crime (associated with crack cocaine) kept increasing throughout the 1980s and peaked in the early 1990s. In the post-victory Cold War era big studios really wanted to test the limits of censorship, arguing that entertainment should be allowed to reflect the violence in the real world. But of course it was all about the bottom line. More gore, more controversy, more promo means more dollars.
I was 12 in 1982 and everyone was playing arcade games in 1982. This was the Hayday for arcades.
There were so many amazing arcades games that came out in the early 80s
I was 6 years old in 1982. I've got many awesome memories of the arcade scene in the early 80's, but also many awesome memories of Nintendo in the late 80's.
My dad was a truck driver in the 80sand I can remember stealing quarters from his little coin bag to play Pac-Man and stuff in truck stops man them where are the best times of my life
I had a hand-held space invaders.. cost a fortune back then
Sandy V. pahahahah funny
@Sandy V. No they weren't. 1979-1985 was the golden age for arcades and the hundreds of video games in them, nothing after that came close. Nothing! The 90's, who are you kidding? I'll give you Tetris or Street Fighter, that's it.
"Oh dear, the children are getting small blisters from playing these games. Better ban them!"
By this logic every single physical activity should be banned too. God damn people.
That's exactly what I thought! When they explained how kids were developing blisters and calluses, I thought " and on the other hand physical activity can lead to broken bones and sometimes bleeding induced trauma ( mostly in extreme sports)... Well, better ban video games! A lot of parents just love to nitpick on things that aren't school or work to the point of banning them altogether for no good reason besides calluses and rubbing hands on a board 😐.
Flippy because physical activity makes us feel better and lose weight duh. Unlike fat video games.
Flippy With the blister part, I was actually surprised I have it on my knuckle when playing games like Injustice and Neon FM. I guess maybe this is what happens when I give it “too much beating” when playing too aggressive, lol. But hey, according to the media blaming video games for these conditions, it is not the game’s fault for these conditions. It is the player’s own fault, even I say it is my own fault since I CHOOSE to play and I get these effects. Take a look at the Berzerk controversy where it is revealed that the game didn’t cause a curse to the players’s deaths, but it was the players’ own faults for their deaths since it is revealed they had serious conditions of their own and proceeds to care less about it and more about playing a video game they are dying to play. But hey, like most players, we don’t care as long as the gaming pace we play at isn’t too severe. Also, these less severe conditions the media stated is just the usual we deal with. For instance, my hands get tired when I play Injustice, and Neon FM. My fingers get tired when I play House of the Dead, King of Fighters, Marvel vs. Capcom, Galaga, Guitar Hero, Big Buck Hunter, Tomb Raider, and Street Fighter II. But who cares? At least it doesn’t affect us severely. It’s the same effect as typing frequently at office work, doing PE exercise, working at a fast paced restaurant, etc. Also, games of retro and modern are just there for fun and they don’t do anything to create deaths. It is us the players that we have take responsibilities of our own health. Like the Berzerk players, if we have a serious medical condition we need to check before it goes, we take that responsibility. If we ignore it, it’s our own fault and not the games.
YOU CANT TELL ME NOT TO FAP
Nothings changed, people are just finally noticing the bullshit lol
im glad i was born in the era of real coin op arcade games, it was truly an amazing experience to have as a child, loud jazzy rock music, arcade sounds coming from all the games in the arcade center smell of popcorn and pizza not too far away, man i wish it were the 80's and early 90's again!!!!
You miss your childhood/youth, like every other person that has waxed nostalgic for a certain time period throughout human history.
@@yellowblanka6058And like every person who blames quality on nostalgia, you think all time periods are equal...
The only person with a waxed view here is you, funnily enough. Reverse nostalgia is real. The ”NEW IS GOOD” mentality, where objectivity goes out the window because of your rose-tinted glasses for all that is simply not old.
Nostalgia blind
Remember the future.
Imagine the past.
I remember being a young kid back in the early 80's. It was awesome to watch people play, and I remember playing Pac Man.
I got a lot of respect for game devs back then. They didn't have Photoshop or GiMP, they didn't have Blender or Autodesk, they didn't have Unity or UE3/4, and they didn't have advanced programming languages. And they had extremely limited hardware on both the consoles and the computer systems used to program them.
Yet they still made the most awesome and memorable video games in history.
Me too. Some of my most memorable video games growing up was ninja turtles 1989 arcade without a doubt a true classic Superman made by Taito another classic and Simpsons arcade WWE wrestlefest etc.
The 80s f****** rules
Donald Jong-un tru but the chode makes a good point
early game devs didnt just write the software, but created the hardware as well..
Furry
I remember looking forward going to the shopping mall to play video games. Now, the beloved video arcade @ my mall is no longer around. Darn, I miss those days! Let's bring back the video arcades!
i go to a mall with a japanese arcade in it. no classic games there but the competition among players of the japanese games is strong and arcade culture is very much alive there :'D
Japan still has them. I highly recommend going there to visit and play! there's also barcades in some cities in the US.
I’m in the UK and we have arcades (usually at a seafront). They aren’t like American arcades though, it’s mostly just 2p coin machines, claw games and then arcade games but only the modern ones. I’d love for retro arcades to be a thing.
That's too Bad.
That's Sad
I was 16 years old in 1982 at the highlight of the video game era. This brings back some fantastic memories. Man did I spend a LOT of time at our local video game arcades in Daytona Beach, namely the Daytona Mall arcade, and the arcade at Volusia Mall. Both were great arcades. All the arcades were darkened and very dimly lit to make all the different games "pop" with color and those alluring sounds that drew you in and "made" you spend money! LOL. Great times, and great memories.
joevs21001 mee too but I'm from Portugal.
Me to im from Australia.
Garlic Guy i was in Perth and Joondalup in 2002
Hell yeah. 🙂
Same age, same year, but at Funarama in the westland mall, Hialeah. The time and money i spent there 😆😆
Reporter of this segment, Josh Littman, died in 1987 at age 35 of leukemia.
He turned the camera's on himself, relentlessly recording the rollercoaster swings of hope and despair, remission and final decline for his documentary "Castles in the Sand".
Sucks.
tart green Tragic :(
Can barely find anything on this online except decades old reports.
Is it here on RUclips?
I pressed F for my respects.
Back when graphics were "details" and an isometric perspective was considered 3D
Yup, pretty much
haha yeah. and game levels were called "boards." that's what me and my brother called them. was that common usage? "No, I haven't gotten to the dungeon board yet."
@@westingtyler1 yes lots of people called levels boards back then even in the 90s I remember plenty of us callings stages boards.
5:12 Yes, everyone remembers where they were when they played their first Toasters and Chainsaws game, it swept the world by stom and put Pac Man and Donkey Kong out of business ...
Way before my time but I would have loved to see arcade games when they were popular. I feel like I missed out.
Ah. Good old Toasters and Chainsaws lol
1978 - 1984 best years ever
Starting with home play Atari 2600, to Asteroids and then full arcades in 1980-84 with some of the coolest games ever. What a time!
I miss these times. I wish I could go back in time. You kids today have no idea how hard we had to work to have good graphics and sounds.
U old heads are blinded by Nostalgia tinted glasses
Not everything was better back then too
Little did we realize that 40 years later, the type of video games and the gaming culture we will have with the explosion of computers and computing power. Can you imagine the type of video games we will have in the next 40 years?
I hope that I live long enough to see that.
Looking at the travesty of mobile gaming, I fear that addictive gambling mechanics and microtransactions will be even more prevalent. I'm glad for indie games keeping the quality there, though. While the big publishers keep finding ways to get players to shell out more money, the indie devs work hard to deliver real art.
Nostalgia is becoming one of my biggest hobbies, like watching these clips more than current television.
I must have missed a year of school playing video games!!!! Thank you Donkey Kong, pacman, defender and many more. Best times.
There was always something magic for a young boy going to the arcade, the sounds and the atmosphere was great. Meet up with friends and watch and play, things have moved on, now alot is online rather than face to face which is a bit of a shame.
Then Pac Man came along and girls started showing up everywhere.
wait, how did that guy pronounce "Galaga" again?
I lol'ed at that. :)
dmjsra04 ga-LAH-ga haha. I thought the same thing 😂
02:20
I caught that too
Gah-la-gah lmao
I think I'm obsessed by the 80's
You and me both man!
Came here from Hi-Score by Botnit. I love the 80’s and 90’s eras they hold a special place in my heart I grew up with that 80’s tv sound and the nostalgia I get from watching old media like this really invigorates me.
I was born in 1986 and I truly miss the arcade that was at my mall and bowling alley. My favorite game from before I was born is Space Invaders.
I enjoyed this five-part news piece. It's always cool to see news coverage of the arcade craze of the late 1970s/early 1980s, especially when the reporters show respect for video games and don't condescend to those who enjoy playing video games. Well-done!
Off-topic, but Tawny Little is incredibly gorgeous here.
I was thinking the same thing about Tawny
I love it!! I remember the kids of the early 1980s, damn, so many playing at the arcades, so many!! I was just becoming a teenager.
I’m really thinking of setting up my ColecoVision and start playing..Got about 25 games, original controls and in great working order. Yeah, I’m ready to play some Burger Time and Zaxxon.🤘
It was the same in Australia. The Arcades were my favorite place to be.
Same I loved Timezone
9:02 love the comb in the back pocket! Classic early 80s!
Thank you so much for sharing, I remember watching this when I was 12 in Newhall, Ca...kinda mindblowing to see it again!!
This was almost before me. I was 3 in 1982, too young to play in the arcades. I didn't get my first console until 1988 with the NES, but IIRC I did play a few arcade cabinets in the mid-80s when my parents took me to some pizza joints. Those early years are kind of a blur, but I'll never forget slapping Super Mario Bros. into my NES for the first time.
I'm glad they've recognised the importance of sound in video games even back then
Not to mention, GRAPHICS!!
the good old days, I miss the arcades. :-(
Funny that in 1982 they thought that pinball machines were a thing of the past, being replaced by video games. Now, in 2023, if there is an arcade the video games are long gone but the pinball machines are still there.
Remember what E.B. White said about libraries? That's how I felt about arcades. I miss them.
Video games? It'll never catch on
I was 4 years old during this time and would bum change from my parents to play at the arcade. I had to stand on something to see the screen. My favorite was Pole Position. I still have my Atari I got for x-mas 1982. This brings back fond childhood memories.
Pole Position is my Favorite Namco Arcade Game I also love Galaga. I got the Arcade 1UP of Galaga Christmas of 2019 and I play it all the time. I've been playing it ever since I got it for Christmas almost 2 Years Ago.
I was in middle school during the early 80's. These video games where everywhere! You could play them at convenience stores, bars, gas stations and grocery stores. As a kid growing up in school we talked about our high scores. Arcades popped up everywhere too at all the strip malls. That is where you started having issues. These were places to go to get drugs. I believe this started the decline of arcades along with Nintendo's coming out later in the 80's.
1. John Morgan of "Zoo Keeper" fame in 2001 appears to remember that day's interview:
In 1982, Keith Egging was the Director of Creativity (or some weird title like that). He always had a human skull on his desk which opened up on a hinge and was filled with Hershey's kisses. One day a TV news crew came over to do some interview, and Keith showed them around. He took them back into our area and really played it up (feed them some pretty thick bull which they really ate it up). He took them to the farthest office of cubicles and said that this was DEEP THOUGHT - where all the heaviest thinking took place. Of course this was just made up (the office being picked for it's distance only), but hey, they bought it. The main programmers (me, Mark Blazczyk and Rex Battenberg) took off on this and other of Keith's tall tales and frequently made up whoppers about everything under the sun to one up each other with our far fetched stories. Pretty cool for those days.
2. According to Mark Blaszczyk, the real reason for the fake marquee is as follows:
It is correct that Toasters & Chainsaws was never a real game. It certainly was never tested. All it was was a marquee. Keith Egging came up with the name to try to trigger our creativity to come up with some new game concepts.
"Will this popularity last?" Well, 36 years later, here they are, being one of the most popular and lucrative way of entertainment in the world.
Arcades though? Even while they have had sort of a resurgence they really aren't the major thing they used to be.
A lot of things came out in the early 80's. Arcades, mtv, pop music etc. It was a time of discovery.
In the 90s I only got to experience the old 80s machines in old run down arcades and the odd abandoned machine in a hotel lobby. Best thing about them was the prices hadn't been adjusted for inflation, so you could get a few credits for dirt cheap. Respect for arcades bringing video games to the masses and opening the way for the incredible 3D graphic we got in the 90s and home consoles becoming powerful.
Ooooh... Sweet memories... I was there... The magic was real... The smell of warm wood and circuit boards... The sounds of 100 machines all playing at once... The excitement of having coins in your pocket... Then the emptiness of having none left.
And then came 1983 and Atari's E.T. game being dumped in a landfill...
I was 10 years old in 1982 loved play arcade games still play them now all the classics
I miss these old school retro arcade video games. At least there is MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator).
1981 was such a great time to hang out in the arcades. I miss those days.
Also Toasters and Chainsaws. The arcade game that never was.
@@HeIsTheBluesCat it was retitled "cowboys and Indians" or something to that effect, and that concept was later stolen to make an adult stand-up x-rated version of the video game showing frontal nudity.
Pac Man "A year and seven months" it's 2022 it's still a hit...
I remember these games at the local corner store. There would be a line to play. Good times
I remember those news anchors in ‘82. Grew up in Orange County. We must be the same age. Lost pretty much all of my vhs tapes though :)
"...And George Foreman, Intercourse Master, Lego Island, Asshole Massacre..and in Rhode Island I rode a hamster to an eggplant factory."
I should consider trying to lay off the drugs.
The glory days of arcades. They were everywhere you went. I certainly do miss that. Now with the internet and more powerful games consoles we're confined to home. It's a win lose situation.
Guys wanna go play GULLAGA
lol I caught that too
Alex Hollst Where's that mentioned in the clip?
Is it anything like Galaga? That's one of my favourties!
Will Scarlett 2:20
I’m thankful for whoever recorded this I remember the fun times I had
I’m glad I was part of the last generation to experience this born in 1985 definitely grew up in the last greatest generations I remember going to the arcades so much fun memories back in the day
I remember playing pinball machines when it was all the rage. Then came video games, and then video arcades. Those were fun times playing games in arcades :)
I have most of these old games on CD and play them on PC sometimes. Although it's not nearly the same experience as the *real thing*, it's as close as one can get to going back to those fun times :)
The 80's was THE single best decade of my life. I sure miss it . . .
greenrefrigerator agreed i miss the 80s
greenrefrigerator u sell cd of 80s games? Cost? Ericengesser2018@gmail.com
"Toasters and Chainsaws" was just a name they gave to cover up the game actually being worked on, which was most likely Elevator Action. Most other Taito games released in 82-83 were direct imports from Japan that just had to be nationalized.
elevator action rules!
@@kach069 Amen to that, brother
What was the game after that where you control a train?
@@troywright359 Euro Train Simulator?
@@marceloaranibar8802 at 5:17
I have recently become obsessed with retro video games, and when I play them, it's like I'm traveling in a time machine. Anyone who reads this should try playing a retro game, even like Adventure in Serenia online. If you want, you can even get a vintage console on eBay. Try it, you won't be disappointed!
Terrific report. Sad about the reporter, Josh Littman. He died of leukemia some years ago. But not before making a documentary about it called Castles in the Sand. I'd like to watch it someday.
I love the Tron parts. Tron was one of the best best movies of the 1980s. I didn't feel like watching it, not because I didn't like it, I love it, and that I felt there was much much much more to the movie than the average time of a typical cinema film.
Same here! For some reason, I didnt have a urge to watch it although I really loved the tech and concept of the movie.
@@AnthonyEvelyn YES! I really love Tron's visuals.
It's annoying that the segments are cut off. I get why it happened from the description, but man, makes me wish we had a more complete recording available somewhere. Glad to have this rather than nothing, though. I was only a year old in 1982 and actually didn't, as far as remember, spend much time in any arcades. I just played on the Atari 2600 and then the NES and SNES, whether at my house or a friend's, during my childhood. Never really lived in a good area to visit an arcade during those years, having lived in the country and then in a very small town during those years. I had rentals instead of arcades in those latter years.
Man. The game industry has changed an awful lot since this report. I started playing a few years after this with the Nes and Master System. I was completely enamored with the arcade experience especially considering the types of ganes we got back in the late 1980's. "Just like the arcades" became words that burned into my head like a laser. I hated getting home with a game expecting an experience that never truly matched up. Yes, I played many types of games and really enjoyed the longer games just beginning to hit. I was a pretty casual player until one fateful day in 1989...when I got my hands on a Sega Genesis. That machine turned me into a gamer for life. I remember the resurgence of the arcade with Street Fighter and SNK. Oh how I wanted a Neo Geo AES but it was not to be until many years later.
Today in 2020, I'm 39 and my home is one giant playpen for gamers. My fiancee is a diehard gamer like me and we don't do things small here. We have in our master bedroom two of every console including the enhanced machines connected to two 4K UHD's screens. We have a full retro gaming room with everything from the Atari 7800 through the Xbox One and PS4. Yes, when the new machines hit we will geg two of each as we hate having to share. Finally, we have a full sized arcade complete with stand up coin-op cabs in our living room (all 1990's games).
you are an inspiration! I want my own home arcade also with dedicated cabinets. I would be the only one playing them so that's what's holding me back for the most part.
@@Drizzt_Do_Entreri
Thank you! Well it's 2022 and we're still gaming like crazy! I hope you do decide to build your arcade and maybe sharing your love of gaming might entice others to join you. ;)
when video games were thought of as fads
ProzAtor No wonder they still hate video games since it beats competition with tv, their boring shows and their fake news.
haha yeah. the video game industry profits STOMP the movie industry. ESPECIALLY now during covid, but even before.
Plus it alot cheaper to use TV for gaming purposes, than to actually paying cable bill every month
Just like VR is now? In some ways I’m excited to see how it is in 10 years but in other ways I’m dreading it. Video games used to be an escape from reality, a luxury just like VR is now. Now video games are almost something people expect. It’s not something you would just do on the weekend.
Arcades were a fad. The games kept increasing in quality, but the widespread craze they were talking about here didn't last long: this "golden age" lasted a measly 5 years, give or take, and, even though so many people played them, it failed to leave a lasting impression for most of them. It was Japanese consoles and 8-bit computers that fostered a life-long interest in video games in a new generation. The young adults and children of the late 70s became the clueless parents of the kids growing up with videogames in the 90s.
I enjoyed the games in that era, but can also related to the injuries as well. In my case, the injuries were blisters from the way I held the joysticks. The games that gave me the worst blisters were Robotron and Galaga.
Oh why couldn’t i have been a teen in the 80’s😭
The Valley Lalley company is the same one who gave us Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Jizz Sac-Man, Space Invaders, Jizz Defender and Ass Invaders.
Loved being a kid in the early 80s with the sights and sounds of arcades. My dad never gave me more than $1 to play, though, so I always sucked at games. lol
Yup that was the greatest time in my youth in SF California arcade rooms from 1981-87
WOW I remember playing video games pac man donkey Kong, Super Mario Brothers, Castleviana, I miss the 80s so much back then everyone hung out a the video game place in some various malls. It was fun back then now everything is shit now .
As someone born in 1999, I feel like I've missed out on such a cool and exciting cultural phenomenon. Video games nowadays just aren't the same as arcades.
Cool thing I remember as a kid in the 80's was every random store had 1-3 arcades at the exit locations, it was a joy when my parents would let me wait by the exit to play games while they shopped, sometimes kids hogged the machine but even then they respectfully let someone else play. Kids would have to be dragged away as their guardian was ready to leave.
RIP John Littman
Seattle had video games everywhere.. Seattle center had a giant building full of games . God father's pizza at the end of the block. The burger place zestos 3 blocks away. Sunset bowl 8 blocks aways... And pizza and pipes they had great prices and good pizza games and a man would play the giant organ and play old fashion comedy movies. 1980s
Wouldn’t you love to have a deep dish pie from Godfathers back then ? The shit places serve now isn’t worth eating.
@@deborahchesser7375 the quality of the restaurants and family restaurants were gone. They had the all you can eat pizza and salad and video games .. the family can enjoy together...
I am sure Toasters and Chainsaws became an instant classic
I had forgotten that “The Dude” played in Tron.
I was 8 yrs old in 82 . The arcades can be fun but I remember the older adults can be mean to you if we’re a little kid cutting in front of you lol 😂
If this was "Super Galaga", I could stay all 256 levels for as long as 140 minutes.
In "Space Invader", I can go 25 minutes and quit after 9,990 points. I decided to concede when I get there.
"Your tongue hungers for a kill." haha
I like how they have the ninja turtles arcade game on the cowabunga collection. That was one of my favourites
I'll be surprised if video games stand the test of time. By 1986 i think we will only recall video games as a passing fad. Like jumbo shoelaces and Rubiks Cube. Mark my words.
Damn dude you were close. It’s 1984 now and I can’t find an arcade anywhere
The derp guy says "I coulda done that for longer, just I lost all my ships"
UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
U lost the ships cause u not good enough hahahahaha
7:40 That section makes me laugh because I have been playing video game since 79 and I have no physical problems related to playing video games 😂
I was 67 in 1982 and when the videogame craze hit the scene I sold my surfboard and hit the arcade!
So, you are a 108 years old?
If I only knew just how much money I spent at the many arcades I haunted in my youth. Good times. 🕹️
1982, 10 years before I was even born, and videogames were already very popular
I missed the GameCube and gba Xbox ps2 era I started playing games around ds wii Xbox 360 ps3 era I wish I started gba era.
It went under between 83-84 then NES came in and revitalize the industry
@@doburu4835 only for home consoles in America, it didn’t crash in the majority of the world. And are arcades were still popular at the time.
@@southsidesaiyan8641 the US market was the biggest Video Game Market back then doe, so it's a pretty big deal.
… Once upon a time there was a tavern
Where we used to raise a glass or two
Remember how we laughed away the hours
Think of all the great things we would do?
… Those were the days, my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way
La-la-la-da-da-da
La-la-la-da-da-da
Da-da-da-da, la-da-da-da-da
🎶 😊🎶
In the mall I used to love going to the arcade to play video games. We don't have them no more. Some of them disappear
Tawny was Miss America 1976? Neat!
Stinks that some of the reports are cut off before jumping to the next one!
I was 20 in 82, the Arcades Rocked! They had dim lighting and I never, Ever saw people fighting in an Arcade. (I am sure many fight happened in some arcades, not the ones i was in),. Arcades where awesome back then!!!! You go there, spend some quarters and if you were as good as me, you had the high score!!
Before there was “gamer thumb” there was Pac-man wrist?! This was a neat look at an era before my time, thanks
"these games will never amount to anything..." - your dad, back in the early 80s
"If you're filling your time capsule these days..."
Indeed, we just opened it! Holy crap! 😲
I started in 1978 when I was 9 years old. Lived in thise places until around 1994 when they really died. I was already married by then and getting tons of stuffed animals out of crane games 😀
I disagree that they died in '94. Fighting games were huge then, and the graphics on the home system couldn't quite compare. I really noticed the arcade starting to die around 97' or so (when graphics began matching arcade quality). Also, once online play took off, people started staying home. I had to lol at the crane comment.. :) My dad used to love those, and all the young kids standing around would end up with a stuffed animal.
My 2 friends and I were Mortal Kombat (both 1,2 and 3) champions in our hometown. The arcades were FULL up until about 97 or so. People were playing MK, Killer Instinct, Street Fighter, and Daytona Racing. All of those games allowed multiplayer competition, and it was a big deal at Tel Twelve Mall and Space Station arcade, my two spots to play in the 90s. There were 2 MK 2 machines right next to each other and my 2 friends and I would tag team in a rotation taking on a constant opponents, most of whom were easily 10 years or more older than us. What was our highest score, you ask? Well, on a Saturday sometime in the mid 90s, we won 94 games in a row off of 1 quarter. That's 94 different battles against a lot of different people. It was the highlight of our gaming childhood and we still talk about it today. Gotta love childhood!
kool memory man. Those were truly the days of fun and friends.
I miss playing the 4-player co-op beat-em-ups like TMNT or The Simpsons with my friends. Nothing was better than a Saturday at the mall with my buddies...cute girls, arcade games, music stores, and good friends. I feel lucky that I grew up in the late 80’s/early 90’s, before Facebook and Twitch and Fortnite, before school shootings and culture wars and identity politics and cyber bullies.
Remembering in the end of the 80's when arcades were shutting down en masse and convenience stores were taking the games out. I _had to_ travel by bicycle quite a few miles to a bowling alley to play some third rate video games they had left. Burgertime was the one I plunked my quarters into, lol!
Mark, that's incredible! Taito (by far) was/is still my favorite arcade manufacturer of all time! I used to live in Arlington Heights for a couple of years, a little north of your operations.
What became of "Toasters"? Looks like they showed a screen shot of Wild Western along w/ it - same game?
Would love to hear some more Taito stories from you!:)
When you walk into an arcade, don't forget a bit of Froorf or Mouse Trouse or Frog Trap or Chand Grampion or Grand Dad or Grogger or Mouse Crap or Grogger or Chad Grandpa or Frog-Man or Mouse-Man or Man-Man or Hand In Ass Champion or Outhouse Poop Trap or Pog Champ.
the world didnt expect that Mario Bros 1 on NES was coming... still didnt exist wow !
I bought my first 1up Arcade machine and I am hooked. Playing these 1up cabinets really brings back memories and the feel of a bygone era. I miss the 80's so much.
Barfcade 1Ups suck. Get a real machine not a toy
@@randalgelking7329 Why are you telling someone to scrap something they love and are thankful for?
I loved playing vedio games when I was younger
Oh man this is a piece of history. This is the childhood for millions out there!
Not for me though, i grew up with the N64
2:36 Journalist mispronounces the hell out of Galaga...comes out like, “Goolaga”.😂
Goolagas my favourite 🤣
..every Friday after school maybe 9/10 years old crystal city in Wellington city New Zealand ..double dragon was my game !!
If this arcade was still here I wouldn’t be going to it ever again I’m thankful I never did what these people did put thousands of quarters inside the games I would just go and look the game I loved playing was Pac-Man then years later I bought arcade machines to save my quarters then mame 32 was on PC which made my life so easy having over 1000 games to play the sad thing about these games they don’t save your score once the game is turned off but be aware these arcades do break if you don’t know how to repair them they will be broken forever At least o have a store that can fix mine I only bought the ones that were classic