Ah, the video arcade, a geek’s paradise back in the 1980s, and possibly even now, if you reside in Asia that is. These could be found in almost every shopping mall, and loaded with the latest arcade cabinets. In some cases, there were lines out the door to play popular games. Continue reading to see thirty-six more images that should provide plenty of nostalgia.
5 Interesting arcade facts:
- This game stands out as being the first to be designed by a woman: Centipede. Dona Bailey designed this game in 1980. This game can easily be converted to play “Millipede”, the follow up to “Centipede”.
- What is the name of the game where you battle tanks, missles and the occasional saucer by looking through a periscope and controlling two joysticks to maneuver and shoot? Battlezone. The “1812 Overture” plays in the background when you achieve a high score. The myth goes that there was a military version of this game that simulated the Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
- This game can be played with either one or two players simultaneously. The object is to shoot as many Burwors,Garwors and Thorwors as you can. Plus the occasional Worluk and Wizard. What is the name of this game? Wizard of Wor. One of the bugs with this game was that if you turned the off and then on real quick, you could get almost an endless supply of players. This game was also one of the first to have the option of two players playing at the same time.
- Which game was another laserdisc game created by Don Bluth, following hot on the heels of the hugely successful “Dragon’s Lair”? Space Ace. Don Bluth used to be an animator for Disney but left to form his own animation company in the early 1980s. Like “Dragon’s Lair”, the animation staff once again provided their own voices for their own characters, in order to keep the costs down. It included Don Bluth himself who did the voice of Commander Borf (synthesized). The scantily-clad heroine Kimberly was named after one of the people of the animation staff whose name was Kimberly Coy.
- What was the sequel to “Tron”? Discs of Tron. The game that became “Discs Of Tron” was supposed to be included in “Tron”, but the programming was not completed in time. This game also featured an enclosed cabinet where the player would enter and stand on a disc. When the player died, sounds and lights would flash all around the player.
