Video Arcade "Addiction": When Pac-Man was King - CBS Evening News - January 29, 1982

"Every younger generation has to have something to scare adults." In the early 1980s, video games and "Pac-Man Fever" were it. Terry Drinkwater reports.

[@mbcoll8154]

I miss the bustling arcade energy.

[@billybobs1705]

it would be like bringing old wrestling back..

[@fadercreek]

​@@billybobs1705its coming back little by little

[@manchesterexplorer8519]

So do the owners as Arcades were literal gold mines .

[@billybobs1705]

@@fadercreek 🤣 no chance

[@blackquiver]

The arcades were great place for socializing for kids and yeah families

[@cthulhukid6665]

"Alot of skill, eye hand coordination, it's cheap and legal." The wisest words ever spoken

[@baggierols73]

Clever kid for sure lol

[@retrocysper3709]

That kid is a Pro Gamer.

[@superdupermcgee]

These kids all seemed very honest about themselves and fairly smart. I wonder if all of them are still gaming!

[@Ehecatl-A2083]

@@superdupermcgee Maybe

[@tynao2029]

@@superdupermcgee kids were different back then. Most were honest and pretty well spoken, unless they had major issues at home

[@Milennin]

I didn't even experience the 80's, and I'm still nostalgic for it.

[@amgm1996]

Gen x had one of the coolest childhood eras

[@TempeSoldier123]

I'm Gen X and it was the coolest. The 80's was great to be a kid. The funny thing is even when I was a kid, I knew I was living in a special time.

[@Christy.1]

It sure was! We got kind of the best of both worlds when you think about it. We got to experience the before/after effects of a lot of stuff. So we also know how to handle a lot of situations for that very reason. I remember life before microwaves were a standard. Boiling water for my Cream of Wheat on the stove when I was 5, after coming home from school by myself to an empty house(latch-key kid). Waiting for mom's "singal" phone call-on the wall phone, ring once(don't answer), hang up and she'd call back then I could answer. No cable tv, no computers, no remote control for tv, etc. etc. Now I look around and no matter where I am, everyone has got their face glued to their phones. No social or interpersonal skills. It's really sad and society has really dumbed down from the basics.

[@Silverlining-gm8fd]

Yes indeed and I'm proud of it! Oh and still gaming today ;)

[@Silverlining-gm8fd]

@@Christy.1 Correct! We had to survive as well and do things ourselves, no matter we learned the easy or hard way! What a time to be alive! Fun times indeed!

[@Ljordan093]

Yes Lord, we did.

[@joemartin1253]

Little did they know these games would one day become all time classics.

[@retrocysper3709]

Yeah.

[@bilelsmith6333]

Yes true 👍🤣

[@wisemonkey9858]

Everyone knows time moves forward & the cycle of “new becomes old” history teaches that. Maybe young people aren’t as aware or exposed to this than older people are.

[@AIC5150]

And that the addiction was real and only further developed, for better or worse.

[@epicon6]

I already knew in 1988 that 1982 games were going to be all time classics when i saw how fast games were developing and the older, simpler games were just as enjoyable as the newer ones

[@peterbaini8752]

To think ppl have always been worried about what video games can do to kids, yet its probably the most wholesome fun i ever had. Being in an arcade with friends having a blast. Its kind of sad how that interactivity is gone now.

[@smadaf]

I've enjoyed some games (mostly those from the '80s-Mario and some puzzle games), but never had the craze. My younger brother was and is much more into games. I remember that in the mid '90s his friends would come over and they'd all sit in his room (or go to an arcade) and stare at the screen while pushing buttons really fast. Pretty much all they said during these long hours was stuff like "Get him!", "Over there!", and "Dang it!" I was sixteen and they were about thirteen, and I thought it was a poor imitation of 'socializing'. My friends and I _talked_ about stuff, _made_ stuff, _explored_ places (real places), speculated aloud about the past and the present and the future-and the videogame kids sat on their butts, staring at screens, and said "Get him", for hours, until it was time to go home. Would I like it if I could sit down and play some Dr. Mario right now? Sure. It's been more than ten years since I last got to, and sometimes it's nice to think through an unrelated problem while playing the game. But it's never been the peak of my social life. Most of my friends spend no time on videogames. Of those, some used to play, years ago. Most of the former players, and the ones who do play, when they get honest about it, say that they use(d) it to distract themselves from some kind of emotional pain, and that the cause of the pain never really goes away because the game doesn't really address the cause-that it's a way to "kill" time (that precious, finite resource) until they can finally get to do what they _really_ want to do. (But when will that time come, if they keep failing to seize the day?) I don't buy the notion that games create such a risk of violence that we have to regulate them and ban them and whatnot. But it is true that one of my acquaintances lost custody of his first and only child because, when she wouldn't stop crying while he was playing a video game (when he'd already been awake 48 hours), he shook her and damaged her brain. He's doing better now, and so is she. It's also true that, after he got out of prison, he went back to gaming. He's in his late thirties and talks to me about Pokémon as if it were the most important thing. He seems not to have a clue that I couldn't care less about Pokémon, and at the same time _I_ don't see how it can matter so much to him. Two different worlds.

[@ADreamingTraveler]

The real life social aspect is definitely special and unique but so are the online interactions and friendships you can form online playing with friends. And what's so great about that is you're not limited to your small little town that barely had anyone living in it. You have the entire world and multiple countries of people to meet and establish potentially lifelong amazing relationships with.

[@vintagethrifter2114]

As long as the quarters held out.

[@peterbaini8752]

@@smadaf your reply gives me depression. I grew up going to the local shopping centre where there was a massive arcade movies etc. I'd go there in the 90s and play against people on machines like Soccer, Streetfighter, etc. If you were good, your dollar coin could keep you on the machine for a while until someone came and challenged you. Daytona was a lot of fun too. Point is that it was a good to get out and meet people and see girls floating around too. That whole s ene feels dead now. Hanging around arcades and cinemas which was the place to be in the 90s. Now it's become download this and play online that. Although some of the best fun too was going to a mates place and playing MK or Wrestling games with winner stays on amongst 5-6 ppl. Don't get me wrong we still rode bikes, had adventures etc but I always remember the excitement of the SNES days and Arcade battles.

[@MiguelBaptista1981]

Wholesome has become the most recent abused word. Dude, just look up cyber cafe culture in japan to know what too much gaming can do to you.

[@starshipcaptain4753]

Being age 10-13 in 1980-83 Summertime Best time of my life! Empire Strikes Back, Raiders, ET, Jedi, Slurpee, Pizza, burgers, basketball and my favorite local arcade hangout with friends.

[@Spookje09]

I also relate to your post!

[@nicolacasali8304]

ditto

[@bb-gc2tx]

dont forget all the great music journey, billy squier and van halen

[@blackquiver]

100% agree with you. Social hangouts were the best place .. now you get stabbed or shot the social hangout because they're not a social hangout. They're not a liberal place to hang out. There are menace of leftism

[@jimmyboy131]

Yes!! I'm the same age and those days were amazing.

[@TempeSoldier123]

I was 9 years old when this aired...I'm 49 now. Those two young boys that were interviewed at the beginning are probably my age now. Wow, just wow.

[@WgXYTrouble]

Same here, what a magical time.

[@Christy.1]

I'm 49 too. Every single day it just kind of hits me and I"m thinking what the hell, where did the time go? I swear it really feels like yesterday I was riding my strawberry printed banana seat bicycle down the street.

[@christopherzdebski5259]

41 years old now! And younger fresher players getting the torch passed on to them from us veteran players certainly puts a Smile on me!

[@TempeSoldier123]

@@Christy.1 wow, soooooo true. This time was so simple and the crazy thing is at the time, I knew it was a magical time. I can clearly remember being a 10 year old in ‘82 wearing my Gremlins shirt and drinking my Pepsi with a pocket full of quarters walking to the arcade and feeling like “this is so cool right now”.

[@TempeSoldier123]

@@christopherzdebski5259 yes, we’re the vets now 😉

[@ClifHaley]

The psychologist who said "Every younger generation needs something to scare adults" is on point and probably a cool dude.

[@codecaine]

😂

[@kgoundan]

Very true, today it’s Tiktok

[@Desstrik]

Born 1970. My childhood&Teen years were AMAZING. Miss them TERRIBLY.

[@DavidDutkowski]

Same. I wouldn't change a thing.

[@danwilliams1920]

Me too. April 20, 1970.

[@rachael943]

My friend asked his laparoscopic surgeon how he is able to perform these tedious surgeries so well and he replied "Video games growing up"

[@blackquiver]

Goes the same with fighter pilots

[@SilentKnight43]

And when the patient dies he says, "Game over."

[@snichelsticks8653]

@@SilentKnight43 game over man game over !

[@RR-xg1cm]

Fighting Hall Monsters in Venture.

[@blackquiver]

@@SilentKnight43 hahahaaaa 😁😁

[@jjflash2611]

I’m GenX. Huge difference back then was that you actually left your House to meet your Friends, and each took turns playing. If you were skilled, maybe you played for 10 mins on a quarter. It was a very real, kinesthetic, socially interactive experience. And afterwards you and your friends grabbed pizza or a burger. Great times and experiences with friends. Today kids are completely disconnected from social connections, locked in their rooms in a virtual world, or heads down on their smart phones ignoring everyone and everything going on around them.

[@HerecomestheCalavera]

It isn't just kids. People in their 30 and even 40s now are addicted to their stupid phones and don't socialize. I used to consider myself not very social but nowadays compared to how most people are I'm a social butterfly! lol It is like people don't know how to talk to each other anymore unless it is through text message. And talking through text is nothing like talking in person. Back around 2016 or so there was this girl I liked and we messaged on Facebook all the time. Got along great and would talk to each other for hours. Then we met in person and it was super awkward.

[@VL1975]

exactly!

[@snichelsticks8653]

@@HerecomestheCalavera yeah I'm younger and an extrovert. its hard just trying to talk and do things with my friends if its not the school year

[@jackjohnson8244]

Sounds like today's kids had bad parenting.

[@HerecomestheCalavera]

@@snichelsticks8653 It gets even worse after school. Eventually everyone goes their separate ways and the people you were best friends with you now never see. Around here friends are easy to find....if you're into drugs. If you don't want to just get high all the time then it is hard to meet friends or girls.

[@fwef7445]

crazy to think those kids will at least be in their late 40s to 50s now, time flies

[@Cutter1888]

1982 - Video games are a menace! 2020 - Stay home and play video games!

[@LavaCreeperPeople]

for the boomers, it's the other way around

[@Cutter1888]

@@LavaCreeperPeople This is true.

[@LavaCreeperPeople]

@@Cutter1888 yes

[@lennybrewster4673]

@@LavaCreeperPeople boomers are in their 70 and 80s wondering what day it is

[@edstar83]

@@lennybrewster4673 Have some respect for older people you're not going to be a kid forever. You're going to be old one day too.

[@celinesenden4142]

I love the 80s

[@Devo13]

54 now and one of the greatest times of my life. Even everytime I watch KIller Party,that song always gets to me. They were literally the best times of our lives. I just want to go back and stay there.

[@Funco1979]

So do I.

[@TboneTenEighties]

Me too

[@thekeem7213]

90s ruled

[@kantusion5166]

​@@thekeem7213indeed. kcuF the overrated 80's

[@zenilton80]

I was there. Classic era!

[@christopherzdebski5259]

It amazing that a lot of these retro style arcades coming back are attracting young players who weren’t even born when these classics came out and they love em! For a 40 year old like me seeing this this puts a smile on my face, they’re following in our footsteps!

[@tom11zz884]

Good stuff never loses appeal

[@RetroMaster64]

Man, I’m only 17 and I like these huge classics! In fact almost every weekend I go to an arcade place near my house that has all of the classics!

[@daekey6109]

It’s funny because our parents bought us these games because they played these

[@tigerjonn]

Is it coming back..? Im not seeing it... lol

[@rockoorbe2002]

​@@tigerjonnthere's actually a massive market for retro games

[@1.618_Murphy]

As a millennial from the 90s, I was lucky to inherit some of it. World was much much simpler back then.

[@neonarcade3562]

I miss the 80's.

[@AngelofAnguish]

AMEN or LIKEWISE!

[@marce.6956]

They also said rock and roll was a menace, during the 50s. Every generation it's the same thing: If the kids like it, it's a menace

[@lennybrewster4673]

Is really just the media selling fear because that's all they know how to do to make money. Sell fear, get people to tune in, sell advertising. Funny enough they have the all time lowest ratings on record and rightfully so lol.

[@CalaTec]

I mean worrying is not a bad thing, specially because it's hard for parents to keep up with all things going on on younger people. I have no children and I'm 35, but I imagine nowadays that with social networks and online games, it has to be a challenge to be a parent.

[@sanseverything900]

My own parents are horrified that rap music is so hugely popular with kids nowadays. They honestly think it isn't real music and that it is brainwashing the youth into glorifying crime and hedonistic lifestyles. My parents remind me exactly of the 1950's parents with their distaste for rock and roll.

[@good1day726]

Were they wrong? Can’t imagine pleasant music but need to be emotionally provoked into an isolating experience? What happened? Where are the dances, or the skill required for that and playing instruments? Today none sing regularly, then most did, in groups, with friends, family. Once attired in pleasing attractive garments now degraded to t shirts. Make all the excuses but it won’t garner the respect bestowed once upon a time.

[@hanniffydinn6019]

@@sanseverything900 but modern rap music is rubbish !

[@jayonez137]

I remember ColecoVision and The first Atari. My first game was pitfall

[@kshinokevin]

Pitfall Harry

[@Christy.1]

I didn't know anyone that had Coleco. Few friends had Intellivision, most had Atari. My gma actually had Pong; was this brown box thing with two dial knobs on the box. Me and my brother just thought that was the coolest thing.

[@jayonez137]

@@Christy.1 Yup Gold/brass colored knobs?

[@Christy.1]

@@jayonez137 I don't remember the color, just it had little knobs to move the cursor up and down.

[@DylansPen]

Defender, Major Havoc, Dig Dug, Dragon's Lair, Cyberball, Heavy Barrel . . . Great days of the arcade and they were always packed, loud, jumping, and a great time.

[@TheMosinCrate]

Problems seemed so much simpler back then compared to today.

[@islandfocus2]

I loved the Atari games back then. I was 12 years old in 1982! Wish I can go back and re-live the 1980's!

[@Khaos969]

80s baby lived in the best era ever

[@AngelofAnguish]

AMEN or LIKEWISE!

[@MIKandJEAN]

A 12 year old in 1982 would be 52 going on 53 today! And that 52 year old me still plays video games to this very day ha! 😁

[@drake000666]

Crazy watching this today, the arcade was the most social thing any teen had ever, looking at teens today playing games at home alone makes me sad the times are gone.

[@Nightweaver1]

Wow, what an innocent time when all we had to worry about were arcades addicting our youth. At least they were socializing back then.

[@smadaf]

I have to wonder about that socializing. I've enjoyed some games (mostly those from the '80s-Mario and some puzzle games), but never had the craze. My younger brother was and is much more into games. I remember that in the mid '90s his friends would come over and they'd all sit in his room (or go to an arcade) and stare at the screen while pushing buttons really fast. Pretty much all they said during these long hours was stuff like "Get him!", "Over there!", and "Dang it!" I was sixteen and they were about thirteen, and I thought it was a poor imitation of 'socializing'. My friends and I _talked_ about stuff, _made_ stuff, _explored_ places (real places), speculated aloud about the past and the present and the future-and the videogame kids sat on their butts, staring at screens, and said "Get him", for hours, until it was time to go home. Would I like it if I could sit down and play some Dr. Mario right now? Sure. It's been more than ten years since I last got to, and sometimes it's nice to think through an unrelated problem while playing the game. But it's never been the peak of my social life. Most of my friends spend no time on videogames. Of those, some used to play, years ago. Most of the former players, and the ones who do play, when they get honest about it, say that they use(d) it to distract themselves from some kind of emotional pain, and that the cause of the pain never really goes away because the game doesn't really address the cause-that it's a way to "kill" time (that precious, finite resource) until they can finally get to do what they _really_ want to do. (But when will that time come, if they keep failing to seize the day?) I don't buy the notion that games create such a risk of violence that we have to regulate them and ban them and whatnot. But it is true that one of my acquaintances lost custody of his first and only child because, when she wouldn't stop crying while he was playing a video game (when he'd already been awake 48 hours), he shook her and damaged her brain. He's doing better now, and so is she. It's also true that, after he got out of prison, he went back to gaming. He's in his late thirties and talks to me about Pokémon as if it were the most important thing. He seems not to have a clue that I couldn't care less about Pokémon, and at the same time _I_ don't see how it can matter so much to him. Two different worlds.

[@chamboyette853]

@@smadaf Att least your little brother and his friends probably socialized more than most kids do today.

[@TexasNewsOwL]

Plenty of drugs and gambling in the local arcades and poolhalls.

[@professionalsalonproducts3116]

I find it hilarious that psychologists back then were worried about gaming at an arcade with your friends next to you. They had no idea 30 years later the kind of destructive online games kids would be playing in their homes for 15 hours a day by themselves (Fortnite)

[@channelwhoa66]

Yo gotta remember that the media fearmongers as it gets the most views. If I am not mistaken, psychological journals were only JUST learning about the effects and couldn't make real conclusions. Once they were, it wasn't so bad. So the media only interviews the few tha make it sound worse and use terms that leave it open to backing out, while laymem interpretsit as assertions such as "psychologists fear" rather than "psychological research has found"

[@yorksuersch1124]

Humble beginnings

[@d.vaughn8990]

Spot on! The early arcade games, and arcade environment, generally fostered interaction among kids. Kids went to the arcade to hang out! It was awesome!

[@VL1975]

Try 40 years..

[@ADreamingTraveler]

If your kid is playing Fortnite for 15 hours a day then you're a bad parent.

[@wingedhussar5528]

I was 3 when this came out. First time at a arcade I was 5 years old, damn time flies.

[@roleplayingpain4349]

1982 was the best time to be 3. I was 3 then too

[@marky3609]

How old are you now?

[@roleplayingpain4349]

@@marky3609 44

[@Microbex]

I had a blast in the days of arcade. Such a fun time.

[@middleclassic]

Jan 29, 1982. I had just turned 19 and much preferred going to Punk and New Wave shows in Los Angeles by that time. But I still loved going to arcades. Tempest and Battlezone were my games. But it’s funny to look back at what current trends freaked people out at the time. Now it’s all nostalgia for those days and hoping you have an unopened Nintendo video game squirreled away in its original packaging that could be worth thousands of dollars! Yeah, the ‘80s were pretty fun. I know I had a blast!

[@WolfA4]

I don't know if you've seen the channel "now in the 90s" that goes over games that released 30 years ago on consoles, but they always show the original MSRP and the current value of the game and a lot of the time the value of those old game carts is back to MSRP or above.

[@SevenDeMagnus]

Time flies so fast. God bless.

[@natalya_volochay]

This type of videos, about arcade games, must be protected and stored, by all costs

[@VictorX80_]

Pacman is still King

[@nyhcbd]

this sure takes me back... happy years 🙂

[@midwest1389]

I'm 51 I loved them days walking into a mall arcade just the sounds made you feel great..

[@BlaacHollow]

Those were the best days of my life as a kid and as a teenager

[@reklem2]

It's so much fun seeing how news coverage hasn't really changed about games in all this time. Even back then the worries of addiction existed

[@lennybrewster4673]

They still have to sell fear to make money, even today. In this sense it's to scare parents back then. Before this it was the dangers of pinball.

[@SaurianStudios1207]

Kids back then were addicted to technology as well, before social media and the internet, it was video games, movies, and TV.

[@retrocysper3709]

@@SaurianStudios1207 It's a form of entertainment, You Boomer. Might as well say Listening Music is an addiction.

[@SaurianStudios1207]

@@retrocysper3709 thanks, I’m a Gen Z by the way.

[@southsidesaiyan8641]

@@retrocysper3709 Way to completely misinterpret someone's comment. I swear people like you just get on youtube to look for arguments. And yes those are all addictions.

[@johnsmith1953x]

These arcade machines were also in stores both mom & pop stores (before walmart killed them all) and supermarket chains. Each store had 2-4 machines near the exit. Good times.

[@zerogrey3798]

Or the corner stores like Quik Trip, Get n Go, Circle K etc.

[@Ziki-P]

7-11 too, even into the 90’s, I remember playing street fighter 2 for the first time at a 7-11

[@nethandelwampa116]

Man oh man I remember arcades my dad would give me and my brothers 20 each and drop us off at an arcade for a few hours. Glad I got to grow up in that era

[@nataliegillmore7436]

Those were the good old days playing video arcade games such as space invaders, pac man, donkey Kong etc.

[@dj9one212]

Pac-man still goes crazy in the arcade after all these years, I remember back in 2016 at dave and buster's, me and one of my boys was on that for a while til closing, we was at level 30 something, we was hyped lol

[@mariepavlov9144]

The background music at the tail end of Terry Drinkwater's report on video game addiction on the CBS Evening News - January 29, 1982 was "Pac-Man Fever" by Buckner and Garcia. "Pac-Man Fever" peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 Music Chart on March 27, 1982, and was the #42 song on Billboard's 1982 Year-End chart that year.

[@bigguys45s29]

The “C” in the Columbia Records logo at the time EVEN LOOKED LIKE PAC MAN, as a matter of fact. What an odd coincidence. LOL

[@danyf3116]

Didn't like that song as much as the Space Invaders one. Space Invaders song was more upbeat and techno-ish.

[@typingcat]

Who in his ancestry thought "DrinkWater" would be a good family name?

[@davidtaylor328]

Now this is my Time , Era & my Life. THE 80'S Ruled & Forever Will. This Video is GOLD & ... I LOVE THE 80'S !!! 👍🏻🪙🪙🪙🪙🪙👍🏻

[@kenneth6731]

I remember these days well. There was an arcade next to our Piggly-Wiggly. The most popular game was Robotron. I remember the console had like 200 cigarette burns in it and the joystick and buttons were worn out as well!

[@ragtop63]

Bet they would have never predicted that playing video games would become a path to becoming a millionaire. I'm almost 50 and I still play video games on a almost a daily basis. It's what inspired me to become an engineer, which I am still doing to this day.

[@epcotman32]

I miss these type of video arcades, wish they still existed.

[@badgerattoadhall]

barcades are a thing.

[@chadb7252]

@@badgerattoadhall Not the same.

[@Mrd9960]

Does anyone know what the name of this old video game arcade show was? It was early to mid 80s, they aired it on Saturday afternoons where I lived, I can't remember too much about who was on it or anything, but it was just basically random kids playing against each other on arcade games, trying to get the highest score or something, I don't remember much about what the games were, just Dungeon and Dragons I think, anyone know? I've been trying to find this out for the longest longest time, but I don't remember what the name of the show was.

[@epcotman32]

@@Mrd9960 Starcade

[@NicholasNRG]

@@Mrd9960 Nick Arcade?

[@ronniedavis3713]

Oh my "God" this video take's me back to the 80's When MTV use to be the best thing on TV !!!! And we all lived in Arcades for hours !!! That was easier times !!!

[@billyb4790]

My childhood right here.

[@whispersmusic6173]

1:14 Oh how accurate this became today with everyone staring at their phones

[@yerk55]

It's cool to get to be part of the generation that witnessed video games go from blocks on a screen to photo-realistic graphics. Kids born into today's graphics probably can't appreciate them the same.

[@user-iu8ps1yo1w]

I was born in 2007 so yeah, can't really tell what was playing classical in an arcade, but I emulate them on my computer and I loved playing them, they're for sure better than any modern game.

[@OffTheRailGaming]

PS2 era was the best era for gaming, it ain't gonna get better than that.

[@OmegaMouse]

@@OffTheRailGaming Nope. SNES was the bomb.

[@Warcraze13]

My kids are in shock when I show them the games I grew up with. They dont know what it was like growing up without the internet either.

[@DrezKill]

@@OmegaMouse Yeah 4th-gen was the best one, the passion and artistry unmatched. I started gaming during 2nd-gen, 4th-gen is still my favorite one.

[@bluetarantulaproductions6179]

I miss the arcade. Space Invaders and Ms. Pac-Man are my favorites. If your thinking or dreaming about games or over thinking about patterns in games and how they could possibly interact with the real world (regardless of genre), that's not called addiction, that's known as "The Tetris Effect".

[@coloradostrong]

If _you're_ thinking. Not "your".

[@bluetarantulaproductions6179]

@coloradostrong Thank you Grammer police

[@Chasecka]

I live in Austin Tx and there is a place here called Pinballz and it is like stepping back in time to one of these arcades. It has the games sectioned from the late 70s all the way until now. Also a ton of pinball machines. It’s really fun. I was born in 86 so I find myself hanging out in the 90s section the most lol.

[@bluetarantulaproductions6179]

@Sergeant_Elephant_Priest Cool, I was born in '86 as well

[@EazzyBeezie]

Look how far we have come

[@generalawareness101]

When I was 17 and the world looked so much brighter.

[@Mik-xq2co]

Spent some of my best times at Arcades in the 1980s. We went with friends usually, so it was a social activity as well. Lucky I lived in Michigan and we would go find discarded beer or soda bottles/cans and return them for the 10-cents. This is how I funded my big-gulps, slurpees and video games. Great time to be a kid! However I never went around humming or singing Pac-Man Fever LOl

[@CowboyBebop444]

This was the era i remember. I had an Atari 2600 when i was 12 years old...i remember the coin operated video games...now i am 50 years old and telling these kids "i remember when...."

[@puppylove3781]

I remember when Cowboy Rocksteady was riding with Cowboy Bebop and Cowboy Shredder in 1990. The 2600 was fun, but alas the 7800 was better and backwards compatible with it.

[@KaizenB]

For a 50 year old, you got a dope name. Not sure if you have seen the anime "Cowboy Bebop" or if your name is based on it but you should check it out if not.

[@CowboyBebop444]

@KaizenB it's one of my favorite cartoons

[@EQOAnostalgia]

The first 12 seconds of this plays in one of the many intro's my Pi has in my Multicade lol. It's also been mixed into a bad ass synthwave song, also plays on the cabinet in attract mode. These were the days! When being into games wasn't mainstream.

[@morris4321]

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

[@theunknown4570]

Our local dairy queen in 82 in my small town. Had the new table top donkey Kong and Pac man. I literally spent 10 bucks a day in there for a whole summer. As I sit here holding my Xbox one controller. I think of many a Saturday morning. Being at he Dairy queen right as they opened. And on the machine all day.

[@AdamBorseti]

That's a cool memory. 🙂

[@bryansteele832]

You plopped $800 into that machine?

[@theunknown4570]

@@bryansteele832 Can you make a shoe smell?

[@blakemcnamara9105]

This is still a concern today although not just with games. The virtual world has created such an isolated society and this is where it all began.

[@NathanOZlegend]

i still play arcade games I'm almost 50

[@fyte4luv23]

i feel so fortunate to have this era as part of my childhood. neon lights, hair spray, acid wash jeans, mj's white gloves, madonna was smokin hot. 80s truly was the most fun generation for sure!

[@kantusion5166]

The 90's were better. Period

[@101iswhatsup]

I miss the arcade Era. It was ironically a lot more interactive.

[@KenMasters.]

Japan still does it, American on the other hand sits on their butts to do gaming nowadays.

[@southsidesaiyan8641]

@@KenMasters. I mean we still have places like Dave and Busters and Barcades.

[@KenMasters.]

@@southsidesaiyan8641 Really? I hope those two arcades aren't the family-friendly kind where they won't allow fighting games like how Chuck E. Cheese's would.

[@southsidesaiyan8641]

@@KenMasters. Well Barcades are bars that also have arcade machines. And Dave and Busters is like a more mature version of chuck E. Cheese that also serves alcohol. I'm sure it's still nothing like Japan, but it's still better than nothing.

[@spongebobdehydrated2483]

Social times

[@SaurianStudios1207]

Kids in the 80s: addicted to video games Kids in the 90s: addicted to movies/TV Kids in the 00s: addicted to music Kids in the 10s/20s: addicted to social media

[@wiishopchannel0175]

What will it be next?

[@sus6455]

@@wiishopchannel0175 2040: robots

[@Minty0091]

So True. The last one is the worst. Social Media is the Worst. Video Games, Movies, and Tv kick ass

[@skywishr1313]

@@Minty0091 Then you said the same shit when the metaverse becomes popular

[@atvpromos7011]

In the 2050s ww3 and alien invasion

[@bielaggs]

This was a really well put together segment

[@lemontadams3029]

I was there Silver Ball Arcade Berkeley California was my addiction

[@DrumWild]

Eventually, I could make one quarter last for a full hour and more on Pac-Man. However, it took many, many, many quarters to get to that level.

[@danyf3116]

Same thing with Dragon's Lair.... ☺

[@lavenderflowersfall280]

To be fair, if you would never encountered something like the arcade it would be concerning.

[@deepbluedream6623]

“…it’s the same as a roly-coaster…” -Professor Robert Gamble

[@DrumWild]

Video games do not lead to introversion. Rather, introversion leads to video games.

[@SHMUPS]

its both

[@dnbstreamer]

thank you socrates

[@overnightdelivery]

True. Introversion leads to Video Games when other people do not share the same interests as you. Video Games are just viewed more as an isolated activity, when it doesn't have to be. Movies are the same thing but they aren't viewed as 'Nerdy' by the Mainstream population.

[@RareSun]

2:44 "Every younger generation has to have something to scare adults" True, we 2010's kids have Talking Angela

[@baha3alshamari152]

Wait till 2040 when you have to deal with your kids 😅

[@Tony32]

Todays' kids: Mom, Dad, I want to cut off my penis.

[@commomcents]

They were hooked back then,imagine what the phones,laptops and Ipads are doing and imagine where we will be in another 20 years 🤯

[@richtygart6855]

They were 40 years off on devices causing extreme addiction and introversion. Cell phones, yes. Arcades, no. Arcades were social gathering areas. Even with my Atari at home I still preferred being out on my BMX bike with my friends. It's smartphones that have broken children today.

[@tom11zz884]

The dude @ 1:07 was killing those buttons...lol Try that on an Arcade1up machine of today and it would fall apart...lol

[@ShadowAngel-lt8nw]

Actually most arcade machines back then were horrible build quality and indeed would fall apart very easily. One of the most famous stories is the first Street Fighter and how cheaply made the punch sensitive buttons were, on average they only lasted a month.

[@Alpha_Omega_1541]

in 1982 if someone would have told me in 2022 i would be watching this news story on my phone I would have thought they were nuts.

[@AdmiralBison]

Predict in another 40 years (if many here are alive then) people will be watching this stuff in their heads with advanced brain and AI implants able to call up this any other media created throughout the 19th/20th century.

[@Poisonedblade]

"Every generation has something to scare the adults..." Wait 10 years until Gansta Rap hits the scene. Oakland looked a whole lot different.

[@Zhen-Lin-CHN]

2:27 2023... Damn, this young girl should be around 60 years old now.

[@gimoroemma]

Your comment preceded mine....

[@johnnada6855]

Watch the KID lightning a cigarrette in the back in the minute 0:54, that´s what the Arcades were all about hell YEAH !

[@krusher74]

yeah and drugs and getting fingered!

[@baha3alshamari152]

That's not a kid that's a 50 years old man

[@redbunnytail9528]

I had a friend, and he was different than the other kids. He had the best toys. He had thousands of comics, neatly sorted in clothing drawers. He was unapologetically into video games. I lived in a snobby college town. Nobody understood 'fantasy' like my friend. And he saw the video game future, as an 11 year old. He had a notebook, with the blueprints for some games that came out, 8 years later, like 'Doom.' Anyway. MMORPGS like 'World of Warcraft' bring parents and their grown up kids, together, living far away from one another. My friend's sister and her husband play warcraft with her mom. She's into RPGs. She was a recovering addict, really cool. She would finish graveyard shift at the hotel front desk. Meet up with her friends at Borders Books. Then go to her apartment, smoke cigarettes and play 'Tomb Raider.' If your parents were OK, with their kids playing video games, they were high level 'fantasy' people. People don't realize. Spiritual adepts know 'fantasy' to be up there with 'religion' and 'spirituality.' I remember H Clinton railing against 'Mortal Kombat.' There's hating video games. And. There's being horrible at video games and hating video games. You know? What you gonna do if you're outed by 'fantasy reality,' cuz you too 'real?' You know? Lose to Trump. What's realer than that?

[@farealwitit7947]

well fantasy has magic which is demonic

[@smash469]

I got to experience this in the Uk at a holiday park around the late 90s/ early 2000s, simpsons, pac man, everyone was in there crowded around to see who could get the best score, i know it was big in the 80s though

[@chamboyette853]

It is funny how the psychologists back then were so concerned about the destructive impact video games could have on kids on the grounds of the time spent before the screen. Whereas this is absolutely nothing compared to today. In fact if a kid today spent that little time in front of a screen playing video games he would be considered relatively healthy today.

[@sharikmarius]

Now imagine being able to carry a far more sophisticated version of this in your pockets at all times. No quarters needed. This story has aged well!

[@happycat0411]

I was really addicted to arcade games when I was in high school. The arcade was only a 5 minute walk away from home. Anyways going to the arcade was cheap and a fun way to spend weekends and after school. Those were the days before gaming consoles so at 25 cents for ten mutes of fun I suppose it was worth the entertainment back in the 1980s.....

[@christopherarnold6686]

We were so lucky to grow up in this era…. 45 now and I have Ms.Pac-Man on my iPhone now

[@caligulapontifex5759]

Jeez, this makes me feel old.

[@kbcoop3249]

I graduated HS in 1983 haha fun times. Spent lots of hours in the arcades 👍

[@nikcue2542]

Everything was a menace back then...Heavy Metal music (Specifically Motley Crue: Shout at the devil) and Ozzy, Skating (Christian Hosoi Hammerhead board✊), new wave music and they even had Christian channels saying that was evil. I remember my mom making me sit and watch those shows.

[@kevn99]

Just Fun at the Swansea Mall had all my faves. RIP.

[@AngriestAmerican]

This was when life was best!! I had so many social friends when I used to go to the local arcade!! Great times!!

[@smadaf]

Will you tell me more about the social aspect of going to an arcade back then? I'd like to understand it. My own experience was different. I've enjoyed some games (mostly those from the '80s-Mario and some puzzle games), but never had the craze. My younger brother was and is much more into games. I remember that in the mid '90s his friends would come over and they'd all sit in his room (or go to an arcade) and stare at the screen while pushing buttons really fast. Pretty much all they said during these long hours was stuff like "Get him!", "Over there!", and "Dang it!" I was sixteen and they were about thirteen, and I thought it was a poor imitation of 'socializing'. My friends and I _talked_ about stuff, _made_ stuff, _explored_ places (real places), speculated aloud about the past and the present and the future-and the videogame kids sat on their butts, staring at screens, and said "Get him", for hours, until it was time to go home. Would I like it if I could sit down and play some Dr. Mario right now? Sure. It's been more than ten years since I last got to, and sometimes it's nice to think through an unrelated problem while playing the game. But it's never been the peak of my social life. Most of my friends spend no time on videogames. Of those, some used to play, years ago. Most of the former players, and the ones who do play, when they get honest about it, say that they use(d) it to distract themselves from some kind of emotional pain, and that the cause of the pain never really goes away because the game doesn't really address the cause-that it's a way to "kill" time (that precious, finite resource) until they can finally get to do what they _really_ want to do. (But when will that time come, if they keep failing to seize the day?) I don't buy the notion that games create such a risk of violence that we have to regulate them and ban them and whatnot. But it is true that one of my acquaintances lost custody of his first and only child because, when she wouldn't stop crying while he was playing a video game (when he'd already been awake 48 hours), he shook her and damaged her brain. He's doing better now, and so is she. It's also true that, after he got out of prison, he went back to gaming. He's in his late thirties and talks to me about Pokémon as if it were the most important thing. He seems not to have a clue that I couldn't care less about Pokémon, and at the same time _I_ don't see how it can matter so much to him. Two different worlds.

[@keeper7keys2003]

Today's menace: Smartphones

[@Suhadisgood]

I own these arcade machines I don’t see myself addicted to them if that guy gets addicted he’s better off staying away these aren’t cigarettes

[@OldAussieAds]

My neighbourhood in Sydney Australia didn't have an arcade close by. But we had a corner shop with three games and they used to change them every few months or so. This was the meeting place of kids my age (predominantly male) every day after school. I met so many friends this way. I didn't realise it then, but in retrospect, this was like our version of Cheers. A place where everybody knew your name and you sure were glad you came.

[@rubiesofgold7698]

Everyone was so well spoken.

[@POSS99]

This is how japan got so wealthy in the 80's. Almost 90 percent of arcade games were developed & produced in japan

[@johnnyappleseed5029]

Not to mention their myriad other electronics and the world's most dependable cars.

[@southsidesaiyan8641]

True but American game companies like Midway would distribute alot of those games to the west.

[@mikicerise6250]

Japan had a lot more going for it in the 80s than just arcade games. 🤣

[@celinesenden4142]

43 anniversray of pac man

[@jamessager5358]

Arcades were the best, I played more than just about anyone who ever lived.

[@Khultan]

Oh, this was such a recreational pass time for young folks and then 30 years onwards look what young people are involved in.

[@MarkedMoneyTech]

Better to occupy oneself with activities like this than to loot, burn, and shoot each other.

[@zzzz8426]

Those kids are in their 50s now

[@danc1197]

I'm one of them, arcades were everywhere in the 80s. Casinos, indoor malls, movie theatres, strip malls and any where else you could fit one. Even the laundrymats and liquor store had rows of video games.

[@izukuhoney]

@@danc1197 if you don't mind me asking what was the 80s like because I would LOVE the live during that time. The 80s has always been something I've loved such as the music,fashion,movies etc. Was it really that fun?