There was a time when a pocket full
of change meant an amazing afternoon When entertainment was powered by pixels
and high scores created by local heroes This was the era of the arcade The golden age of videogames Our love of videogames began
with a little game named Pong and soon the overflowing cash boxes helped
pave the way for many icons of the industry Well they come as if from outer
space in a variety of weird guises, Defender, Pac-Man, Asteroids and Jumpman that plucky little plumber
who'd soon be famous by another name The years between 1978 and 83 are generally
considered the golden age of videogames It was the era of fluoro parachute
pants, Sony Walkmans and the birth of MTV when a Ferrari Testarossa was
the ultimate status symbol and the sound of synthesizers
flowed from every speaker Initially seedy bars and smoke-filled halls
housed the burgeoning videogames industry but pretty soon they needed a
true home of their own: the arcade The popularity of videogames meant that arcades
weren't just a place to check out the latest game They were the place where you'd
meet and hang out with your mates to take your date, or if your mum forced
you, your little brother or sister Yellow creature gobbles dots while
being pursued through maze by monsters In suburban Franklin Park
you'll find Midway Manufacturing feverishly turning out 350 Pac-Man games
every day in three different cabinet styles The pizza shaped protagonist of Pac-Man was
specifically designed to appeal to girls Oh my god Phoebe you're on fire!
I know! This changed the way that we viewed arcades No longer were they seedy
smoke-filled dens of iniquity They were a place for everyone
The golden age was a period of technical innovation
Driving games had steering wheels and pedals and even hydraulics that jolted
you around as you swerved or crashed on screen Vector graphics in games such as Tempest
and the classic Star Wars arcade cabinet wowed players with their crisp
lines and faux 3D art style Videogame manufacturers in the
1970s didn't have the luxury of butter smooth graphics or
giant quad core processors They were limited by the humble pixel Big blocky thing that could be seen
from the other side of the room When it came time to design typography and
lettering they had to think in terms of squares The result: an entire generation
of arcade fonts were born The most influential font
is called Atari Quiz Show and you've probably seen it thousands of times
usually in the form of "game over" Videogames fever has prompted
a number of businesses to try to cash in on that billion dollar craze
Book publishers and even movie producers are trying to make videogames pay off for them
As they became a part of popular culture videogames started appearing in movies
often when characters went to play in the arcades and by the 1980s they became central to the story typically in these films the otherwise
virtual activities within videogames became tied to real world stakes and consequences
and the development of players' game skills became connected to some type
of life or death conflict Arcades also appeared in a bunch of films at
the time such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High my name is Bond, James Bond The Karate Kid
and many more Outrun released by Sega in 1986 redefined racing
games and encapsulated the aesthetic of the 80s The game's soundtrack was one
of its most memorable features It blended 80s arcade synth with Latinesque beats and players could select tracks to race to creating a personal connection
between the player and the soundtrack Inspired by the game, French electro artist
Kavinsky named his debut album Outrun which also happens to feature a
Ferrari Testarossa on the cover Kavinsky is most known for his notable synth
pop sounds inspired by 80s arcade games His song Night Call was featured
in the Ryan Gosling vehicle Drive Director Nicolas Winding Refn is often
drawn to neon hyper-saturated visuals reminiscent of the vaporwave aesthetic The TV series Stranger Things heavily
incorporates synthpop into its audio soundscape It features the scene with Dragon's Lair, the 1983 arcade game most famous for its
graphics and eye-watering difficulty Another reimagining of the era can be seen
in the Black Mirror episode San Junipero The episode takes place in an ethereal
vaporwave interpretation of a golden era arcade We see the main character playing
games like Bubble Bobble and Pac-Man Whilst arcades reached a peak in the 90s the
exponential improvement in home videogame hardware has seen a virtual death of the arcade
at least in Western Society however places such as Akihabara in Tokyo continue
to show an ongoing fascination with the arcade with a whole city block
dedicated to capsule games, the brightest and shiniest new arcade technology While the golden age of the
arcade may have come and gone its impact and influence on videogames lives on
