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Generation In-Between: A Xennial Podcast
Xennial co-hosts Dani and Katie talk about their analog childhoods, digital adulthoods and everything in between. If you love 1980's and 1990's pop culture content, this is the podcast for you!
Generation In-Between: A Xennial Podcast
Arcade Nostalgia: Pinball, Quarters and High Scores
Do you remember needing just a pocket of quarters for a good time? Did the lights of a mall arcade instantly set your heart aflutter?
If your all-time crowning moment is still when you had the high score on the pizza place's Frogger game, you might be a Xennial. And we are too.
So come on back with us into the lights and sounds of arcades. You'll learn that there is more to the history than just what we remember from childhood.
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Pinball Pong Frogger, donkey Kong, pac-man, ms Pac-Man, Mortal Kombat Street Fighter.
Speaker 2:If you remember the excitement of a pocket full of quarters and an afternoon filled with high scores, you might be a Xennial and you might remember the joy and wonder of arcades. Hi everyone, I'm Dani and I'm Katie, and welcome to Generation In Between, a Zennial podcast, where we revisit, remember and sometimes relearn all kinds of things from our 80s childhoods and 90s teen young adulthoods.
Speaker 1:And today, everyone you may have guessed we're going to be talking about an amazing piece of 80s and 90s nostalgia, the arcade and all the history that comes with it. And, FYI, it goes way back and I spent lots and lots of hours digging into the depths of the interwebs for the history. But before we get going on all of that, Katie, we got to circle back on two things. Okay, All right. First thing, how is your word of the year going?
Speaker 2:Oh gosh.
Speaker 1:I know.
Speaker 2:What the heck? Was it so?
Speaker 1:there's the answer no.
Speaker 2:Well, one of yours was growth. Growth was for the podcast, oh, so I would say that's going well. Yeah, that's going well. Let's touch base on that, because we've been doing much more video content, which was a big part of our growth and much more stuff on YouTube. Last time I checked, our YouTube was up to 18 subscribers hey, thanks guys which we were at like six or seven when the year turned. So doubled our growth. So we are getting strictly percentages. We're doing great. We're doing great. Mine was what was mine. Okay, well, let's, I gotta think about it. I know it had something to do with like legacy, but then I said it was going to be something different.
Speaker 2:So your answer is you don't even remember what the word is, I don't remember the word, so it's going good, well, mine was intentional.
Speaker 1:Okay yeah, laughing is correct because I'm failing, failing, failing, failing. So the journal you gave me, that was so cute, so cute. I love that journal. You're supposed to write in it every week.
Speaker 2:One time a week. Do you have any entries? I'm going to say one because you maybe did some around the new year. I actually have two.
Speaker 1:That's it, guys. That's awesome, but you know what it did? It made me realize whatever, I'm not really a journaler and that is okay. So if I feel like doing it on a Sunday, then I'll do it, if I don't, that's fine. But also I, I have got to get my life together with focusing. I texted you earlier this week. I was like dang my, I don't know. I said the squirrels and the rave in my brain or something.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was something about squirrels and a rave. No, I mean, I get it. I understood she's like what's wrong.
Speaker 1:I was like literally, literally, I can't focus on anything. It's been bad, so the intentional has been not good. I remembered my word, okay what is it?
Speaker 2:it's sorry, it's not a funny word breakthrough, oh breakthrough yes, so that's in like all aspects, but I think we talked about that on a bonus, so our regular listeners might not know any of these. Oh, it was a bonus episode.
Speaker 1:Oh well anyways. So let's fill you in real quick. We picked a word of the year instead of resolutions, right. Picked a word of the year for each individual and then for the podcast, right. So my word was intentional. Katie's was now, we know, breakthrough, and then podcast was growth. So are you breaking through?
Speaker 2:I don't know. I think I'm so busy breaking through that, like right now, the action of everything in my life, all the momentum, is really like making it hard to reflect.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I don't know, maybe in a couple months, I'll know we are recording you guys on a Saturday at 3.50 pm.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Which is such a weird time for us to be recording, but literally it's the only time we could do it this week and I was even late because one of my kids is six and I was waiting to see when my husband was going to be home because my other kids at your house, so I didn't even know that I was like.
Speaker 1:I was like where are you going? And he said he was going to your house, and then I was like okay, and then I was like oh no, because Troy's not here. And then Cooper was sound asleep because he's not feeling good and so. I was late and then, and then we were chatting, and so, anyway, we're even late getting started. So, and then we were chatting, and so, anyway, we're even late getting started.
Speaker 2:That's okay.
Speaker 1:So you have been very busy. I have been, but you are breaking through, so your word's going well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so yes, by this time next week we'll almost be opening.
Speaker 1:Beetlejuice.
Speaker 2:Junior at my studio which we've done, a few other productions. For new listeners or people who don't know me personally, I opened a wide scale studio. I taught private voice lessons for years. But, like on a wider scale, we're going to do classes, we're going to have camps, we're going to do productions. March 1st last year yeah, so 11 months ago ish.
Speaker 2:And now we have two locations. We've done several productions, but our first I guess you could say kind of like a main stage, but for youth, because we're on like a really big stage with the lights and the sound and the 700 seat theater opens well, opens and closes in the same weekend, next weekend. So I just that alone, I'm like man, not that there's. My thing is I don't think main stage 700 seat theater type theater is any like better than smaller theater or anything like that.
Speaker 1:It's just different.
Speaker 2:So being able to kind of have all these different things in there is cool. I have been writing a little bit this week, which is great. I haven't had a lot of time for that. I don't think any of them listen to this show we won't get into it but my regular job is not going so great because of everything else I'm doing.
Speaker 2:Um well, you've got a lot of things, yeah, and a big family also so like that's what I'm saying, like you got a lot of things on your plate plus your job, and it, your job, is not one that is, uh, like you know, it's hard because you're remote, but it's easier, but then it's also harder too.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Right. Yeah, it's a lot of zoom, meetings and things like that, which is okay, right, because I don't have to be in a physical office, but it's just it's. The job itself is changing a little too, so the demands of that plus the demands of everything else I'm doing. But I don't know if any of you listeners have ever been in this spot where you see that new thing you're going to and you know that's the thing you should be doing, but realistically, you can't let go of the other thing yet, whether that's a job or a relationship or housing or whatever. And that's where I'm at with my work right now. I can't really not do my other job yet, but eventually that's probably going to be the case. So I'm doing this weird in between. It's actually a good time to write.
Speaker 1:You're at an in-between.
Speaker 2:Hello. And then the podcast too. I feel like we've had so many great new fans coming through lots of downloads lately, so I feel like that's a breakthrough too. Yeah, feel like we've had so many great new fans coming through lots of downloads lately, so I feel like that's a breakthrough too. Yeah, and growth and focus. You did the research for today, so don't put yourself down.
Speaker 1:I mean okay, but, guys, it took me so long. It's okay. If you are a podcaster out there, you know exactly what we're talking about. When you start researching for an episode and you just go and go and go and go and I you know, then my laptop broke and anyway it's. I. I'm here now, I'm doing okay in some areas of being intentional and others, guys, oh man, but anyway, okay, just had to check in on that. This is the other funny thing to check in with. So if y'all listen to our book of questions episode, our last question we ended with was the one about the stranger. Did you ask Brant? No, oh, you didn't. I didn't, okay. Well, when I asked.
Speaker 1:Troy. It made me think of something funny that we did not address in case we did not tell people that we were married. You and I both have like husbands right, because that would matter. If you're listening to it and you don't realize we're in these long-term relationships, good point. Good point Because this was Troy's answer. I asked him like okay, if you were sitting next to the? Well, I don't remember the question, I don't have it with me, but it was like if you were sitting next to an average looking stranger on an airplane, they offered you 300, no $30,000 for an evening of sex. Would you do it? Not even a breath. He said no, I'm married. And I was like oh that, oh well, like that's. We didn't like like. I was like oh well, yeah, but like.
Speaker 1:I mean, I think we both mentioned our spouses in our answer we did, we did we did say that that would have some sort of weight in it, and I was like like, and he started to like walk away, like I mean, that's, it was like I'm done. It was so funny, because that is so like how him and I are Like he's such like a logical, like black and white, like obviously not, there's no room for stretching there. Like obviously not, there's no room for stretching there. Like no. But then I said, well, what if I was like, well, what if I said OK, do it Like. What if I was OK that he's like no, like he was kind of like he couldn't do it yeah.
Speaker 1:He was kind of like. I was like we're very. I think we're just meant to be together, we're just the way we are.
Speaker 2:I will ask my husband.
Speaker 1:OK, we Ask my husband and we'll have it on the next episode. Yeah.
Speaker 2:We'll ask him if you need to text me and be like, ask Brand about the stranger on the plane. Yeah, you might have to remind me.
Speaker 1:I know, so we'll just put it that Troy and I are just boring monogamous people and that's just the way we are, and that's OK, and that's.
Speaker 2:OK.
Speaker 1:Brand are like hey, we want to pay, we money, money, money, baby, I mean, and look, I don't. I wish I was a little more like, not that way, so I could maybe broaden my mind. But no, sorry guys, I'm just this way I am. I'm like you know, what are those animals that like mate for life? Um, is it elephants? They like pick a partner and they just they like probably that seems like something elephants would do penguins too. That's well, that's troy and I are penguins. There you go you guys are penguins.
Speaker 2:We know that one for sure so let's go with that uh, I mean 22 years.
Speaker 1:That's a long time I've been with them.
Speaker 2:There's a reason anyway.
Speaker 1:So we probably I realized, oh yeah, we probably should have said, in case somebody was listening for the first time, they didn't know we were married, because that does make a difference we probably right at the start said, before we answer, answer this let's just set up the scene, because if you would have asked me that when I was 25. Oh no, I was married then.
Speaker 2:I was like weren't you married? I?
Speaker 1:was 22. Was I dating Joy then? No, I was 23. So when I was 22, I probably would have been like oh, yeah, whatever. Yeah, of course, okay.
Speaker 2:All right, so we ready. Yeah, let's go, all right.
Speaker 1:Katie, all right, so I'm going to actually put you on the spot for a minute. I know you're not a big gamer no but you have been to an arcade, yes, we have video of you in an arcade Recently.
Speaker 2:Recently, I've been to an arcade. Okay, so tell people in case.
Speaker 1:Aliens are listening and they don't know what an arcade is. Tell people what an arcade is.
Speaker 2:Okay, in simple terms, An arcade is a collection of a bunch of different individual units of games, so it can be video games. Some of them are physical things Like I'm thinking of, like the basketballs that you throw in the hoop or skeeball, and then some of it's just all video screens, and it used to be. You could put actual coins in them and just walk around and play whatever you want to play. Sometimes they have them in malls like chucky cheese or showbiz pizza for the ogs.
Speaker 2:Um, had those too. Now a lot of them, you know, you fill up even like dave and busters. They have arcade stuff. You, you fill up almost like a debit card for how much you want to spend. You just swipe it as you go. But when we were growing up you had to have like physical coins quarters, quarters, quarters, yes, to play in these arcades and they were so much fun, oh my gosh, okay, so there, that was a really good definition.
Speaker 1:Thank you nice. All right, so do you have any memories?
Speaker 2:I was trying to think about this when we had the video of me in the arcade. I just know I always loved skeeball. Oh yeah, I was ever in an arcade.
Speaker 1:You're pretty good at it. I was pretty good at it.
Speaker 2:I liked how you could have the different amounts that you could get, so I always loved skeeball. I remember a pizza place like an independent pizza place where I grew up, and I went to a birthday party there for somebody once and just like had the best time and asked my parents to take me to that arcade for like a year yeah, because I had so much fun. And our mall had one too, yeah, and I remember going on like vacation somewhere and there was a hotel that had a pretty big one. Those, those are like my main memories.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we had one. I think I've talked about it on the pod before, about the one in our mall was called Jolly Time.
Speaker 2:Arcade.
Speaker 1:And you know, it was interesting when I started thinking about it, because I remember it changing over the years, because when it started in the eighties, when when it opened it was just all quarter machines and I think it was mostly video games If any Slidell peeps are out there that remember a North Shore Mall, shout out to me because I don't remember but then they started getting the skeeball and then they started having prizes. So that became a thing. It used to be you just played to play or to have the, the cred of a high score, right, put your initials in Right. But then I remember like you could win, like crappy prizes, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and.
Speaker 1:I feel like that takes away the joy of just playing for playing and. But we also had one in our skating rink yep, there's one at the skating rink here I love the old, old style skating rink and you use quarters. Oh, nice, it's not a swipe. Go there a field trip.
Speaker 2:We got to do that, but this is like how logically brain some of my children are. I went there with my fourth grader recently for a skate night for her school and she brought some, some money for the arcade because she wanted this certain prize. And on the way there she's like actually it's x amount of tickets, whatever. She's doing the math and she's like I'll just go buy the prize, right. So that's what she did. I know that's funny. And then she did go play some games, but she wasn't worried about the tickets or whatever. She was just like oh, if it's this amount, then amount, then I have $5, so I can get five of these. And she just walked up to the person. She's like can I just like pay for them?
Speaker 1:And the person's like sure, see, capitalism ruins everything, guys, even arcades, and you'll see, we'll talk about that. We also, like you said, piece of place. We also had like a few and like local restaurants. I remember we had a godfather's pizza. Did y'all have one? Yes, yeah, I loved godfather. Yep, we had some arcade games in there and then we had like, uh, we had like a soda shop where you would go and they had the sit down like pac-man. Do you know? Remember like where you could sit down and you played it like on the table.
Speaker 1:I don't remember that if I showed you a picture, I bet I would know like and pizza huts had them too where you could sit down and like the table was the video game. Like the game and the controllers were underneath and you would play it while you were eating. It's so crazy to think about that is awesome.
Speaker 1:But I remember and it is Pac-Man, usually that's what you could find yeah, anyway, Okay. So we got those memories. So now that you're sitting in that fresh land, we're going to go in the way back machine because, the history of the arcades begins way before the 80s, everyone.
Speaker 1:So we're going to go way back to the end of the 19th century. Oh, ok, ok. So by the end of that century. The novelty of phonographs, kinetoscopes and mutoscopes what the heck is that? Ok, they're just all devices where you could see, hear sounds and see moving pictures. Okay, they would put. They were put out like in midway exposition stuff like that. People would charge, they were kind of losing their luster, like they weren't that exciting anymore, cause people be like I already seen that, I already heard that. Um, they were, they were kind of being shown in these midways. It was not exciting anymore. So then there came these amusement arcades, that's what they were called. Okay, so the arcade word goes way back. And in the amusement arcades they had things like ready for this Coin operated peep show machines, what I don't know, I didn't dig into the depths of that Shooting galleries, grip and strength testers have you seen those?
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah um, stationary bikes, yes, um. And slot machines. In some areas they also had machines that dispense fortunes, like in the movie big, remember that, yeah, and candy, and you could do all these things for as little as a penny. So the amusement arcade idea came about a long time ago. But then something cool happened.
Speaker 1:The first pinball game was made and I did not realize pinball was this old, but it was created by a man named David Gottlieb. You got to be an inventor with a name like Gottlieb Gottlieb, david Gottlieb, inventor, I know, in 1931. And it was called baffle ball. Now can you see my picture? Yeah, okay. So it wasn't exactly like the pinball that we know. There were no flippers. You know the little buttons you press on the side that, like, hit the ball. There were no flippers, we'll get. So what happened was players would launch the ball and then they would tilt and kind of bump the machine to avoid, like static nails that were in the machine. They were like barriers and they would try to get it to a scoring pocket. So I don't know if you can see those little circles. They were like scoring pockets, okay, kind of like pinball that we know, but also kind of like skeeball.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's kind of both.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so there's a little bit of interesting history that goes with pinball machines. Uh, so Gottlieb and company uh was founded in 1927 in Chicago, where most of these big amusement companies were based. There was ABT manufacturing Bally remember that name uh, williams and Midway. So do any of those names sound familiar to you in regards to gaming? I mean Bally's Las Vegas, correct, yeah, correct. So actually Bally and others originally made most of their money manufacturing slot machines. Okay, so Bally's been around a long time.
Speaker 1:So the coin operated amusement industry actually had its roots in gambling, and that's actually related to pinball machines, because when they were invented there were all these debates on whether they were considered a game of skill or a game of chance, because if it was a game of chance, that's considered a game, a gambling device. Okay, all right. So there were actually some early pinball machines that would give you money, like if you won, like slot machines, but didn't last long because they wanted to kind of distance themselves from that. And this all is important I'm not just telling you, this is going to matter in a second, because in 1942, there was a mayor in New York city whose last, whose name was Fiorello LaGuardia. Yes, that.
Speaker 2:LaGuardia? Okay, all right, sounds familiar.
Speaker 1:Yes, he actually banned pinball in New York. And not only did he ban it, oh no, he ordered police to make prohibition style pinball raids a top priority Pinball raids, pinball raids.
Speaker 2:Is this when you could make money from pinball? Yeah.
Speaker 1:So you could. I mean they were, they were pretty popular. There was debate about them, but they were pretty popular at this time. So, but again, like I said, there was this big debate on are they gambling machines or they're not gambling machines, I don't know. So he had this big war on organized crime in in New York and he just decided, just decided, yes, they are gambling machines, so we're gonna get rid of them. So not only did he make it a mission of his, but he wanted everybody to know this. So the first day that he had that pinball ban, listen to this police confiscated 2 000 pinball machines in a day. Oh, yeah, yeah, and they issued 1,500 summons.
Speaker 1:Whoa, I know it's such a stupid thing to think of, like all the things you could be doing with your resources, correct, this is the thing you do, that's what you're doing, and the mayor would take and you can see right here, and don't worry guys, I'll put pictures on socials. The mayor would put pictures of himself in the New York times smashing the machines and then, uh, let, just letting readers know that all those strip machine parts would be sent to the country's munition factories to help in the war effort. So he's like look at me destroying these awful machines and now we're going to help the country with their parts.
Speaker 2:Oh my goodness. Now, devil's advocate, sure, were these machines associated with organized crime. Like it was this like a symbol of mob activity?
Speaker 1:well, that's a question of debate, but mostly it was the gambling, because mob activity and gambling was very heavily uh related okay, so, um, but you know what's crazy is the band, the pinball band, lasts until 1976.
Speaker 1:What? Yeah, um, and it inspired other big cities to do the same. So Chicago and Los Angeles also had pinball bands. Okay, um, and we'll get some more on that in a second, on how they got rid of those. But many people thought pinball was a gateway to gambling and corrupted children. So I know you think of pinball and I think of, like the most innocent, like it's mindless, like silly thing, right, but it was a big deal like in this time. So, anyway, so that was in what year did I say that was 1942.
Speaker 1:So a few years later Gottlieb invented the flipper on the pinball machines. So that invention kind of launched it more into the game of skill category. So it got it even further away from considering a game of chance because you had to, like, hit the things at the right time and your reflexes have to work and you have to practice to be good at it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So manufacturers, kind of aggressively, all of them started pursuing a more family friendly image. Okay, so, unfortunately though, um, at this point, most of the country pinball, pinball machines were still illegal, and when you found them they were like in porn shops, they were in dive bars, they were in back rooms.
Speaker 1:So they're still like kind of you know, but not everywhere. Okay, Because the attraction of pinball only increased. Obviously because you tell kids, don't do this, what are they going to want to do? Right, it only increased in the prohibition years following World War II and then by the 50s. This is a quote I found in an article. Made me giggle. It said the quickest route to proving your rebel status in America was to be seen within a few feet of a pinball machine.
Speaker 2:Oh, is that all you had to do?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then the example they gave was the Fonz on Happy Days. Oh right, yes.
Speaker 2:I forgot Fonz on Happy Days. Oh right, yes.
Speaker 1:I forgot Because he was like this amazing pinball.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:And so, ironically, the 50s and 60s are considered, like this, golden age of pinball even though it was illegal, a lot of places, yeah, but not everywhere, not everywhere but yeah, so yeah, it was really popular and teenagers loved it.
Speaker 1:And if it's popular with the, with the, youths.
Speaker 2:It's gonna. Yeah, people are going to find a way to do it.
Speaker 1:It's going to happen. And hey, isn't that what FOMS did? Hey, all right, yeah, okay. That was what he did. That was really bad. Okay, so where where pinball wasn't illegal, you had to have a required um paid license, illegal you had to have a required paid license. So that made the machines taxable at rates of up to 50%. What, yeah why? I guess it said to limit the number of machines in one location, so I guess to like prevent.
Speaker 2:I don't know the corruption. Wouldn't you need more machines to make money? I don't know If they're taking 50%, Isn't that crazy?
Speaker 1:That's high. So then most machines now also have this ominous sign on it, that said for amusement only, like I mean, what else is it for everyone?
Speaker 2:Please don't take this as seriously as you have. I mean, this is just a game everyone.
Speaker 1:No, like you're not going to go to hell if you play this, it's only for amusement anyway, uh it it said to make it clear there was no money to be won okay, all right, but then I guess that makes sense.
Speaker 2:It's still funny.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is funny um amusement parks even where you could find pinball machines as one of the locations. They even began printing custom tokens so it couldn't be confused with legal tender.
Speaker 2:So that's where that started.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, yeah, so anyway. So much like later with video games. Right, there was kind of like a parental pinball panic around this time and they were worried about kids being zombified by the pinball games, just like happens with video games in later years. And there was an article in Better Homes and Gardens oh no, in October 1957. And it said parents should act now to keep your child from being victimized by a pinball machine.
Speaker 2:I know you're even more like against too much time on screens than me, but it does kind of sound like how we are about screens, how we're like, oh, they're going to be zombies, oh, there's going to be the worst thing ever, I know, and it's sort of like in 50 years or 100 years are people going to be like. Remember when parents would limit screen time and like thought it was like the worst thing. I don't know.
Speaker 1:We're like living in a simulation. What did I say on the last episode? Are we going?
Speaker 2:to be floating heads. That's what you said. I don't know. It's just funny how, like, the things parents worry about, like how they look, might change, but it's always the same the basis. It's the basis, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think too, like everything in moderation that's, I sure think that including pinball, including pinball even now. Um, because I do get my thing too with screens, though, like I, just I, we don't get outside enough, we don't move our bodies enough, just in general as a society anymore, just because so much of our life has to be in front of screens. So I like literally will tell my kids go outside and get some sunshine go on a walk, like I don't care, like I make Cooper go on a walk every day.
Speaker 1:Just, you've been in school all day. They're sitting on their booties all day. Kids are not made to be like human beings, are not made to sit all day. So he'll come home and chill for a bit and then I'm like all right, 10 minutes, like go for a walk, just get some vitamin D and move. Yeah for sure. You know just, and it's crazy Cause once you do that you feel better. You do you really?
Speaker 2:do, totally do.
Speaker 1:And it's just and I feel bad sometimes being like he's like, oh, and I'm like I know, and I'm not telling you to do that because you have to do x, y and z, it's just part of your health, like I tell you to drink water, like you need the sunshine, you need the movement. Yeah, but so do we so do we?
Speaker 2:yep, I mean, I'm preaching, and look if they were inside playing pinball all day I they also needed it all right, so let's talk about how the pinball ban got lifted.
Speaker 1:Okay, we're fast forwarding in time, fast forwarding in time to 1974. Okay, All right. The Supreme court in California overturned the pinball ban and on May 13th 1976, the city council in New York city voted 30 to six to overturn the ban on pinball after nearly 35 years. What I think is interesting about that is the six people.
Speaker 2:I was just about to say who are the six people that were like no, keep it banned 1976. I wonder if they were just like LaGuardia stands. Like they were just like we love that guy. Yeah, like they were just like LaGuardia forever but that was 30 something years later 35.
Speaker 1:Anyway. So the council legalized pinball. And get how they got through? They had a demonstration by a man named Roger Sharp, who was then considered to be the world's best pinball player, demonstrating with expertise. It was indeed a game of skill forever, and ever period dot.
Speaker 2:Oh man, I would have loved to be there, for that Is that not, so they must have brought us in, yeah A pinball machine. So who's lobbying behind that? I don't know who's. Who's bringing in this guy?
Speaker 1:My research only goes so far. I'm just saying like rhetorically, I know.
Speaker 2:We won't know the answer to this Right, but immediately my brain goes to it was banned for 30 years. What group was pushing to have this overturned so hard that they brought in this expert?
Speaker 1:I love it, I'm just curious.
Speaker 2:I wonder who that would have been. It was Bally's, I bet I bet it was them.
Speaker 1:It may have been, because they come back in a minute, okay, so anyway. So times have changed in favor of pinball, and then arcades dedicated to just games were once again a realistic business proposition. Okay, capitalism is still going to reign.
Speaker 2:Don't worry.
Speaker 1:Bring your quarters. So here's the deal. The 70s and 80s saw like a big technological revolution with pinball. Mechanical components were replaced by electronic circuits. That's a big deal. Like the pinball, we know. It had digital scoring, all the sound effects, all the fun lights that all came into the picture in the 70s and 80s. Um. So players, you know, they were drawn to that tactile feedback, um, the challenge of perfecting those shots, like Mr Roger Sharp kid, and then that thrill of getting the high score and then it gets to stay up there. Yeah, excuse me, um. And then the introduction of microprocessors allowed designers to craft, like more complex gameplay, to start getting harder. I don't know what a microprocessor is, but it sounded really fun and science-y. So I was like I'm putting that in.
Speaker 2:I think it's just a computer chip. Oh well, there you go.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I was like, ooh, that's going to make me sound smart. And then I tell everybody, I know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it's just like something that has the ability to process much more information. Yeah, More more micros.
Speaker 1:on micros on a macro level. I think it stands for micro information. Yeah, like processing. I don't really know that I lied.
Speaker 2:It's yeah, yeah, something like that, but here we go, unfortunately though for pinball there's something new on the horizon.
Speaker 1:What Okay Could it be pinball has? For pinball, there's something new on the horizon what? What could it be.
Speaker 2:Hasn't pinball been through enough? I know that's what.
Speaker 1:I want to know. We all know pinball doesn't go away forever, because we can still go to the somewhere and play pinball.
Speaker 2:Okay, good, so the arrival of arcade video games.
Speaker 1:All right, now this is where it gets fun and will start to be things we actually know about. Ok, ish, so the first video game to spread beyond a single computer was a game called Space War. All right, did you know this? I know this, you do. I definitely played this game. Oh, my god, that's so fun. Well, you may not have played this one Probably not, because let me tell you the story. Okay, then you'll tell me.
Speaker 1:It was developed by students and staff at MIT in 1962. And for all you computer peeps out there, it was on a PDP-1 mainframe computer I don't know what that is, but somebody will and basically the game was just two spaceships that could shoot missiles at each other. Okay, so, as the group that developed it kind of migrated across the country to other schools and universities, they took Space Wars source code and they ran it on other mainframe machines at other places. And what it did was it inspired two different groups of people to kind of play with it and develop coin operated versions of that game. So they changed a little bit. One group was successful and one was not. So we're going to start with the non-successful people, because I feel bad for them, because they had the idea they get to go first.
Speaker 1:They do, and then we're not going to talk about them anymore, we'll move on. So there were two students at Stanford, bill Pitts and Hugh Tuck. Sorry, those just don't sound very exciting names, but they were probably very smart people. They created Galaxy Game. So Galaxy Game was a version of Spaceware that was coin operated and ran on a computer that was housed in a wooden console. So they, like, built it. Wow, this wooden console. Yeah, they created two prototypes for the game and they actually demonstrated it at the university, but they just were unable to create any commercial interest in it. So they tried Okay, all right, so bye, we're done talking about you guys. The same time, there were two other guys named Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. They were both engineers and these are the future founders of Atari. Okay, all right. They worked with Nutting Associates, which, I'm sorry, I know, let's just laugh now I wondered if you were just going to breeze, right?
Speaker 1:by that I can't. As soon as I read that, I giggled like I was 12 years old, and every time I say it it makes me laugh. And there's another funny name that comes up soon too. So prepare, they came up another coin operated version of Space War, and this one was called Computer Space, and that's probably what you played. Okay, yeah, it was the first commercial arcade game. So here's the author's description from an article I read. I love it.
Speaker 2:Of the game.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so here's what Computer Space was. Imagine a clunky cabinet spitting out pixelated rockets soaring through a starry void, battling flying saucers with reckless abandon. That was the dawn of a revolution. Oh, I love it, I can't. I was like that is great. So let me show you a picture and you can kind of describe it sounds good. How cool does that? Does that look?
Speaker 2:That does look cool, right, but what? What is that? That's the actual, that's it, that's the unit and that's yeah, that's computer space.
Speaker 1:Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah, so there's the controls on that screen, oh.
Speaker 2:I love what you're looking at the screen. It's like a metallic blue, very sleek looking, and then it has just a small console that's stationary, right where you would push the little buttons. It almost looks like an astronaut suit. Yeah, it's cool like this very retro looks like maybe where your face would be in an astronaut mask or something. It's very cool, kind of.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that's what computers so that was the very first commercial arcade game. Cool, all right. So let's talk about this one for a bit. So Nutting Associates, I mean, of all the names, I guess it was somebody's last name, but anyway it probably was. They actually were disappointed with the sales of Computer Space because most people thought it was too complicated. It was kind of a hard game. So Dabney and Bushnell left and they formed their own company. Do you see this? It says Syzygy, and I'm going to spell this for you guys it's S-Y-Z-Y-G-Y, syzygy. Yeah, that's right, which reminded me of Jim, because she's like shows over.
Speaker 2:Synergy. Oh, I was like, why? But?
Speaker 1:it's not Synergy, but my brain kept reading it as Synergy. I'm like, yeah, it's Synergy. So, anyway, their intention, what they wanted to do was license their games to bigger companies. They didn't want to make them on their own, they wanted to license them that way. So they quickly hired somebody else, a young design engineer by the name of Al Alcorn and I kept reading his name is Acorn and it is not. It is Alcorn, al Alcorn, and if you're a gamer out there, you may recognize that name too. So the first deal Syzygy struck was to produce games for Dun Dun Dun Valley. Nice, yeah, they're back. Uh, they were actually one of the largest manufacturers of pinball at that point, see, and the whole world telling you.
Speaker 2:I know they were behind that new york city thing, right um bushnell and dabney actually found out.
Speaker 1:This is even funnier that the name says g was already taken as a business entity. What yeah? So yeah, they were like oh damn it. Are you serious? I swear, that's not even a word, I know. So they incorporated in June 1972 under the name Atari. And here's where they got. Do you know where they got the name from Atari?
Speaker 2:Just guess. You're never going to guess, but just give it a go. I would. Is it a constellation or something?
Speaker 1:No, we're gonna guess, but just go I would. Is it a constellation or something? No, no, but that's a good guess. It's the name of a move in a 2500 year old chinese game called go, which was a favorite of um nolan bushnell, so so it's like a move, yeah, that you would do in the game okay, is that? Is that crazy? I never knew that. I never knew that and I never knew that, and then I was like oh my God, did Troy tell us that when he came on about?
Speaker 1:Okay, he definitely didn't Cause, then he's gonna be like I told you guys that I didn't tell us that. So look at that, we got you, troy, we got a fact.
Speaker 1:Although now we forget stuff anyway. So here's something that's cool. So bushnell actually had seen magnavox okay, you know that name a demo, its upcoming home console and its first game called ping pong. Notice, I say ping pong and not pong because, excuse me, ping pong was one of the first computer games with a graphical display, although it was never manufactured or sold commercially. That was something else, because ping pong was transformed under the three Alcorn, bushnell and Dabney into pong, a game with only one rule. Do you know the rule? Hit the ball. I don't know. I mean pretty much. Yeah, it was avoid missing the ball for a high score. That's it. That's all you did with Pong Um, but Bali did not want Pong, so Atari said all right, we'll make it ourself Okay.
Speaker 2:So they were trying to license it. Yeah, Got the note, but then they were like you know what it was.
Speaker 1:So this is kind of fun. Pong actually had a demo trial run at Andy Capp's Tavern in San Jose, California, in August 1972. And it was super well received. People loved it. Obviously it's fun. I mean I could see that as like a bar game. Oh, for real, and that's why they put it in.
Speaker 2:Andy Capp's Tavern. Yeah, andy Capp, good, good job there.
Speaker 1:Good thinking, good job, way to go guys, way to go, you got a good plan going. So Pong actually was first released in limited numbers in 1972, in November, and then they had a wider release later, in March 1973. And as we know it, was hella successful. Okay, Everybody remembers Pong even if you weren't alive then because we weren't Following Pong's success.
Speaker 1:There were more game companies that were developing arcade games and more and more titles would hit the market through the seventies, and racing games became the most popular. So, but then the golden age of arcade games is upon us. Everyone, 1978 through 1983, is considered the golden age of arcade games. Okay, all right, and we're going to talk about that now, and this is where it gets a little more familiar for us, and I had to tell you all this background so you can see how we got here. No, I love it, right, I love it. Who knew it started with little demonic pinball machines. Here we are, golden age Zombified pinball playing with the Fonz, all right.
Speaker 1:So 1978, a company called Taito released Space Invaders All right, that changed arcades forever. So Space Invaders was a smash. That changed arcades forever. So Space Invaders was a smash hit and it actually created the shoot-em-up genre and ushered in the golden age. So we can thank Space Invaders for bringing us this whole new era.
Speaker 2:Why are so many of these early games space related? Is it just because the obsession with space was so strong? Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1:That never came up in any of the research. It's just kind of odd right. I mean, that's probably why.
Speaker 2:Just the late 70s. People think it's fun and you can shoot lasers in space, I guess.
Speaker 1:I mean you've got to remember this was Star Wars time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's true, you know Star Trek. I mean, it's not that far off from when they would be developing these things. Right, okay, right.
Speaker 1:So space space invaders was first released in Japan and then North America, and here's some things that kind of made it popular. This game was the first to maintain a persistent high score. So if, like Katie, you go in there you get that high score, you can keep it until somebody beats you Right. Okay, that's a big deal for people who are, who are competitive, and they're in the video that your name's up there on the high score. You want to keep it there. So this was the first game that did that. It also used an interactive audio system that increased with the pace of the game, so it'd get louder as you were going faster, oh yeah.
Speaker 2:I didn't know that, I didn't know that.
Speaker 1:And as you were going faster oh yeah, I didn't know that, I didn't know that. And then like, as as you were going, as you were increasing in the game, it also was getting harder. Right, every level was harder, every level was harder. And which seems like such a simple concept, but they were the first ones to do this. So many arcade games since then also have been based on the multiple life, progressively difficult level paradigm that this game established, yeah, so, which is cool, which we kind of just like take for granted.
Speaker 2:Now we're just like, yeah, all games are like that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you can see a picture. You've probably seen space oh yeah, somewhere.
Speaker 1:I mean, if you grew up when we did, you've seen space invaders, you played space invaders on something. Yes, right. And basically it's just you're shooting, you're shooting aliens, right? Yeah, yeah, you're shooting aliens. I was trying to remember.
Speaker 1:So, ok, so some of the most popular arcade games of all time are released during this golden age, which is why it's called the Golden Age. And not only were some of the most popular games of all time released, a lot of them were, like pioneers of certain kinds of gaming. So we'll talk about that in a second. So let me just tell you, pac-man came out during this time. We're going to talk a little bit more about him in a minute Centipede. Donkey Kong, frogger, rally X, asteroids, galaxian I just said that wrong, Sorry Tori Berserk and Tetris, among billions of others, but there's just some. Many new arcade companies such as Namco, nintendo, konami, sega and Atari also entered the market and that kind of paved the way for modern gaming that we have today, which listen back to our two-part Nintendo episode Cause. Troy talks a little more about all that. Um, so arcades got even more popular at this time because of the construction boom of shopping malls in the seventies and eighties. Uh, like you mentioned, your mall had one had an arcade.
Speaker 1:My mall had an arcade Um, a lot of arcades open to malls and later became part of bowling alleys and skating rinks, yep Um to malls and later became part of bowling alleys and skating rinks, yep Um. And then they started becoming standalone facilities. So they were just being built and built and built, and built and built. With this construction boom and by the early eighties video games were a cultural phenomenon and arcades had kind of transformed again and now they were calling them video arcades, uh, huh, right, and according to play meter magazine, and what y'all, when I actually typed that before I put play Peter and I'm like, oh, that's, that'd be a whole different mag, yes, whole different. Uh, and by 1981, there were approximately 24,000 full arcades, 24,000 in our country, with thousands more non arcade locationscade locations like in restaurants, but even gas stations and like dentist offices.
Speaker 1:And as soon as I read that I remember my dentist office growing up had some arcade games in it. That is crazy, right. Yeah, my dentist also had a mascot that would come and he I have a picture of it. I have to break it it was Bippo the hippo. Oh, and I think my dentist actually wrote a book with him, like to help kids with being scared of the dentist, but like the dentist would dress up in this giant Bippo the hippo costume and like walk around and greet kids. I swear it was cute, it wasn't scary but it was giant. I wonder why a hippo Dr Donaldson Isn't that weird that I remember that, probably because I hate the dentist so much. But I did like Bippo the hippo. Well, there you go.
Speaker 2:I was there a lot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, um, all right, so let's talk a little bit more about, uh, pac-man. So, okay, have you played a lot of those?
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely, yeah, at least like once for sure and I was just going to say I'm sure we'll get into this later too Like Tetris, like the whole obsession right now with block blast oh yeah, that's just a like modified version of Tetris really that they've taken and like made into something else and like my kids are obsessed with it. When I need to dissociate, I play it like I love tetris, I love touch and and I like block blast even more.
Speaker 1:I love both.
Speaker 2:Oh well, you know I don't play games on my phone, but I do you love tetris I just because you like dr mario, which is basically tetris I know, but I I've never played games on my phone.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I just don't. I don't know, I I'm not a gamer. I'm not really a a gamer, but I love old games, like I. I do like going to arcades and we'll talk about later Cause there's one locally. I have a good time there. Sometimes I get sensory overload cause it's a lot of sounds and noises, but like it's fun.
Speaker 2:It's so fun.
Speaker 1:I like the old school stuff, but anyway. So all right, let's talk about Mr Pac-Man. Yes, Cause he's got some fun stuff with his history. He was actually the first ever mascot character in gaming. He was the first, which is funny because we have so many now, like Mario and Sonic. And um, who's that other one? The Fox? But um, what is his name?
Speaker 2:Crash Bandicoot, that's who it is, there you go.
Speaker 1:But he was the first. He was the first little mascot. He was created in 1980.
Speaker 2:So he's a Xeniel Pac-Man's a Xeniel, yeah, hi Pac-Man.
Speaker 1:So the game and I love why he was created the game's creator, Toru Iwatani. He wanted to create a game that was not based on violence or sports, in the hopes that a game would get women into arcades too, so he felt like that was a like a whole population you're missing out on. Not that women can't like um play violent games right sports games. But he was thinking okay, well, maybe this will work guess what it did, it did.
Speaker 1:Yeah, pac-man introduced the maze chase concept, which is interesting because there's so many now, but he was the first um which was different than all the shooting and racing games that were before it, so he wanted to have another option whether you're a female or not, you don't want to shoot, or?
Speaker 2:race right. Guys like pac-man too oh yeah, for Pac-Man's. One of those like similar, I know. I know I'm talking about Blockbuster again or Candy Crush or something where you kind of get a little obsessed with it and the strategy of it, even though every time you start it it's the same.
Speaker 1:You try different things or you find a tactic that works. I'm going to go left this time, or I'm going to go off the screen and back on.
Speaker 2:And so there's something about that that I just think is like endearing. Yeah, because it's very non-intimidating you always know what you're going to get. Yeah, and some days you might have a really great strategy and play awesome, and other days you might die right away or be out of the game. But there's just something that keeps bringing you back to it, even though you wouldn't think that'd be the case. Yeah, because it's the same thing over and over again. Right, but for some reason, the way our brains work, we are drawn to that, and I I love Pac-Man because I am one of those people.
Speaker 1:I don't like shooting up games, I don't like racing games. I hate violent game. I don't like that kind of stuff. I don't like that kind of stuff Like I don't even like if it's silly violence, like it's just I don't have fun with it. Like I don't I'm not throwing shades at anybody because my kids love those kinds of my son.
Speaker 1:But I like, I like those kinds of games, like cute little silly games that are fun, you can play with somebody else or you can play by yourself, right, like same with Tetris, right, and it's like that. Yeah, that comfort of like, okay, I'm gonna do this different this time. Didn't work last time, maybe this time, but I'm also terrible at all video games, so, anyway. So in 1982, katie, it's the 80s, so guess what? There was even an animated series made about no stop. Yes, I watched it and it was great, okay, um, and then they made another one in later years when he kind of had a resurgence on the GameCube, I think it was. But he also had a hit song.
Speaker 1:Do you remember Pac-Man fever? No, oh, you have to look it up. Maybe we should put a sound clip in. Yeah, maybe we will At later times. If we don't end up doing that, then Look it up, just Google it. Yeah, that's how it sounds. So it was a big deal, it was. It came out, uh, I don't, I don't think I wrote the year, oops, uh, but buckner and garcia, that's who is that?
Speaker 2:it was by I don't know, I don't know who that is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know if they were one hit wonder, but yeah, so that makes sense.
Speaker 2:In the 80s you're a popular video game mascot and you're the first. Therefore, yeah, do you have an animated series and a song? 80.
Speaker 1:I love it, let's go. So here's some other firsts during the golden age. So Donkey Kong came out and this introduced the platformer genre, which is sometimes called jump and run games. In this case it's climbing, like in Donkey Kong, you're climbing and running and jumping Scramble came out in 1981. This was the first side scrolling shooter game, where the player views the action from the side and the screen scrolls from left to right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, so that was the first, which is funny to think about this, because these are all games that we just now are just normal, but these were the first, so this is like a big deal. There was a lot of innovation happening in gaming. Uh, pole Position came out in 1982. This introduced 16-bit graphics to the arcade and it actually was one of the most popular racing games ever. Wow, yeah, I've never seen this one, me neither, so I need to look it up.
Speaker 1:And then this is a fun little 80s circle around Dragon's Lair came out in 1983, and this was the first game to use cell animated video and you should look it up and see. It's super fun and super cool. And I think that we even saw an OG one of these somewhere and I can't remember if it was locally or somewhere else and it was really neat, but the art in it was by renowned animator Don Bluth, who worked on the Secret of Nymph, an American Tale, all Dogs Go to Heaven, the Land Before Time and Anastasia Dang. So if you can think of those movies in that kind of animation style, that's exactly what you see in Dragon's Lair and it's really neat. It was a really cool concept. So definitely look it up. And if you ever see Dragon's Lair play it because it's really neat, it was really cool concept, so definitely look it up. And if you ever see Dragon's Lair play it, because it's really neat.
Speaker 1:So that was kind of the golden age of video games. But just because the golden age ends doesn't mean the popularity of arcade games ends. Sure Right. It's just a lot happened in that time that was like super innovative and super historical, historically important to this piece of history. So the end of the golden age happened and you can kind of guess why this started occurring. What are, what are, some guesses you have?
Speaker 2:Well, there were at home consoles.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So you didn't have to go out to play. I think, just in general, more things vying for the time, particularly of young people, there's like more things they could go do or even do at home.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're right, there were a few factors. Home consoles was one Walter Day commented in 1982, there were too many arcades for what was needed. So it's kind of an oversaturated market.
Speaker 1:OK were too many arcades for what was needed, so it's kind of an oversaturated market. Okay, plus, I mean players started requiring novelty and new games, which means the older games had to be replaced, which was expensive, and you know, game manufacturers were designing newer games to be harder, but then that caused less skilled mainstream players to be kind of turned away, and so it was like this whole conundrum of things. But there was also this increased pressure on potential harmful effects of video games.
Speaker 2:Oh, yes, should have known that would come on kiddos.
Speaker 1:So the U S surgeon, general C Everett coop, which he has some stuff. Well, we're not going to go into all that today. Um, in 1982 and November 1982, um, we're not going to go into all that today. In 1982, in November 1982, he was talking about the potential addiction of video games by young children. And then many cities and towns place limits or bans on arcades, which I was surprised that happened in 1982. I remember it happening later and you'll remember why. So that was another factor. Then, like you said, the rising popularity of home consoles. That started like why would you go spend money to play an arcade when you could just do it at your house? Right, and so there was kind of a lull for a few years, but by 1986, there was a comeback. Then it went back down and then it kind of went back and forth until a big event happened in 1991.
Speaker 1:There was a game that came out Okay.
Speaker 2:This is an arcade game or a console? Okay, arcade game.
Speaker 1:There was an arcade game that was released that brought the arcade boom back and changed the arcade in a different way. Do you want to guess what it was?
Speaker 2:It's got to be 91.
Speaker 1:Yeah, 91. It's not, I don't know. Okay, I should have done some music. Dang Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do do do, do, do Mario Brothers? No, no, no I just meant like why you were guessing.
Speaker 2:Oh, I was like that's what I almost guessed. Mario came out way before that. That's what I thought way before that.
Speaker 1:Okay, I totally confused you, my bad, all right. 1991, capcom released Street Fighter 2. Okay, okay, it was a trick question because you never would. The OG Street Fighter came out in 1987. That introduced the format of two players being able to challenge each other. Have you ever played Street Fighter?
Speaker 1:I've never, I know what it looks like, okay, but I've never played it. Street Fighter 2 introduced more modern elements. It had a six button control scheme instead of just the two Yep, and it had numerous characters with backgrounds and personalities for players to pick from. So, which happens in all games now, but they were the first ones to kind of have like this big, big, on a grand scale, um, and they had all these special moves they could use. Um. Street fighter two when it came out, it kind of led to this boom of fighting, martial arts games and and mortal combat came out in 92, okay, virtual fighter came out in 93 and tekken came out in 94. That's one of troy's favorite arcade games, um, so that that kind of brought people back in the arcade. And of course there was controversy, which we'll get to in a second, you're going to know why.
Speaker 1:In 1993, though, arcade revenue was greater than home console. Oh, my word, let me pause and collect my tongue. All right, arcade revenue in 1993 was greater than home console revenue. Wow, mostly because of these types of games. Okay, because you go and you play with your friends and you're competing Because guys remember this, your friends and you're competing Because guys remember this is before online video game play. When you played video games, you were usually playing by yourself or your friend came over or whatever, and you had to take turns or whatever. But this brought people back into the arcades, plus the whole allure of I got the high score.
Speaker 2:Yeah, are in competitions like where you wait in line, you put your corner and be like I'm next, you know yeah, and and then I would imagine, if, let's say, you have the high score, you would have to go back and check right, and then if someone knocked you off, then you would have to do it again and I, for some reason I'm thinking this is something probably benny did.
Speaker 1:He probably had high scores. Now he's younger than us, so if he was so, he was probably little In 91?
Speaker 2:Yeah that's true, I was 11.
Speaker 1:So he was, this is something he would have done. Yeah, and he might do it now, because there's.
Speaker 2:He might still do it now. He might have high scores all over. Troy definitely did back Right, Because you'd need to know. Do I still have it? Oh yeah, and if I don't, I've got to play again For sure.
Speaker 1:For sure, but of course there was controversy that I just said, over the violence in these games, especially because the graphics were better, right, right. So mainly the controversy started with Mortal Kombat, because that was the for the time it was kind of gruesome and I remember because it was in our, it was in our skating rink and I remember playing it um, there was like blood splatters and I have a little a screenshot of a picture. It looks so stupid compared to like graphics today, like it's so cartoony, yeah, but like parents freaked the fuck out.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:About and I remember the Mortal Kombat controversy and what happened was when it was released for home consoles in 93, there were actually congressional hearings in the formation of the ESRB, which is the Entertainment Sophomore Ratings Board in 1994, which wanted to avoid government oversight with video games. So that is what required the video games have ratings, kind of like TV shows do now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, which I?
Speaker 1:don't think is a bad thing. I don't think that's bad. I don't think that's a bad thing at all. I don't think it's a bad thing. I don't think that's bad. I don't think that's a bad thing at all. I mean, especially if you have parameters, like you're going to have this rating, if you have X, y and Z and you're in your game, you know if you have nudity or so you're saying.
Speaker 2:That's a non-government agency, it's an industry agency that oversees that. I think that's what you were saying, because they're trying to avoid the government stepping in. What's? That to avoid government oversight. Right, so that makes me think it was a board that the industry said, OK, we'll take care of this ourselves.
Speaker 1:That's a high level question.
Speaker 2:I don't know the answer to.
Speaker 1:I mean it's smart.
Speaker 2:I mean, there was congressional hearings, so maybe they were like OK, ok, ok, we'll, we'll, we'll handle this, we'll make a board, we'll handle this, we'll make a board, we'll make guidelines. Yeah, because they probably don't want the government stepping in and saying we'll do it. It's like we'll make our own ratings board. I don't know. I don't know who runs the movie ratings. I think that's industry run as well. Okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it's probably the same thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean, that was Katie stumped me I was like, oh, I don't know. Well, that's what I'm here for all the research I did and I was like I don't know we'll look into that but I mean, I don't think it really matters that's, they probably followed the model of like yeah stuff like how did they avoid this?
Speaker 2:true facts.
Speaker 1:We're gonna do the same thing, yeah and I mean I don't think it's a bad idea, like I said, I think it's a good thing, but then you can see how that gets tricky in arcades, right?
Speaker 2:Right, because it's a public place that anyone can walk into. So then, who's the enforcer Right? Or is there no enforcer, because it's just a label?
Speaker 1:Right, you're not required to enforce it, you're just required to warn people, correct. So then it's like well, kind of, what's the point of that? Then? Yeah, yeah, I mean, we could probably have a whole episode on like ratings and labels like the parental advisory explicit lyrics and all of that, and I honestly don't think it's a bad idea to let people know stuff.
Speaker 1:I think it's a bad idea to prevent it from being produced at all. I agree, yeah, I mean, yeah, let people know what's there, put, slap whatever you want to slap on it, but don't prevent it from existing in the world.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, anyway, we put we could, we'll do another.
Speaker 1:Anyway so back to video games. So that was the 90s, okay, early to mid 90s, but we're not done yet. So the early 90s also brought the evolution of 3D graphics to arcades, yeah, so they were making some transitions from 2D and kind of pseudo 3D graphics to like real-time 3D, polygon graphics. Okay, okay, polygon graphics. And this boom in games was largely driven, of course, by a tech race rivalry between Sega and Namco, but those two were in a race. So basically, it'd be like, um, they were trying to one up each other with each arcade game that they came out with. So, say, it'd be like, all right, well, we have 3d human characters. And then Namco would come out with one and be like well, we got 3d texture mapping, and then the next one would come out with like well, we have 3D texture filtering. So the reason they were such a boom was because they were trying to one-up each other and be like the pioneer of 3D graphics. Okay, but anyway, whatever, it brought out some cool games and some graphics.
Speaker 2:I'd say competition is good for those things, and virtual reality type games started you remember?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it started appearing in early 90s in arcades, especially those that were now family fun centers. So like I think of a place we used to go to Missouri, it had like go carts and bowling and it had an arcade and it had, you know, pizza and this and that and also like Chuck E Cheese and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:Right, but the VR stuff in its early days, you remember when you could do those VR roller coasters? Yes, I do, they would cost like $6 for a minute. Anyway. And around the mid-90s the fifth generation of home consoles was coming out, which is pretty wild to think about. There's already been five generation of home consoles was coming out, which is pretty wild to think about. There's already been five generation of home consoles at this point. So this is when the Sega Saturn, the PlayStation, the OG PlayStation and the Nintendo 64 was coming out. They started having 3D, true graphics as well, so they also had better sound. And then for their 2D graphics they were just getting better and better. So that's becoming a competition for the arcade games, for arcades in general. And because of this, during the late 90s arcade video games declined and console games overtook arcade games for the first time around 1997. So they had a good run. I mean, I thought it happened a lot earlier than 97. Yeah, me too, I know.
Speaker 2:Because we're past that fifth generation of home consoles and arcade games are still like being reiterated and improved, and new ones are still coming out. Yeah Right, which wouldn't be happening if they weren't still popular and making money.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, until the late 90s, though, arcade video game markets still had a larger market than consoles. Okay, so it was the late 90s before home consoles started winning that race. But then something else happened in the late 90s. Do you know what came out? Whole different type of game. Hmm, once I say it, you're going to be like dang it.
Speaker 2:I have no idea.
Speaker 1:Okay, it would probably make our knees hurt if we tried to play it right now. What Hello? All right. In 1997, konami began releasing a number of music-based games that use unique peripherals to control the game. In time, to music, oh yeah, all right. They came out with Beatmania, guitar Freaks, and it culminated in the release of Dance, dance Revolution in 1998. Oh my.
Speaker 2:God.
Speaker 1:I love.
Speaker 2:Dance, dance Revolution. Are you good at it? I'm pretty good at it. I am literally awful, really.
Speaker 1:Oh God, I'm so bad at it. I don't have good hand eye coordination so, like I, I don't think I'm a terrible dancer, but that's because I'm just dancing when I have to dance and look at a screen and use the dancing as a control.
Speaker 1:No, forget it no man, I would, I can't, but anyway. Dance dance revolution. I can't, but anyway. Dance Dance Revolution was like this new style of arcade game that used a dance pad and required players to tap their feet on appropriate squares on the pad in time to notes on the screen, and it's synchronized to popular music, so obviously kids loved it, I mean it's giving pup, pup boogie. Do you?
Speaker 2:know what that is. What the hell is that Pup pup?
Speaker 1:boogie no Pup pup Like dog, pup, what the? Hell, is that Putt, putt boogie? No, no, pup, pup.
Speaker 2:Like dog pup. What the hell is that On Paw Patrol?
Speaker 1:Oh.
Speaker 2:I've never watched Paw Patrol. It's Tegan's favorite, was Well, probably still is. She'll say it isn't because she's too grown up, but they had like a Dance Sense, revolution style that the pups would play, it would go. It's the puppy. It's the puppy grooving, shaking, and it was these little puppies like playing with all four paws.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna send you a video. I can't.
Speaker 2:That's great it was so cute and I mean it's like a reference to this kind of game right so 90, 1998 is when that?
Speaker 1:uh okay. And look, it's still giving, still giving, still giving. Um, so here we go. Even with the fighting games and the music-based games, arcades were like losing their luster by the early 2000s I mean home game consoles more and more commonplace.
Speaker 2:They were coming more affordable and online gaming can't, yeah, and connected gaming through the consoles isn't that far off from this right time frame yeah, yeah, and I mean players started being interested in like longer narrative games.
Speaker 1:Right, you can't get that in arcade. Um. More complex gameplay, more involved gameplay, because the technology was existing for this and arcade games just aren't designed for that. And, like you said, the rise of online play services like Xbox live are now a thing. So, all these things contributed to this decline. But you guys, arcades are not gone. No, because guess what?
Speaker 1:They did bounce back, wow, I mean, they just look a little different than the ones we were talking about. The ones we remember are the ones we know. So we'll talk a little bit about modern day arcades now. So we made it through the 2000s there is a whole bunch of other history but I was like I got to stop there. You got to draw the line somewhere, because now we're going to talk about modern day and, honestly, like the late 90s, that's kind of where it's not relevant to us anymore. True, they did found a way to bounce back. Most arcades were unable to sustain on operating arcade games alone, so they had to start bringing in other stuff. So, like, remember I said the family fun centers? Yes, yeah, they had to have these other things. Plus, they have the redemption stupid redemption systems for prizes, which I hate.
Speaker 2:Like you were just talking about like now.
Speaker 1:Kids don't want to play, just to play. Most of the time they want to play to get something.
Speaker 2:Yes, and I I I'm sure that was everywhere, but I feel like Chuck E, Cheese and places like that really push that narrative.
Speaker 1:So we're going to do an episode on Chuck E Cheese and showbiz pizza.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's coming.
Speaker 1:Don't worry if you're like, why didn't you talk about it? That's why because we're going to do a whole episode. They need their whole showbiz pizza where a kid can be a kid. See, all right, we're ready. Maybe I have so many pictures of me, um, with my birthday party at chucky cheese, or it was probably showbiz.
Speaker 2:Pizza depends how old you were. Yeah, I was little, so it was probably showbiz pizza?
Speaker 1:um, I can think of one. Do you remember they had this little chair you could sit in and it would like go on a circle oh yeah, chucky, she still has it.
Speaker 2:They did yeah because my kids loved it and I remember just being like I also loved this, but why?
Speaker 1:I know it's so stupid like you go like five feet off the ground like we. It's weird. My dad probably could have picked me up higher, but I was like look at me in the chair and I have a little seat beltbelt and yeah, oh my God, okay.
Speaker 1:So anyway. So yeah, most arcades are now part of you know more extensive family fun centers that have drinks and prizes and blah. And arcades are having a resurgence due to nostalgia. Guess why? Because all the people who grew up with arcades are now middle aged or older and they're coming back, especially the whole concept of um, like paying just to play. Yes, right, where you just you just play. Barcades are like super popular right now.
Speaker 2:Oh, I've never heard that before.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and we have some local. There was one here that closed and it was so great. It was called game over and it was a barcade. You could I don't remember if they had food, but they had drinks and it was all retro games and it was small but they would also have like karaoke nights and it was a blast but it closed Dang. But we do have one here called Arcade Monsters. Yes, you've been there.
Speaker 2:I've been there.
Speaker 1:And that is. I mean, it's a family-friendly barcade, but they have food and drinks and one side is retro and the other side is more modern. They also have a whole pinball room oh dang yeah, troy loves it. Like that's where we can always find them, because usually when we go like we'll all split off because troy wants to lock in. Do?
Speaker 1:whatever he's doing cooper and, uh, kate want to do racing games, but we always end up playing a lot of skeeball, because I also like skeeball, I love skeeball. I'm really bad at it. But yeah, barcades are really popular. There was quite a few when we lived in missouri and kansas city fact, I think one was even called Barcade Real original with the name there. But yeah, so you can still go to an arcade, guys, especially if you're 21 plus, find you a Barcade.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a good time. What do you think? What are your personal feelings on? Like the Dave and Busters of the world?
Speaker 1:Okay, fun fact I've never been to a Dave and Busters but you win prizes there. Yeah, I don't like the. That's my thing. I don't mind like the family fun centers with all the shit and whatever. I just don't like the stupid prizes. And there's so many reasons why I don't like that. The waste is the number one reason, because you get these janky, cheap ass pieces of plastic mass produced somewhere that kids that break in five seconds or kids lose, and it's just wasteful.
Speaker 2:Yeah it's a lot of junk that's what I mean.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I, you know, I'm a minimalist when it comes to stuff and I used to hate that when my kids would go to like a birthday party at like. Chuggy cheese or wherever, and they'd come home with like stupid crap that was. I was like okay, that's going to break, and then it's going to go in the trash and end up in a landfill Right, like I'd much rather give you $20 and yes, it's gone in a little bit but like just go play and have fun.
Speaker 2:You just had fun playing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like the whole concept of just having a good time. Um, I, I, I. So, yeah, that what do you think I?
Speaker 2:I mean I like it. It is very much um. When you go to like a Dave and Buster's, it is very much commercialized, like it's very expensive, um, um. It's very overstimulating because it does have a lot of um more like physical sports games, like the basketball games and stuff like that, but it also has video arcade style stuff too. Um, it's it's not my favorite thing to go do, but I think it is nice because the whole family can come and play.
Speaker 2:They do have food and they do have drinks and they, you know whatever. They found a way to kind of bring in the people that enjoyed it before and then kind of bring your kids into it too and be like, hey, this is fun. What do you guys think?
Speaker 1:I think I'm not against chains of that sort, but I do like the more local arcades, yeah like arcade monsters is great.
Speaker 2:Oh it's great, so fun. I love going when it's not super busy.
Speaker 1:yeah, because it can be a lot, and I mean I love how they have it decorated. It's's very fun. They're always dressed up, always, and you get a discount if you go dressed up. But I never do, because my family's like please do not dress up.
Speaker 2:Swear Every time. I'm like ooh, they're like can we just be normal people? Please do not? Can we just pay the extra dollar and not have you dress up? I'm like there's so many things I could be guys. They're like no. Like Ms.
Speaker 1:Pac-Man, like they won't let me, but they do so. If you're local and you haven't been check them out, it's huge, it's huge, it's big.
Speaker 2:Or find one near you.
Speaker 1:Just Google local arcade or local barcade and I bet you'll find one you have to be tricky in Florida because I didn't realize that they also also call, like gambling places, arcades. Really, yeah, you know that Because you'll see the signs for them places, and it'll say like arcade. And I'm like, oh, look at all these arcades and Troy's like no, no, that's like slot machines and stuff that's weird. Yeah, I don't like that. I don't know what that is, something with laws.
Speaker 2:I'm know what that is something with laws and I'm sure it's just like you're allowed to call it like you're like video poker and like yeah, weird, I don't think of those as arcade games strange.
Speaker 2:But hello, hello, roots and gambling. I mean, yeah, I mean it's all related. I guess. If there's any way you make money off it and there is an element of chance, I guess that is gambling, yeah, but if you're, if there's an, even, if there's an element of chance, but there's no way you'll make money, right, that's not gambling, that's just you being like I'm gonna spend money to have fun, right, which is no different than like any other activity where you would spend money to have fun right I don't know anyway, well, that was a long episode yes, I loved it, but anyway, we can't end our episode without two trivia questions.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, you better grab them, because last time my butt nearly knocked the entire setup over.
Speaker 1:What if I would have fallen out of my chair?
Speaker 2:I was actually wondering if that might happen, but it didn't. Is this right? Did I do eighties last time? I don't remember. I'll do nine, you do eight, all right.
Speaker 1:So since we're talking about 80s and 90s, I will do 80s first. Guys, if you're new here, at the end of every episode, play along with us. We do one trivia question from our like totally 80s pop culture trivia game and hella 90s pop culture trivia game.
Speaker 2:So one of each.
Speaker 1:Today I'm doing 80s for Katie. Okay, and here we go. I'm ready. I don't want to do pictures.
Speaker 2:I know I was thinking I want to find one that's not a picture.
Speaker 1:Okay, this is a good one. Katie, what color is Shira's cape?
Speaker 2:Ooh, shira, it's gotta be green. No, no, it's red.
Speaker 1:You can see it now yeah, let me see.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but there's no picture. No, yeah, I can see it now. Yeah, I wasn't a huge shira fan. What I mean? I don't dislike her I had shira and her oh she's animated, but I mean you could have played with the toy oh wait, oh wait. The YouTubers got to see that face.
Speaker 1:Oh wait, Never mind Toys Okay.
Speaker 2:Who am I talking to? Here we go. I've got 90s. All right, it's a 90s spelling bee. Great, just spell the name. Oh, we'll give you two tries Janine Garofalo, all right.
Speaker 1:Her name is so hard because I always say it. I used to say it wrong. Is it G? I mean not G, erase, erase, it's.
Speaker 2:J-E-A.
Speaker 1:No, that's wrong.
Speaker 2:I don't know just tell me, because I always spell her first time so for those that don't know who she is, she was a comedic voice, wait is it j-a-n-e?
Speaker 1:no, what is it?
Speaker 2:you were. You were on the right track, I know, but I can't J-A-N-E, a-n-e. Yes, jane, jane.
Speaker 1:Anne, but it's Janine.
Speaker 2:Janine, yeah, and then Garofalo is G-A-R-O-F-A-L-O.
Speaker 1:Yeah, gar-o-f-a-l-o. I just knew I was going to scramble that. That was a good one, yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh, and Romeo and Michelle's High School Reunion. Oh, yeah, yeah, which by the way.
Speaker 1:They're making a sequel and I cannot wait.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, that's going to be great. We'll have to watch the first one and the second one and do episodes about both. Yeah, reality Bites is on our list.
Speaker 1:Don't worry growing list.
Speaker 2:We just need to record every day and then we'll be fine. Alright, guys, it is 5 o'clock on a Saturday. We're going to go, we are out. Join us on Patreon for more bonus content and listen to our Dawson's Creek episodes too, and we'll see you next time. Bye.
