nostalgia overload

One of the super-useful bits of advice I picked up somewhere about writing and blogging goes like this: most people can’t write for a book and a blog at the same time, because our brains get different kinds of feedback and rewards from each. For most of us, if we had to pick, we’ll write in our blogs because the feedback and interaction is more immediate and rewarding, and it trains us to write short bursts instead of longer narrative pieces.

YMMV, of course, but I can’t do both, and I’m having such a good time writing this thing that I’m writing, I really don’t want to stop until it’s done, so here’s something that should be entertaining until I get back[1]:

Actual recordings of classic video games, digitized from the original cassette recordings.

We recorded our video game experiences from 1982 until 1988 in a variety of locations on the east coast. Most of the recordings come from Ithaca, NY, Albany, NY and Ocean City, MD. Other locations include Lancaster, PA, Falmouth, MA, Rehoboth Beach, DE and Key West, FL.

Luckily I stored all fourteen audio tapes in a safe place and rediscovered them when I moved the rest of my stuff out of my parents house in 1997. In the last several years I digitized these nostalgic recordings to preserve and share them.

This is the most wonderful thing, ever. You get the little kid commentary about games that suck, the occasional burst of excitement when a difficult level is cleared, and the pure unadulterated joy of hearing the other games around the one they were recording. For maximum fun, I suggest putting it in a tab you aren’t looking at, and see how long it takes you to identify the sound clips once they start playing.

Man, I wish I had room and the money for a few arcade cabinets, or at least a MAME cabinet. I’m going to keep on reaching for that goal.

Hey, this’ll be fun: you can have any four classic arcade games in the world. Maintenance and cost aren’t a factor, and there’s no ROM swapping. Which ones to you pick? It’s really tough, but more fun if you don’t spend a ton of time thinking about it, so it’s right off the top of your head. Here are mine:

  1. Robotron
  2. Spyhunter (sit down version)
  3. Galaga
  4. Tempest

You also get one pinball machine. I pick Creature from the Black Lagoon.

When you get tired of riding the nostalgia train, you may want to unwind with the Cerebral or Medieval music collections from Magnatune.

[1] I am well aware that you can all get along just fine without me, I just needed a segue and that was the best I could do on short notice.

90 thoughts on “nostalgia overload”

  1. Nooooooooooo!!! Don’t go! Well, OK… Since you’re still writing, and I’m sure to purchase whatever it is you’re working on, go ahead…
    Sunken Treasure was a party full of awesome win. Thank you. Can’t wait for Looking forward to more.

  2. 1. Robotron
    2. Major Havoc
    3. Moon Patrol
    4. Pac-Man
    That’s too hard…too many great games from back then. I’d want Mappy and Flicky and Gaplus and Tempest and Tac-Scan and Phoenix and Subroc-3D and Donkey Kong and Tutankham and Xevious and bunches of others, too.
    Still kicking myself for selling my sit-down Star Wars game, but I didn’t have room for it.
    Thanks for the link…great find indeed!

  3. Battlezone
    Moon Patrol
    Galaga
    Centipede
    But they wouldn’t get much play because I’d be all over my original Terminator pinball machine

  5. Boy, I’m so lame I’d probably just pick Pong (yes, Pong) and Tempest.
    As for book vs blog: For me they kind of meld together, since I’m posting my chapter drafts. Best of both worlds, even if both worlds are weird. 🙂 See you when you get back!
    **am wearing my dice shirt, so not completely lame…**

  6. Speaking of Nostalgia…
    The Airport Radisson in Buffalo, NY still has this odd Greenish stain on their ballroom ceiling… Been there since 1991… I just by chance happened to run across some pictures from that time that include both you and I, WITH the mysterious green ball of goop…
    Oddly enough I found it in a box of old tapes from bands I was in in High School and other odds and ends my Mom sent me…
    LOL
    Hope all is well!
    Sam.
    You might remember me as the annoyed/ing Klingon that was head of your security detail at that particular Con…

  7. 1) Star Wars (sitdown)
    2) BattleZone (periscope)
    3) Gauntlet (for when I’ve got mates over)
    4) Space Lords
    And for the pin, it has to be TNG Pinball.

  8. thanks for the music links – the medieval music is soothing away my grumpiness 😉 *now discovering john rutter’s ‘Dancing Day’*
    as for arcade games – i never had the chnace to play in arcades growing up, but i did enjoy the games on the old BBC computers at school
    1: Chuckie Egg (there is an emulator version about whih is awesome)
    2: mega monsters (no-one EVER remembers this except me)
    i was always more into books…

  9. Sometimes multitasking is not all it’s cracked up to be.
    Actually, it never is. There’s something to be said for focus.
    If I did research this list would certainly change… but in the spirit of the task:
    1.Gauntlet
    2.Spyhunter
    3.Mickey Thompsons Offroad
    4.Joust
    If I had all the quarters that I pumped into Gauntlet over the years I could surely buy all four of those and the original Hard Drivin’. Actually Hard Drivin’ should be number 4… but I won’t change it now.
    Oh, Pinball… Terminator, no question.

  13. Define classic. 🙂 I’m going to pick from the games I played at the arcade/anywhere that had a console when I was a kid in the late 80s. Just four? Hm…
    1. Space Invaders
    2. Ms. Pac-Man
    3. the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game
    4. Super Mario Bros.
    I never paid any attention to what pinball machine I played (I was just happy to grab a free one.) so, because it amuses me, I’d pick to have the TNG pinball machine.
    TMNT isn’t probably classic in the early 80s idea of classic but I loved that game so much in the early 90s! If TMNT doesn’t count I’d take Donkey Kong.
    Cheers!

  15. 1. Tron
    2. Gauntlet II (four elves ftw!)
    3. Major Havoc (my son bouhgt me a cd-rom that lets me play this on my PC)
    4. I forget the name of the last one, but it’s a top-scrolling shooter where one of the power-ups was a purple lightning gun that would curl around your enemies.
    Pinball: 007

  17. Probably not a classic, but the only arcade cabinet I would want to own:
    Battletech arcade pod.
    Those things were awesome! I think they were only running Mechwarrior 2 or 3, but they were still without a doubt my most treasured arcade experience.

  18. Tell me how many people freaked out the first time they heard Q-Bert smack the bottom of the cabinet after he fell off the pyramid?
    Wil your taste mirror mine, all except SpyHunter, so my list would be:
    1. Robotron
    2. Galaxian
    3. Galaga
    4. Tempest
    Here is a fun story, once upon a time in local arcade called Magic Galaxy a friend and I both put in a token to play Robotron. We both played for awhile and then he lost all his guys and died. However on I was a tear, kicking the most ass I’ve ever kicked in that game. My friend goes home to eat lunch, then comes back to the arcade, and I’m STILL PLAYING the same game.
    That right! I played over 4 hours on a single token. I damn near rolled the score counter on it! Its was AWESOME!
    After I finally died I walked home across the golf course half nauseous and dancing mommies and mikies and those accursed flying stars plauged my vision for about 20 minutes after I stopped playing. Damn I miss Magic Galaxy! Getting the Red Token, which meant it was worth 10 tokens instead of 1! Good time.
    btw, New Star Trek game based on the movie looks to be in the works. I wrote up a small piece on it at my site ( http://StarTrek-Games.com ).
    Wil, any chance you’d like to write an article to post on the site? I’d do just about anything, even let you go first on Battlezone!

  19. Sorry to hijack, but I suspect Wil is to modest to mention this himself.
    FYI to everyone…Wil is up against Joss Whedon in Paul and Storm’s “GEEK MADNESS: The Battle for Secretary of Geek Affairs.” This is for all the marbles and he’s going to need some help. Here’s a handy link that hopefully works…
    http://www.paulandstorm.com/wha/geek-madness/
    Vote early. Vote often.

  20. Oddly enough, I’d prefer to comment on the first statement here; the part about the differences between writing for publication and writing for a blog. While you (Wil) may feel that writing for a blog is easier, I have to argue that the book is easier, even if you don’t get published right away. True, the blog is momentary and doesn’t necessarily have to be thoroughly thought out, but at least for me, coming up with some little notation of whatever subject on a regular basis would have me out of ideas within a week.
    Even now, having been invited to a French blogging site called etoilesdencre.forum-actif.net, trying to write a story as a blog on anything like a daily basis is difficult. Writing in a style so different from what you’re used to is even more so. I’ll comment to other blogs. I’ll even make comments to my own story postings. But I don’t see myself trying to blog as you do.

  21. Four seemed downright luxurious until I had to start choosing…
    1. Ms. Pac Man
    2. Kangaroo
    3. Joust
    4. Gauntlet
    I was originally going to ask if Gauntlet “counted” since it might be too modern, but then I see that some people have chosen more recent ones. Honorable mentions: Mr. Do, Popeye, Pengo, and Crystal Castles.

  22. 1. Dig Dug
    2. Ghosts n Goblins
    3. Altered Beast
    4. Gauntlet
    No pinball. I usually got pushed outta the way by some douch(e) bag bigger than me so I had to settle for aforementioned. Thank god for Midnight Magic though.
    I can’t belive you forgot Kid Nikki!! 😀

  25. PS-in the geek madness poll, Wil was leading by leaps and bounds at first. Then the call went out at Whedonesque, and the stats have flip-flopped. I’m probably the biggest Browncoat for miles, but when push comes to shove in the Geek Vote, it’s Wil all the way for me.
    So, I’m with Vulpine-vote, geeks, vote!
    Oh, and look for my blog about this contest on the SFX Magazine site in a few days! I’ll try to post a link!

  26. great music selections :)however, no nostaglia overload here- i never got past the first level of ms. pacman! i’d get too into the game, forget which is right & left, & lose *really* quickly.

  28. Wow – we have very similar taste in games! I’ve never heard of Spyhunter, so my list would be:
    Robotron
    Tempest
    Galaga
    Centipede

  29. Spyhunter
    Star Wars
    Joust
    Space Duel
    and the Starship Troopers pinball machine. 🙂
    Now, I actually have a cabinet in my garage. It was an old Street Fighter 2 machine that wasn’t supposed to work so I got it for free. My plan was to convert it into a MAME cabinet and have something for my kids to get annoyed with me as I constantly tried to get them to play my favorite ‘classics’.
    I plugged it in and kicked it real hard just for fun and damn if it didn’t turn on. It’s been running ever since. So, when it dies I’ll finish converting it, until then…
    Shoooooruyken!
    Now I’m hooked on the new SF4 game that’s out. Eclypze on PSN so if anyone wants to play me, insert your virtual quarter now. 🙂

  30. Oddly, most of my favourites were vector graphic games.
    Asteroids
    Battlezone
    Star Wars (1983 sit down version)
    Bubble Bobble
    And, if I can choose one more in lieu of a pinball machine I’d have the original Donkey Kong. I remember playing that to death one holiday back in ’82.

  35. I used to pump quarters into all sorts of arcade games. How come the “newer” ones arent nearly as much fun??
    1. Time Pilot ’84 (at the Fays Drugs near my house growing up).
    2. Xevious (at the Model and hobby shop).
    3. Gyruss (Loved the Beethoven rendering in Arcade sound).
    4. Dig Dug (who ISNT amused by killing things with an Airpump?).
    Honorable mention to: Mr. Do!
    played more pinball in my teens and college.. so my Favorite was The Simpsons (at the Clemson University Student Union)
    Hey Man! We’re both underachievers!!
    thanks for the stroll down fond memory lane!

  36. Armor Alley (no, not the three-sixty version, the original vector jeeps vs tanks)
    Ikari Warriors
    Star Trek (sit down)
    Sinistar
    Pinball? Terminator 2, of course.
    (long time reader, first time commenter, nice work, Wil!)

  38. Space Duels! My husband and I traveled around the country in ’86 in our small camper, stopping in towns and searching for the local arcades. We used to set the high score on Space Duels all the time. Several years later we visited Las Vegas and encountered a Space Duels machine with our high score still on it. What a blast. The best thing about that game was you were not shooting each other, but working together as a team.

  39. 1. Galaga 3*
    2. Ms. Pac-Man
    3. Dragon’s Lair
    4. Super Mario Bros
    Pin: Pirates of the Caribbean*
    * My wife got me into Pinball and we bought a new in box Pirates of the Caribbean 2 years ago. Last week I picked up a Galaga 3 cocktail arcade.

  40. Does anyone remember Kung Fu? Mid-80’s game, I think there were like 6 levels. Guy had basically three moves;high kick, leg sweep, punch. End of each level was a dragon to fight. These bad guys and potted plants would attack you?
    Yeah, me either.

  42. Awesome! Just looking at that picture gives me goose-bumpy flashbacks to the arcade in a Jersey hotel my family visited every summer. I was addicted. Once, got so jammed up to play Kung Fu I left the hotel room with all my quarters and none of my shorts. Walked out in just underwear. Locked out. Had to go to front desk to get a key. Mortified.

  43. Top 4 would be:
    1) Robotron
    2) Tempest
    3) Black Tiger
    4) Galaga
    And Wil, you should look into building a Mame cabinet. I built two $100 each (recycling two used computers).
    Blue Lightning Mame Arcade
    http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=85645.0
    The Final Fantasy modular Bartop
    http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=87113.msg914585#msg914585
    Now mind you the first one is a wee bit rough because it was my first go…but still it serves the purpose and during gaming nights of poker or D&D us old timers give it a good workout.
    Oh and btw…Kings are going down tonight! Go Canucks go! 😉

  44. On the topic of writing, a technical question: do you do strong editing on your blog entries? or are you naturally so coherent? I don’t mean that to sound flip, but I’m just wondering because I have a tough time editing my own writing (which I think is a fairly common problem). I mean, I wrote it, of course it’s right! I wasn’t sure if/how you resolved that problem for you – or if you have any advice on this particular topic for an aspiring writer. Thanks if you do!! If not, maybe I’ll just learn from your example :o)

  45. 1. Galaga
    2. Ms. Pac Man
    3. Centipede
    4. Asteroids
    And may I recommend a cheap video game that gives some of the thrills of pinball arcades? We picked up Pinball Hall of Fame, the Gottlieb Collection, used, at a local GameStop for about 8 bucks. It has reproductions of classic pinball tables from the past, and it’s a real hoot to play. Our 8 year old loves it…I’m hoping to find some real-life pinball machines near us to take her to see sometime.

  47. I’d rather pick four pinball machines:
    1. The Machine: Bride of Pinbot
    2. Earthshaker
    3. Taxi
    4. Star Wars
    And I’ll take one coin-op video game:
    Galaga ’88

  49. 1. Ajax
    2. Discs of Tron
    3. Tron
    4. Star Wars
    Pinball- Terminator 2
    BTW, the Terminator 2 arcade game would be at the top of the list except that I already own one. 🙂
    Oh man, I love listening to classic arcade recordings! I’m surprised that nobody has thus far mentioned the Arcade Ambience project (http://arcade.hofle.com/). Using MAME, a mixer, and sound samples of change machines, etc., they’ve put together realistic ambient arcade soundtracks. There are tracks for games you’d find in a typical well-stocked arcade in 1981, 1983, 1986, and 1992. (They’re free downloads, BTW.) The only thing that’s missing is the voices of people playing the games, which is actually a plus because you can put a single track on repeat and just leave it running in the background. On even the crappiest day, getting ready for work in the morning can be a wonderful nostalgic experience!

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