It was the early eighties. The corner store at Boundary Road a few blocks from where I lived had Pinball machines – which I wasn’t very good at! We used to watch and marvel at the kids from other schools who were always winning free games with their incredible high scores.
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Then one day I walked in and there was a shiny new machine sitting in the corner. I had a few coins in my pocket from the fledgling screen printing business I had started.
With some trepidation I walked over and placed a coin in and I had my first experience of Space Invaders. My few coins were part of $6.6 billion generated by the game over its arcade life.
It wasn’t long before we saw Asteroids and Donkey Kong and, the big one – Pac-Man.
This is generally regarded as the biggest arcade game of all time and has generated $7.7 billion in arcade revenue!
While I thought I could finally beat those kids from the other schools, it turned out that Pinball skills were quickly transferable to video games.
And so it is today. There is a nostalgia-fuelled boom in retro games at the moment.
While the list of most popular video games of all time sees names such as Fortnite; Minecraft; World of Warcraft; Grand Theft Auto; Call of Duty; Pokémon and other modern variants with incredible graphics and complicated game play, there is a growing attraction with some of the simple arcade games with (slightly enhanced) basic graphics.
At least at one level you can feel competitive with your children.
When I play some of the modern games against my kids, I feel as though there is so much going on in the game play that I will need months of training just to understand what is happening before I can then be competitive.
The original arcade games were relying on very basic processors by current standards so the graphics had to be simple and the game play basic.
I was overly impressed as a teenager in the eighties but they seem so simple compared to what we see today.
What does become quickly apparent is that parents can finally be competitive with their kids as they remember their old tactics with Pac-Man and Frogger and Super Mario Bros.
Take advantage of it while you can though.
What is also quickly apparent is that, just the same as those Pinball skills were quickly transferable, my kids didn’t take long before they started beating me at ‘my’ games.
Admittedly most of this retro resurgence is driven by parents reliving their youth but there is a growing trend of young gamers watching videos on YouTube and learning about the original video games.
Parents are encouraging their kids as well.
Not just because they may finally be able to play a game and understand what is happening but there is also an appeal for parents in games that are not violent and aren’t connected to the Internet where bullying and cyber-stalking are constant concerns.
Parents are also attracted to the increased social nature of retro games. You play until Blinky; Pinky; Inky or Clyde gobble you up and then the next player has their turn.
You sit patiently and wait until you have another attempt at avoiding the ghosts.
You might have three or four gathered around a console and there might even be a conversation happening at the same time. Sounds social, fun and entertaining.
To add to the appeal, you can play retro games on modern devices or you can pay a very small sum for a gaming pad that feels just like the arcade games but it displays on your modern TV.
Whether it is some of the original classics like Space Invaders and Asteroids or some of the ‘newer’ arcade games such as Street Fighter or NBA Jam or Mortal Kombat, check out your favourite retro game, brush up on your skills and invite your kids to a contest. Just make it a quick contest before they learn the secrets!
