My love of video games goes back 42 years, it’s 1978 and I’m five years old. The first time I saw Space Invaders at my local milk bar in St Albans, I was mesmerized and hooked forever. Those black and white graphics and strips of colour, the iconic artwork on the side of the cabinet, and that pulsating sound. It may not be the first arcade game released but in my five-year-old mind, it’s all that mattered!
Throughout the years from 1978 to 1980, there was an explosion of arcade games and they started appearing everywhere. In shopping centers, in cafes and takeaway shops, and places like 7-11 and even at the cinemas. There were Atari’s Asteroids with those crisp vector graphics, Namco’s seminal Galaxians, the first game to use tile-based graphics, Sega’s Monaco GP, probably the first driving game I ever played, and the cocktail version of Nintendo’s highly addictive Sheriff. Whenever I saw an arcade machine, I would relentlessly pester my parents for whatever spare change they had and patiently wait my turn to play while they went off to shop.
I look back at my childhood with such fond memories. My Mum worked in the city, so we frequented places like Myer and other department stores and to see the latest movies at Village, Hoyts and Greater Union (this is before the local malls had cinemas). And of course, this involved many a visit to the local arcade centers. In Melbourne we were certainly spoilt for choice. We had Orbit on Elizabeth St, Flashback, and Orbit2b on Bourke St, Coin Play on Russell St and 10/4 Amusements on Swanston St. Being so close to Japan, Australia, and particularly Melbourne, received the latest games as soon as they were released. We certainly had a thriving arcade industry. I will never forget when I first played Pac Man, Moon Patrol, Gyruss, Joust, Karate Champ, Kung Fu Master, Xevious, Galaga, Donkey Kong, Dragon’s Lair, Punch-Out!! and many, many more.
The year 1982 was particularly important in my gaming history. Seeing as though I could only play video games in the arcades, I wanted, heck I needed a system to play on at home. And of course, the only thing I wanted was an Atari VCS. I pleaded with my parents to buy one for my birthday or Christmas or whatever! Unfortunately, they weren't exactly cheap, in '82 they were priced at $299 which was equivalent to a week’s wage. I would love to say that the VCS was my first console, but it wasn’t. That prize goes to the Hanimex Tempest TV Game Console, essentially a Pong clone that had a cartridge slot. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy to get it, but all the games were two-player only and let’s face it, it was very basic.
Seeing the slight disappointment on my face, my parents finally caved in and purchased the last of the four switch wood veneer VCSs with Combat, two controllers, and the two paddles from Ted’s Cameras on Elizabeth St. I even got a copy of Pac Man with the bundle. Can I say that was one of the happiest days of my life?! I was beaming from ear to ear and I couldn’t wait to get home and start playing. After 30 mins of unpacking and setup, I was gaming till the wee hours of the morning. From memory, I‘m pretty sure it was school holidays as no way Mum was going to let me stay up late. Within two years, my collection grew from two games to round 65!
It was a glorious time to be alive. With frequent visits to the arcades and my ever-growing Atari collection, my gaming knowledge and skills were getting better and better. I was voraciously buying computer and video game magazines and soaking up all that information. This led to my next obsession, the Commodore 64...but that’s a story for another time.
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