My childhood love of gaming grew in bars, not arcades. Let me explain.

in #gaming6 years ago

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I grew up on a small family farm in Nebraska. We produced corn and soybeans and raised a small herd of cattle. While the ‘city kids’ could walk or bike to each other’s houses, meet at the park or hang out to watch Nickelodeon, I didn’t have the chance to experience that kind of childhood. In retrospect, it was good for me to have chores and responsibilities. I also developed a strong imagination, where I had a huge amount of open space to explore and turn into my own little kingdom.

Our house was way out in the country on gravel roads; the closest paved road was three miles from our house. The nearest town had a scant population of just 81, while the other small towns in the area were no bigger than 600 residents. This is a very rural area.

When we did go to a larger town to go shopping or run errands, it was usually just the grocery store, hardware store or the bank. Not much fun for kids, but me and my brother tried to make the best of it. One of the grocery stores we shopped at had two arcade games near the exit — Dig Dug and Pole Position. I was mesmerized by these massive machines that were dedicated to a single video game, and they were my first introduction to what would become a life-long hobby.

Unfortunately for me, my mom wasn’t going to leave me unattended to play those games while she shopped, so I could only drool over the games in passing as we left the store. I’d have to wait to get my first taste of the gaming drug.


Image: Daily Herald

Eventually, the bars in the tiny towns near our farm started to get arcade games. It was there that I finally had a chance to play these machines! Hanging out in bars, not arcades, is where my love of gaming was solidified as a child.

Now I think a short explanation is in order. When you think of ‘bars’, you probably conjure something quite different from the small town bars of rural Nebraska. These are very small towns that often just have a gas station, a church, a post office, a grocery store and a bar (or two). These bars were simply where people gathered to hang out. While they did serve booze and a thick layer of cigarette smoke permeated the place, it wasn’t weird for kids to hang out there too. It’s more like a bar and grill than just a drinking establishment. They sold candy and soda pop. There was a kitchen that kicked out charburgers and pizza. And they usually had a gaming area.

In the 70’s, these ‘gaming areas’ evolved from jukeboxes, pool tables and dartboards to adding arcade games in the early 80’s. This is where I experienced video games for the first time. I recall one year mom and dad took us to a fish fry at one of the two bars in this small town. This place was over 100 years old, with a massive wooden bar, ornate woodwork and booths where people could sit for a drink or have a meal. In the corner of the room there was always an arcade game, and they rotated them regularly. I remember sitting in that corner of the bar for what seemed like hours, dropping quarters into Galaga, Karate Champ, Mr. Do’s Castle and The Goonies. I eventually got good enough to play for a decent amount of time on a single quarter.


Image: Polygon

The other bar in that tiny town was where we stopped for a Sunday paper and candy after church every Sunday. It was here where I got my first taste of Jungle Hunt and Tron. While it was great that I was able to extend how far a quarter would take me, I can’t imagine how obnoxious it was for my parents to sit around waiting for me to lose my last life so we could get home.

While I did get an Atari 2600 from my parents in the early 80’s, we didn’t have many games for it and nothing on that console could compare to the amazing games I was able to play on a full-size arcade machine. Eventually, an arcade opened up in mall of the ‘big’ town where we ran errands and at that point, I was done. I was hooked, and even as a kid I knew that I’d be playing these games for the rest of my life.

Last week were were hanging out with some friends and I explained how I love the smell of cigarette smoke. I don’t, nor have I ever been a smoker, but that smell triggers my childhood memories of sitting down on a stool in front of a Ms. Pac Man or Donkey Kong machine and a wave of nostalgia comes over me. These are very fond memories, and the experiences with arcade games that I had in those smoky small town bars shaped the video game obsessed adult that I am today.

So where did you first discover your love for video games? Was it at the arcade? A kiosk in a department store? Machines set up in the corner of 7/11? Let's discuss!


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My first real memories from arcade games come from a Pizza Hut. One that we went to on occasion had a cocktail version of Omega Race and a Ms. Pac-Man. So if there is one smell I associate with arcade games, it is pizza. Much better than cigarette smoke. :)

Oh yeah, Pizza Hut! The one that we went to had Track & Field and Legendary Wings machines in the lobby for years and it was a great way to burn some minutes while waiting for a table!

I was lucky to be raised with 2 big sisters that had an NES, Super Nintendo, and Sega Genesis. We played Mario Brothers, and Sonic the Hedgehog since I was about 3 years old. I say played loosely because I basically put my hands on their hands and tried to figure out how to play by seeing what they did. Later on at my sitter's house, a parents friend and now I consider her my second mom, her sons had a PS1. I played the shit out of that with them, and I would watch them play games, and that developed into me picking up games at the little rental store in Kroger and at a Video Vault. I played titles like Tomba, Klonoa, Spyro, Tekken 1-3, Medieval and other random games. I loved it. I also loved getting those demo discs!

Eventually I found a demo disc with some of my still-favorite games of today on it. I remember it had Silent Hill 4, Burnout 3 Takedown, Metal Gear Solid 3, Shadow of the Colossus and other games that I love that I can't quite remember what they are now. You're probably thinking, that's a damn great collection, and it was. I didn't know what Silent Hill 4 was, and I thought it looked kind of stupid. Funny thing is, Silent Hill is now my favorite game series, and Silent Hill 4 is my favorite game. Burnout 3 is also my favorite driving game with the best soundtrack ever, and SOTC is obviously awesome.

Anyways, that was my experience with how I found my love for videogames.

Thank you for sharing. My older daughter is 4 and I will soon be breaking out some old consoles so we can start gaming together, from the beginning starting out on the 2600.

That does sound like an amazing demo disc. Those are some of the best games released on the PS2!

I can't even imagine growing up so far away from an arcade. Glad you still found gaming.

The nearby town where the arcade went in was about 25 miles away, but I dragged my parents there every chance I had :)

Great post!
Thanks for tasting the eden!

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A Rastan machine at the pizza place walking distance from my house. I can still here the theme music. So many quarters.

The neighbors got an Atari in the 80s and all the kids in the neighborhood would gather there to play it. Since they had it no one else's parents felt obliged to buy one lol Not long after my parents bought us a Commodore 64 which had a lot of games on it which I played a ton but also at that time I was old enough to go to the mall arcade adjacent to the theatre. At that time also Showbiz pizza was very popular and it was also near the mall so there was a path between the two. That era also almost every pack a sack had some kind of game. Older and drinking age all the bars had games as well but more the flat table kind that were drink friendly.

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