Retrospect: the arcade, part 0

Self-tutoring about life in the past: the tutor recalls and reflects….

Video games came out when I was a kid – PacMan, for instance, when I was 11. I never played PacMan much, but I loved video arcades. They were exciting places to be, for a kid.

Visiting a bigger town or city, of course you’d end up at the mall. (Back then, I think malls were more common than now. For instance, separate big-box stores didn’t exist, that I knew of. People shopped at department stores, which tended to be attached to malls.)

One arcade I recall visiting – I’m not sure where – was most surprising. Walking by, it looked not more than a stall: you could see only about four games, two on each side of a short, narrow room. The walking space between the games was so tight, you had to brush past the players to enter.

I watched about 10 people enter it in two minutes, while no-one exited. Ten people couldn’t fit in the place as I’d assessed; I realized its extent must be larger. I decided to thread my way between the gamers aligned at the entrance. Inside was very dark.

The narrow way led into an expanse on two floors. From the dark, dozens of video games broadcast their sound effects while flashes of light silhouetted anonymous players’ faces. Throngs of kids huddled around the various games or held court in corners by the stair landings. It truly was altered reality, in 1984.

I wasn’t familiar with any of the games there, nor did I feel bold enough to play in such an impressive arena. I milled about, looking for games I’d never seen, and catching the excitement of the milieu. Eventually I had to leave, but told myself I would return, when I next could. Of course, I was 14, and had no power to make that happen, so it never did.

As a kid in such a place, I always thought about the others I saw, who could simply go there any day they wanted, since they lived in that town. Looking back, I wonder what living there might have been like.

One more thing: even at age 14, I wondered how such a cramped arrangement, in which you had to nudge past players to enter and exit, was permitted. I’ve never seen such a set-up since; it’s almost like it didn’t exist.

I wonder what’s in that location now? It was somewhere in the Maritimes, in 1984.