Season 3, episode 20 of the podcast my brother rand I do about "growing up Atari" is about the local arcade we frequented in the 80's and how it was used as filming location for an episode of CHiPs. We have a story about the arcade and then we recap the entire CHiPs episode.
https://intotheverticalblank.com/2020/10/04/s3e20-the-ballad-of-castle-park-arcade/
In 1980 Atari yanked this game From it's catalog Amazing box art Bait and switch for this bizarre Unplayable mess E.T. and Pac-Man Don't even chart next to Star Ship The worst game ever
I had an old blog Filled With Haiku But I Cannot Access It It Is linked To An Ancient Email Address So Here I am Now Posting My Haiku For The Love Of Atari Beauty And Sadness
Hypnotic death notes Each block wails an 8-bit tone Blinks out then silence Burrow A Hole Through Your color-banded shield Watch ball go ape-crap Difficulty B Paddle too tiny. Back to Difficulty A One last little block Yes! I cleared level two What? No Level Three?
Gave me 4 more K Gave me a tape interface Thanks, you gave me hope Mind master mazes Find the shapes, solve the puzzles Was I a lab rat? Frogger on cassette Pummeled frogger on cartridge Back to the stone age A real RPG? Dragonstomper came very close But I could not save
The Hall Of Champions Choose the four to venture forth Go into the depths Hey, are you hungry? How about a few wormrounds? Mmm, taste good don't they? Can't solve a puzzle? Try stepping backwards champion Find the pressure plates Need more ninja levels Drop everything, start throwing Down the hall and up Repeat this for hours Have I made neophyte yet? Hey, I'm an expert! I see the ending Lord Chaos, teleporting! STOP TELEPORTING!!!
Looking for computers I see you under the glass Evil Asteroids Your brown box taunts me Sixty-Six variations Well worth the money? Asteroids float up Nothing like the arcade game Asteroids float down A wave of nausea Thigh stings from the pain of a Hole burnt in pocket Yet, I still play it Home is not like the arcade But it temps me so The beat transcends all Hypnotic flashing space rocks I give into it
On black and white roads Through sleepy suburbs we drive Must get to the fire You sit and I stand Grab your wheel and prepare to haul The house is burning Time is running out Swing the cab over right, I will Swing the ladder left We never make it The road is always too long The flames burn forever
Crush Crumble And Chomp You are a monster, you live You eat, you destroy Bash through the city Police cars chase, shoot to kill Yum! Very Tasty Here come tanks and planes You fight, the battle is fierce Yet, you carry on What, a scientist? Is that his secret weapon? Monster dead. Restart.
In my Snow Speeder Skywalker, is damned chump Compared to me AT AT's aim for our Last Power generator They will not succeed Tracking the walkers I evade their laser bolts My attack run starts I swoop down at them Aiming for the head, I fire Their armor is tough I spot a weakness The metal beast's neck flashes I'm in for the kill Metallic legs drop Knee bolts crush under the weight The body explodes
'77 X-Wing battles fueled my Seven year old dreams Video games soon Represented the far far Away galaxy But not exactly. Space Invaders, Asteroids And Galaxian Every enemy Was a tie fighter, every Hero, an X-wing Until finally, 1983, Star Wars Got its own coin-op Pilot an X-wing The Hulking Death star awaits Your vector attack Dive into the trench Fire the proton torpedoes Goodbye exhaust port! At 13 years old My Star Wars dreams realized I could now move on
A squad of three men Are attached together forever They have but one goal Moving as a team Kicking out towards the ball Just like chorus girls Totally in-tune In-sync, attached forever Complete unison Their goalie watches Mesmerized by our footwork The shot comes quickly Into the corner The crowd erupts, the sky lights With a fireworks show!
Ever winding road The dwindling sunlight puts my Life in grave danger Paddle controller Rests in my left hand, my thumb Ready to hit the gas Right hand steers the car I can't stray outside the lines Certain death awaits Time ticks ever downward The horizon forever black All an illusion?
Every store sold games I bought Star League Baseball at The May Company! Liners Or Sluggers Choose from four different pitches Such Simplicity! Isometric view The whole field on screen at once Such economy! 7th inning stretch Ads displayed on the scoreboard 'Twas love at first sight
1983 Computers still a hobby User groups flourish We found our local Set of fans in the back of Antic Magazine South Bay Atari Computer Enthusiasts A gaggle of geeks Met in a small hall Across from a gay bar in North Redondo Beach Lucasfilm once came To show us their first two games Before they were out Atari ruled No 'Commode-Door' 64s Allowed anywhere The high-tech lost cause Relentless devotion to A fading image
The back of the store 1977 Right of the housewares Next to the fire door Heavy Sixer with Combat! Two wide-eyed kids Thumbs on the buttons CX-40s in our palms Hands and eyes in-sync "This f-ing rules man!" "cool-ass games on a TV!" "Much better than Pong!" Tanks, bi-planes and jets Bouncing shots, racking-up scores We play while mom shops "This aint no arcade" Yells the TV salesman in The C&R suit He says "That's it boys" He then hits the power switch "Now get outta here!" We
Prototype lifestyle Sitting on a shelf somewhere Waiting to have life They programmed me to Launch the 5200 Into hearts and minds My graphics are great As if you were in the arcade But with no vectors I am unwieldly I cannot be controlled I'm a maverick I am still just code A burned eprom demo A shadow, a ghost I sit in the dark Longing for a shipping date Not my destiny
Plays video games? Strap two on and go skiing Those babies were huge Kicked Gameboy's ass Color graphics, stereo sound But no one noticed Too few game choices No ads, no distribution Same Atari Corp.
Orange box hot rods 27 games to play One has me hooked Head to head battle Tete a tete dans French,Oui? It's Number Cruncher Random number fall Gotta catch them with your car Red button speeds up 2-up battle for Integer Supremecy Game to one hundred?
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