Like Whatever

Game Over

• Heather Jolley and Nicole Barr • Episode 59

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The glow of a cabinet screen. The clack of a trackball. The thrum of a Skee-Ball lane in the back of a noisy boardwalk hall. We go all-in on arcade culture—where it started, why it exploded, and how those simple, perfect loops still hook us decades later.

We trace the timeline from penny arcades and pinball to Atari’s first experiments, then the breakout hits that defined a generation: Space Invaders, Asteroids, Pac-Man, Centipede, Donkey Kong, and Dragon’s Lair. You’ll hear how Skee-Ball went from a stubborn invention to an Atlantic City sensation, why Pac-Man rewrote the rules on who played, and how Donna Bailey’s Centipede used a trackball and sound design to create a new kind of flow. We share the boardwalk stories, mall memories, and the little anxiety spikes that came with those accelerating beeps and bossy timers.

Then we pivot to the competitive heartbeat that kept arcades alive into the 90s: Street Fighter II’s six-button mastery, rivalries, and the rise of head-to-head skill. We spotlight Eugene Jarvis—Defender, Robotron 2084, and Cruis’n—and the design choices that made arcades feel fast, fair, and endlessly replayable. Finally, we unpack the decline: consoles, online play, and the fall of malls. But there’s a comeback story too—barcades, family entertainment centers, and retro cabinets that thrive on nostalgia, tactile controls, and social play.

If you love game history, boardwalk lore, or just the pure joy of a clean Skee-Ball arc, this one’s for you. Hit play, share your high score cabinet, and tell us: which game still gets your quarters? Subscribe, rate, and leave a review to help more Gen X and retro gaming fans find the show.

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SPEAKER_08:

Two best friends, we're talking fast. We're mixing two arcades, we're having a blast. Seeing these dreams, me on screens, it was all bad. Like you know, it's like whatever. Together, forever, never, never, never. Laughing, sharing, or scoring forever. We'll take you back like whatever.

SPEAKER_05:

Welcome to Like Whatever, a podcast for, by, and about Gen X. I'm Nicole, and this is my BFFF, Heather.

SPEAKER_01:

Hello.

SPEAKER_05:

So Heather's off the hook um until after the holidays to have to share her life.

SPEAKER_01:

Because I have no life.

SPEAKER_05:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

She's just deliberately. I did go to the dermatologist today. Oh, yeah. That's exciting. That's a new thing for me. That is. And I explained to the lady how up until five years ago, I had porcillin alabaster skin.

SPEAKER_05:

You did.

SPEAKER_01:

Because I never went out in the daytime. That is true. And if I did, I put like a thin a layer of shellac on myself to keep the sun's rays out. But because of my job, I do not I'm not able to do that anymore. So I have to get a tan.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Which hurts me to my core.

SPEAKER_03:

And it looks weird on you. It does. No offense. I know.

SPEAKER_01:

It is weird. It's funny because I'm I belong to those goth Facebook groups, whatever. And one of them was like, what is the least gothly thing you do? And I'm like, I have to get a fucking tan. I need it. It's awful. But anyway, I thought, well, now that I get sun, I have to go and have the doctor look. And so she did the full body scan and she froze one off. And she was like, no, this is gonna hurt just a little bit. And I was like, I didn't even notice. Lady does do it. I have so much shit on my skin right now.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, your porcelain skin and and no sunlight ties into something no one to talk about.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, there we go.

SPEAKER_05:

Look at me. Segway. So I finally watched the movie Sinners. Yes. Do you know that movie?

SPEAKER_01:

I do. I haven't watched it, but it's been on.

SPEAKER_05:

Do you know it's about vampires?

SPEAKER_01:

I do.

SPEAKER_05:

I did not know that prior to watching it.

SPEAKER_01:

I live with a vampire lover.

SPEAKER_05:

Oh.

SPEAKER_01:

Obsessed.

SPEAKER_05:

So I am not a big fan of vampire movies, except like The Lost Boys, of course. I love that one. Of course. But this movie has Michael B. Jordan in it, so I will watch anything with Michael B. Jordan in it. Because I just like looking at Michael B. Jordan. Um but yeah, it was it's really good. And he plays two roles. I didn't know if you knew that. I didn't, because I went to bed. They're either I think they're cousins, and one's name is Smoke, and one name is one's name is Stack. See, that's where I would have been lost. That's where you would have lost me. No, it's actually kind of cute. And then Josh Allen's wife is in it. Do you know who the actress is that Josh Allen married?

SPEAKER_01:

Josh Allen was married to an actress. Catch up.

unknown:

I know.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I was still thinking that because I had to have a a discussion about Aaron Rogers the other night for the Pittsburgh game. And um because he he got his little nose all bloody. He did. He got his little bell rung. He's such a tough guy. And uh I don't know how we got on it. And I was like, wait, he was with like one of the Hadids, right? And Gigi was it Gigi?

SPEAKER_05:

I think, yeah. Or Hella. And then he was I don't know which one, but I know he was with the girl. Danica Patrick. Right. And then the girl from the movies shunger games, maybe, or Divergent, the Divergent movie series.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, I don't know who that is. But he's got a wedding ring on. He's married. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01:

To a girl named Brittany.

SPEAKER_05:

Oh, you know her name.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. Apparently she does not want to be.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, apparently none of his teammates have met her. Apparently, none of his friends. Yeah. I wonder if she exists, because he's a little out there. She's a little out there.

SPEAKER_01:

I agreed. However, um, I was thinking if she is real, good for him. Like, and good for her. Right. Because like she's just like obviously she didn't marry him because he's Aaron Rogers, if you don't want anyone to even know who you are. Or maybe she did marry him because he's j he is um Aaron Rodgers and she just doesn't want anyone to know she's married to a nut job. Anyway, I digress, but yes.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, I think Josh Allen's wife's name is Hal Hallie Steinfeld, Steinfeld something. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Is she related to I don't I don't know?

SPEAKER_05:

She doesn't look anything like him. Oh, okay. He has kids, right? He does. She is definitely not one of his kids. Okay. I know who they are. Okay. Yes, I watched that. I also watched a very disappointing movie, um, Weapons. You haven't heard of that one? No. It has the girl that played Ruth in Ozarks.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

And I love her. Um and it looked creepy. It's the one where 17 kids disappear out of their classroom and nobody knows where they went. It was dumb. It was slow. It was dumb.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't know. I wouldn't waste my time on it. I have to I do need to. I was listening to one of my podcasts today, and they were talking about this story that I've heard several times, and I really need to look it up again because every time I've heard it on one of my um podcasts, they're always from like two or three years ago. So I never get an update on this. And it's just a fucking fascinating story. Like, I really just don't know what happened to this kid. And it was like the weirdest set of circumstances, and then he just disappeared. And supposedly, according to the ones I listened to today, which was probably the most updated of any of the ones I've heard it on, the kid has been classified as uh the case the missing person's case is closed. Um so I don't know, they seem to speculate that he was found and did not want anything to do with his former life. And so because he's an adult, you're allowed to just do that. And so they don't have to they can just go back. I know this from experience from um they just go back and tell the family he's fine. Don't worry about it. And they they don't they under no obligation to tell you where they are because they're an adult. So that is some speculation because it's closed. And he's not ever been found, no body's been found, nothing. It's a crazy I have to look it up. I don't even remember what the kid's name was, and I literally just listened to it about five hours ago.

SPEAKER_05:

Have you been following the news with the um high school football coach that is missing?

SPEAKER_00:

No.

SPEAKER_05:

So I can't watch the news. Don't say it like you feel sorry for him. So no. His team is on a undefeated season and he just up and disappeared one day because uh someone found child porn uh on his computer. And no one has seen him. And I've been thinking he's dead. He went and killed himself somewhere because he was like upstanding in the community, like his whole life is shattered now. Right. Um, but then I heard on the news today the last the family saw him, he was walking into the woods with a gun. Uh duh. And why can't cops find him? Like you would think dogs would sniff at how far in the woods did he walk? Unless I don't know the territory, maybe he's in a cave somewhere or made sure to be somewhere that no one would find him.

SPEAKER_01:

Maybe.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah. But he gets whatever is coming to him. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Anyway. I try not to watch the news at all. Sometimes it's on because we only have a certain number of regular channels. And when I come home, sometimes it's on, and I'm like, if this doesn't get off my goddamn TV, I'm gonna shoot it.

SPEAKER_05:

Well I like like CBS mornings, I watch because I love Gail King.

SPEAKER_01:

And I just don't, I can't know anything. I don't want to know. I mean, I know it's horrible, but I just it's not horrible.

SPEAKER_03:

It's fine.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean it's just the most frustrating thing.

SPEAKER_03:

It is. And I mostly I I mean I watch the Philly news, so it's just car crashes and shootings. So you know. By the time they catch up on that, they don't have time to talk about anything else. That's true.

SPEAKER_01:

That's a good thing about that. I know it was always so funny growing up here when you would watch the news because it would be like 37 seconds of like actual news that happened here. Like, oh, you know, if that even. I mean 90. Yeah, and most of the time it was just like, I don't know, today's Tuesday. Like, I don't not in the beginning, it would be like, we're not even sure how we're gonna get a half an hour. But in like a couple minutes, we're gonna have some weather, and maybe that guy can drag it out. And then they would talk about, you know, all the sports, the kids' sports and stuff, and then it would just be like, uh or my favorite, not my favorite, because it's very sad, but when it they would leave the news with like a chicken house burned down.

SPEAKER_03:

I was waiting for you to say chickens. I was like, if she doesn't say chickens, she is lying about knowing the local news.

SPEAKER_01:

Because they always started it with something having to do with Jake.

SPEAKER_03:

Always about chickens, it is it is when I was growing up, my local radio station had um the dead chicken patrol. Ah.

SPEAKER_05:

And people could call in when they found saw a dead chicken on the road. Because there are there are chicken plants in Milford where I grew up. So I guess they'd fall off the truck.

SPEAKER_01:

A fun fact about chicken houses, um, because my sister's friends of her husband's family have chicken houses or had chicken, I don't think they have them anymore. Um some chickens that they're they're broiler we have broiler chickens here, um, and they are only meant to live for six weeks. Um get as big and fat as they can in that six week. They're so um sometimes they get off-colored ones. So like they're all white. All of them are all white. But then sometimes they'll get like a like a weird brown one or like a weird black one or whatever. Well, they don't want them in there just because I don't know if they're racist or superstitious. I don't know. But they would remove those as soon as they started showing signs that they were not the white chickens. They they segregated their chickens. So they used to give them to my sister. So she's no no explanation for this.

SPEAKER_05:

The meat wouldn't be any different.

SPEAKER_01:

No, they just I got I don't know if it's just like a oh I don't know if it's like some kind of genetic issue that they don't want.

SPEAKER_05:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Like a m I don't know. Okay or if it's just a superstition, they just don't that's it's different and you know, or racism. I don't know. It could be all over the above. But she would get them. Um the problem with them is because they're genetically altered, they get ginormous breasts so badly that they at some point, because after they're six weeks, they're they're cold. Um, but if they go longer than that, they can't walk because they get too big. She had two large large marge breast reductions. That's exactly what happens. Um she had one she named Large Marge that lived the longest. The other one didn't quite make it very long because they're not very good at getting away from predators either. Yeah. And she has a lot of predators out there, so um well she does live in the woods. Yeah, and then one day Large Marge disappeared, so but she doesn't eat her chickens. Right. They were going to. Right. But they didn't.

SPEAKER_05:

Exactly. Because they had a chance. Sounded like a good idea at the time.

SPEAKER_01:

And then she was like, We're gonna get pigs, and I was like, Okay. All right, you couldn't even kill a damn chicken. Right. Anyway, yeah. So chickens, that's what's on the news here. Chickens.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, I don't I don't know how much else is going on.

SPEAKER_01:

Um leave your porch light on for your delivery driver. Yes. It's always nice to throw a little snacky snack out on it. If you get a lot of packages and you're like, hmm, you should just put like a little my uh I have a couple houses that do it, and they I noticed it uh yesterday that they had their snacks out. Um yeah. If you live where it snows, just try and get the porch cleared off best you can.

SPEAKER_05:

Or if you have a mailbox that a carrier has to drive up to clear it in front of it. Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

It's not as easy as you think to get that damn thing in there. You need a little bit of clearance. Yes. So it's not just don't park directly in front of it. Give it some space on either side.

unknown:

But yes.

SPEAKER_01:

If you live in an area that gets snow, just think about your poor mail carrier.

SPEAKER_05:

Speaking of um deliveries, at the ripe old age of 52, I've decided I'm gonna start doing Jigsaw puzzles. Um because I think I'm at that age where it's time for me to start.

SPEAKER_01:

We've always done them.

SPEAKER_05:

I've always enjoyed them. I haven't done them in years. Um, but they are supposed to be good for your brain. Yes. And the older I get, the more I need to start thinking about that. And yeah, I just missed doing it. So I ordered a thousand piece puzzle. It's a um really colorful um uh like a surf shack on a beach. It looks super cute. And then I bought a mat to roll it in so my cats don't steal my puzzle pieces. They will.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm gonna try it. We had growing up, my dad loves all through the winter when there was nothing to do. We had the puzzles, and he had the special board that we put puzzles on. It just laid on the floor. But like in October, November, when the board came out, you were like, Oh yeah, it's winter time. It's time for puzzles. I'm pretty sure he still has the board downstairs. Um so we would put like three or four puzzles together all winter. But he is a weirdo, like I don't know. And he never has answered the question, but because we'd be at school all day, and so he'd be he would fuck around with it. And the last he would never put the last piece in, ever. Like the whole puzzle would be done, and then last piece would be sitting next to the spot that the last piece belongs, and he would not take it down until somebody put the last piece in. And he never has answered us as to why he does that.

SPEAKER_05:

It's gotta be a superstition.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't know what it is. I don't know if he was just never allowed to do it as a kid, so he was just like, fuck it, I'm never gonna do it. I don't know. But he will not, you have to put it in there, and then like as soon as you put that in there, the next day the puzzle's gone and a new puzzle's up. But if you left it there for a week, it would stay there for a week. Until someone else puts the I don't know what it is. Sounds like trauma. Right? I don't know. He'll never answer. But they probably have one going right now. We got him, um, we got him some 3D ones. He doesn't like the 3D ones too much, but we got him um it was like round. Ooh. We try and get him like a really hard one, and then one year I got him one that was all black.

SPEAKER_00:

Whoa.

SPEAKER_01:

He it that one took him a long time. Yeah. There's some where it's like the same pattern all over it, uh-huh. And they're they're the really hard ones, so yeah, you can work your way up. Yeah. Let me know, and I'm sure that black one is in that closet somewhere.

SPEAKER_05:

Whenever I think I'm ready for it. Yeah. Let me know. You can have it. Nice. All right. Well, before we get started, if I could ask, like, share, rate review. Yes. Find us wherever you listen to podcasts. Yep. Find us on all the socials at like whatever pod.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep.

SPEAKER_05:

And follow us there too, please. We are on YouTube at Like Whatever. Uh, and still a work in progress, but there's stuff going on there. You should check it out. Uh, speaking of checking out, we have a new website. Check it out. Uh you can find it at www.likewhateverpod.com.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

Uh, you can go on there, all of our episodes are on there. Um merch.

SPEAKER_01:

Thanks, Pat.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah. Crap about us is on there. And we do sell merch. We have shirts, uh, water bottle.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you, Pat.

SPEAKER_05:

Yes, thank you, Pat. Um, our number one fan did purchase some merch, and we are super excited. Yes. Uh, and Christmas is coming up.

SPEAKER_01:

This book is coming out too. Let's not forget that.

SPEAKER_05:

Oh, I think it came out this week.

SPEAKER_01:

Did it? Yes, because I got the notification that I will be getting my signed copy next week.

SPEAKER_05:

Exciting. Yep, yep. So look for um ways to order that on um Facebook. I will be putting up his information on how to reach out for that. He uh, if for anyone who forgot, uh Pat Green, he wrote Hearts of Glass, Living in the Real World, and we had him on for an episode to talk about his book. So if you did hear him and you got his book and you enjoyed it, you got number two out now.

SPEAKER_01:

It is uh Hearts of Glass, Fade Away and Radiate. So check it out. I imagine you can get it anywhere that books.

SPEAKER_05:

Yes, although he does prefer um independent um bookstores, he he really is making a push to try to support them and keep them going. So if you um if you could order it that way. I think he has something going on too, where if you buy one, he donates to something to do with children of trauma. Yes. I can't remember exactly what it is, but anyway, like I said, I'll be posting that stuff on Facebook. So if you are interested, um you can check that out. All right, now that we've gotten through housekeeping. Housekeeping, let's fuck around and find out about our cage.

SPEAKER_01:

I have so much to talk about.

SPEAKER_05:

I know, and this was what made it fun for me. Like I have all the like boring where it all started, how it all evolved, crap, and I know that Heather will be able to contribute lots of fun stuff. I grew up at the beach. Yeah, yeah, she did. I spent a lot of time in arcades. Yes. Um, so my information this week came from Betson.com, uh mpamusements.com, lbhustin.medium.com, and arcade92.com. Alrighty, here we go. The earliest forms of arcades, known as penny arcades, emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These establishments featured a variety of mechanical amusement devices, including fortune tellers. Strength testers and pinball machines. Pinball machines happen to be one of my all-time favorite games to play. I don't know why. They're very anxiety. They are very anxiety. Anxiety. Yes. Um, but and I'm really not good at them, but they're very loud. Yes. But when you get something good on there, it's so fun. These venues provided a form of entertainment that was accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds. Pinball machines, which became popular in the 1930s, were a significant milestone in the history of arcades. These machines featured a play field with obstacles and bumpers, and players used flippers to keep a metal ball in play. The goal was to score points by hitting various targets. Pinball machines introduced elements of skill and strategy, making them a staple of arcades for decades. Video games have evolved from a small hobby into a massive industry. Now many big games are released each year. The esports scene has also experienced unprecedented growth in recent years. Here is a brief history of arcade games to learn more about them. For younger people, it may seem like game consoles have always been around. Anyone under 25 likely grew up with a PlayStation or Xbox at home. The truth is that the ambiguity of consoles is relatively new. Long before the home cult console, blah blah blah. Long before the home console, there was the arcade. So to understand the history of gaming, you need to know the history of arcade games. Coin-operated arcade games drove the popularity of video games for decades. Even after the Nintendo Entertainment System came out in 1983, it changed console gaming. However, arcade cabinets still played the big role in the gaming industry. It's easy to understand why. A video game console can be expensive, and that's not counting the games you need to purchase. On the other hand, an arcade cabinet offers the same amount of fun for a handful of quarters.

SPEAKER_01:

They're not quarters no more. No. Just a fun fact, Ocean City, Maryland, if you're anywhere in the East Coast, um, they did as of like two or three years ago. Because I haven't been down there in a while. Actually, I haven't been down there since COVID. So I I I'm gonna guess though that they do. But the one big arcade down there, um, play Playland? Uh no, that's one I'm a hope of whatever their big one is, they still have the old um games in the back, and they're all still a penny.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06:

Wow.

SPEAKER_01:

They're just mostly just candy claw machines and stuff. But they do have uh, and I see you're gonna talk about them in a second.

SPEAKER_05:

So I'll wait. Yeah, we had there was an arcade on Rehoboth Avenue. Um it was three years ago, I think. Um my brother-in-law was in town and he was here for his birthday. And so we took him down there to have dinner, and we went to the arcade, and it was winter, so I guess his birthday's in December. So it we had the whole place to ourselves, and it was really, really fun. But I think they closed it. So probably it was the one that was next to Dolly's, and I know which one you're talking about.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Um I don't know if it's still there. I haven't been downtown in a while.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it wasn't there. Um let's see here. What do you picture when you hear the word arcade? No, that's Nintendo. Ding ding ding ding ding. Uh, whether you remember the dimly lit arcades of the 90s or modern chains like Dave and Buster's, you're probably picturing a room with many cabinets and games. I've never been to a Dave and Buster's, but a couple years ago, um, I worked for the state of Delaware and we had a retreat, and it was a Dave and Busters type place. And me and my co-worker acted like a couple of 12-year-olds. We had the best time.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh my gosh, we were laughing. We had I have been to a Dave and Buster's, and it is a lot of fun, but around here we have one ocean, two in Ocean City, and one in they're not affiliated with each other, but it's exactly the same thing.

SPEAKER_05:

In Rehobas?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, lefties in Rehobas and then Alley Oops in um Ocean City. Okay, and they're along the same lines, but they also have bowling or duck pins or something.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, yeah. Oh man, I love duck pins when I was little. Yeah, we didn't have them locally. I think we had to go to Maryland, but my dad used to take us to play duck pins all the time. And it was so much better when you were a little kid because the balls were manageable.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and let me tell you, the lefties, their spinach dip is off the hook. Yeah, we've eaten there before. Have we? Mm-hmm. I probably had spinach and orange cook dip.

SPEAKER_05:

I'm sure you did. If that's what you like there, then that's what you had there. Um, you might not realize that the familiar arcade trappings we all know and love arose from a much different kind of gathering place. Before arcades existed, there were amusement halls. Now I tried to look up stuff on amusement halls, and it wasn't as easy as you would think because it just took me to amusement parks. And I'm like, why, Google, can you not understand?

SPEAKER_01:

I imagine uh it's probably the same as like the old Ocean City, like the one in the back of the one in Ocean City. Like it's like in the backpack, they have all all the ski ball and stuff.

SPEAKER_05:

Right. And I remember something similar. Um, my dad would take us to seaside heights every summer. Yes, I'm sure. And they had similar things there back in the 80s. Um so an amusement hall was like an arcade, it was a place for people to gather and have fun. They spent money on corn-operated machines. Amusement halls existed before arcade games. So, what kind of entertainment did amusement halls offer? Didn't they? An amusement hall had two main draws slot machines and pinball. Due to the gambling laws of the time, slot machines didn't last long in most amusement halls. Although that was one thing, that's where my gambling started in the early 80s. My dad taking me to Seaside Heights and giving me a roll of nickel, me and my stepbrother rolled nickels because you could kids could sit and play nickel machines on the boardwalk.

SPEAKER_01:

That's how I won a cabbage patch kid.

SPEAKER_05:

Rather than playing games and riding rides, we sat at the sop machines.

SPEAKER_01:

That is how I won my cabbage patch kid.

SPEAKER_05:

That's amazing. That's a really great story. Um, the history of uh pinball is critical, a critical element in the growth of arcades. They were some of the most famous early coin operated machines paving the way for arcade cabinets. They remain a fixture of many arcades today. Ski ball, my favorite, uh, has been, I know I already said pinball is my favorite, but I think skee ball is really my favorite. Uh, it's been a staple of arcades for decades. But there was a time when skee ball was both new and struggling to take hold. The story of ski ball begins with a career inventor searching for a big break.

SPEAKER_01:

Now, as a kid who grew up at the beach, uh-huh, ski ball literally everywhere. I am quite good to have the ski ball.

SPEAKER_05:

I'm pretty good too. I need like a game or two to warm up.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

To find the right spot to hit, but you have to go to the side if you want to hit the center. Yep, or the corners. You have to round it that way. You can't throw it straight at it.

SPEAKER_01:

Gotta have a gotta have a system.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And they're all worn down so bad that there is probably just a groove there anyway.

SPEAKER_05:

Uh in 1907, Joseph Forester Simpson was living in Vineland, New Jersey and trying to invent the next big thing. After several other inventions failed to gain momentum, Simpson took note of the quickly growing amusement industry, including the rapid growth of other games like very early iterations of pinball. Looking for profit from the amusement trend, uh, Simpson filed a patent for a game he had invented. This game, which he called Ski Ball, was officially granted U.S. patent number 905,941 on December 8th, 1908. He soon licensed the rights to two business partners, John W. Harper and William, either Nice or Nice Jr. Um, John and William created the Skee Ball Alley Company in 1909. By April of that year, they had started advertising the game in Billboard magazine. However, sales grew at a crawl. In 1910, Nice passed away, leaving Harper to manage the company. Significantly in debt and living with friends, Harper and the Ski Ball Alley Company were on the verge of bankruptcy after several years of poor sales. Fortunately, a Princeton University graduate and future war hero stepped in to save the company and the game. John Dickinson Estee was a graduate of Princeton University. He was also an early fan of skee ball. Incorrectly credited as the inventor of skee ball for many years, Estee actually discovered the game in 1910, allegedly while looking for a gift for his son. Estee quickly fell in love with the game and in 1913 helped Harper save the Ski Ball Alley Company. Thank goodness. I'll tell you. In an effort to build a market for the game, Estee installed skee ball machines in locations close to Princeton University. These games initially attracted an audience and did well, but eventually the novelty wore off. Deciding more drastic action was needed, Estee purchased the Ski Ball Patent and its rights from Simpson. Now with full ownership of Ski Ball, Estee founded the JD Estee Company. Um until this point, the game had been unable to take hold in the amusements markets. Estee was determined to change this. I'm really surprised it took so long for it to catch, because it's so fun.

SPEAKER_01:

It is a lot of fun. Especially in like New Jersey, because they got a lot of I mean, they got the same boardwalk shit. Right. And in 1900, there wasn't that much stuff to do. And that's like their heyday.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, exactly. In the same year, he founded the company, Estee installed ski ball machines in a rented space on Atlantic City's boardwalk. See? He coupled this with an aggressive marketing campaign placing advertisements in newspapers throughout the East Coast. Soon buzz grew and a market for the game quickly emerged. In 1915, ski ball tournaments with hundreds of players were held in locations like Atlantic City. Ski ball became so popular that some cities, including Atlantic City itself, placed restrictions on when noisy amusements could be played to curb the disruption the game allegedly caused.

SPEAKER_01:

Meaning it is pretty loud.

SPEAKER_05:

Sounds like I get off my lawn, kind of.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm like, who knew? I did not know that this was an East Coast situation.

SPEAKER_05:

In one of your favorite towns.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

Soon after Ski Ball's initial success, Estee went off to fight in World War I. Upon his return as a hero pilot, he sold the company and skee ball rights to new owners. The rights to ski ball would change hands several more times over the ensuing decades, but the popularity of the game wouldn't wane. Today, Bay Tech Games Incorporated owns the official rates to skee ball. They manufacture new machines from their headquarters in Pulaski, Wisconsin.

SPEAKER_01:

That's great. Like I can't believe they're still making them. I know they all look like they are from 1910.

SPEAKER_05:

I know. Maybe when these new like Dave and Buster-y type places open, yeah. I guess. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I guess. Because they do always I was dating a guy that lived on the other side of the bridge. And we went to the Dave and Busters, and I was like, oh, skee ball. And I cleaned the floor with him in the skee ball, and he said that I was cheating because I grew up at the boardwalk and had skee ball experience.

SPEAKER_05:

And I was like, You had ski ball muscle memory.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I was like, okay, I haven't played in like 32 years.

SPEAKER_05:

Unlike other amusement games, which increase in complexity as technology advances, skee ball has remained virtually unchanged for more than a century. Originally, skee ball lanes were 32 feet long, and rolling the balls towards the bullseye required more force, but it soon was shrunken down to its current range of 12 feet to 14 feet. 32 feet would be very long and very hard to be accurate. Then it becomes like bocce ball, curling or something at that point. Um that has been the only significant change in its history. As we entered the digital digital age, the game adopted modern features, electronic scoreboards, sound effects, and lights, but its core gameplay has remained the same. Maybe that's what has led to its longevity.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, remember it would have like the little flip, flip, the numbers would drive down.

SPEAKER_05:

Yep, yep, yep. It's funny it took so long for it to take hold, but then it's remained constant for all these years, basically unchanged. Those early guys didn't know what they were talking about. Uh, regardless of age, ski ball is easy to pick up and play, but like any good game, it takes time and skill to master, as Heather has, obviously.

SPEAKER_06:

Indeed.

SPEAKER_05:

Above all else, however, its simplicity is what drives ski ball's lasting appeal. There's something innately satisfying about accurately throwing or rolling a ball to hit a target and score points. Many sports are built around this experience. Joseph Forrester Simpson likely never imagined this game would spread across the globe, or he would have never sold it and continue to be played over a century later. Yet skee ball continues to remain a popular amusement game. Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

They're very loud though. You can hear when you go into these arcades, because typically the ski ball is in the back. Also, that one where you roll the ball under the it's like glass and then it goes into a cup at the bottom.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, that one stresses me out.

SPEAKER_01:

But I don't know what I guess you get points for different colored cups. I don't know. I never really played it because the get glass was or in the bingo numbers.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Those are always in the old section of arcades, too.

SPEAKER_05:

Mm-hmm. Yep. Um, in 1971, the world tilted on its axis. Wow. Not literally, but something seismic shifted in the realm of entertainment. That year, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, the visionary minds behind Atari, unleashed computer space. Do you remember computer space? No. I don't either. Um, it was the first ever arcade video game. Imagine, which I always thought everybody always said Pong, which does come up later, but no, it was not. Imagine a clunky cabinet splitting out pixelated rockets, soaring through a starry void, battling flying saucers with reckless abandon. I can't even imagine. Sounds like uh asteroid. Yeah. That was a dawn of a revelation. A revolution, not a revelation. Neither. Yeah, whichever. Although the first arcade game wasn't built until 1971, we must return to 1962 to get the complete picture of arcade history. That was the year Steve Russell created one of the first video games, Space War. Do you remember Space War? No. Me neither. It was a simple game by modern standards featuring two spaceships that could fire missiles at each other. At the time, though, it was a breakthrough, and I'd imagine it was wildly fun back then. Um, Space War inspired two students at Stanford University, Bill Pitts and Hugh Tuck, to create Galaxy Game, a version of Space War that was coin operated and ran on a computer housed in a wooden cabinet. Uh at the same time, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Badney worked with Seiz Engineering on another coin-operated version of Spacewar called Computer Space. Computer Space would become the first commercial arcade game. I know. I did not know that. The following year, Atari released Pong, which was much more successful than Computer Space, and brought the idea of arcade gaming to a broader audience. These were humble beginnings that sparked the video game revolution. Yeah, revolution, I got right there. I'm playing Pong. Uh-huh. She's Ponging in her chair. Uh Atari began the computer space's innovative technology and Pong straightforward gameplay. They laid the groundwork for an industry that would build, attract billions, and transform pop culture forever. Next time you're watching a screen, whether you are fighting aliens or racing cars, remember this. It all started with a rocket, a paddle, and two creative people who dared to dream in pixels. So poetic. Following the success of Pong, more game companies began developing arcade games. More and more titles would hit the market throughout the 70s, with racing games being the most popular. And those were always one of my favorites.

SPEAKER_01:

I was never a fan of the racing game.

SPEAKER_05:

I was god awful. Like I crashed into I died a hundred times.

SPEAKER_01:

I know. I was thinking that. And even after I started driving, I would go and play these games and I would be like, I still can't do it.

SPEAKER_05:

That wheel was so touchy. Like you turn it a tiny bit and you smash into the wall. It was really nothing like driving. I did get very disappointed. I did get decent at it for a spell where I guess I must have been going to the arcade at the mall a lot. But yeah, I've tried one recently and I'm not good at it anymore.

SPEAKER_01:

Fun fact the arcade is technically why Nicole and I failed out of the University of Delaware.

SPEAKER_05:

Well, that and vodka. But anyway, um look. I said technically. Uh then in 1978, Taito released Space Invaders. Which changed arcades forever. Love Space Invaders. Oh, yes. That one stresses me out too. Yes. I don't go too good with games that time me and put pressure on me to hurry up. Um like I used to love um, remember that phone game um Subway Surfer?

SPEAKER_01:

No.

SPEAKER_05:

Oh, I actually got really good. You had to, it was a little guy and he ran on these tracks, and you had to jump up subways and collect coins, and it would go faster as you go. And I actually got very good at it, and then I realized it was giving me insane anxiety, so I quit playing it. Um Space Invaders was a huge success. It created the shoot 'em up genre and marked the beginning of the golden age of art. Arcade games. As the 70s closed, arcades experienced their biggest boom yet, becoming major fixtures throughout the 80s. You know how big arcades were if you grew up in that decade. While Space Invaders kicked off the arcade craze, it was joined by another significant release, Atari's Asteroids. Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

That's the one that had a knob, right? And Asteroids have a knob.

SPEAKER_05:

Uh-huh. Yep, we're gonna get to a knob. Which became the company's best-selling arcade game in 1980, a year after asteroids and two years after Space Invaders, Pac-Man arrived. Soon Pac-Man fever swept the nation.

SPEAKER_01:

Do you want to mention the uh I don't remember the name of the episode? Oh shoot. Oh. Uh all right.

SPEAKER_05:

It'll come to you. I know it will. I'll look it up. Um, making it clear that the 80s would be the decade of the arcade. Developed by Namco and published in the United States by Midway, two companies that would become arcade juggernauts, Pac-Man revolutionized arcade games in several essential ways. Pac-Man was the first mascot character in gaming, emerging years before characters like Mario and Sonic. It also featured some of the earliest video game cutscenes. The game was one of the first to appeal to both men and women. The game's creator, Toru Iwatani, uh, aimed to create a game that wasn't based on violence or sports in the hope that such a game would attract women to arcades. Did you find it yet?

SPEAKER_01:

I don't know if it was the um the one year, what a wonderful podcast, wonder filled podcast, or if it was the mixtape for the recently deceased, but I think it was the What a Wonderful Podcast. One hit wonders.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I think you're right. Oh, yeah, it is. Okay. Okay, so it's the What a Wonder Wonder Filled Podcast from October of 2025. It was our anniversary, one year spectacular, and we talk about Pac-Man Pieper.

SPEAKER_05:

And you can find it on our website at www.likewhateverpods.com. Amazing. I know I pulled a U there. You sure did. Uh Pac-Man introduced a unique game genre into arcades, the Maze Chase. This was very different from the shooting and racing games that came before it. As the Golden Age continued, many new games appeared. In the golden age of arcade gaming, they say golden age a lot.

SPEAKER_06:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

Uh, one title crept its way into the hearts of players everywhere. Centipede. I never cared for centipede. See, this was one that I purposely like a lot of this is the history of, but then I would go and find information on things I wanted to talk about. Again, a very anxiety. I know it contributed to my anxiety.

SPEAKER_01:

I didn't like when they broke depart. Then there was two of them.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah. But the ball. Like, yeah. Yeah, I had the ball. Released in 1980 by Atari, this fast-paced shooter stood out not only for its colorful graphics and addictive gameplay, but also for the unique legacy it brought to the industry. Designed by Ed Log and Donna Bailey, one of the first female game designers in arcade history. Go Donna Bailey. Yeah. Uh, Centipede brought a fresh perspective to gaming that appealed to both male and female players during a time when the arcade scene was heavily male dominated. They were like, we gotta get some chicks up in here. We look really bad. Oh, that reminds me. I heard this thing on the news and I thought it was such a good idea, and everybody's poo-pooing it. But this guy owns a bar, I don't remember where he owns it, and no one single is allowed to come in after nine o'clock because he doesn't want men in there stalking women and trying to pick them up and take them home. He wants people to be in there having fun with their friends and or their spouses or whatever, and everybody I see both sides of it, I do, but I thought it was very um forward-thinking to protect women in that way. Um, I would definitely go to that bar. I've always wanted to do a bar with no alcohol. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

That has bands and stuff.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Like a full-on real life bar with mocktails and oh, I don't know if it's a big thing.

SPEAKER_05:

And mock tails can just go wild these days. I mean, yeah, you can make some really I see mocktails on the menu, and I'm like, well, it doesn't have alcohol in it, so I'm not gonna order it, but it looks really good.

SPEAKER_01:

I want to do I I have always thought it would go well, especially if you had bands and stuff like that, because people who are alcoholics kind of lose out because they don't want to go to a bar anymore. So then that's where bands play.

SPEAKER_05:

And plus, you know, it could be very appealing to like a group of women or just a couple of women that want to go out and hang out and have the experience of being in a bar but not get drunk and not get preyed upon and all those kinds of things. So yeah, I love it. You know what? I'll have to be your bartender if you do it. So please don't pursue it. But yes, you would. I don't think I can do it anymore. You can. I would if I had to. I'll give you a stool. Speaking of which, I started dashing this week. Yes, I am now officially in the DoorDasher Club. Yep. Just trying to make some extra money for Christmas. And if I want to, I'll keep doing it. But it is fun. Um, I really enjoy it, and it's much easier than white dressing. Yes. Which would be my fallback if I really had to go out and make some money for any reason because I did it for a lifetime. So yeah, I enjoyed it. I did almost die last night. Um I was out after dark, yeah. Which I try not to do, but now it gets dark early, and I have a full-time job, so I have very limited time I can go. But I'm taking this bypass um through town, and it's just one lane going one way, and then a grassy center, and then the lane going the other way. And the car in front of me, luckily, I am not someone who rides someone's bumper, so I was far enough back. But all of a sudden, he stopped on a dime going 50, and I hit my brakes, and my car did very good, and I swerved a little bit to the right, and the car behind me, thank God, didn't hit me. Nobody was injured. But as I'm almost rear-ending this person, I look and something is coming out of the grass, a herd of something is coming out of the grass. It all happened in literally a hundredth of a second. So I don't know what happened, but I think they were too small for deer. They look like they were all white. I don't know if it was a pack of dogs, wild bobcats, Jersey Devils. I don't know, but some herd of something, and it came, they came and ran in front of the car in front of me and out. So I didn't get to see at all. It was just crazy. And the poor car in front of me, they just pulled in the shoulder. They were like, fuck this. I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_01:

Maybe they saw, I guess they saw the herd coming.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, but I had this amazing Mexican pizza in my car that smelled so good that I needed to get to somebody, so I didn't have time to take pull over and take a break. But oh my god, that pizza smelled so good. That is the problem with door dashing. It is. I was starving by the time I got home. Anyway, back to the story. Uh, the premise of centipede is deceptively simple. You control a small bug blaster at the bottom of the screen, fending off an onslaught of creepy crawlers like centipedes, spiders, fleas, and scorpions. The centipede winds its way down the screen, bouncing off mushrooms and splitting into segments when shot. Uh, the longer you survive, the faster and more intense the action becomes. And that's where my anxiety kicks in. Uh, it was this ramping challenge and hypnotic rhythm that kept players coming back for just one more try. Yep.

SPEAKER_01:

So now we're gonna hear a little bit about our middle school adventure with tiny little Nicole.

SPEAKER_00:

Let's hear that lovely music.

SPEAKER_07:

Middle school madness out of control.

SPEAKER_05:

Okay, so this week, I think I read ahead and I think it's a doozy. Oh, good. I'm excited. Arcades and a doozy. I know.

SPEAKER_01:

Shut your mouth.

SPEAKER_05:

Um, let's see. I'm checking. Oh, wait. Hold on a minute. Oh lost my place. Last week I was. Oh, yeah. Last week I abandoned school, right? I don't know, because it was a substitute for Miss Bailey.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Because we had to switch. Remember, we recorded our Christmas episode last week, too. So we're all kinds of fucked up.

SPEAKER_05:

And we had the new student named Mindy last week, right? I think so. And Mr. Eschenman, my math teacher, was weird. Yep, yep, that was last week. All right. So today we are at April 6th, 1984. It is a Friday. Uh, at the top of the page, I wrote in larger letters T G I F T G I F wrote under it. Right. Thank God it's Friday. Right. We might forget. T G I F when I was 11. Um today. I had to go to Miss Fox, Mrs. Fox's again. God damn it. I know. Mrs. Bailey did have a substitute again.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm telling you.

SPEAKER_05:

I know. Now even our our our friend Pat is worried. Did you see his post? He posted, where is she? What happened? In Miss Bootin's, I took a test. In Jim we played floor hockey. Uh-huh. I'm sure I was wildly bad at that. Uh today in lunch, I didn't get to sit by Daphne. Oh.

SPEAKER_01:

Son of a bitch.

SPEAKER_05:

In apparently, I wrote boo-hoo. I guess.

SPEAKER_01:

Devastating news.

SPEAKER_05:

Surprising I wrote teardrops on this page while I wrote it. In Miss Irwin's, we started to study the ocean. Oh.

SPEAKER_06:

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_05:

In Mr. Escherman's class, uh, Tony, Tanya, and me were making upsanes, but not saying cuss words.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_05:

Like, I've got to go Swiss, go to helicopter, kiss my asteroids. That's very fitting for this uh O-Ship. Son of a biscuit. O-Ship. And Mother Strucker. Oh. Wild. Wild. Out of here. We were crazy. We're lucky we didn't get expelled. I know. That's that is crazy. I was a wild child, I'll tell you what. You lint liquor?

SPEAKER_01:

You could have made that commercial.

SPEAKER_05:

So that's this day in um April 1984.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm gonna be so sad when this diary is over. You're gonna have to just think up new stuff.

SPEAKER_05:

I am too. And it must be the next one that's really, really good. Because I I read one recently and I was like, oh my god. Um all right. Now, since we have talked diary, it's time for fun facts. Uh trackball triumph. Centipede was one of the first arcade games to use a trackball controller, allowing for smooth and precise movement. This helped differentiate it from the joystick-dominated competition.

SPEAKER_01:

And it made a really cool noise.

SPEAKER_05:

It did. It really did. Um historic design, Donna Bailey, the first video game designer, became a trailblazer as one of the first women to program an arcade game, and she purposely designed the game to appeal to a broader demographic, particularly women and kids, resulting in a more inclusive gaming experience. And I think it's funny that we're just now including kids. It really was all made for men.

SPEAKER_01:

You know, it's funny because when in the 70s, uh, I distinctly remember, well, here, hold on a second. Let me just throw this in here for a second. I might put we might put this up on social media because I want everybody else's opinion on this. Because at the Thanksgiving holiday that was last week.

SPEAKER_05:

Oh yes, I hope you all had a good one. Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

I was at I was sitting next to my mother, and I don't know why I was looking through pictures, but there's a picture of me and my mom in somewhere in, I don't know, West Virginia, possibly anywhere on the road. Yeah. But so I'm standing in front of her, and I have a shirt that has my name on it because probably no I made fun of that. That was one of the reasons I brought, I was like, look, mom, you didn't even know my name. No, she's like, that's the way everybody was doing it then.

SPEAKER_05:

And I was like, Yeah, because no none of you could remember your kids' names because you were all high. So I'm looking at it.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, my mom is five five. And I was like up to like just at her boob or like just under her boob size. But my sister was not here yet. So I was under five, and she wasn't pregnant, so that has to put me under four. I look giant. I said to mom, I was like, why am I so big?

SPEAKER_05:

And you are tall. We're both five's nine. Yeah. So we're both tall for women. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't, I was I was a giant. Your your dad's kind of tall. Yeah, that's really tall though. I'm gonna look for it and show it to you because when I saw it, I was like, wait a minute, why am I so tall? Aren't four-year-olds like three and a half feet tall? That's what I'm saying. I was looking, so go ahead and I'll find the picture, but yeah, I was a giant.

SPEAKER_05:

That's crazy. Or there's some kind of shenanigans with your sister.

SPEAKER_01:

No, I mean you can tell it's definitely pre-sibling. Because you were happy. Yes. I don't look like I have been abandoned. I mean, maybe a little because that's why they have my name on my shirt.

SPEAKER_05:

God forbid you're running away and they couldn't see the front of your shirt.

SPEAKER_01:

And it's funny because the shirt is black. Oh my god. That's perfect.

SPEAKER_05:

Did you find it?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. Oh, that looks enormous. Yes.

SPEAKER_05:

And wow. You and your sister look so much like your mom, it's weird. I know.

SPEAKER_01:

Maybe, maybe I'm not super big, but I feel like I'm way bigger than like a four-year-old. Three and a half, four-year-old should be. Like I was literally three and a half or four years old in that picture. Because my sister was born in October after I turned five. So my mom would have had to be pregnant with her when I was four. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Like for the majority of my four. Right.

SPEAKER_05:

So that could have been early on. She could have been pregnant with her.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_05:

Well, and you're blocking her belly.

SPEAKER_01:

But I had short, but I have shorts on. But she looks really thin. To be on her second kid. And we have shorts on. In the mountains. So it has to be summer. I don't know. Anyway, sorry guys. I don't know why I'm a giant baby.

SPEAKER_05:

We wandered off there for a minute.

SPEAKER_01:

I got distracted by my ginormousness.

SPEAKER_05:

Alright, I have one more fun fact. Okay, sorry. Sound strategy. The audio in Centipede wasn't just for flair, it was part of the gameplay. The increasing tempo of the background noise added tension, yes, and urgency, yes, as the game progressed. So it was built to invoke my anxiety.

SPEAKER_01:

They all do. I mean, I guess that's the whole Space Invaders gets dent, yeah, and it gets faster as you go down further.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

My dad liked I think the whole tangent we went off on was because uh my dad played video games a lot.

SPEAKER_05:

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_01:

Berserk. Everywhere we went, they would go play. I mean, that could have also been just their ruse, but Yeah, Berserk stressed me out, Tetris stressed me out.

SPEAKER_05:

I love Tetris. Yeah. You would. All right, Centipede was a pillar in shaping what arcade games could be. It blended action, strategy, and creativity into one thriving package. And it's no surprise that even over 40 years later, it still makes an appearance in retro arcades across the country, including at arcade 92, where timeless fun never goes out of stock.

SPEAKER_01:

Where is that?

SPEAKER_05:

I know.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, we will have to find that. Yeah, because the arcades, like the the ones on the boardwalk, they all have new games. None of them have the old games anymore.

SPEAKER_05:

And the new games are the same things as new slot machines. They're just lots of lights and noise and yeah. It's very complicated stuff. I'm a simple person. Yeah, just give me, give me a game. Just give me Galaga and I'm good. Yeah, exactly. That was my favorite Galaga. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Um Donkey Kong, which introduced many people to the platformer genre, a popular game style that remains popular today. Like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong was an arcade titan with an enormous legacy. Konami released Scramble in 1981, which is considered the first side-scrolling shooter. Uh, this hugely influential and side-scrolling shooter became a staple of gaming until the advent of three-dimensional consoles. Do you remember? Okay. The journey brought digitized sprites to the arcade in 1983. That same year, Cinematronics released Dragon's Lair, the first game to use cell um animated video with art by renowned animator Don Blues.

SPEAKER_01:

I also remember, I remember Dragon's Lair. I know I didn't play it, but I would watch other people play it because I am that weirdo who likes to watch other people play games. Because I'm not very good at them myself.

SPEAKER_05:

Right. And I know I've mentioned it before, but don't I I had um twin boyfriends when I was in third grade because they had a Donkey Kong. Right. Handheld concert. It was shaped like the video games, and it was handheld. I actually one of them was my boyfriend, but the other one just came along. Right. And they would follow me home from school and bring their Donkey Kong, and then eventually I used my like voodoo magic on them and got them to leave the Donkey Kong machine at my house. And so they could only play it when they came over. I had access to it all the time.

SPEAKER_01:

I had a Qbert watch.

SPEAKER_06:

Aww.

SPEAKER_01:

I know. Loved my Qbert watch. It's so cute. I played Qbert all the time. I like Qbert too. Hence the reason why I had to have a watch. Uh puzzle. It's like you actually played the game of Qbert on the watch. Get out. No. It was like uh you remember the calculator watches?

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

It was kind of like that, only it was Qbert. That's amazing. That's some high-tech shit right there.

SPEAKER_05:

I know.

unknown:

I know.

SPEAKER_05:

All right. Puzzle platformers like Bubble Bobble, adventure games like Gauntlet, uh, beat 'em ups like Double Dragon, and more were released throughout the 80s. At the same time, pre-existing game genres were continually refined throughout the decade.

SPEAKER_01:

So here's the thing about old people homes that I've now decided, and I know there's like the thing on the tickety tickety talk and stuff. Like when we all have to have go into the old people homes, A, some people say that they should just redo malls as I could not agree more with that.

SPEAKER_05:

Like malls are never going to come back. Brick and mortar is a dying industry, unfortunately, because I love to shop in person and try things on. But What are you gonna do with those malls?

SPEAKER_01:

You could turn them into nursing homes for Gen X. Yes. And they already have an arcade in them and a movie theater. And so you could turn like the Boscovs into how many apartments could you get into a Boss Govs, especially because they're two floors and the two-story malls? Shut up. Think of how many old people you can fit in there.

SPEAKER_05:

Right. And you don't even need to pay for name, brand, anything. You can hire employees who can work in the food court and you can serve subs at this one, salads at this one, pizza at this one, Chinese food at this one. I mean, what are we doing here? I don't know. I don't know what we're doing. But it's you can hire high school kids. Give them full-time jobs to come in, run the arcade. We could have record stores. All of it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

All of it.

SPEAKER_05:

Even you could have clothing stores in there. Yeah. Yeah. It could be one stop shopping.

SPEAKER_01:

A Benetton?

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Let's just fully go back to the 80s. Let's do it.

SPEAKER_05:

Let's do it.

SPEAKER_01:

We're gonna need to crowdsource that.

SPEAKER_05:

It really is a genius idea. But were you gonna say something else about nursing homes?

SPEAKER_01:

No, that was it.

SPEAKER_05:

Because you were like, firstly Oh, I don't know. Okay. All right. If it comes back, just it won't. Cut me off. Okay. Gone for good. Okay, I get it. Um believe it or not, Frogger almost never saw the light of day. And wait till you find out why. It's frustrating. When the game was first pitched to Sega executives, they dismissed it as a woman and kids game. I don't even know what to say. That wouldn't appeal to their target audience of young boys. For real. And what's the difference between kids and young boys? I don't know. So they're just saying women, let's just face it. Women like to squish frogs too. Yep. Um, but one determined market researcher named Elizabeth Falconer fought tooth and nail to convince them otherwise. In a bold mood, Falconer called out the execs for their previous blunder of rejecting Pac-Man, which went on to become a massive hit. Impressed by her tenacity, they finally agreed to let her test the game. And so, with the proclamation, let her have her damn kids game, Froger was born. Who knew? Uh, in 1981, the very first Frogger arcade cabinet was put to the test at a single location, a San Diego bar called Spanky Saloon. They really put a lot of effort into helping this lady get this off the ground. Um, to everyone's surprise, the game became an instant hit with the bar patrons, and she said, Bitch, I told you. Um that's not in the script. I made that up. Um, they couldn't get enough of guiding that little frog to safety. Seeing the incredible response at Spanky's, Sega knew they had a winner on their hands. They decided to go all in and publish Frogger widely, setting the stage for the game's meteoric rise to fame. Meteoric rise to fame. Namco's pole position. That was my shit. Um, from 1982 was not only one of the most popular racing games ever, but it also introduced 16-bit graphics to the arcade. Finally, in 1981, Defender introduced more complex control schemes to the world. As the 80s drew to a close, so did the golden age of arcade games. That doesn't mean arcades disappeared, though, far from it. The early 90s saw the release of a game that rocked the arcade world. In 1999, Capcom released Street Fighter 2, a game many still consider the pinnacle of the fighting game genre. Fighting games existed before Street Fighter 2, but none had ignited the competitive scene as the release did. It changed everything by featuring a six-button control scheme, a wider variety of special moves, and more. I used to like to watch people play that game. It was very entertaining, but I was not good at it. That's the so many controls. Like I can't do it. I wasn't coordinating enough for it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I didn't know either. That's too many buttons to have it.

SPEAKER_05:

Like I never learned to use an Xbox controller. And I wasn't I I could play, I was really good at Tiger Woods um golf game, but that's because it's slow and you take your time to think and you line yourself up and then you release. But watching somebody sit there and play like Call of Duty and their hands.

SPEAKER_01:

I can play some Call of Duty. Can you well see because I like being the sniper? Oh. Because you have to breathe. You take the breath in and then you shoot.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, I like the sniper. That that does sound pretty cool. Actually, my son, when he was around 14, he I think I got him an Xbox then, and he was into kind of like the fantasy games, um, like the mystical kind of things, and he tried so hard to teach me how to play it, and it just wasn't happening.

SPEAKER_01:

Now, with the Nintendo, I am a big um oh, they're getting ready to make a movie of it too. What the fuck? Oh my god. Mario? No.

SPEAKER_05:

Sonic?

SPEAKER_01:

No. Go on.

SPEAKER_05:

Okay. Just interrupt me when you just cut that part out. The one with Link. I can help you there. During the golden age of arcade games, competitions arose over who could achieve the highest score in games like Pac-Man. As Street Fighter's popularity grew, competitions in the arcade space became more direct. Street Fighter 2's, tight controls, deep strategy, and two-player versus mode made it the perfect game for head-to-head skill tests. This led to the development of a vibrant fighting game community that persists to this day. Of course, the runaway success of Street Fighter II led to a boom in fighting game development. As a result, several new fighting franchises emerged, including Tekken and Mortal Kombat. Did you find it?

SPEAKER_01:

The Legend of Zelda.

SPEAKER_05:

Oh yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Mostly because I like playing the Ocarina of Time.

SPEAKER_05:

Oh, okay. Mortal Kombat's had movies too, right?

SPEAKER_01:

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_05:

Okay. Uh, in the golden age of arcades, quarters powered fun games. Joystick blisters were badges of honor. One name stood out, Eugene Jarvis. This visionary isn't just another game designer. He is an arcade alchemist, conjuring up classics that ignited imaginations and redefined the genre. Jarvis's early days were spent tinkering with Atari pinballs, honing his skills before unleashing his creative fury on the world of video games. In the early 1980s, he struck gold with Defender, an exhilarating shooter where you soared through a starry sky, blasting alien invaders and rescuing kidnapped humans. Do you remember that one? I don't. Um, the dual joystick controls, innovative scoring system, and addictive gameplay made it an instant phenomenon, propelling Jarvis to legendary status in the arcade world. But Jarvis wasn't content with one masterpiece. He followed up Defender with Robotron 2084, a dystopian robot robo rampage that pushed the boundaries of arcade action. With its frenetic twin stick controls, waves of relentless enemies, an iconic human error message, Robotron became a cult classic, testing reflexes and challenging players to new skill levels.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't remember that one either.

SPEAKER_05:

I don't either, but there was a movie called Robotron, right? I don't know. I mean, I know there was a Robocop, but I don't think that's different. Yeah. Um beyond these iconic titles, Jarvis' influence reaches far and wide. He co-founded VidKids, a company that makes educational games. This demonstrates his commitment to utilizing games for more than just entertainment. Later in the 1990s, he brought his magic touch to the driving genre with the cruising series, putting players behind the wheel of virtual hot rods and redefining arcade racing experiences. I do remember that one. Today, Jarvis is an active force in the industry, leading his own development studio, Raw Thrills Incorporated, which launches new hit titles yearly. His legacy, however, is etched in the Annals or Anals. No, it's not anal of arcade history. From the frantic dogfights of Defender to the neon drenched streets of Cruisin, Jarvis games are more than just pixels and circuits. They're testaments to the power of imagination, innovation, and pure unadulterated fun. While the fighting game craze helped arcades persist through the 90s, their popularity steadily declined. By the early 2000s, game consoles were more commonplace, eliminating the need for arcades. In addition, players were interested in longer narratives and more complex gameplay, which arcade games aren't designed to provide. Finally, the rise of online gaming services such as Xbox Live also contributed to the decline of arcades. Arcades found a way to bounce back, they expanded their options. Many arcades are now part of a larger family entertainment center experience, offering a variety of activities, food, drinks, games, and redemption counters.

SPEAKER_01:

I think probably a lot that killed the arcades also was the death of the mall.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Beginning of the end for the mall.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, I think if malls were still a thing, arcades would definitely be a staple. Even with a home console. Agreed. Yeah, because that's just fun as shit.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, and that and people actually pay attention to their children now. I mean true.

SPEAKER_05:

Back in the day.

SPEAKER_01:

You got sent to the arcade while they went shopping. Get out of my hair. Yeah. Just go. Here's some quarters. Go leave me alone. Yeah. So I think that's I mean, I think we killed the arcade. Great. Technology.

SPEAKER_05:

We built it up and tore it down. That's what we did.

SPEAKER_01:

And then in the in the old people homes that we will have, we will bring it back. And it will be all these cool games and not just new shit.

SPEAKER_05:

I know. I have friends who have pretty badass man caves and they have some of the consoles or the the wooden cabinets in their basement. Oh god, I would love to have one. I know. I just wouldn't know what game to pick. I know. I think I'd have to get two or three if I was gonna do it.

SPEAKER_01:

I know some of them have like it's multi.

SPEAKER_05:

Oh.

SPEAKER_01:

Like they'll have Pac-Man and like your typical like Galaga Pac-Man.

SPEAKER_05:

That wouldn't be a vintage one, though.

SPEAKER_01:

No, I mean they're not like it's like basically just the cabinet with the game in it. You know what I mean? Where you can still play it. But it was like you can pick a game, I guess.

SPEAKER_05:

I think they're a couple grand. So if I ever have that laying around, maybe I'll get one.

unknown:

Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_05:

Um, today, massive massively successful restaurant change incorporate uh arcade games into their experiences. They offer families a place to get a good meal and entertainment. Arcades are also experiencing a resurgence due to nostalgia. Goja next. Uh children who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s have fond memories of visiting arcades. Now they are opening their own arcades for their friends. Since many of these arcades are aimed at adult audiences who grew up on arcade games, they also offer alcohol, leading to the term barcade.

SPEAKER_01:

Barcade.

SPEAKER_05:

Because we Gen Xers are also a lot of alcoholics. Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

We have been drinking since we were seven.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah. I mean, what do you want us to do? Um, barcades. Not much else you can do. Yeah, I mean, it's not our fault. Uh Barcades Nationwide offer classic arcade titles and brand new games that preserve the traditions of the arcade. However, the main factor in their growth has been family entertainment centers, which continue to evolve to include miniature golf, climbing walls, boo, laser tag, boo, VR, not a fan of VR. Um, batting cages, rope courses, absolutely not, and video games. Oh hell no. Oh, hell no. Oh, hell no. Um, the current landscape of video arcade game manufacturers includes a robust lineup of companies, including Brawl Thrills, LAI Games, Bay Tech Entertainment, ICE Games, and more. And that is our history of the arcade. And now I really want to go to an arcade. I need like really, really bad.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, we should go. I don't know when they I don't know when Ocean City shuts theirs down. Ah, well, probably after Christmas because they got those stupid ass winter festival motherfucking lights.

SPEAKER_05:

Does lefties have a good selection? Um I remember I just remember the restaurant part and the bowling alley. I don't remember really.

SPEAKER_01:

I really remember I think it's more towards kids. Like I think it's like the kid, I don't think it's a whole ski ball. It's probably got the claw machines. Yeah, I know it has, I know it has the call. I know, and you're a master of the call party. Master of the claw machine. Well, that was so much fun.

SPEAKER_04:

It was. That was really fun.

SPEAKER_01:

We're gonna um just as a aside, I guess. We're gonna we discussed it before. So the website allows us to blog. And I'm gonna say this because we discussed it. Don't expect it to be all the time thing, because we're we're gonna try to each do a blog a week. So there will be, and we all will sign whichever one's ours. And um, so while I was listening to you, I was thinking about all the things that I would like to include this week in my blog. So do it. I'm gonna.

SPEAKER_05:

I have random thoughts throughout the week. I'm like, that would be good for the podcast. And then I either don't put the note in my phone or I put the note in there, but I don't put it in a way that I understand what I was talking about. I'm like, I'll remember this in three days, and then I read it, I'm like, what the fuck am I talking about? Yeah. Because in the moment it felt really like there's no way I'll forget. Yeah, I do that shit all the time.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So we're gonna try and do that. Um, so check out. I think there's a way. I'm not an expert on this website. I did finally find a company that would make it easier than the last company I had to do. Um, but I think there's a way that you can subscribe to the website to keep it up to date. I don't know. Look at it, you tell me, I don't know.

SPEAKER_05:

At least Google it and bump us up to the top of the Google search. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Google that shit. Um, but yeah, I'm I'm attempting to um we're gonna we're gonna try to blog. So this and and we're gonna try not just the week's episode, but like other stuff.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, just random shit we think about because that happens all the time. Like I'll see something on TV or I'll have a random thought, or I'll have a conversation with somebody, and I'm like, oh, that's such a but you can't make a whole episode out of it. Right. So I love this idea of the blog where I can just put down my random stupid thoughts and hopefully somebody will read it. Yeah, I can also tell my therapist I'm journaling technically, right? So she'll be really happy.

SPEAKER_01:

In in 30 years when we come back to do this, we'll read it like we're reading her diary.

SPEAKER_05:

Because in like three months, I think I've done five entries in my and I'll be like, Well, I wrote a word, and she's like, That counts. She's such a great cheerleader. I love her so much.

SPEAKER_01:

I I I have never I don't know. I love to write, and I don't know why I can't journal. I just can't do it.

SPEAKER_05:

I know. I even leave it laying right on the coffee table with a pen so that if a random thought hits me, and then I'm like, Yeah, I should write this to me.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I do that too. Yeah. Anyway, um arcade games, yeah. Yeah, that was a really fun one.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, I enjoyed doing that.

SPEAKER_01:

Um thanks for listening. Thank you. Uh you can like, share, rate, uh review. Please. You can find us where you listen to the podcast. Yes. You can follow us on all of the socials at Leg Whatever Pod. Yep. You can find us on the interwebs at www.liverpod.com. Yes, please check it out.

SPEAKER_04:

It's really, really cool. She did like an amazing job. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, and the the mobile version is a whole different experience from the I don't know why.

SPEAKER_04:

It really, really is. It really, really is. It's weird.

SPEAKER_01:

Anyway, um, Alra, you can send us an email about what your favorite or best at game is. You can send an email to like whatever pod at gmail.com or don't like whatever. Whatever. Bye.

Contributor

Heather Jolley

Host
Contributor

Nicole Barr

Host