by Cat DeSpira
Christmas day, 1982: Children awoke to boxes filled with the hottest popular toys and gadgets that season. Depending on their parent's budgets they could expect to find such things as Coleco's Table Top Arcade Games, Master's of The Universe action figures, Glo-Worms and Strawberry Shortcake dolls and, if you were especially lucky, a brand spanking … Continue reading An Extra-Terrestrial Christmas
Preppies. Metal heads. Punks, geeks and surfers. Panty shots from passionate cheerleaders and 10-keg beer parties. And a high school classroom filled with pinballs and arcade games for kids to play and study on. Swear to god. Sounds like one of Jeff Spicoli's buzzed-out dreams, huh? Sure does. But it's real, and it all happened … Continue reading All American High: Documentary of 1984 High School Class is Totally Awesome
Few movies of the 70s prior to the Space Invaders craze in the summer of 1978 managed to capture the airy, brightly lit game parlors before video arcade games pushed pinball out and turned the lights down low. However, Van Nuys Blvd, filmed in early 1978 and released in 1979 by Crown International Pictures, managed … Continue reading Van Nuys Blvd: Glimpse of a 1977 Game Parlor
“If I’ve had a rotten day at work, or am in a bad mood, that’s the best time for me to play a video.” –Geoff Harvey, “The Pinball Wizard” The year was 1982 when a documentary –or so the clever avant garde director, Mike Wallington, wanted you to think- was released in England. The short … Continue reading Long Before Pixels: 1982’s Arcade Attack/ Silverball Heroes vs. Video Invaders
Input:Last day of summer school year 82 commences. A disk of empty memory banks is set into motion as valuable input is inserted. Memory: To excel in this program, you must put on your thinking cap, examine your schedule and methodically plan your strategy. It's time to make your move. -South Plantation High School Yearbook … Continue reading Lost History: Arcade Glory in High School Yearbooks
The year was 1984 when, quietly and without too much fanfare from the media, a book appeared in shops across America that caught the eye of vidiots every where. Titled ARCADE, a novel by Robert Maxxe, the pen name of Robert Jay Rosenblum, told the story of a mysterious arcade that opens up in a … Continue reading ARCADE: Polybius Legend’s First Appearance in Fiction?
When it comes to urban legends foreshadowing is everything. To those who know the background of the Berzerk Death urban legend, it’s deeply curious that a certain coincidence happened to be overlooked by the majority of journalists writing on the subject over the decades. One wonders how something so eerily profound could have ever been … Continue reading Dying To Play: The Berzerk Curse -Fact or Fiction?
(Originally published in Retrocade Magazine 2012 by Catherine DeSpira) To someone passing by the site of the former Malibu Grand Prix Arcade (MGP), in Beaverton, Oregon, one would not think that the miniature racing track was once the birthplace of what has become one of the most persistent urban legends in arcade gaming history. Driving … Continue reading Reinvestigating Polybius: With 2015 Update
Some teenagers hid Playboys or hash pipes in their closets. Me and my friends hid adult paperback books. Lots of them. Most of them horror novels. Real ghastly ones too, full of gore, and devils, sacrilege and sex; ones our Dad's read and then tossed for Mom to drop off at a thrift shop or, … Continue reading The Hell Candidate: 1981’s Most Terrifying Read
Legwarmers with miniskirts. Neon colors. Sports bands with psychotic-looking sunglasses. This is how people often remember The 80s fashion fads as can be evidenced if you ever attend an 80s Party or happen to glimpse one going on in a night club or hotel. You can't miss them; scores of women in spandex, stiletto heels, … Continue reading Calling Jenny: Forgotten Fads of The 80s