Kicking off BaD this year a day early ('cause I'll be actually gaming tomorrow), I decided to revisit a series I did at 1UP way back in 2011. It was on an old profile that I erased so I couldn't just link to it. I did have the files on my computer though, so I thought this would be the perfect time to rewrite it and add all sorts of nice multimedia for Pixlbit. So here goes the epic journey of The Video Games of My Life.
He starts playing it at the 45 second mark.
The first gaming machine that I can think of that might have kicked off my interest in video games was the Japanese mechanical game Pachinko which I played during a sleep over at a friend’s house probably when I was seven. Pachinko is like the first pinball machines with no flippers but set upright. You shoot many small balls to the top of the field and watch them proceed down and hope you capture some in the holes. It was pretty exotic and exciting with all the noise it made. It reminds me today of Peggle.
Soon thereafter, my parents bought a Radio Shack Scoreboard Pong console probably around 1976 - a true video game machine. It was a novelty to do something with a TV other than just watch Speed Racer or Spider-Man (my favorites). My sister and I played together and had some fun with it. In the version of the console I had, you had sliders for control instead of dials. You could play Tennis (straight Pong), Hockey (two paddles for each player and goals), or Handball (single player Pong). You could also adjust the speed of the ball and size of the paddles to change the difficulty. Another version of this console, called TV Scoreboard, had a light gun and controlled with dials like the original arcade Pong machine.
I also remember going into a few arcades probably during vacations with my parents. Most of those were still full of Pinball machines, and shooting galleries, but a few video games were starting to appear there like Gran Trak 10. This was a top down perspective racer. You had a pedal, steering wheel, and a gear shift, all firsts for video games. It was single player and you raced for best time.
In the years before the Atari 2600 in 1977, video games were a novelty and hardly a time consuming pastime for me. I spent most of my free time building plastic models from the Model of the Month Club, shooting off model rockets, playing with electric trains and slot cars, collecting Matchbox cars, and playing board games like Risk and Monopoly. But soon video games would be getting more equal time with my other hobbies.
I think someboby on here still has a RSGC.
I had this Sears Telegames Pong machine not too long ago and played it even just for giggles. It looks really cool and it's compact.
well, you got me beat. I wasn't born till 77. But I did used to have a Pong unit. I started playing games as soon as I was able.
If I had to choose a year for when video games really started in earnest, I would say 1977. Atari's home console was a big Xmas item and arcades were starting to appear everywhere.
me and video games were born together!
This is cool!
That Radio Shack Pong is unique with the slider control instead of a knob. It sort of makes more sense too, but I bet it was more prone to getting stuck at times.
I was wondering when it came out because there are lots of images for the TV Scoreboard system with the light gun out there and few of this one. It seems like a simpler deck, maybe a cheaper model. Look at this version. It's got toggles!
That's pretty weird too. I like the really user-unfriendly red button on the right controller on this one too. Looks like it's from a military computer from the '60s.
Gosh whatever you do don't touch that one. It links right to a red phone in a silo somewhere and a guy there has been told that, when the red phone lights up, launch the missiles.
No one expects the BaD police......
'ello, 'ello 'ello! wot's all this then?
Not only is 'ee bloggin' on weekends, but a day early an'all.
Fresh fruit not good enough for ya? want t'learn about pointed sticks?
Don't come cryin' t'me when some ravin' madman comes at you wiv a binanna.
Oh sorry what was I on about again. I kind of lost my train of thought.
It's a fair cop. Take me away.
Society is to blame. We'll be chargin' 'im too. :D
Nice.
In 1977 I graduated from High School. At that time Music was my main source of electronic entertainment.
A member of the band I used to be in was in college in the 70's and I was so envious because he got to see my favorite bands play the College circuit like Genesis and King Crimson live. I didn't like the 80's music I had to put up with in my High School years.
I remember all of those knock off consoles. I even owned one of those in my youth from a garage sale. Sadly I don't remember exactly what kind of system it was. The pastor's kids had an atari 2600. I thought the Pac Man game on that game was awesome....
Interesting beginning to gaming, even if you did other hobbies besides it during the time.
Maybe you mean Ms. Pac-Man because the first one on 2600 was not great as I remember it.
My favorite hobby when I was under ten was building plastic models like this one:
Nice blog! 
Oh gee thanks. 
Man, didn't know you were that old. Gotta say, pretty cool you had a early videogame console. I remember AVGN doing an episode on those consoles, though I don't remember if he played the one you had.
Yea, I kinda cringed when I wrote down the years in the title. Damn, I've been around a while.
AVGN rules! I love his Monster Madness series every Halloween and I've seen most of his classic reviews. Don't think I saw him do one on a Pong machine though. Gonna have to look that one up.
I'd really like to try one of those Pong machines, if only to say I did.
Yea, I got one a few years ago to just say I did again. It was ok... Five minutes and I was done... It was a thing.
You didn't by any chance play Night Driver back in the day, did you?
I did. On Atari 2600. It was an arcade game first, but I don't think I played that version. You used the Atari's paddle controllers and I got pretty good at it. It's so weird now, because I drive at night all the time for my job. It's like I'm living the game. So surreal.
My uncle and aunt got a Pong deck as a wedding present, which is pretty funny considering that they were both seriously outdoorsy folks. My best friend and I probably spent about 15 minutes playing before we got bored and wandered off to play cards, lol.
That's probably exactly what my sister and I did - 15 minutes and on to something else.