Bunny and I arrive at barber shop [1] to await my [DELETED-doom-DELETED] haircut. At the back of the shop I see something I haven't seen in years—nay, decades! A video arcade machine!
I approach the cabinet and it's clear it's not an original machine at all, but a modern recreation with dozens of games available to play. Not as cool as an original machine, but still, a cool thing to find in a commercial establishment in 2023! The last time I saw a video arcade machine in a commercial, non-arcade setting was … the mid to late 80s?
While awaiting my turn in the chair, I managed to play a few games like Galaga [2], Qix [3], and Burger Time [4]. Thirty-five years later and I still can't play these games. But it seems no one can play these games (or perhaps, the cabinet itself was only very recently installed) as I was able to get the top score on the games I played.
I'm not sure if it's just nostalgia, but I swear there were more diverse video games back in the 80s than today. Not only did you have the swarming alien invaders genre, but the the maze genre (Pacman), side scrollers (like Jungle King [5], platformer genre (like Donkey Kong or the above Burger Time), vertical scroller genre (like Spy Hunter [6] or Crazy Climber [7]), or the isometric genre (like Marble Madness [8] or Zaxxon [9]), and don't forget the vector games [10] and the very crisp graphics. I'm probably forgetting a few other genres. These days, it seems it's all first-person shooters.
My time with the games was cut short as it was my turn in the barber chair.
Afterwards, as I was showing my barber how to play Qix (I don't think he was born yet when Qix came out), Bunny asked if she should get one for me for Christmas. I told her no, because it was just too addictive to have at home.
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaga
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qix
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BurgerTime
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_Hunt
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spy_Hunter
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Climber
[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble_Madness
[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaxxon
[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Vector_arcade_video_games