I think my first ever video game experience was with this one in the 70's. If you remember this one�your old.




Actually�the physics were pretty awesome for a game this old. Spinning the wheel and getting sideways and then stopping it at the right time and spinning it the opposite way just right felt good! And a shifter too!


The next big thing for me was Asteroids. That one had me hooked for quite awhile. Asteroids got tossed aside when the pizza place in my neighborhood got Defender�that was digital crack for sure!

Other notable cabinets:

Lunar Lander
Battlezone
Robotron
Dig Dug
Tron
Donkey Kong
Pole Position

I'm sure there are some I'm forgetting that others might mention here.

I was at a sit down Pizza Hut restaurant (remember those?) last month that still had a Ms. Pacman.

My favorite arcades as a boy were: 1) 1942, 2) Dig-Dug, and 3) Galaga

I'm a late starter, so Golden axe and Street Fighter 2 was my money pit.

I used to love going to the arcade as a kid. Saved up quarters all week from doing chores, then off to Aladdin's Castle on Saturday Morning.. :-)

Going to Putt Putt and going in with a sack of quarters was a lot better than damn golf!
I'd still like to have a tabletop version of Galaga.
Even more I'd like a good pinball table. In high school working at a pizza place, we'd stay after close and play the crap outta those.
Get good and you could play all night on the free games you could win---something sorely missing from video games at the time.

Pole Position
Lunar Lander
Defender
Missile Command
Spy Hunter (the perfect game!)
Cruisin
Zaxxon, pure cool when it came out
Tron
Dragon's Lair
Robocop
Rygar

Too many to name. Lots of quarters sacrificed!
I remember that rally game, there was also a tabletop version with a joystick.

...but I loved Star Wars, something about those lines!

I frequently played at the arcades roughly between the years 1978-1992. 1992 was the year that I bought my first PC so that started a new gaming era for me.


My favorite arcade games of all time are,

Gauntlet
1942
Afterburner
Star Trek (the one where you could sit and it had voice over work by Leonard Nimoy himself)
Star Wars (the classic wireframe sit-down arcade game)
Space Ace
Dragon's Lair
X-Men (4 players could play cooperatively)

Oh yeah, that Star Trek game that came out with TMP was awesome. Top down, you had shields and a view kind of like the screens in the movie. VERY cool game.
I guess it was just a top down shooter, but it was so cool to be running the Enterprise.

Thinking back, I would say the first arcade I ever played was Battlezone, in the cabaret cabinet. I think it was at a pizza parlor, I was pretty young.

Loved the arcades too including many of the games listed.

One of my early favorites was Star Castle which was rare to find:

Yup, I remember Battlezone fondly. I also remember playing "Missile Command" in one of those table-shaped units at a pizza place. I think I was about 5-6 years old when I first played it.

Awesome! When I was making my list I remembered that one�but couldn't remember the darn name of it!

I was just thinking about this a few days ago. I played a lot of Defender and Stargate when I was a kid!

We must be about the same age Force10 because I remember playing that racing game a lot.Also,Asteroids was something that I spent many a night playing.We had one in our local pub.I would usually take command of the high score table most nights.

Forgot to mention "Pole Position" and "Outrun" which were two of my favorite arcade auto racing games.

I was born in 68'�how about you?

Gorf
Spy Hunter
Tempest
Star Wars
Return of the Jedi
one where you had to block off chunks of the play area against chasing sparks and a bouncing worm thing
one with a whip (probably an Indiana Jones rip-off)

The first video game I played period was Space Invaders, circa 1982.

Galaga was probably my early coin-op favorite.

I had Stargate on a home tabletop console, which was awesome for the era and didn't require my scarce quarters.

Rampage, Gauntlet, Spy Hunter Kung Fu Master, Commando and 1942 stand out for me amongst the earlier games.

M.A.C.H. 3 was probably the first "flight simulator" I played.

Born in '67, I can relate to this thread.

I'd get a dollar (tops) to spend at the mall arcade, had to pace myself. Mostly Defender.


Apologies, wish could I find a better clip...



See 4:40...



++++++++++

Side note: I had to sit through a full 30 secs. of "Sex Tape" movie ad for bottom video, no "Skip Ad" option (on satellite internet). I've just about had my fill of the online experience.

Yeah, those were the good ol' days when one play was 25 cents. Now most arcade games are $1.00 per play!

At least in my area it seems that the mom & pop arcades have died out and all that's left are chains like Dave & Busters.