There are two games that I'd consider the birth of modern arcades as we know them. And to take it a step further, those two games are the birth of modern gaming as we know it. The first is Space Invaders (1978). Taito's vertical shoot-em-up not only created the blueprint for basically every shmup that came after it, but it also initiated the arcade boom in Japan. There are even urban legends that the game was so popular in Japan that it caused a 100 Yen shortage. I have no idea how true this is, but it's a great anecdote nonetheless.
Three years later, Pac-Man was released. Although a game about a little pizza-mouth thing chomping his way through a maze while avoiding ghosts is very different from Space Invaders, it had the same effect on the American arcade. Pac-Man legitimized the American arcade the same way that Space Invaders had in Japan. Pac-Man Fever was such a thing that it spawned a hit single, a Saturday morning cartoon, and sold Atari 2600 consoles even though the 1982 port was a totally unfaithful mess. I bring this all up because even though I consider Space Invaders and Pac-Man to be basically the two most important games in video game history, I don't actually love either of them. I think they're both fine enough games. They're both games I'm happy to spend twenty minutes with or whatever. But neither of them truly grab me. But there is one game from early arcade history that does truly grab me. And that game is Galaga. As I write this in 2023, arcades are not exactly a common thing. I mean, there's Dave and Buster's. And there's a barcade in my area. But arcades as we know them are mostly gone. When I was a kid there was a place called Dream Machine in the local mall. And there were countless amusement places nearby that had go-karts and rooms of arcade games. Heck, there were even arcade cabs in convenience stores within walking distance from my house growing up. But now, none of that. In the rare moment that I find myself in an arcade, the first thing I do is look for a Galaga cab. I did this on my honeymoon when my wife and I hit up Fun Spot. I did the same thing when my wife and I went to that Disney arcade in 2011. And again when we revisited Fun Spot on our ten year anniversary in 2016. To me, few games scream "arcade" the same way Galaga does. And in truth, all of my other true arcade favorites come from a decade later. I'm talking about the games that were popular when I was frequenting arcades like Street Fighter II, NBA Jam, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and so on. So as a kid who grew up in the 90s and just adored that 16-bit era, what was it about a 1983 shooter like Galaga that sucked me in? It's hard to say exactly. But I have some theories. When I was young, I wasn't really into shoot-em-ups. I mean, there was a handful of games that I enjoyed back then. Lifeforce, Sol-Feace, The Guardian Legend... these were late 80s/early 90s shmups that I was into. But not hardcore. And mostly, I liked their gimmicks. Lifeforce was kind of gross and Sol-Feace had cool anime cut scenes and The Guardian Legend was part shmup, part Zelda clone. In my late twenties I became absolutely obsessed with shmups and I feel it all started with going back in time and learning to appreciate Galaga. Galaga is basic. For all intents and purposes it is a Space Invaders clone. There's only one button to shoot. There's only single screens at a time. There's enemies that hang out at the top of the screen. But it's not as basic as Space Invaders. There are different enemies with different attacks. Each stage feels different. There are bonus stages. Captured ships can be taken back for extra fire power. There's a risk and reward mechanic at play. Plus there's that super iconic jingle that plays before you start. So maybe that's the thing. It's a basic and simple game. But it's not as simple as Space Invaders. It's got some interesting stuff going on. But it's more than that. When I was 27 I had my first real family loss. My maternal grandmother died. Her name was Grace. I guess in some ways, making it to 27 without dealing with a heavy loss so close to me was a blessing. But maybe it also coddled me. Like, if nobody you're close to ever dies, then you just go on expecting no loss. Which is not to say I'd never been to a funeral or anything. But it was always more distant relatives. I don't know if I was prepared to deal with loss yet. I was two years married at this point. My wife and I were renting a house and we weren't really happy there. It felt like a weird time for us. I remember that it was a two bedroom house. So one bedroom was our bedroom, but the other was my game room. It had a large CRT television up on the ceiling, suspended above a desk. It also had a futon. At some point - I don't really know why - my wife and I just started sleeping on the futon in the game room all the time. We'd watch movies on my PS2. I was really into PS2 at the time. We played a lot of Guitar Hero as well. This is all very rambly, but I guess I'm trying to brainstorm and paint a picture of the time. All I remember is that the day of the funeral I had the day off. I was really weirded out about going to bury my grandmother. And I just wanted to take my mind off of death. For whatever reason I spent the morning playing Galaga via the Namco Museum disc on Playstation. It was so simple. So easy to follow. And yet there was a good challenge and nuance and strategy. I slowly got better at it. If I'm being honest, I feel weird even writing all of this. It feels almost wrong talking about playing a video game the day of my grandmother's funeral. But in fairness, I think we all process grief differently. My dad makes a bunch of jokes, and that's not me. But I understand that it's how he gets through it. For me, I guess it's playing a game and just shutting down. I am who I am. And for what it's worth, I think now that playing Galaga still triggers memories of my Grammy. I think I hear the music and am reminded of all the funny little memories of her from growing up. Grammy and Grandpa lived in Florida all of my life. But I remember visiting them for Halloween one year when I was really young and trick or treating at a mall. And they'd come visit us for a week every summer. I remember my grandpa sitting on the porch late at night smoking his pipe. I remember the smell of the pipe mixed with his Old Spice. When I was in high school they moved back to New England to be closer to family. I remember visiting them in their new apartment. I remember my Grammy bumming a cigarette off me which I thought was hilarious. Her husband was a lifelong pipe smoker, but for some reason her smoking was a secret. I remember her laugh. She was a funny lady. She really liked to laugh. A year after her funeral, my wife and I had moved out of that house and we were living in an apartment that I still look back on with truly fond memories. It was small but it was cool. We had a beautiful view of the library in the center of town. We had French doors. We had a gorgeous kitchen. I was still really into my PS2 and had also gotten a PS3. And I became completely obsessed with shmups. I remember just going really hard on importing shoot-em-ups and becoming enamored with games like Terra Diver, Sonic Wings, Ibara, Espgaluda, Dodonpachi, Espgaluda, Castle Of Shikigami II, Gunibird, Raiden, Sol-Divide, R-Type Delta, Gradius V, Under Defeat... just any and every shmup I could get my hands on. Over the years, I've considered myself a pretty big shmup fan and I'm super interested in the history of the genre. I'm not as good at them as I used to be. I don't have the patience I used to. But I do love them. And I feel like it all stems from my playing Galaga that one fateful day as I mean to fight off some grief.
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