Atari Haunted House

I was late to the Atari craze.  Its popularity was already declining when my parents broke down and bought me one, likely because it was finally affordable.

I didn't have a whole lot of cartridges; again, that affordability thing.  After all, if memory serves, cartridges still cost about $30 in 1983.  So, often, I would borrow cartridges from friends.

I distinctly remember borrowing this Atari cartridge from a friend in high school in the Fall of that year.  I thought a cartridge called "Haunted House" would certainly augment and enhance my Halloween experience.  It did to varying degrees of success.  I wandered around the blocky maze that stood in for a house, usually in the dark, encountering digitized creatures that required some suspension of belief to see them for what they were supposed to be and never did win.  I think I only had it for a week or two and the day soon came when I had to return it.  I recently rediscovered it at an estate sale.  

Of Slurpees and Video Games

When I look back on the '80's, I sometimes feel I was more of an observer than having experienced them first hand. I don't mean that I wasn't the right age, I was.  I turned 13 in 1980, prime time coming-of-age age. But due to lack of funds, proximity of my home, and an overprotective mother, I saw little of the things most of my generation did. One of those things was video arcades. I didn't have any near me and we certainly didn't have quarters to "throw away". Another was 7-11 Slurpees. We had a 7-11 in town, but my parents never bought gas there, and we certainly wouldn't have gone inside to buy a frozen drink if we did. Like I said, I was aware of all of these things; I watched a lot of TV after all.  But as far as tasting or playing them, Slurpees and arcade video games were out of my reach (full disclosure, I did have an Atari 2600 after 1983).

Perhaps the best representation of my pop culture gap is summarized in these cups I found this morning at a garage sale.  They date from 1982 and apparently there was at least one more series in 1983.  Coincidentally enough, they cost a quarter. I didn't mind "throwing it away".

Leftovers Day 15 -- Milton Bradley Pac-Man Board Game

By 1982, America was in full-blown Pac-mania. It's not surprising Milton Bradley tried to cash in with their own version.

Split Second Lives!

The house is once again stocked with AA batteries, so I pulled out Split Second. I must have bee seeing double (or at least 2/3's) when I looked at the battery compartment initially. This game calls for 6, not 9 batteries.

So after loading it up, I turned it on and voila, we have LED. You select a game 1 through 8 as detailed on the back: