Childhood pic of me getting Pac-Man

[+Atarius Maximus]

Just digging through some old family photo albums and I found a pic of me holding my brand new copy of Pac-Man, and my little brother holding a brand new copy of Night Driver. The pic was dated June '82, but judging by us holding baskets I imagine it was an Easter gift a few months prior. Good times, good memories. I played the crap out of both of those games.

[CPUWIZ]

And you were smart enough to give it the finger, before you even played it. Applause.

[+Atarius Maximus]

I didn't notice that. That's "flipping" hilarious.

[jaybird3rd]

Cool picture! I remember getting many hours of play and enjoyment out of 2600 Pac-Man, no matter how much the Internet tries to claim that this was impossible.

 

I've always hated getting my picture taken, especially as a kid, but today I kinda wish that I had more pictures from those days. I still have some of my stuff from 30+ years ago, but it would be nice to see my old computer desks and black-and-white TV "monitors" again.

[+Atarius Maximus]

Cool picture! I remember getting many hours of play and enjoyment out of 2600 Pac-Man, no matter how much the Internet tries to claim that this was impossible.

I've always hated getting my picture taken, especially as a kid, but today I kinda wish that I had more pictures from those days. I still have some of my stuff from 30+ years ago, but it would be nice to see my old computer desks and black-and-white TV "monitors" again.

I played it all the time back then, although I was aware of its lack of resemblance to the original. I didn't know the pic existed until today. My father passed away about 6 months ago and I inherited a truckload of old photo albums. It's been fun looking through them. Several pics of my old Commodore 64 setup as well.

[Chris++]

That's awesome. My younger brother and I received Pac-Man for Easter of '82 as well, along with Missile Command. The funny thing was that we usually didn't get Easter presents, apart from baskets of candy -- I must have been hounding my poor dad for those two games, and he used Easter as an excuse to shut me up!

 

[+GoldLeader]

It's Always cool to see an old pic especially if you didn't know it existed. I had my mom drive me to 3 stores before I found Pac-Man (at the low price of $37.95...LOL) right when it came out. It was just sold out everywhere. I guess word in our town spread fast.

[Skylark68]

We picked up Pac-Man sometime right after its release at Gemco. I really wanted Warlords but Dad and Mom wanted Pac-Man. They won out.

 

It worked out okay as not too long later I managed to talk my Dad into getting me Adventure at K-Mart.

 

I actually never got Warlords until post crash when I found it at a garage sale.

 

I don't think I have any photos of me getting Atari games or playing them, but my Dad recorded my brother and I playing Air-Sea Battle with his Hi8 videocamera at some point in time (i'm guessing late '80s well after all my friends had NES).

[RevEng]

Simpler days, eh? Love the pic, Steve. Thanks for sharing!

 

I owned Pac-Man, Defender, and E.T back in the day, and played the heck out of them. According to modern commentary on these games, such an unhappy childhood should have severely warped me. Hmmmm...

 

So which brother got the better deal?

[SoulBlazer]

Simpler days, eh? Love the pic, Steve. Thanks for sharing!

 

I owned Pac-Man, Defender, and E.T back in the day, and played the heck out of them. According to modern commentary on these games, such an unhappy childhood should have severely warped me. Hmmmm...

 

So which brother got the better deal?

I wouldn't call either game amazing, but Night Driver at least gives you a solid gaming experience.

[Mulletino]

Nice pic!

 

I never had Pac-Man BITD but my Parents' friend had it (and Frogger) as he had a VCS too, wo when he visited he'd bring them so we could play them.

 

Back then, we knew it wasn't the same as the arcade, but we accepted that home versions _would_ be different because the Arcade Machines seemed so much more powerful than the home ones.

We also enjoyed playing those LCD handheld and tabletop games that were nothing like the originals either. Maybe they were just simpler times where we felt less entitled?

 

I enjoyed playing it and am looking forward to firing up the version I have now when I set my Atari back up.

Edited June 2, 2016 by Mulletino

[+Atarius Maximus]

Simpler days, eh? Love the pic, Steve. Thanks for sharing!

 

I owned Pac-Man, Defender, and E.T back in the day, and played the heck out of them. According to modern commentary on these games, such an unhappy childhood should have severely warped me. Hmmmm...

 

So which brother got the better deal?

 

First, thanks to everyone for the replies. It did bring a smile to my face when I found that picture.

 

Mike - not sure who got the better deal there... as time went on those were probably a few of our least played games. I probably played Pac-Man more, but I remember as a kid I loved the zen-like gameplay of Night Driver when you got in the zone. I got really good at it. Both were fun in 1982!

[+Atarius Maximus]

Nice pic!

 

I never had Pac-Man BITD but my Parents' friend had it (and Frogger) as he had a VCS too, wo when he visited he'd bring them so we could play them.

 

Back then, we knew it wasn't the same as the arcade, but we accepted that home versions _would_ be different because the Arcade Machines seemed so much more powerful than the home ones.

We also enjoyed playing those LCD handheld and tabletop games that were nothing like the originals either. Maybe they were just simpler times where we felt less entitled?

 

I enjoyed playing it and am looking forward to firing up the version I have now when I set my Atari back up.

 

I had a whole lot of LCD arcade games too, as well as all the old Mattel handheld sports games. I just thought it was cool to have any type of video game to play at home. I remember temporarily trading games with friends too, and the excitement of going to a friends house when they just got a new game. I remember my good friend (a neighbor) got Decathlon and Defender... we stayed up all night playing. It all came to a screeching halt around 1984 (my first year of high school) when we both got our Commodore 64's, the Atari was put in the closet until I got the nostalgia bug in college in 1990 or so. I used my C64 as my primary computer until my first PC clone in 1991!

[RevEng]

Two solid titles for sure. I had the benefit of having a brother close enough in age to be interested in Atari, just like you. Double the number of birthday and Christmas carts.

[+frankodragon]

Turned your pic into a Polaroid with caption:

 

[+Atarius Maximus]

Turned your pic into a Polaroid with caption:

 

polaroid.jpg

 

Ha. I really don't completely remember what my expectations were. I do know I played it quite a bit, at least at first. When all was said and done, I think I ended up owning around 15 games before the crash and me getting my C64 in '84 (which put the 2600 in the closet for the remainder of the 80's). I remember my favorites of the games I owned being Adventure, Asteroids, Demon Attack, Pitfall, Keystone Kapers, Missile Command, and Space Invaders.

[Black0Panther]

Sorry to say no photos at all here. Being what over 30 years a go. Gt my Atari 2600 when I was like 6 years old. Hooked it up played some space invaders and stuff. Short time afterwards. My dad came home from work with a decent sized box. He gives it to me and it was just full of Atari games such as Haunted House, Combat and many others. Atari 2600 was my first console and I still love it very much. I do not have my original unit but I have a few I have found and a Darth Vader version that s today works quite well. I have just about all the games I had as a kid and collected quite a few more now that I am an adult.

[+chicgamer]

 

Ha. I really don't completely remember what my expectations were. I do know I played it quite a bit, at least at first. When all was said and done, I think I ended up owning around 15 games before the crash and me getting my C64 in '84 (which put the 2600 in the closet for the remainder of the 80's). I remember my favorites of the games I owned being Adventure, Asteroids, Demon Attack, Pitfall, Keystone Kapers, Missile Command, and Space Invaders.

 

I loved Demon Attack. It and Yar's Revenge were the games I played most.

 

I don't remember my dad buying either of those games, though. i do remember when we got Pac-Man, though. We got it at a Kmart, I think due my brother's insistence.

[reklen]

I'm just wondering where all the people were who hated Pac-man in 1982. I certainly didn't know any. It was probably the most eagerly awaited game. Everyone I knew, adults and children, loved it. I remember Atari prepping everyone with merchandise, with Pac-man with eyes, and Pink ghosts. Everyone knew it wouldn't look perfect. This was 1982, only hipsters wouldn't like it. There was no nintendo or colecovision, there was only Atari and intellivision. Pac-man was great. ET on the other hand was generally disliked, however, not like today. Even today, Pac-man is playable. Yet on these boards, you guys think you are so funny. The guy shares a fun memory with you, and you can't wait to tear it apart. People here hate Atari so much, on the Atari boards. If you hate Pac-man, why don't you go play your nintendo. You can shoot ducks, until the red light blinks, because that was so much more fun than any Atari game. Jeez, lighten up people.

[Chris++]

I'm just wondering where all the people were who hated Pac-man in 1982. I certainly didn't know any. It was probably the most eagerly awaited game. Everyone I knew, adults and children, loved it. I remember Atari prepping everyone with merchandise, with Pac-man with eyes, and Pink ghosts. Everyone knew it wouldn't look perfect. This was 1982, only hipsters wouldn't like it. There was no nintendo or colecovision, there was only Atari and intellivision. Pac-man was great. ET on the other hand was generally disliked, however, not like today. Even today, Pac-man is playable. Yet on these boards, you guys think you are so funny. The guy shares a fun memory with you, and you can't wait to tear it apart. People here hate Atari so much, on the Atari boards. If you hate Pac-man, why don't you go play your nintendo. You can shoot ducks, until the red light blinks, because that was so much more fun than any Atari game. Jeez, lighten up people.

 

I think it's understood as harmless fun by this point, Reklen. The game has been discussed ad nauseam in this forum for many years, so now it's practically a joke to joke about it, if you see what I mean. (My friends and I loved E.T. back then, as it was another multi-screen adventure game, so there weren't across-the-board negative opinions. Maybe you should fire up the NES instead. )

 

 

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

I'm just wondering where all the people were who hated Pac-man in 1982. I certainly didn't know any. It was probably the most eagerly awaited game. Everyone I knew, adults and children, loved it. I remember Atari prepping everyone with merchandise, with Pac-man with eyes, and Pink ghosts. Everyone knew it wouldn't look perfect. This was 1982, only hipsters wouldn't like it. There was no nintendo or colecovision, there was only Atari and intellivision. Pac-man was great. ET on the other hand was generally disliked, however, not like today. Even today, Pac-man is playable. Yet on these boards, you guys think you are so funny. The guy shares a fun memory with you, and you can't wait to tear it apart. People here hate Atari so much, on the Atari boards. If you hate Pac-man, why don't you go play your nintendo. You can shoot ducks, until the red light blinks, because that was so much more fun than any Atari game. Jeez, lighten up people.

 

[Dmitry]

Yeah, I asked my parents to surprise me for my birthday and they bought bowling... Obviously picked for being discounted by 1982. Did turn out to be fun though. We got paceman eventually and I did dislike it, even then. Liked night driver though

[Dmitry]

Ps I thought ms pacman was much improved. My mom didn't agree, she played only the original

[reklen]

My problem is, with the current Pacman and ET sucks jokes and stuff is that it is revisionist history. It is like the people saying the Phantom Menace sucks now. Sure, some people didn't like either one when they first came out, but it wasn't the majority, read the contemporary reviews. I really got into Atari Pac-man when it came out. It looked different from the arcade, but so did Asteroids (Which I thought looked better the time.) Of course when MS. Pac-man came out, I never looked back. I'm looking forward to the new 2600 Pac-man when it is released.

[moycon]

My problem is, with the current Pacman and ET sucks jokes and stuff is that it is revisionist history. It is like the people saying the Phantom Menace sucks now. Sure, some people didn't like either one when they first came out, but it wasn't the majority, read the contemporary reviews. I really got into Atari Pac-man when it came out. It looked different from the arcade, but so did Asteroids (Which I thought looked better the time.) Of course when MS. Pac-man came out, I never looked back. I'm looking forward to the new 2600 Pac-man when it is released.

The Phantom Menace really did suck though....then and now.

 

Very cool picture.

 

I recall Pac-Man was one of the first game we got for the system (We had Combat, Space Invaders and Breakout) and then if I recall Pac-Man was our next game. I remember being really excited about it probably due to all the hype. Pac-Man was strange at the time but I can't say I hated it or thought it outright sucked. I personally wasn't a huge fan of the arcade game though.