The 1980s. A second cold war was well underway. With nuclear fears at their highest levels in 20 years what better way to deal with the threat of nuclear annihilation than a video game! Back when “Made by Atari” meant something good, the video game giant unleashed another trackball bitch of a game. Only this time instead of wiping out bugs and other pests you had to use your spinning agility to take out nuclear warheads threatening your cities and, in what I consider to be the ultimate anti-nuclear statement, in the end the missles are the only winner. 5 years ago

I just missed the Space Invaders craze when it first hit it big in 1979. I was too young to go to the mall myself, but when I started a couple of years later I vividly remember feeling almost hypnotized watching the methodically dropping invaders. 5 years ago

That ball. The goddamn ball. Like most people, my first experience with a trackball was on this highly addictive and monstrously frustrating game. That ball was responsible for more accidental video game deaths than Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde put together. 5 years ago

The first hugely popular driving game, Pole Position took you from track to track racing the clock and your best time. 5 years ago

Take a cute, if obviously overweight, chef and have him make his burgers by running across the meat and toppings until all four hot and juicy burgers are complete. Unsanitary fun ensues, but watch out for the evil eggs and sausages trying to stop you! 5 years ago

Computerized ping pong. That’s all it was. It’s also considered the first great video game. Released in 1972, it pretty much started the arcade craze of the 70’s and 80’s. The first time I played it I didn’t even touch the ball. The last time I can remember, I defeated the computer without losing a point. 5 years ago

Two weeks ago, while going to see The Bourne Ultimatum with some friends, we stopped by the “arcade” section of the theater. Acknowledging we’re slower than we used to be we decided to play anyway. We picked the Star Trek game with Borg in it. You can’t get much geekier than Star Trek was my theory giving us a better chance. We put our two dollars in (two of us played at $1 a piece) and died in 12 seconds. Today’s video games reward the quick-on-the-draw not the quick-thinking. It made me long for the days when arcade games required you to be quick with both your hands and your mind.

As a kid, I was an arcade rat and reminiscing about classic arcade games seems to be at an all-time high so I thought it might be fun to come up with a list of my favorite arcade games, so, to quote Lando from the Star Wars: Return of the Jedi game, here goes nothing! 5 years ago