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The 10 most "80s" video games.
NoOne=NBA=:
I can see that I'm going to have to get more specific, with respect to the original link, as nobody but me apparently READ the list.
In spite of what the author CLAIMED his list was about, it started off with THIS support for his Number 10 pick, which negates his list.
--- Quote ---#10 ROADBLASTERS
Year released
1987
What's so 80s about it?
About 9 billion RoadBlasters arcade machines were in circulation by 1989.
Why it made the list
To understand what makes this an 80s game, you have to look at life in the late 80s.
During the last few years of the decade, RoadBlasters was inescapable... It was at the arcade. It was at the bowling alley. It was at the movie theater. It was at the ice cream place, the pizzeria, the convenience store, and at the local bar...
It is pretty hard to imagine what life was like in the late 80s without picturing a RoadBlasters machine every 50 feet, and that's what makes it number 10 on the list.
--- End quote ---
By this definition Asteroids, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, Defender and Pacman should top the list.
I don't remember people running around in tricked out sports cars, with rocket launchers mounted on the hood during the 80's, do you?
MaximRecoil:
--- Quote from: NoOne=NBA= on September 11, 2005, 01:56:50 pm ---I can see that I'm going to have to get more specific, with respect to the original link, as nobody but me apparently READ the list.
In spite of what the author CLAIMED his list was about, it started off with THIS support for his Number 10 pick, which negates his list.
--- Quote ---#10 ROADBLASTERS
Year released
1987
What's so 80s about it?
About 9 billion RoadBlasters arcade machines were in circulation by 1989.
Why it made the list
To understand what makes this an 80s game, you have to look at life in the late 80s.
During the last few years of the decade, RoadBlasters was inescapable... It was at the arcade. It was at the bowling alley. It was at the movie theater. It was at the ice cream place, the pizzeria, the convenience store, and at the local bar...
It is pretty hard to imagine what life was like in the late 80s without picturing a RoadBlasters machine every 50 feet, and that's what makes it number 10 on the list.
--- End quote ---
By this definition Asteroids, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, Defender and Pacman should top the list.
I don't remember people running around in tricked out sports cars, with rocket launchers mounted on the hood during the 80's, do you?
--- End quote ---
Which is why I posted this:
--- Quote ---There is nothing about the game that ties it to 80's culture or social/political events. It got meshed in with 80's culture after it was a success but like I said before, that is the opposite of what the author of the article was [semi-succesfully] focusing on.
--- End quote ---
And this:
--- Quote ---He strayed from his stated premise on a few of his choices but the article was still funny.
--- End quote ---
Apparently you either want him to change his premise and just go with the top 10 most popular arcade games from the 80's; or stick with his premise and make a few more mistakes with his choices; you know, to keep the other mistakes company or something.
Road Blasters is a mistake according to his stated premise. Tetris' inclusion is debatable. The other 8 fit perfectly.
NoOne=NBA=:
--- Quote from: maxim_recoil on September 11, 2005, 02:55:35 pm ---Apparently you either want him to change his premise and just go with the top 10 most popular arcade games from the 80's; or stick with his premise and make a few more mistakes with his choices.
--- End quote ---
Basically I was just pointing out that he had no clue what he was doing in the first place.
The main thing that set 80's culture apart from any other decade WAS the videogame itself--specifically the arcade craze.
MaximRecoil:
--- Quote ---Basically I was just pointing out that he had no clue what he was doing in the first place.
--- End quote ---
8 or 9 out of 10 isn't bad. He knew that Road Blasters didn't fit the list by the way:
--- Quote ---It's hard to imagine a game that takes place in a futuristic setting to really be an 80s game. In fact, while playing the game, there is very little that makes you think "Man, this is sooooo 80s" like you do when you see Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure on TBS. Some might say the game is like Mad Max, but the only similarities are that it's set in the future and has cars.
--- End quote ---
Where he went wrong was here:
--- Quote ---To understand what makes this an 80s game, you have to look at life in the late 80s[...]
--- End quote ---
He either thought [incorrectly] that his following logic was sound; or he just wanted an excuse to rail on Road Blasters for a while, lol.
brain21:
--- Quote from: JCL on September 10, 2005, 12:23:09 pm ---
Well, it isn't a list of videogames from the 80s, or even videogames that defined the 80s, it is a list of videogames that most reflect the 80s.
And this guy has Reagan/Russia/etc on the brain, so he pulls in games that reflect that.
--- End quote ---
Ah yes, many time I sit back and reflect on all those times in the 80's where I, for some unknown reason, found myself in some back alley smashing cars and fighting wave after wave of ninjas! A reflection of the 80's indeed. After all, weren't all of us fghting waves of ninjas & creatures in back alleys in the 80's.
The list is basically this guy remembering HIS favorite video games, regardless of the fact that they were 80's. He contradicts himself in his criteria as well:
"Like music, movies and books, video games can't help but occasionally be a reflection of the time and culture in which they are made"
" in the same sense that there are "80s films" and "80s bands", there are also "80s videogames"."
OK, twice he makes the same contradiction. On one hand he says that the great 80's games reflect the decade, and on the other hand he says that they ARE the decade (culture). So which is it? Are they part of the decade, or do they reflect it?
Now I understand some will say "Both" They made up the culture, AND reflected the times.
Well, Pac-Man may have not reflected the socio-political landscape of the time (yeah, like N.A.R.C. really does! Come on!), but few games SCREAM 80's like Pac-Man. Pac-Man WAS the cutlure of the 80's. Just ask Buckner & Garcia. Ditto with games like Donkey Kong & Galaga. When someone in this thread mentioned DK someone else said something like it didn't qualify because Mario didn't have a mullet and generally didn't reflect the times. The same arguement goes here. Mario, because of his success and existance, very much BECAME the times. Just as mullets reflect the times, so does Mario & Donkey Kong. They were BOTH parts of the culture of the day. One part of pop culture does NOT have to reflect upon another in order to be seen as part of that time. In fact if it does it is often seen as an imitator, and NOT something integrally part of the culture of the time.
I knew more people that did NOT have mullets than I knew that DID have mullets back then. Didn't see that many mullets in my H.S., but we all went to Putt-Putt on the weekends to play the newest games (and the not so new). There were few sounds more instantly recognizable in an arcade than Mario jumping over a barrel or pac-man chomping on a pill, or the sound of the fire button on asteroids. If that's not part of the ingrained culture of the 80's than I don't know what is.
I think the list is silly and self-serving. "I'll make you a list of MY favorite games, but in order so that the list isn't 30 games long I'll artificially limit it by some fake criteria" Yawn. WE could come up with a better list of which games defined the decade, or whatever...
Brain21