• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Shop

AUSRETROGAMER

The Pop-Culture E-Zine

  • Announcements
  • History
  • Retro Exploring
  • Retro Gaming Culture
  • Reviews
  • Modern Gaming
  • Podcasts
  • Pinball
You are here: Home / History / The 80’s Arcade

The 80’s Arcade

September 10, 2013 By ausretrogamer

The year is 1985. You walk into a smoky arcade parlour and the sounds of Galaga, Robotron:2084, Pac Man and Asteroids fill your ears. Dire Straits is blaring from the crackling sound system singing something about “Money For Nothing”.

80s_games_pacman
Source: Steve Ringman/The Chronicle 1981

You make a beeline to your favourite arcade machine. Coins are lined up on the screen as you eagerly await your turn. Once you get hold of the joystick and your fingers are poised on the fire button, excitement and joy fills your heart as you dash towards the last remaining aliens, pew pew, pew. The machine rocks and vibrates as you attempt to beat the high score. Just one more level, one more ghost, one more kick, one more blast and you will be the star of the arcade and immortalised forever on the high score table.

Those were the days before game-saves and redemption machines, when every game cost 20 cents and every life was important – an era that required true skill and nerves of steel to play.

 

Related posts:

Retrospective: A Tale Of Dick Smith’s Wizzard The Lost Arcade on SBS On Demand Default ThumbnailTetris 35th Anniversary Silver Coin PAC-MAN Tamagotchi Has Officially Launched

Filed Under: History Tagged With: !Arcade!, Retro Gaming, Retrospective

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. High Score Battle on Eternia | MOTU | AUSRETROGAMER says:
    September 13, 2013 at 4:35 pm

    […] Ram Man was asked by his friend He-Man to go to the local arcade centre, little did he know that the most powerful man in the universe was going to show him up at […]

  2. Rise Of The Arcade Phoenix | AUSRETROGAMER says:
    September 5, 2014 at 3:57 pm

    […] apparent in the arcade and pinball parlour establishments. Long gone are the days of dark and dingy arcade joints we used to revel in. With the advent of super consoles and redemption machines, the old arcade […]

  3. NAMCO Mini Arcade Machine Collection | AUSRETROGAMER says:
    October 4, 2016 at 5:26 pm

    […] you ever wanted to recreate an arcade parlour from the 80s? You know those dark dingy joints you used to visit and wow at the pew-pew sounds coming out of […]

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us

FacebookInstagramYoutTubeTumblrFollow Us on RSSFollow Us on MastodonFollow Us on BlueskyFollow Us on Threads

Search

Shout Us A Coffee!

Recent Posts

  • Ping Pong + Space Invaders = Bit.Pong
  • Yippee Ki‑Yay! The Ultimate Die Hard Pinball Machine Is Real
  • A Wall of Retro Memories – Curated by the One and Only Ms. Ausretrogamer!
  • Voice Acting in the ‘Arkham Trilogy’
  • ROGUEish Brings Dungeon-Delving Delight to the Commodore 64

Ad

Footer

© 2012 – 2025 – ausretrogamer (The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine). All rights reserved. Where appropriate, all trademarks and copyrighted materials remain property of their respective owners.

Terms & Conditions | Disclaimer

Advertise | About | Contact | Links

Please see our Privacy Policy for details on how we treat your personal information.

Support This Site

If you like what we do, you can shout us a coffee on Ko-fi :-)

Copyright © 2025 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in