Millersville University - Touchstone Yearbook (Millersville, PA)

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As Linda Crabb watches over his shoulder. Rueben Hoggard displays his skill ot one of the exciting video games In the Student Memorial Center gallery.—Photo by Mike Mlngey.

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Waiting in the fast food line. diners pass the time before lunch reading the mail of the day. Students living on the new side of campus received their mail in boxes downstairs in Gordinier Dining Hall. —Photo by Mcrin Studios, Inc. J Finding that she is one of the lucky ones on this particular day. Terry Myers examines her collection of letters, bulletins, and junk mail.—Photo by Mcrin Studios. Inc. Some on-campus correspondence proves to be an engrossing matter for Ralph Reichert and Kim Miller — Photo by Mcrin Studios. Inc Mall 19

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“Wocka Wocka Wocka” lures students to play From out of nowhere they came. It was a slow process at first: hardly anyone noticed. But they steadily infiltrated the Student Memorial Center and the local eateries. Wherever one turned, there they sat. Students would try to find peace in the shopping centers or bars, but to no avail; they had arrived before. People could not escape the hypnotizing pull of these metal monsters as they were constantly being drawn into the beasties' grasp. Sudden bouts of insanity caused students to offer their time and money to feed the ogres' voracious hunger. The conquest reached epic proportions during the year of the Video Machine, as pinball was replaced as the campus' 1 pasttime. It s horrible. said junior French major Ginny McGaughey. I once saw a guy coming away from one of those things shaking like gelatin. It was as if he had the d.t.’s!” This seemed to be a common reaction to duels with the beasts. Other symptoms included arthritic fingers, bleary vision, and sweat-drenched clothes. Tall people complained of back strain from hunching over the consoles. Small people complained of neck strain. And everyone complained of the waste of money. Why did students submit themselves to such physical and financial torture? What strange hold had these things over otherwise sane individuals? It’s the challenge of it all.” said business major Dave Berndt. Even though it is inevitable that the machine will win. I keep thinking in the back of my mind that someday I'll beat the bastard. The fact that playing the machines was basically a no-win situation did nothing to deter enthusiasm for them. In the old- fashioned. archaic, mechanical pin-ball games, one strove for the elusive extra game; but these benign handouts were nowhere to be seen in the modern age of computerized madness. Instead, one wasted a stream of quarters in the search for the noble goal of High Score. Those skilled enough to reach this plateau had their names electronically inscribed in the Hall of Fame. The video victors would walk away with a fleeting feeling of superiority as the monster sat digesting the quarters. One such champion, junior Don Rossi, offered his comments: It's a great feeling, having your name up in lights. Unfortunately. the next day your name has probably been knocked off— and the machine just sits there grinning. In addition to the challenge, another attraction of the creatures was the fantasy element. The first wave of machines featured fierce battles in alien settings. A student could easily recover from bombing a calculus mid-term by wiping out the Plutonian starfleet. The screen's mesmerizing display of buzzing, flashing lights could simply transport an unwary person into the vacuum of outer space. While the prey was thus entranced, the beast sucked his pockets dry. The tactics of the second wave of the invasion changed with the advent of the cute machines. To attract those men and women who had no taste for extraterrestrial destruction, these new machines starred cuddly yellow dots, lovable little frogs, and tiny adorable construction men. In place of the gruesome, tentacled aliens of the space games, the new villians were pink fuzzballs. nasty otters and overgrown apes which rolled their eyes when defeated. Those people who ob- jected to the violence of the old games were taken in by the seeming innocence of the new games. Once again, unsuspecting students were drawn into a fantasy world while they were simultaneously being robbed. Some players were so involved that they assigned names and personalities to the characters. Watch out for Bllnky, freshman accounting major Paul Reighard said. “He's a fast one! Luckily for the mental health of the campus and the state of the economy, not all students were deceived by the call of the video machines. Whereas the beeps and booms provided for some a musical accompaniment to their battles, other students were not so enthralled. How am I supposed to study in the SMC when all I hear in the background is wocka. wocka. wocka? asked senior Joan Inman. Others called the beasts a mechanized form of prostitution, mindless exercises in dreamland, and colossal wastes of money. Despite the complaining, untold hundreds of quarters disappeared into the machines' bellies. Often those who disavowed the monsters the loudest were those who were addicted the strongest. Yes. I'll admit that I've spent a lot of money on a useless pasttime. said elementary education major Miriam Turney as she slammed a quarter into the thing's mouth, but I can't help it. I'm hooked. In the corner of the SMC. its stomach full for the day. a video machine merrily bing-banged in response to Turney's comment. Its conquest seemed complete. While downstairs, covered with dust and rusting, snored an old pinball machine. Mike Horn Trying to beat his score one more time. Billy Mun; plays Frogger. one of the many games located in the farmers market downstairs at Park City .—Photo by Mike Mingey The bright flashing lights of the Burrowes lobby Pac Man game beckons unwary students to spend their quarters. Burrowes was one of the first dorms to get a video machine.—Pholo by Mike Mingey Video Games 21