Pittsburg State University - Kanza Yearbook (Pittsburg, KS)

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Video invasion Attack of Atari student. “It’s always the same, too plain. On the other hand, video games are more interesting and modern. They’re never the same. The games involve skill, especially hand-eye coordination, and each one has a different objective in order to win. In the game Asteroids, the player attempts to destroy all the asteroids that come near his ship before one of them hits it, causing it to blow up. In Missile Command, the player tries to blow up all the alien missiles before they strike his home base and destroy it. The rewards for the players efforts also vary from machine to machine. With some machines, the winner receives additional time to play the game. With others, he gets another row of objects to shoot at. And yet others offer the chance for the winner to immortalize himself on the scoring record list displayed on the machine if he gets one of the top 10 highest scores ever recorded. The most popular machines among students seemed to be Asteroids, Space Invaders, and Pac Man, although the favorites fluctuated depending on which ones were the newest. “I used to like Asteroids, but I got tired of it after a while,” said Ball. THE STUDENT UNION game room is a favorite hangout for Alireza Adibi, where he sharpens his skills on the various pinball and video games, —photo by Bill Holtom

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Video Entertainment The more you play, the better you get, and soon the fun goes out of it for you. Now my favorite is Pac Man.” Some students refused to play video games because they thought they were a waste of money. “You can’t win with those games. said Jack Suenram, Pittsburg graduate student, “I never play any of those games. I stick with pinball.” Even students who were avid video games fans admitted that they were a waste of money. T know they’re a waste of money, but you have to spend your money some way ' said Dot Koehler, Pitt- sburg junior, “I’ve been playing these games for two years, ever since I came to college, and I average spending a dollar on them every time I go to Hollywood’s or the Student Union,” “Sure they’re a rip-off,” said Bart Smith, Overland Park freshman. They’re expensive to play, but I've got to do something to occupy my time sometimes. I spend at least $1.50 every other day playing Asteroids,” he said. “The only reason I don’t play more often is THE STUDENT UNION games room provides a popular place for students like Mark Krebs to spend some time and a few quarters on between-class breaks, —photo by Bill Holtom the cost ’ Most of the machines require a quarter for each play. The video explosion was definitely turning in profits for the establish- ments that offered these games. The Convenient Food Mart, 902 S. Joplin St,, paid off the bill for their Gorf machine in one week, and still had a Pepsi bottle full of quarters to prove it. Most of the area establishments with video games got theirs from a locat novelty company. They give half the proceeds from the machines to the novelty company and get free rent and maintenance in return. The other establishments buy the entire machine at once. “I have been leasing the machines, but I think I’m going to start buying them now,” said Sittner. ‘There is more money that has been put into video games than there was in building the Space Shuttle, so you know that they’ve got to be a big attraction. “Video games will never die,” said Sittner. “There is an endless world of them waiting to be invented. But I don't think they will ever take the place of pinball machines, because they have always been popular.” PEOPLE GO TO HOLLYWOOD’S for more reasons than one. Between beers, Greg Hough pits his skills against 'Missile Command . —photo by Gareth Waitrip Actually, there were benefits to playing video games, especially on a regular basis, “It definitely develops hand-eye coordination,” said Scott Karr, Paola sophomore. “And it gives you more dexterity in your fingers.” And there were special uses being developed for the machines, also. “Atari is building a special video machine for the Army,” said Tim Pistole, Pittsburg junior. “It's sup- posed to help them in battle situations.” However, the machines also had their drawbacks, besides the money they cost to play. “The screen bothers my eyes after I have been playing a while,” saic Matthews. T think it’s because I’m concentrating so hard on the moving objects on the screen. When I'm finished playing, sometimes I see dots for a while until my eyes gel back to normal.” “Sometimes I get a headache from playing too long,” said Leuteritz. “1 think it’s from looking at one thing too long. But it’s all part of the game.” But even though the machines were hard on the eyes and the wallet, it seemed that video games were here to stay, —by Sheri Johnson 19 Video Games