Dollar Sausages: My Father’s Personal Gaming History of California for the 1970s

My Father’s Personal Gaming History of California for the 1970s

Here’s the interview with my father and I.

You will see “Alex”; you will see “Father”.

Let’s start the conversation.

Alex: “Did you buy a gaming console in the 1970s? You know, 1970s?”

Father: No.

Alex: “Did you know anything about home gaming consoles in the 1970s?”

Father: Nothing. PONG. That’s it.

Alex: “Cool! Just one more question, please. During the 1970s, did stores in California cause great controversy and popularity for videogames?”

Father: I’m not aware of any. (Was your power off? I got a text that it was back on.)

Alex: “Okay. Maybe you went into the stores in California and saw video games without noticing anything special. A store was just a store. People would always be who they were. It was the 1970s. (Maybe. Yes, maybe my power was out. My power is on now.) Can you tell me a little bit about video games in the 1970s? I mean, you were there. It was the 1970s! You were still going to school and visiting pizza restaurants.”

Father: Primitive. Space Invaders maybe. Not much that I was aware of. Your mom and I played pinball and bowling.

Alex: “Pinball was a big industry in the 1970s. Now, pinball is dead. Bowling is still a big deal. I see bowling on TV. When you and Wendy went bowling, did you visit the arcade for 25 cents video games?”

Father: 70s? Not much in arcades. But 25 cents.

Alex: “So, there were few video games in the arcades in the 1970s. Is that right?”

Father: Very few. Pinball was the biggie. Skeeball!

Alex: “Awesome! Thank you for your personal gaming history. There is light at the end of the tunnel. The 1970s will be in your blood forever. So, basically, in the 1970s, PONG was just so-so. “Pinball” was the 1970s winner. Atari did exist in the 1970s. But, like you said, everything was primitive. You did have fun bowling with mom. There was intense feedback with marriage. But, in the 1970s, PONG was barely anything and the pinball industry was exploding with magnitude.”

Father: We did miniature golf growing up mom and I.

Alex: “You mean, at Golf N Stuff in Ventura?”

Father: Yes and there’s another business in the San Fernando Valley.

Alex: “Miniature golf is fun for the whole family even if professional golfers need more meat on their clubs.”

Father: Golfer, versus, “windmill”.

Alex: “Yes, yes! That windmill hole was pretty annoying. But that was the trick with physical fantasy.”

Father: We should do golf and stuff this summer.

Alex: “Agreed!”

My Observation: Notice the name “Golf N Stuff” in our last conversation. What is this “stuff” he talks about? Videogames! Also, Golf N Stuff was a beautiful monstrosity near Ventura’s beach vacation resorts. Sometimes, my father hated the beach. There were some really stupid people over there. People would just leave their dirty diapers and broken glass bottles on the beach and nobody would pick it up. Sad, very sad. But, Golf N Stuff was fun. It was like our local “Disneyland” without driving too far from the house. Gasoline was always a cost for driving. We went to so many restaurants in Ventura. Of course, most restaurants in Ventura, California did not have any arcade machines. Arcade machines were better for pizza restaurants and movie theaters. This reality was annoying for dad. Some pizza restaurants in Ventura County would not stop making pepperoni pizza during the buffet lunch hours. So, my dad would pay for a buffet lunch at a pizza restaurant and they would keep serving pepperoni pizza when everybody in the restaurant was sick and tired of it. Maybe a Galaga machine would be at a pizza restaurant, but that did not help with dad’s diet, and, he wanted them to make more pizza and stop the pepperoni. Pac-Man was very common in the 1980s and after for some time. Now, let’s mention something about the 1970s. PONG was an arcade machine and a home gaming console. Dad could go to the arcade and it was cheaper for his budget. Just 25 cents! Why would he pay for an expensive home gaming console when he could just go to a pizza restaurant and pay 25 cents for Pac-Man? My dad did not like people taking advantage of him for his money. Besides that, he was not very good with math and he just “…wanted to push the button on the computer and make it go!” He was especially upset with some Democrats. Many Democrats did not understand the jobs for rich people. California was getting more and more taxes. And, as would be the case depending on his budget, sometimes he did not have any quarters for a game. He could not just cut a dollar in half and use the remaining shreds of greenback. He needed to find “someone” to help him give change back and get more quarters unless there was a quarter machine. But, the stupid quarter machines could break and be out of order for over a week. He needed somebody to help him at the front counter. Restaurant workers could get so slow in Ventura that frustrated customers would sometimes try invading the kitchens to cook their food for themselves. Of course, that didn’t work. Workers could always stop them. But, they were still going so slow and other people didn’t know what they were doing. There were nice businesses in Ventura. There were rude businesses in Ventura. Even a coin collection store could be so ignorant and forget what a “coin” was. So many stores were never selling video games anywhere in the 1970s. My father was lucky to go to McDonald’s for a treat as a kid. Scarcity was still very close to home. Many restaurants in Ventura were struggling with the rising case of “soda jerks” who visited restaurants, paid for soda, and got too much free soda refill during the same visits. There were even a few strangers who were stealing ice cubes from a soda machine. Athletes could eat junk food by mistake. Health was pretty mysterious for everybody. Nobody in Ventura believed that Elvis was “their” king. Even the original Elvis seemed unreal. My dad grew up reading philosophy. But, he couldn’t understand some of the lame travelers on the road. He would ask me, “Have they ever even been to a McDonald’s?!” Indeed! Some cashiers in the markets would count their money like vacation tourists who needed directions. There was no Google Maps. For my father’s time in the 1970s, he needed to ask people for directions and people could really talk back then. Now, you would be lucky if young people can hold their pencils in the modern age of the future. Sad, very sad. But, was a pencil really that good of a thing? I have tried reading my grandma’s notes from the past. It’s like looking at a chicken scratch. ABCs were still a low standard before the internet was invented. My father did not play every arcade machine he saw. So many arcade machines were just… there. He did not touch them. The 1970s was often an appearance without his participation. He needed to work! Computers were primitive back in the 1970s. So, he needed to remember prices and items on his own. He could only talk to people so much. And, of course, grownups were better drivers back in his day. They were more sufficient and smooth. Today, drivers in California move like crazy people, as often is the case. When Californians gain more business, they also confuse more policy. The 1970s was different. Books were high in demand. Dad’s friends appreciated camping and hiking. Modernity kills charm. But, at the same time, modernity invents charm. Golf N Stuff is a sign of irony. Should gamers and players really just call their video games “stuff” or is “stuff” the kind of thing they only imagine? Okay… so, videogames are stuff. But what is stuff? I think such a label damages our judgement for programming and computation. PONG is now a mythological legend for most people. They do not just think it’s “stuff” for whatever. We still need to organize stuff and describe our stuff into their proper places. Pinball was skyrocketing; PONG was sinking; and video games were few. The 1970s was a time of scarcity for video games. And, most pinball machines are not even video games! You can play most pinball without a TV.