THE SIGNAL ON THE SCREEN
Many arcades started out as shooting galleries, letting you pop balloons or shoot down the moving crows with an air-rifle or .22. Then came the pinball machines, with a variety of designs, all based on how long the player could keep the steel ball in motion on the board.
THE SIGNAL ON THE SCREEN
Many arcades started out as shooting galleries, letting you pop balloons or shoot down the moving crows with an air-rifle or .22. Then came the pinball machines, with a variety of designs, all based on how long the player could keep the steel ball in motion on the board. When the board became a TV screen and the ball became a moveable dot, something was lost of the good old days where you'd stand at the counter with a real rifle, popping real bullets at a real (usually chipped and dented) target. But a good deal was gained, especially for the player interested in the strategic factors inherent in continued eye/hand action.
Yet for nearly 10 years, the screen games continued to be devoted to the play tradition of the gallery and arcade games. Manufacturers turned out only two types of screen games: shoot-to-blow-up and variations of the Pong game. The screen was not initially considered a revolutionary device, simply another way of playing the same old games.