[General Discussion] Warm Fuzzy Gaming Memories

When I was little, playing video games was a rare treat. This was pre-NES (which I didn't get until middle school anyway), so a trip to the arcade was necessary for any gaming activities. Not an easy thing to do when you live in a small town with no arcade, and your mom thinks video games are a waste of time.

The games that strike the fondest memories are Dig Dug and Galaga. My first exposure to a Dig Dug machine was when I was 5-6 years old on a trip to Myrtle Beach. I was always looking for more bang for my buck (i.e., not dying within 10 seconds), and the appeal of Dig Dug is obvious; who doesn't enjoy inflating monsters and making them explode? I don't remember much else about that trip, but I remember playing Dig Dug, and for many years, that arcade at the beach was the only place I got the chance to play that game.

Galaga was a much more common machine, but I remember it most vividly because our local grocery store (Food Town, later Food Lion) had a cabinet. I've got no idea why a grocery store would put in an arcade machine, as I almost never saw anyone playing it, but every time we'd go shopping, I'd pester my mom for a quarter so I could play. The machine disappeared and the store closed a few years later, but I still remember why I used to enjoy grocery shopping when I was little.

Anyone else have fond memories of gaming when you were little? I'm not talking about when you hosed some n00bs in Halo last week or the first time you played your PSP; the kind of memories I'm refering to are when you were young enough not to take gaming for granted.

Jam it back in, in the dark.