How A Game of Pac-Man Cost Me $200 in 1982

Photo by Dan 7Kidz on Unsplash

The year was 1982 — for all intents and purposes a true heyday for the video gaming industry. Arcades were booming. Pinball machines and pool tables were being wheeled out of recreation centers and pubs, making way for rows of heavy brightly colored video gaming cabinets sporting names like Space Invaders, Donkey Kong and Zaxxon. With them came the chance to face off against aliens, a giant gorilla and some weird…