The Arcade Age
Why did the arcade coin boxes keep overflowing?
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Quarky is writing this for you...
The story
When Pong appeared in a bar in 1972, it stopped working because the coin box was stuffed too full of quarters. Arcades exploded: Space Invaders, Pac-Man and Donkey Kong turned tiny squares of light into aliens, a hungry yellow circle and a jumping hero everybody recognized.
What you'll learn
- A pixel is one tiny square of colored light, and pictures are grids of them.
- Early games used very few pixels, so characters had to be simple and bold.
- Pong broke because so many coins were dropped into it.
- Kid takeaway: limits can push you to design something unforgettable.
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