The Russians Were Playing! The Russians Were Playing!
I recall in days gone by feeding many quarters into the ubiquitous arcade games down at the local 7-11 and various mall venues. The adults of that time seemed tolerant of the games. Perhaps the games were not as threatening as they are now due to their far from realistic graphics. Titles like Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto have graphics and deal with situations that make many folks uncomfortable, and often fuel anti-gaming sentiment among parents and legislators.
But it was different back then. On occasion, one might even hear an adult or two comment on the virtues of arcade video games. These were generally along the lines of how they were beneficial in assisting children to develop hand-eye coordination. I recall an episode of the old TV series Knight Rider, starring David Hasselhoff in his pre-Baywatch days, in which KITT (the sentient car who was the real star of the show) expressed grudging appreciation for arcade video games since they helped develop youthful coordination.
I was intrigued therefore to read about coin-fed arcade games from the old Soviet bloc over at Wired in an article by Alexander Zaitchik. As with many production items from the Soviet era, these units were often blatant rip-offs of Western products. (Ironically, the greatest arcade video game to emerge from the Soviet Union, and one of the greatest of all time by any measure, was Tetris, and it has been ripped off in the West innumerable times.)
The article details the work of four students at Moscow State Technical University who have scoured the countryside for old Soviet arcade game machines, collecting and restoring them. Check out the photo gallery for a sampling of their collection.
Interestingly, a common element among the games, at least those so far collected, is the lack of a high-score list. Such competition, explained one of the museum’s founders, was not encouraged in Soviet culture. Perhaps high score bragging rights perpetuated individualism too much within the communal ideal?
What most intrigued me was the justification for providing communist youth with these arcade games. The article alluded to a military manual stating the games were distributed for “entertainment and active leisure, as well as the development of visual-estimation abilities.” KITT would have been proud.
References
Zaitchik, A. (2007, June 6). Soviet-era arcade games crawl out of their cold war graves. [Online]. Available:
http://www.wired.com/gaming/hardware/news/2007/06/soviet_games
Game Discussion | John Rice | 
June 7, 2007 3:27 pm
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