Ok so once again I have my Dos Equis (the writer's brew) and the laptop in front of me... and once again some semblence of pathos strikes me. I am an officially an Old G'... no not the retired "Imma gonna bust a cap in yo ass' gangsta type. Instead I am a "Old Gamer", a person who has ridden the electronic digital frontier from its inception. Pong... hell I had one.. Atari 2600, well young blood's I went through around 20 joysticks with mine... Coleco Vision, PitFall will remain scarred in my consciousness forever, Commodore 64, Long Live Lord British (oh yea don't piss off the guards), my first 'color' gaming rig the Apple IIc, Epyx Summer/Winter/California Games anyone? The list goes on and on.

However let me not wax poetic on the games of yore, instead let me feel pity for this new incoming class of 2010 freshman. They are now 18 years of age and they have missed some the greatest gaming history games of all time. They'll never know the true joy that comes from going to an "arcade". Why back in the day™  the arcade was THE place to show the world your physical and mental prowness. You earned respect crushing that damn Donkey Kong, women would swoon when arcade 'Cool dudes' got perfect scores during the challenge stages in Galaga [ok I lied sue me], Karate Champ proved if you were a Karate chump, and losing that last city in Missile Command felt like the apocalyptic end of the world.

Thus in the spirit of the Old G's I have compiled a Top 10 Video Games of All Time made before 1989.

Top 10 Video Games: A College Freshman has  never Played

10. Pole Position - 1982 -  Before there was Grand Tourismo... before Need for Speed, hell before any damn car game worth a crap was Pole Position, I swear I still hear that sweet seductive mono female voice hotboxing out. "Prepare to Qualify". In the arcade that game was perpetually camped out, I swear somewhere out there some current NASCAR or Busch League driver got his start using the full simulator Pole Position arcade at an Aladdin's Arcade. IMO this game is the g'daddy of all modern racers and deserve's respect. 

9. Dragon's Lair - 1983 - Back in this era there was not a game that could match the movie(animation) quality of this LaserDisc driven arcade masterpiece. If it wasn't for the fact that this game was "Out of Order" more times than a rest room in a Tijuana bar, this game could have easily become one the highest grossing games also. While basically a simple puzzle game, the amount of sheer presence this game elicited was always memorable. I swear everyone would pile around anyone playing this game... and with a mighty .75 - 1.00 price tag this game was by far the most expensive to play.

8.  Ultima I-III: 1983 - yea I included I-III because those are the one's I beat. Absolutely fantastic game, with a world that fraught with peril and treasure. Dungeon's with Dragon, Pirates with Cannon's (although every missile was always a lil bulls eye circle).  Dammit this game was joy for all Commodore64 owners and the progenator of every modern epic RPG out there. All Hail Lord British.

7. Legend of Zelda - 1986 - One of the 2 reasons for the smashing success of the Nintendo Entertainement System in America. LoZ combined action with an additive play mechanic that lead to legions of Old G's getting exposed to their 1st bouts of the dreaded "Nintendo Finger".

 6. Contra - 1988 - 2 Dude's with Guns... objective destroy ever mutha lovin member of Red Falcon on the screen. The 2D cousin for a whole slew future 3D games. Contra introduced multiple gun types, team work, and bunning hopping gun skillz to a whole generation of Old G's. Other games might have had the same premise, Heavy Barrel, Ikari Warriors, hell even Commando. But none had the CODE OF POWER (up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start), or the absolute fun of being associated with our belated President Reagan like Contra (paper shredders anyone?). 

 5. Bard's Tale - 1985 - My 1st foray into 3D RPG's came within the simple yet elegant package called "The Bard's Tale" I remember listening on my crappy lil midi speakers as the melodic intro was given. Next I was introduced to a complicated (for its time) character class generation system. I created my elite team of hero's and walked around two corner's of my new 3D world and saw the innocuos message:

Ha... its the start of the game it can't be that rough

Needless to say I was hooked forever and a day. I played that game and got my (NEW) group of hero's to godlike levels and status. Mangar's Mindblade for the win!!

4. Tecmo Bowl - 1988 - Before there was John Madden... before there was any other sports game of note (besides maybe Double Dribble) there was TECMO BOWL. This game began a long crack addition to my Nintendo. Calling REAL LIFE football plays my lil footplayer sprite  guys had real life abilities. Numerous sleepovers and camp outs, and  day outs, and afternoon outs, playing this damn game OVER and OVER again. Ahh brings chills to my spine. Of course any gutless bastard who used Chicago or Clevend got the boot.

3. Galaga - 1981 - I have always enjoyed shooter games, sadly this genre is all but dead, however in its heyday an individual who could move a ship left to right and press a fire button with the speed of Flo' Jo had a chance to 'shine'. Galaga was my game of leisure and arcade fun. If I needed to make a quarter stretch for a while good ol faithful Galaga was always there to pick me up... and treat me right. A simple control scheme with ever increasing difficulty, the game was beautiful is its simplicity and arcade additiveness.

 2. PitFall - 1982 - In an age where there were no hero's in the gaming world there came a man... a man with a whip... a man who bore an uncanny 2-bit resemblance to a more famous Fedora hat wearing guy who's movie just made trillions at the box office... However this man was not Indiana Jone's no this fearless explorer was PitFall "Go Ahead and Make my Day" Harry. My 1st and only experience with Coleco gaming, and it was one to not be lost. I lept over gaping chasms, swung over croc infested water, and dodged venom soaked scorpions to get my damn lost treasure (for historical archiving).

1. Super Mario Bros - 1985 - IMO this game started the modern (in house) gaming revolution and sadly spelled the beginning of the end of the arcade generation. Before good home games only came via home PC's which were expensive and unwieldly to the computer novice, the graphics were good but arcade's offer better quality and comradiere. Now with the introduction of  the NES, Super Mario Bros was the same game verbatim from the arcade, it was highly addictive with great replay potential and had a control system tighter than Newt Gringrich at a GLAAD convention. This game was the perfect NES intro game, introduced at the perfect time. Never shall we see its like again. Mario I pour my 40oz in your honor, as he was the masta pimp to the Old G' revolution.

Ok I know there's gonna be arguments over this Top 10 so post your own in the comments section.

Remember the game must have been produced BEFORE 1989.

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