Just like every other kid growing up in the 80s I loved big, loud, fast-paced video games. My favorite, I think, was Centipede — maybe it was Super Centipede *— during that magical and long forgotten light-blinking, quarter-clinking era.
Turns out, arcade life is alive and kickin’ in Japan. How do I know that, and what does it have to do with Lake Highlands? Glad you asked— I just read this Dallas Morning News write up about the 1997 Lake Highlands High School grad who wrote the book on the Japanese arcade and gaming culture.
How did Brian Ashcraft, author of Arcade Mania: The Turbo-charged World of Japan’s Game Centers, go from LHHS all the way to the other side of the world covering Japan’s gaming culture? The arcade game aficionado told the News’ Victor Godinez that after graduating from Cornell, he felt compelled to go to Japan, not really knowing what to expect. There he discovered “arcade heaven” and wrote all about it. I haven’t had my hands on the book, but from the description and review, it sounds like a slick, colorful, quirky and fascinating look into Japanese culture through the eyes of a guy who loves video games.
Interesting tidbit I discovered while writing this: when I linked to the Centipede (above) Wikipedia page, I learned that it was one of the first video games designed by a female and one of the first coin-operated games to have a significant female player base.
