Impact of High Scores On The Media
According to the Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard, "high-score" attempts enjoyed as much press coverage as any other video-game-related topic reported in the media during the 1982–1985 period. Though the media was often focused on the amazing growth of the video game industry, it was equally as fascinated with the human side of gaming, as typified by the "player vs machine" showdowns that led to new world record high scores set on nearly a daily basis. In fact, Twin Galaxies reports that during that early era it was not unusual for there to be multiple new world records reported in the media on a single day. To illustrate the media's love for the high-score phenomenon, here is a brief sampling of news stories reproduced from the following news resources:
- Record try aborted in video game - Arizona Republic, March 9, 1982
- 1-token spree sets record at video game - Charlotte News, Charlotte, NC, September 9, 1982
- Man could crunch U.S. Pac-Man record - Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, NC, July 17, 1982
- Video game enthusiast gets highest score ever - Kansas City Times, August 18, 1982
- Video champ blasts his way into record book - San Francisco Examiner, September 6, 1982
- Resident saves earth, claims world record - Chapel Hill News, Chapel Hill, NC, November 10, 1982
- Texas gamer works toward high score - Abilene Reporter-News, Abilene, TX, November 12, 1982
- Central student one to beat playing Defender - Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, Cheyenne, WY, December 18, 1982
- Video game champ gets recognition - St. Petersburg Times, St. Petersburg, FL, December 31, 1982
- Contests offer players tokens, recognition - Dallas Morning News, January 15, 1983
- Video Game champion vows he'll never play again - Syracuse Herald-Journal, January 17, 1983
- Videogame records - USA Today, April 22, 1983
- Pac-Man Record? - Washington Post, Washington D.C., May 26, 1983
- Teenager going for video game record - Dublin Courier-Herald, Dublin, GA, June 22, 1983
- Records, like promises, are not always meant to be broken - USA Today, July 7, 1983
- Competitors' lives filled with joysticks - Wilmington Morning Star, Wilmington, NC, June 30, 1984
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—Pope John Paul II (b. 1920)
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—Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)
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—James Thurber (1894–1961)
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—Marianne E. Neifert (20th century)