39 Years Ago This Week, Binky, Pinky, Inky & Clyde Were Born

39 years ago, May 22, 1980, the world changed forever. It did if you have ever picked up a video game. No one probably recognized what it was at the time, but all these years later, we can look back on that day to re-live the beginning. 5/22/1980 was the day that the original Pac-Man video game was released.

Yes, the video game that introduced us to what the true definition of frustration and at the same time the sense of unbelievable accomplishment could feel like. All of the sudden video games became a fixture in peoples homes, not just at the pizza parlor or the arcade. Pac-Man became the reason for every kid to figure out how to work the TV better than their parents. These are the same kids that learned the words "coaxial-cable" to be able to switch the inputs on the tv, manually. These are the same kids that would be able to set the parents VCR's to record grandma's soaps for her.

Not only did video games start to be a thing, but chasing ghosts became something that you would do for hours. All of this took place before Donkey Kong and Frogger. Binky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde were ghosts that you had to defeat no matter what the cost, no matter how much homework you had, chores to be done or quarters to be had.

When you compare it to the 3-D graphics of the games of today, will it stack up? Probably not, it is not as flashy is Doom, Battlefield or any of the EA sports games, however I challenge any gamer to take a walk back in video game time to find an original Atari system and give this one a whirl. Will it make you appreciate anything? Will it change your life? Will it be like your parents taking you some place on the family summer vacation that you think is lame? Maybe. But think of it as a history lesson as to 'where it all began.'

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