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Long read: The beauty and drama of video games and their clouds

"It's a little bit hard to work out without knowing the altitude of that dragon..."

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That's Incredibly Lame

Pro-gaming, 1980s style

"In just the last few years video games have become a sport unto themselves". A quote from the latest interview with CPL head honcho Angel Munoz perhaps? Actually, no - it's a line from a 1983 episode of That's Incredible. If you thought professional gaming was a new invention, you'd be wrong. Twin Galaxies have been keeping high scores for arcade games for the last two decades, and way back in 1983 their "Coronation Day Tournament" was featured on ABC's TV series That's Incredible, along with a bizarre invitational tournament hosted by the show at their own Hollywood studio. The whole thing was filmed in front of a live audience, complete with running commentary from the show's presenters, and twenty years on Twin Galaxies have unearthed a dodgy old video recording of the broadcast and uploaded it to their website. Marvel as nineteen of the USA's top gamers battle it out on cutting edge arcade games such as Frogger, Joust, Super PacMan and Donkey Kong Jr. Gawp at the embarrassing haircuts. Giggle at gems such as "he just grabbed a bunch of bananas for four hundred points", and the host trying to explain the rules of a game called Burger Time, in which the hero is "pursued by walking hot dogs, pickles and fried eggs". Ah, they don't make them like they used to... To see this hilarious piece of gaming history, head over to the Twin Galaxies website.

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