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Baldwin discusses Galaga addiction shame

It was the only way he could "go beta".

Dark blue icons of video game controllers on a light blue background
Image credit: Eurogamer

Hollywood star Alec Baldwin has revealed it wasn't just drink and drugs he was addicted to in the eighties - he also had a thing for arcade game Galaga.

That's according to a new book featuring personal testimonies of addiction, as reported by the New York Post.

Baldwin recounts how, after a busy night drinking wine while driving down the motorway and putting things up his nose, he would often end up at the local arcade.

"I would play videogames from, like, 9am to 11am, and I would wind down. Then I'd go home and go to bed," he reveals.

"This was the only way I could go 'beta' and go into that state I needed to be, where I could calm down and take my mind off everything. I didn't want to see anybody, talk to anybody, deal with anybody."

At the time, Baldwin was a star on TV show Knots Landing, making big pots of cash - presumably paid in 10p coins. But he was best-known to the owner of the local arcade, Julian, for his Galaga mania.

"Julian would put the key in the lock and open the door, and he would just kind of look at me like, 'Wow, I'm glad I'm not you,'" recalls Baldwin.

"'You got no idea, Julian. Julian, I need you. I need you to get that key and open the f***ing door and let me in. I got to play Galaga."

Rumours that Kerry Katona was seen banging on the door of Croydon Play2Win last night screaming "Let me in, I need my Jambo Safari fix" are completely made up.

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