Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 25

LEDGER TUESDAY August 18, 1981 3C I lit- 4 Pac-Man Wizard REC PAGE i. Video games 7- are the new 7 Larry Walker Is tops at his game locally, and be has taken his show nationally, too. kid on block 'I i i ii I By BILL SPENCER Clarion-Ledger Sports Writer LITTLE more than a year ago, pinball In the Jackson area was thriving. Throughout the city, one could find various machines takingupmostoftheavailable space in bar after bar and arcade after arcade. There was something for everyone from the beginner to the improving novice to the hopelessly addicted pinball wizard.

Some of the most popular ones were Silverball Mania, Jet Spin, Joker Poker, Countdown, Eight Ball and Galaxy, to mention a few. Most offered three balls per game for 25 cents, and they were big business. The future looked remarkably bright. Yet suddenly, pinball began to undergo a slow death. While there may be hope for recovery, pinball in the Jackson area at least is suffering from extremely poor health.

The reason is quite simple. Allow Johnny Ragsdale to explain. "Video games have changed the whole market, because you can put them anywhere bars, convenience stores, churches, schools, anywhere," said Ragsdale, who along with Cecil Simmons helps form the partnership of CJ's Amusement which pulls in revenue from about 90 video and pinball game machines in the city. "All ages and all occupations play video games. And my opinion is that basically all pinball machines are the same.

Instead of making them like they used to, they're trying to compete with the video now. They're dressing them up too much 16 flippers, double deckers and this 'I Will Destroy You' stuff." Ragsdale isn't exactly complaining about the demise of pinball, however. In fact, far from it "We're averaging about $5,000 (gross) a week from our machines," said Ragsdale. "Video games just seem more respectable to play (than pinball). I think if video was just in the beer joints it wouldn't have caught on.

"But you can put them where people have a little more education and a little more money. Lawyers and doctors play the hell out of those things. They're my No. 1 customers. "When they get frustrated, they're going to take it out on those games that's the basic design of video games.

And you won't see many people banging on a video game like you do with pinball. It's basically the same as pinball, but your mind is working a lot more." Names like Pac-Man, Missile Command, Asteroids Deluxe, Defender, Space Invaders, Crazy Climber, Star Castle and Galaxian identify some of the video games that have captivated Jackson as well as the nation. Some are more taxing to master than others, but the level of difficulty doesn't necessarily correlate to popularity. For instance, Pac-Man the hottest video game in America right now offers a paradox, according to Ragsdale. "Pac-Man is easy and hard," said Ragsdale.

"Anybody can play it and like it, even girls and it's easy to score some points on it But it gets awful boring after a while." On the other hand, probably the two most difficult games available here Missile Command and Asteroids Deluxe attract a small but addicted following, who are playing as often as before but whose proficiency has drastically decreased the number of quarters they pump into the machines. "It's not that people get tired of certain machines," said Ragsdale. "It's just that they get good on it and they're playing longer on one game." Although Pac-Man may be the current craze, Ragsdale is constantly on the lookout for the latest in video games. He gets most of his information from New Orleans Novelty, which compiles on a regular basis a performance and popularity printout of 100 games at its Fun Arcade. "About every year, one (game) comes out that people get hooked on," he said.

"Pac-Man has been a surprise. The first time I saw it, I thought it was goofy. But next year, it'll be something else." Simmons agrees. "Video is a fad," he said flatly. "And the only way to keep a fad going is to create new stuff.

You have to provide the newest thing that will keep people's interest." As for pinball, Simmons believes the end is near unless some ingenious soul can come up with a new wrinkle or two. "Pinball is on its way out," he said. "I don't know what the hell they're going to do, but they're going to have to come up with something to offset the video. "Pinball is not going to sit here and let this happen to them. All you have to do is create something that the people want to do." ypZ ffyn Si iff 3 v4 At 'f" Tin -mnw'if im mii)nh- iriir uiu if When Larry Walker took his game to Dallas, only fatigue stood in his way of a national championship.

By BELL SPENCER Clarion-Ledger Sports Writer IT was hardly love at first sight when Larry Walker first laid eyes on Pac-Man on a fateful day last February. "The first time I played it, I only scored 2,000 points," said Walker, a 19-year-old sophomore-to-be at Hinds Junior College. "I didn't know what I was doing and I thought it was stupid. But everybody seemed to like it it was funny how the monsters were chasing you. It was the funniest thing I had ever seen before." Consequently, Walker persevered.

Pac-Man now the hottest video game in the nation caught on. So did Walker. Such was the inauspicious birth of a genuine Pac-Man wiz- ard. Today, Walker has registered more than 3 million points on the machine an incredible 3,040,490 on July 9 to be exact and has shattered the magical 1 million point barrier on roughly 10 occasions. Just last weekend, Walker represented Jackson by competing in the Pac-Man Southern Regional tournament in Dal-, las, but an unfamiliar format and other extenuating circumstances ended his national championship hopes.

Instead of allowing players to play entire games, each competitor played two 20-minute contests. Walker won his bracket Saturday scoring 343,000 points combined in the two games but to his dismay, the final was held immedK ately afterward, instead of Sunday as had been publicized. Despite going without sleep for 36 hours and without food since 7 Saturday morning, Walker compiled 340,000 points in two 20-minute games in the final, falling some 3,000 points shy of winner Chris Johnson of Memphis. The 16-year-old Johnson is one of three regional titlists who advances to the national final Aug. 29-30 in Fayetteville, N.C., where the champion earns $5,000, the runner-up $2,500 and the third-place finisher $1,000.

"Technically, Larry finished in the top 6 in the nation," said Ricky Nations, co-manager at Putt-Putt Golf and Games on Barnett Drive where Walker is a frequent customer. "But he wasn't allowed to really play up to his potential. He was handicapped a bit. Another thing was that the machines out there had been reprogrammed and were a bit different. "Having the final Saturday night threw us for a loop.

In my opinion, had Larry gotten some sleep and a meal he would have won and gone on to be the national champion. Anybody who doesn't believe that can come watch him play. But we drove out there in a Honda Civic, and you just don't get much sleep in a Honda Civic." Pac-Man is basically a simple game. Players must guide a bright yellow ball through a fluorescent blue maze, trying to consume 232 small white dots before being caught by any one of four colorful but deadly gremlin creatures. When the yellow Pac-Man gulps one of four large blinking white dots in the corners of the maze, it is energized and becomes the momentary aggressor, able to gobble up the pursuing monsters for big bonus points.

Once each maze is cleared, the process resumes. Bonus points are also earned by swallowing the various fruits and tokens that entice Pac-Man from time to time. The game sounds complicated, but most people catch on quickly. Frustrated initially, Walker one day learned the secret to mastering the game the development of various patterns for the Pac-Man to travel, thereby eluding the dratted monsters. Walker has devised five of them and they work.

Boy, do they work. The last one is virtually foolproof unless Walker becomes bored, tires and loses his concentration or has to leave for some reason. "When he broke 3 million, he played for something like five hours," said Putt-Putt co-manager Wayne Lingerfeldt. "He finally just walked away from the machine because he had to go to work, and he had two men left. "Larry has done his homework on this thing.

He literally has spent his time working on new aspects of the patterns." That is the key to success, Walker insists. "I made up all my patterns," he said. "You know you just can't do anything. The trick to the game is a pattern. "People that have been playing longer than me are still trying to get 200,000, and they really haven't spent time on learning patterns." Don't get the idea Walker will offer you lessons, however.

"A lot of people try to copy my patterns," said Walker, a former Asteroids nut who has scored more than 2 million points on that machine. "But I try not to let them see them." Surprisingly, Walker stands while he plays. "If you sit, your wrist gets tired a lot sooner," he said. "I play best in flip-flops or sandals. When I get a real high score going, I'll change shoes during a game." Video game prowess runs in Walker's family.

His 17-year-old brother, James, has rung up an amazing 62,000 points on Space Invaders the national record is reportedly in the vicinity of 65,000. Walker's proficiency has cost him dearly. He remembers when he used to spend $5 per day, playing 20 games of Pac-Man. Yet those days are gone forever. Walker laughs when he tells about the time he and his buddies were evicted from a convenience store in the midst of an impressive Pac-Man performance.

"I had just broken 2 million, but the man ran us out of the store because he was fixing to close," said Walker, who harbors a dream of attaining 15 million points. "He said he wasn't making any money with me in there." Staff photo by Mike Barren John Tyner found video games are for any age if you have a stool. Seven of the hottest video games STAR CASTLE This features a large enemy spaceship protected by various rings. You attempt to blow up the ship and thus earn extra ships with fire from your spaceship, but don't destroy an entire ring otherwise, it regenerates itself. The trick is to pound away at the rings and create an opening to shoot the enemy ship.

SPACE INVADERS One of the earliest video game crazes, this one is basically simple. You protect your spaceship from row after row of aliens, which get closer and faster as fewer of them remain. There are four bases to hide behind, but the aliens' fire also chips away at them. One trick is to shoot a row at a time, methodically working your way from left to right or vice versa. CRAZY CLIMBER This involves getting a man to scale a tall building, a story at a time.

A number of things try to stop him there's a monster who tosses out flower pots and cans; a bird who flies over and drops his eggs and waste; a giant King Kong-type ape; live electrical wires; and other falling debris such as ladders and clothes trunks. Windows are constantly closing and opening, so you must maneuver quickly. Once you reach the top, a waiting helicopter carries you to safety and the task resumes. one. You attempt to defend six cities by shooting the attack missiles, smart missiles, bombers and killer satellites before they blow up your cities and your three missile bases.

Every 10,000 points earns you a "bonus city," and as long as you finish a round either with a city or by crossing the new bonus city level, play continues. The only trouble is, the attacks become increasingly faster and intense, forcing you to conserve your shots by spraying them, creating a protective barrage of defense. DEFENDER Another game an octopus would be suited to play there are five control buttons to fool with. Basically, you guide your spaceship past numerous obstacles landers, mutants, baiters, bombers, pods and swarmers all worth various amounts of points once destroyed. What's challenging is that you can turn your ship around and fire if attacked from the rear, and your ship can change speeds.

A scanner at the top of the screen tips you off as to the location and number of upcoming attackers. You even have a button to press in emergencies dubbed a "smart bomb" that blows up everything (except your spaceship) on the screen, although you're only afforded this luxury three times from the start, plus once every 10,000 points. PAC-MAN Currently the hottest video game in America, it features amaze linked together by small dots, with four larger dots energizers in the four corners. The object is to eat all the dots with your yellow Pac-Man you're allowed three, plus a bonus one when you reach 10,000 points before it's eaten by four monsters always in pursuit. Pac-Man can only eat the monsters by energizing that is, swallowing the large dots, which turn the pursuing monsters blue and allow them to be gobbled up for big points.

There's a catch, however. The more you clear the maze of all the dots, the shorter period of time the confounded monsters remain blue once you energize. ASTEROIDS DELUXE The son of Asteroids, this on is much more difficult. Five control buttons don't make it any easier. The premise is the same blow up the multitude of asteroids! meteors and rocks before they collide with your spaceship.

One difference is that there's a shield mechanism one can press at the last second to avoid a collision, but it only offers brief and diminishing protection. And unlike Asteroids, the enemy is less passive, much faster and constantly in pursuit of your ship. Bonus ships are earned with every 10,000 points. MISSILE COMMAND Like nuclear war? If so, you'll love this I GOLF TIP. EXERCISE TIP.

BASEBALL TIP STENNIS TIP Slew Hester, former president of the USTA: A beginner should learn to hit the ball with both velocity and depth. He can later learn how to control the ball as he becomes more experienced and adept at making his strokes. Ben Nelson, pro at Jackson Live Oaks: It's important to establish a good swing rhythm early in the round and hold it. If you play the first two or three holes with a good swing, then you have a chance to hold it. If you come out with a fast swing it will only get worse as the round continues.

Jackson Mets coach Junior Roman: Many people, especially youngsters, are so preoccupied with the mechanics of hitting that they forget the fact that they have to see the ball before they can do anything with it. It's basically a matter of seeing the ball and just putting the bat on it. Mark Magee, physical fitness director at the Downtown YMCA: There are three levels in an exercise program. First, you should warm up five to 10minutes with stretching exercises. Second, you should work out 15-30 minutes.

Third, you should cool down five to 1 0 minutes by walking or with conditioning exercises..