That's Incredible! Video Game Invitational (1983)

Along with Ripley's Believe It Or Not!, the early 1980s television show That's Incredible! had a big influence on me, with its coverage of an eclectic mix of curiosities, oddities, strange phenomena, stunts, and unusual people. Over at Dangerous Minds, Tara spotted this great moment from the "That's Incredible! Video Game Invitational." Tara says, "They're so serious!" Damn straight. "'That’s Incredible' Broadcasts History’s First Video Game World Championship (1983)"

[grimshaw July 28, 2009 11:22 AM]

The play by play during Burger Time is outstanding.

[mellowknees July 28, 2009 11:29 AM]

I REMEMBER WATCHING THIS!

I loved video games as a kid (okay, okay...I still do, it's true!). My mom forbade me from entering the local arcade, COSMOS, but I went anyway. I remember being GLUED to the television when this aired, in all my nerdy splendor.

[cwclifford July 28, 2009 11:54 AM]

Ok, I was a HUGE gamer and 1983 was the heyday for me. Here are hours of footage available of the Starcade video game competition show that I would've killed to go on.

Speaking of early 80s gaming, I can't wait for the game that'll certainly follow the new TRON sequel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6jfm0hq0bk

[Anonymous July 28, 2009 12:43 PM]

“Darren is an accomplished outer space sharp shooter…” “He picked up some bonus fuel….” “The pace is fast and furious….”

The Burger Time dialogue is legendary…

[Anonymous July 28, 2009 1:14 PM]

+1 ARPANETS for getting a kiss from the lady!

[Pantograph July 28, 2009 1:21 PM]

Did the presenter really kiss a sixteen year old in the end?

Nowadays she'd get arrested for that.

[Johnny Cat July 28, 2009 1:37 PM]

@Mellowknees:

The local arcade where I always immersed myself in electronic bliss was also called Cosmos. In Hillsboro, OR.

As for the video, that was quite exciting.

[Anonymous July 28, 2009 1:43 PM]

billy mitchell is the MAN.

[Pantograph July 28, 2009 2:04 PM]

Oooh Dotty@7 I'll never be as aloof as you, but I bet I'll have more fun.

[shamptonian July 28, 2009 2:10 PM]

i wonder what happened to these three guys...anyone know where they are today?

[arkizzle / Moderator July 28, 2009 2:15 PM]

Wow Dorothy, way to tear down other peoples' interests!

[Takuan July 28, 2009 2:23 PM]

at least Ms. Parker never was boring when she sat next to me.

[David Pescovitz July 28, 2009 2:31 PM]

OK, there was no Cosmos in Cincinnati, Ohio, but I did hang out at Jupiter & Beyond. : )

[Anonymous July 28, 2009 3:25 PM]

and the internet finds... Ben Gold

http://www.facebook.com/ben.gold1

[Anonymous July 28, 2009 3:32 PM]

This "It's Incredible" episode is featured shortly in the documentary "Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade" which is all about 1980's competitive arcade gaming, the heroes and where they are today: http://chasingghoststhemovie.com/

Watch it and then watch King of Kong. Brilliant stuff.

[Anonymous July 28, 2009 3:51 PM]

Second the "King of Kong" reference.

You can watch it via streaming on Netflix.

[Svenski July 28, 2009 4:00 PM]

Ah, That's Incredible. You can't claim to have grown up in the 80's unless you have witnessed the magnificence of Yogi Kudu getting twisting himself in to the plexiglass box.

[Takuan July 28, 2009 4:13 PM]

I remember that. I imagine if he farted it would have killed him.

[thatbenm July 28, 2009 6:37 PM]

Tod only came in second, but at least he got to have Fran Tarkenton hug his waist for the last 30 seconds of the show.

[Anonymous July 28, 2009 7:07 PM]

Man, those were the days. I never missed an episode. I miss all those "G" rated television shows. I think "Real People" came on after that.

[Little John July 28, 2009 8:50 PM]

Hey, they left off the best (and when I say "best," I mean worst) part of the show.

As I recall, every damned teased-to-the-max segment concluded with the zombie studio audience reciting in an infomercial/sect-like way the central eponymous incantation to the show:

THAT'S!

IN!

CREDIBLE!

[ThreeBit July 28, 2009 10:07 PM]

I was a player in one of those Twin Galaxies national tournaments in 1983. I held the Pac Man record for about a year, though now people have beaten it by playing perfect games. Mine was not perfect because I ran into the death screen without getting all points. That was my first all-nighter as a junior in high school.

While I was decent at playing video games, this guy named William Lee was a great video game player. He held records in multiple games and was better than me at Pac Man. Like me, he left gaming and didn't leave much of a permanent trace, unlike guys such as Donald Hayes and Billy Mitchell.

[Anonymous July 28, 2009 11:16 PM]

I grew up in Dallas, Ben Gold taught me to play Dragon's Lair at the TILT in Prestonwood Mall

Those were the days...

[phlavor July 29, 2009 12:27 AM]

Dorothy Hastin,

You are just another one of a million girlfriends who moaned, "Will you stop playing that videogame so we can go to the mall?"

You all lost. The geek inherited the Earth. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs each make more than their corresponding High School Quarterbacks.

The world did not stop where your understanding of it did.

[NarbYehoot July 29, 2009 1:57 AM]

@27

Of course, that's also why I only drink water. Even with such drinks as juice, milk, beer, wine, and so on, it only serves to keep away that thirsty feeling and keep you alive for a little bit longer. Variety is for the birds.

[AlexG55 July 29, 2009 2:50 AM]

Dorothy @27: You have clearly never played any form of RTS, other strategy game, or puzzle game. Ever heard of Portal, for instance? No "blowing things up to score points", and it's one of the most highly-acclaimed and popular games of recent years.

[Anonymous July 29, 2009 7:38 AM]

Its funny how the audience is a bunch of (really old) adults. Apart from the teens relatives, what adult in 1983 liked video games...and on top of that the competition of video games.

Well its spliced of course- as they are able to skip through the uninteresting parts, and give you a recap of what they are doing rather than a second-by-second play. Perhaps the audience part was just for a few minutes, and then let them go after they filmed them applauding.

At any rate, shows like this paved the way for competitions, Halo Fests, and STDs (Smash Till Dawn)

[Brandon July 29, 2009 10:52 AM]

You know Darren, Ben and Todd got all the single ladies after this.

My favorite parts were seeing these guys (attempt to) run from one machine to the next. What a great display of non-athleticism. :)

Alas, I too can remember being glued to the TV watching this in all its geeky splendor. Its amazing that they dedicated nearly nine minutes to this.

[Galoot August 5, 2009 11:06 PM]

@Dorothy

I'm quite certain that sitting in front of a screen
playing video games all day doesn't make one
LESS obese
-----------------------------

Neither does posting four times in a thread about a subject one claims to find uninteresting.

[KenSmith August 16, 2009 7:26 PM]

LOL..I can't help but laugh my heart out after seeing this video. It's so old school! Maybe because I grew up playing those "modern" video games, MMOs like grinding wow gold on WoW and now, anticipating to earn as much aion kinah as I can on the upcoming Aion: Tower of Eternity which will be released this month.