Would You Like to Play a Game?

The Post's Mike Musgrove recently interviewed a Linden, Va., man whose obsession is collecting vintage 80's videogames such as Asteroids, Defender, and Zaxxon. Peter Hirschberg admits his hobby went "exponentially out of control" and is "psychotic." Still, who wouldn't want to be his friend? (Musgrove spent five hours playing in his arcade, which is otherwise closed to the public.)

Hirschberg's collection spans the Golden Age of videogames, "between the pinball era and the advent of Grand Theft Auto." But he lost interest with the rise of "shooter and fighting games," ca. 1984. As for setting the mood: "The soundtrack, behind the blips and pings of games including Joust and Q-Bert, is Hirschberg's Internet radio station, Retro Arcade Radio, which plays songs about video games as well as old-school Atari commercials." This, I think, would get to me.

Also, no mention of my own personal favorites from that era: Time Pilot, Front Line, and Spy Hunter (I never did get the speedboat). Musgrove doesn't reveal what he spent five hours playing. He does, however, ask the proverbial question: "What, exactly, is that Dig Dug guy all about?"