Those Were the Days is a weekly article in which Gamervision employees share video game-related memories. If you’ve got a story of your own to share, please do so! We love hearing from the community.

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Back in a time when the kid who lived next door was your best friend, I knew a kid named Bobby. We used to do a lot of dumb stuff, but for the most part, we played video games and hung out pretty much every day. When he and his family went away on vacation the first year I lived next to him, that whole week seemed to take an eternity to pass. The next summer, we were good enough friends that his family invited me along with them. We were going to Ocean City, MD, and I couldn’t be more excited to spend a week away from my parents.

The first day we arrived, everyone went to the beach. Even today, I only like beaches in moderation. They’re okay to go to when you’re spending more than a day there, but I never understood the desire to drive a few hours to the beach, where you’d only hang out for a few hours, then drive back. Anyhow, this trip was the first time I’d spent longer than one day at the shore, and also the first time I got to spend more than three quarters at a boardwalk arcade.

The arcade closest to the condo where we were staying was populated with some of the most fun games I’d ever played. Of course, none of the other games meant a damn thing once I spotted The Punisher and X-Men arcade machines sitting next to each other. I’m fairly confident that I didn’t spend much more time on the sand that week. Other than the obligatory “help the family carry every item ever invented, plus three coolers” to the beach walk, Bobby and I spent as much time as possible inside that arcade trying to defeat the Kingpin and Magneto. With both games having some really sweet co-op, and the ability to play as different characters, hours passed like minutes, and before we knew it darkness, and his parents had come to claim us. Each day we went back for more, trying to make it to that last level before sunset. Bobby and I managed to make it all the way through The Punisher on the second-to-last day we were there, but we could never grab the brass ring that was completing the X-Men game. It’s a shame too, because I don’t think I’ve ever seen it anywhere since that summer.

I’ve since moved on with my life, and Bobby and I don’t really talk anymore. We grew apart the same ways most kids do, and even though he became a drug dealer who got caught, and subsequently rolled over on all his partners, I’ll never forget that week at the arcade. One day, I’m going to finish that X-Men game, Dazzler be damned.

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