Chapter Five
The Video Game Capital of the World

"Walk down Main Street in this southeast Iowa town and you'll pass a shoe store, a men's clothing shop, a hamburger joint and the world's most famous video game arcade. That's not a misprint." -- Gary Sawyer
Quad City Times, Moline, IL, (December 15, 1982)

When Twin Galaxies established Ottumwa as the "Video Game Capital of the World," it stopped being merely a reflection of the golden age and actually stepped out in front and led the way. The video game industry was going through trying times. Mesquite, TX, among other towns, was trying to ban video game play among minors and was facing off with the U.S. Supreme Court.

The video game industry needed a hero and Twin Galaxies was about to reel off a chain of coups that would leave everyone in the industry breathless. Though the interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer was inspiring and fulfilling, I was still looking for something new and exciting to sink my teeth into. I was feeling aggressive and felt that I should make something happen -- just like when I had primed the pump to set off the North Carolina versus California Playoff.

Initially, I was without direction. I started working on the Twin Galaxies Video Game & Pinball Hall of Fame, a project that brought a warm response from the manufacturers. Stern sent me a case of manuals and game marquees, as did Nichibitsu, Williams, Bally/Midway, Nintendo, Atari and Exidy. These materials, which are still in our archives, were to be used in displays that highlighted each company's creative history.

The manuals gave us the opportunity to analyze the difficulty levels of the games that we were scoring. This was our first chance to experiment with the game play of many different titles and select difficulty levels which would make the games more competitive.

Mary Sharpe, editor of the Ottumwa Courier, got wind of my museum idea and came by to do a story. Somehow, we cooked up an entirely different story -- a more biographical one. The October 9, 1982, edition of the Ottumwa Courier carried a front page feature on me: "Walter Day, Idea Man." In the article they quoted me as saying, "Despite such obvious successes at promotion, Day does not consider himself an entrepreneur: ÔYou have to make money to be called that. I always go beyond the point where you can make money.'"

We discussed the future of Twin Galaxies: "Also planned are isolation booths where players can go for national records and where behavioral scientists can study the learning processes involved in playing video games. Day sees video game players as practicing the art of understanding."

It was now November, 1982, and I suddenly found myself doing the scoreboard all by myself because Jon Bloch left to take care of important family concerns. His responsibilities never allowed him to return. Twin Galaxies was now my sole responsibility.

I thought of calling Boston to ask my ex-fiance, Barbara Gianino, to join me at Twin Galaxies and help run the scoreboard, but that plan didn't work out. I did all the media alone until Steve Harris, one of the players, joined me two years later.

Things continued onward. The media attention was enjoyable, but Twin Galaxies was temporarily stranded on the shores of boredom.

Kenosha, Wisconsin

Suddenly, Kenosha, WI, gave me the answer.

Kenosha loved our scoreboard more than any other city in America (However, the Canadians loved it even more than Kenosha.) There were two arcades -- Pot O Gold and Bun N Games -- that were gripped in a high score duel, seeing who could log the most top-score entries at Twin Galaxies.

As a routine PR gesture, I tipped off Jon Morgan, feature writer at The Kenosha News, that Kenosha was a major video game mecca. I explained that Kenosha had an unusually high concentration of video game top guns with thirty-five title holders. He did the story and the headline said: "City Video Game Capitol."

When the clipping arrived I did a double-take. "That's it," I thought. "We can have our mayor declare our hometown the Ôvideo game capital of the world.'" And, if it worked, I reasoned, we'd be the heroes of the town and the video game industry.

I called Mayor Jerry Parker and proposed that we meet and proclaim Ottumwa the "video game capital of the world." Parker liked the idea. In a smooth soothing voice, he told me that he was appreciative of any publicity or promotions that would make Ottumwa appear in a positive, creative light.

On November 30, 1982, an official proclamation was issued by the city of Ottumwa laying claim to the title of "Video Game Capitol of the World." The Ottumwa Courier had prepared the ground a week before the proclamation. The front page of the November 23, 1982, edition said: "Video Games: Ottumwa's Claim to Fame?"

During a press conference held in Twin Galaxies, Mayor Jerry Parker was quoted as saying, "I believe in supporting anything that will bring positive acclaim to Ottumwa. And if it helps the youth, I'm all for it."

Radio, television and newspaper were all there as Parker delivered his best quote: "If a country like Lithuania challenges us for the title, we'll fight them."

The story went all over the world. As a PR stunt to make Twin Galaxies a legend, it worked beyond my wildest expectations. The electronic gaming industry considered this event a major story because many city fathers were trying to shut down video game arcades in their municipalities. The video game industry viewed Parker's proclamation as a breakthrough against civic oppression.

In the industry, magazines covered us that had hitherto ignored our activities -- Electronic Fun, Games People and Vending Times, to name a few.

The "Video Game Capital of the World" was not overlooked by America's business press. Ad Week magazine considered the mayor's proclamation a creative marketing angle for the city and reported it in their April 24, 1983, edition.

Also, in July, Changing Times magazine sent a photographer to snap Mayor Parker in front of the scoreboard for a story titled: "Zap! You're in Ottumwa."

This was great publicity for the mayor. Initially, I hadn't paid attention to the fact that Mayor Parker was a very bold creative man who had taken actions that could have led to public ridicule. My entire game plan would have been shot down if Parker had shied away from the publicity, or if he had lacked inventiveness. Though Changing Times acknowledged that the scoreboard played a role in this PR success, it also proposed that Parker's promotional savvy was an equally important reason.

The photographer took photos of us standing together, but then asked me to step out of the picture -- he just wanted Parker. It turned out to be Parker's story, much to my pleasant surprise.

By now, Twin Galaxies had become the center of the video game world. Players were talking about Twin Galaxies' activities as much as they were talking about Atari. I never put a sign on the outskirts of the city proclaiming Ottumwa the Video Game Capitol of the World, but I should have.

After all this publicity, we even looked like your basic video game capital of the world -- we were perpetually mobbed by players visiting from adjoining states. The final stroke of fortune that helped Twin Galaxies establish its claim as the "video game capital" came when a book writer, Michael Rubin, called from Florida. The game manufacturers, as usual, had sent him to us. He was amazed to uncover the existence of a "national" arcade. This was, as he said, "just what he needed to finish his upcoming book, Defending the Galaxy."

He thought he needed just a few more tips to finish the book. On the night he called, many players from out of town were visiting to attempt high scores.

"There's a person down there playing Donkey Kong who is from Florida," I told him. "And over there is a person from Nebraska doing a world record on Joust."

The interview went on and on. Then he called me a second time. And then a third time. Finally, I grabbed a video game superstar walking by and said, "Talk to this guy," and shoved the phone into his hands and walked away. Rubin, apparently, was ecstatic with the interview. Before the night was over, every kid in the place was interviewed.

Being a major feature in Rubin's book was another coup for Twin Galaxies -- the luck of being in the right place at the right time. Rubin devoted nine pages in the book to Twin Galaxies' scores and contests, and even supplied a map that gave directions to Ottumwa, IA. His book was the first to announce, "Ottumwa: The Video Gaming Capitol of the World.

The book originally printed about 25,000 copies but was never reprinted. A shipment of free copies arrived on November 8, 1982 -- the day that LIFE magazine arrived to photograph the superstars gathered in Ottumwa. All the copies were given away as gifts to the players.

Twin Galaxies had successfully achieved another milestone: Ottumwa, IA, was now recognized as the Video Game Capital of the World.