so was Ottumwa, Iowa, really 'game capital of the world'?

vintagegamer

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so was Ottumwa, Iowa, really 'game capital of the world'?

I've never even heard of that town. However, in an article I have from 1983, they claimed to be the game 'capital'.

C'mon really?? In IOWA??!!

I can email the article to anyone interested. It appears to be too big to upload it here.
 
It all seems to go back to Twin Galaxies history of being the high score keepers back when gaming was mostly in the arcades. No disrespect meant at all to Walter Day and TG, but that was back then. It's not like anything current in gaming happens there. Someone's comment on that article seemed to be pretty accurate...they would be more appropriately called the birthplace of competitive gaming.
 
I don't think the actual Twin Galaxies arcade was open longer than 2 years, but the Intergalactic Scoreboard was there in Ottumwa...very small town.
 
Walter Day told me earlier this year that they tried to set it up in Boise, ID. I really wish they could have made that happen!!
 
Walter Day told me earlier this year that they tried to set it up in Boise, ID. I really wish they could have made that happen!!


Yeah, I remember when Boise was to become "video game capital of the world"

Honestly, with Nashville, TN having a good amount of tourism, and you have my arcade with "Galaxy" in the title with 125 games and we have another 125 games in storage with lots of classics, and Jay Gallagher's ridiculous collection of games in storage is here, we have an instant museum already, just need a freaking spot for it...
 
To this very day, i am still completely baffled at how Walter Day became well known. I suppose it is by default, as he was the only person interested in tracking the high score CLAIMS back when there was NO WAY to verify any of it. Just because Ottumwa is his home town, it shouldn't mean that it is the videogame capitol OF THE WORLD!
 
It was a self-declared title and the mayor went along with it. As popular as games were back then, there was a stigma about them and most politicians wouldn't embrace them. I think they just got it because nobody else wanted it.

For arcade gamings epicenter, wouldn't it technically be Chicago? From Chicago Coin right up through heavy hitters like Williams and Stern. Funspot (Laconia NH) is probably it for arcade gaming today, and all the really big trade shows seem to be in California.
 
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