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Eracade Era Museum · Worksheet 2 of 8

The Golden Arcade, 1983–1989

NameDate

Read the Golden Arcade hall (about twenty minutes), then answer in your own words.

What is a sprite, and why did moving one save the processor work?
How did a tile map make a whole level cheap to store?
In your own words, what is attribute clash?
Why were coin-operated games tuned so a run lasted only a few minutes?
Which way of selling games replaced “pay by the minute”, and why did it suit home consoles?

Look closely

Open the Palette toy. Choose 2 colours, then switch on attribute clash. Describe what happens where two colours meet, and write down the hex value of one colour you see.

Make your own

Design one 8 by 8 tile in the grid, using only two colours or shades. Then plan a row of a level that repeats three tiles. How many numbers does your row need?

Printed from eracade.com/museum/hall/golden-arcade/

For teachers: where each answer is in the hall

The glass: a small image slid over the background by hardware; moving it meant changing two numbers.
The glass: a level is a table of small numbers pointing at a few 8 by 8 pieces, repeated.
Colour with strings attached: each 8 by 8 block could hold two colours, so a sprite crossing it changes the block’s colour.
Difficulty by design: the games were built to earn per play; fair rules made people try again.
What ended the era: pay once for the box; a forty-hour game fits a living room, not a coin slot.

The look-closely and make-your-own tasks have no single right answer. Ask pupils to explain their choice in one sentence.