Before there were online games like Counterstrike that allowed people to sit around and compete with each other in their mom’s basements, there was a little pass-time called arcade gaming, where you actually had to leave the house in order to play.

In 1983, Life magazine gathered together the best-of-the-best from the arcade world for a “historic” picture spread and article. In this amusing photo, you’ll see the world record holders for many classic arcade games, such as Dig Dug and Donkey Kong, many of which I assume have not been broken to this day. These guys were so good that on some games their scores were only limited by the games themselves, since the developers didn’t even create enough levels for them to play.

It’s fun to see some of the hardcore gaming pioneers in the photo, even if they do all look like 80’s nerds.

Think you can beat them? Head over to MAME and download an arcade emulator to try your luck at beating their scores.

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