So doing a [place favorite search engine here, most likely the one that collects everything about you] search doesn’t lead me to anything but debate…
But is there a word from, say, someone at Midway as to how to pronounce the name of this game??? I and everybody else in the world except a friend of mine always pronounced it “GA lah gah” – kind of like “galaxy,” but my friend, and I’m finding all of a sudden a lot of other people, put the stress on the penult, kind of like “armada.”
What’s the straight dope on this? I don’t want opinions; I want verifiable fact!
(Personally, I pronounce it “That kinda boring game that’s a bit like Space Invaders but not quite and that I really suck at. What?? You want me to pay FIFTY CENTS to play that?? SCREW YOU!!! Geez! It’s been a quarter forever, and now they jacked up the price 100%! The NERVE! It’s not worth playing if you can’t play it on one quarter. Oh well…if I really want to play it, I’ll just go home and run MAME.”)
Originally: ギャラガ - Gyaraga. So the first syllable is a little weird. It is mostly pronounced how you’d expect it to be. The “r” is of course a Japanese-style “r.”
I never really played it so I don’t have a strong bias, just the normal way.
The kana for the title transliterate to Gyaraga - suggesting the intended Englishish pronunciation is gal-ah-gah… It’s definitely referencing the word ‘galaxy’ (it’s a sequel to Galaxian).
I don’t know. It was years ago, I was just a kid, and I may even be misremembering. They do look very similar. The fact is, I have no memories of the name Galaga, and lots of the name Galaxian, so that’s my vague conclusion.
However, where I lived there were a few games known by different names than elsewhere, such as Krazy Kong instead of Donkey Kong, so perhaps it was that: Misnamed knock-offs.
That’s the correct pronunciation, or at least that’s how everyone in the coin operated gaming industry - from the manufacturer’s reps to the distributors to the operators, everyone I’ve ever spoken with since the game was introduced - pronounced (and pronounces) it. I’ve heard it pronounced other ways, but never by people in the industry.
Used to play it every day at lunch back in the day. Never heard anyone pronounce it, and we used to say gah-LAH-gah. But what did we know? I think I default to Spanish pronunciation on this type of foreign looking word.
Fun game, even with the non-shooting bug cheat/exploit.
Of course, Robotron: 2084 is the greatest game ever from that era, so great that I have one at home (not an original, some arcade cabinet thing I got at Target a few years ago. Defender, Stargate, Joust, and some other Williams games are included as well.)
Totally agree. I rock the machine at the Pinball Hall of Fame here in Las Vegas at least once a month. Defender is 3rd, with Stargate #2. I love Joust, but I hate playing with idiots who kill me. DAMN but Williams had some great games.
BTW, anyone else love and remember the soundtrack from Reactor?
Definitely remember… it’s playing in my head right now.
Best score on Robotron, factory level settings: 25 million. Actually rolled-over my extra guys and lost the game because of that. So, in my warped logic, I beat the game because it cheated my ass.
An old supervisor of mine pronounced it “Gallagher,” but he was from England. I never asked, but I assume the watermelon-shtick comic would’ve been pronounced “Galaga.”
Yeah, I always sucked at that game but it had a rockin’ theme.
