Winners Don't Use Drugs: A People's History

[Robert Rath]

Winners Don't Use Drugs: A People's History

Here's why every game arcade cabinet in the 1990s had an FBI seal on the screen.

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[Kinitawowi]

I think it was the launch of Winners Don't Use Drugs that properly made me aware of the global nature of gaming. Growing up in a tiny seaside town in Norfolk, where the console never really seemed to permeate and the ZX Spectrum was king, it was easy to think of all the games I played as British developments. And then there I am, in the Panama arcade on Le Strange Terrace, and there's this big FBI logo looming at me from the Golden Axe cabinet.

Some part of me knew that the FBI was an American thing, so I was baffled to see it there - why should I care what the FBI thinks? They're American, I'm British, what's the contact point? And eventually I realised that the contact point was that very machine I was standing in front of; that this arcade wasn't a British construct, it was from across the pond.

 

[JonB]

I think it was the launch of Winners Don't Use Drugs that properly made me aware of the global nature of gaming. Growing up in a tiny seaside town in Norfolk, where the console never really seemed to permeate and the ZX Spectrum was king, it was easy to think of all the games I played as British developments. And then there I am, in the Panama arcade on Le Strange Terrace, and there's this big FBI logo looming at me from the Golden Axe cabinet.

Some part of me knew that the FBI was an American thing, so I was baffled to see it there - why should I care what the FBI thinks? They're American, I'm British, what's the contact point? And eventually I realised that the contact point was that very machine I was standing in front of; that this arcade wasn't a British construct, it was from across the pond.

Woooow, this is absolutely crazy. I had never thought that "Winners" would have made it outside of the US.

Any other folks from Europe or Asia remember seeing it?

 

[Nuxxy]

Woooow, this is absolutely crazy. I had never thought that "Winners" would have made it outside of the US.

Any other folks from Europe or Asia remember seeing it?

Saw it growing up in South Africa, even before Apartheid 'fell' in '94.

 

[JamesBr]

Obvious, but these were all over Canada at the time too, since the most readily available cabinets were from US games (Canada wasn't a major player in the gaming market back then).

 

[Dr.Awkward]

It definitely had a big enough impact that it got lampooned in Blood Dragon, so hey, it's definitely influenced major parts of the world.

 

[PBMcNair]

Great article. This has explained like 3 different references had flown right over my head.

 

[Lance Icarus]

It's great to hear a little background about the most recognizable screen in arcade history. I can't wait for next week's article!

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Does this mean that Charlie Sheen lied about winning?

 

[Darth_Payn]

Does this mean that Charlie Sheen lied about winning?

It sounds as true as his being a Bitchin' Rock Star from Mars or a Vatican Assassin Warlock.

 

[Right Hook]

That message has definitely been burned into my head, as a kid in the 90's, how could it not have been? Awesome article, I still see the screen sometimes when I find an old cabinet, always brings a smile to my face. I'm curious as to whether its effectiveness was ever attempted to be rated. It really didn't effect me in the slightest, I was too young at the time and basically little Steve Rogers (I was Captain America for Halloween when I was like 4) so I would have never been near drugs at the time regardless.

 

[bjj hero]

It definitely had a big enough impact that it got lampooned in Blood Dragon, so hey, it's definitely influenced major parts of the world.

I love the winners dont eat meat lampooning on the Scott Pilgrim vs the world videogame.

This was everywhere in the UK when I was growing up.

Loved the article.

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

At a time when most government officials were at antagonistic toward games and their effect on children, the head of the nation's premier law enforcement agency chose to coopt the medium in order to deliver a message.

Haha, oh you really got me there. Good thing that time has long passed [/sarcasm]. Really though, to think that for even a second someone in elected office sat to himself and realized that games could be the answer, not a problem, is amazing. I just wish it would happen again.

 

[IkariGS]

I work with young people, and I'm thinking of using this as a topic for conversation during sessions at some point when I get back to volunteering. Messages about drugs aside, I've found success using games as a tool to build relationships and to facilitate critical thought in sessions (except when they're destroying me on Mario Kart).

Loved the article.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

Now that I'm old enough to know better, having seeing these in my youth, I have to ask some basic questions:

If winners don't use drugs, can you please explain...

1) Critics and comedians like George Carlin, Bill Hicks, Lenny Bruce, Sam Kinison and Richard Pryor?

2) Musicians and bands like The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, "Dimebag" Darrell, Alice in Chains?

3) The current culture surrounding today's professional sports and athletes?

4) People like Terence McKenna?

Even when I was young, I knew - people use drugs, winners make the most of their experiences, draw strength from them and push ever forward. It wasn't until I found the above examples, and more like them, that I could express these thoughts into words.

 

[Aardvaarkman]

Here's why every game arcade in the 1990s had an FBI seal on the wall.

Why is this relatively short article broken up over three pages? "Just say no!" to pagination on websites. Winners don't use pagination in a medium where pages can be of arbitrary length.

More on topic, the offences Sessions was fired for seem pretty damn trivial compared to the excesses politicians get away with these days. Slightly excessive travel budgets? Ridiculously exorbitant travel budgets are standard procedure these days for public officials.

In any case, Sessions' legacy is highly amusing - a completely ineffectual and misguided campaign that somehow enriches gaming culture, despite how annoying it was at the time. I'm pretty sure some kids actually tried drugs because of those screens, not in spite of of them.

 

[Aardvaarkman]

Any other folks from Europe or Asia remember seeing it?

It was in all the arcades in Australia, and it was bloody hilarious and totally meaningless.

As Kinitawowi says - it really highlighted the global nature of gaming - you'd have an arcade machine that was programmed in Japan, distributed by an American company, in a cabinet made in Australia. With a bizarre FBI warning. Not to mention a lot of the strange Japanese stuff that wasn't properly translated to English and made no sense. It was a bit like Bladerunner.

 

[shiajun]

Any other folks from Europe or Asia remember seeing it?

I remember seeing it in arcades in Mexico.

 

[RJ Dalton]

I'd have less of a problem with the "winners don't use drugs" thing if it wasn't complete bullshit. Many of the worlds most successful writers, scientists, businessmen and politicians are known drug users. Hell, every president since Clinton has admitted to using marijuana and I'm pretty sure both Bush Jr. And Obama have admitted to using cocaine at least once in their lives. Fact is, many winners used drugs.

 

[AkaDad]

Fun Fact:

Prohibition will always fail.

It's a waste of time and money, many good people have died, children have lost their mothers and fathers due to a stupid policy that will never, ever succeed.

Then there's the hypocrisy of people who complain the loudest about government spending supporting a failed policy that wastes our tax dollars and lives.