Today, when watching the second episode of the new Star Wars: Ahsoka series, I saw a prop that has great nostalgic resonance with me: a hand-held space-invaders knockoff. This was the first video game "system" that my family ever owned. It could run on AA batteries, but we usually just had it plugged into the wall. I spent many hours sitting at our dining room barstools mastering that game.
The controls were simple. There was a toggle that could move the LED space ship left or right but defaulted to a middle position, and there was a red button to shoot at the incoming space invaders. The space invaders came down three corridors (left, middle, and right) on the screen, some of them shooting their own lasers. Getting hit by a laser or an invader OR letting an invader get to the bottom of the screen meant game over. Every invader shot down increased the score. I believe that there were three modes of difficulty and that I could max out the score on the highest one. ... I spent a LOT of time on that game.
There it was in the episode. Of course, it was being used for a completely different purpose. Its blue plastic was painted brown, the LED screen was completely different, and it was held upside down, but I could recognize it anywhere. Its toggle and button controls were clearly visible--if unused and near the "top" rather than the "bottom." This is quite a deep pull from the prop master as that game hasn't been made for decades, yet was in households like mine around the time that Return of the Jedi was made--and this show is supposed to take place only a few years later in that story.
Seeing it really brought back memories, and fond ones at that. Two loved elements from my past were brought together due to this episode. In a way, it feels like I am even more connected to the Star Wars universe.