Wow, amazing research. I didn't even know I lived through a golden age of arcade games or home consoles (not sure which the author was referring to).

I was confused by "Klax", thinking it was a pirate version of old Colecovision platformer Zaxxon but it was actually quite different. I didn't experience NES until 1988. Up to that point (<5 years after early home consoles like 2600, Intellivision and Colecovision had petered out) people of my age cohort had hoped that the pre-Windows PC platforms like the Atari 800, Apple IIe, or the first Macintosh would provide good gaming experiences but we were mostly disappointed. There were a few bright spots like Dark Castle and Choplifter, but the chasm between those experiences and what you could find in the arcades were significant. The NES was a huge development.