Those Nick Arcade games...

[Gamereviewgod]

Got digital cable for Christmas, and one of the best features is the ability to watch the awful game show Nick Arcade on Nick Gas. Been years since I had seen it, and somehow I enjoyed it a lot better back then. LOL

That leads to this question: where are the games? Each episode, the kids would play original games that hardly looked at that fun (a lot of Pong variants) for control in the next round, but they were original. The credits say Psygnosis (sp?) developed them, the same guys that Sony would spend a ton on early in the Playstations life.

Do we know anything about these? The hardware? Anything?

[Darren870]

They had a lot of other games there too. Like Ghouls N ghousts and adam's famly. My guess just an SNES or Genesis plugged hook up like an arcade cabinet.

[Gamereviewgod]

They had a lot of other games there too. Like Ghouls N ghousts and adam's famly. My guess just an SNES or Genesis plugged hook up like an arcade cabinet.

Yeah, and 90% of the times, the kid would pick the Neo Geo stuff. Paid advertising?

But for the ones I'm thinking of, the graphics aren't really in the style of either console. Way too colorful. That's why I'm thinknig it's dedicated hardware, maybe a MVS like thing.

[keiblerfan69]

Yeah I just got digital cable a couple monthes ago too. I saw them play Sonic once on that show and yeah most of the time its Neo Geo games.

[Push Upstairs]

I think those other games were made on an Amiga computer.

If you watch the end credits they mention Amiga but never play one on the set...

[Lord Contaminous]

Ahhh Nick Arcade. Back in 1992, that show made me HYPED UP for getting a Super Nintendo that Christmas.
watching that show is what made me want a Neo Geo in the first place. I knew back then it would be totally impossible for me to get one. Ghost Pilots was the first Neo Geo game I saw in action.

Funniest video challenge I saw was a girl lost Sonic by one ring. After the "Time Out" sound effect sounded, you could still hear the victory music faintly playing in the background.

I really wanna watch this show again. If someone could tape as many episodes as possible for me I'd greatly appreciate it.

All those tapes with my favorite episode, my brother took them and taped wrestling over them without even asking me if I still watch them :angry:

[keiblerfan69]

Funniest video challenge I saw was a girl lost Sonic by one ring. After the "Time Out" sound effect sounded, you could still hear the victory music faintly playing in the background.



Yep thats the time I saw them play sonic.

[roushimsx]

God, I remember watching that once and they played Legend of the Mystical Ninja. This was back when I really wanted the game but never saw anything of it outside of screenshots in magazines, so i totally filled the cup when the kid started playing it.

I don't remember much else about the show, but I think I'll make it a point to DVR a couple of episodes :) It was no Starcade, but really...what is? :)

[Octane06]

I remember Nick Arcade being one of my favorite shows on Nickelodeon in the mid 90's, probably because it was the only game show at the time with anything related to videogames. I remember watching all the episodes and seeing every single kid play King of the Monsters for some reason. Only a few times did they play my favorite game, Sonic 1 , and then they were terrible (even at my young age at the time, I knew I could do better than them). I also remember the episode where they had Sonic 2 as one of the playable games. No one ever chose. OK, so someone did, but I missed that episode.

Some years later, that better-than-Nick-then channel, Nick GAS, went on the air (Sadly, it's decreased quite a bit in quality). I rewatched every episode of Nick Arcade, and finally, I saw the one where a girl actually plays Sonic 2. And I was quite shocked when the game started. Was I just hearing things, or was the Starlight Zone music from Sonic 1 playing instead of Emerald Hill? I knew something was different. By looking this up, I found out about the Simon Wai Sonic 2 Beta. Sadly, it's different from this version, which might be even earlier in production than the Beta, due to the changed level design, whereas the Beta's is almost the same as the Final's. I hope someone finds that Sonic 2 that was played on Nick Arcade...maybe it will be me (probably not :P )

[davidbrit2]

Hmm, doesn't Psygnosis also show up in the credits for Clarissa Explains it All? She always had some weird ass game running on her computer, and I could have sworn I saw their name in the closing credits once. I wonder if Psygnosis had a hand in any other Nick shows. Heh.

[Porksta]

Hmm, doesn't Psygnosis also show up in the credits for Clarissa Explains it All? She always had some weird ass game running on her computer, and I could have sworn I saw their name in the closing credits once. I wonder if Psygnosis had a hand in any other Nick shows. Heh.

Try imdb'ing those shows and check the credits.

[InsaneDavid]

There was also another forgotten show Nick used to run on Sunday mornings long ago called Total Panic where they would play bluescreen games similar to the stuff at the end of Nick Arcade. (I know that's not what you're talking about) Heck, they'd play power pad games on Total Panic and run promo ads for upcoming NES games such as SMB3.

[2Dskillz]

Speaking of gaming shows. I remember watching one early mornings on FOX where the contestants played several different games, mostly NES if memory serves correctly. The winner of the early rounds got to run around in a maze full of games and could velcro the games on to themselves, they went down a slide at the end and kept all the games they had with them.

What was the name of that show?

[ClassicGameTrader]

Speaking of gaming shows. I remember watching one early mornings on FOX where the contestants played several different games, mostly NES if memory serves correctly. The winner of the early rounds got to run around in a maze full of games and could velcro the games on to themselves, they went down a slide at the end and kept all the games they had with them.

What was the name of that show?

I was just about to write about this. It came on 6:00 AM in Michigan when I was about 8-10 years old. I used to wake up automaticly every morning with no alarm to watch that show. I remember when somebody had the chance to get a neo geo aes on there every once in a while and I was like oooohhhhh aaaahhhhhhhh.

What was that show called?

[VACRMH]

Speaking of gaming shows. I remember watching one early mornings on FOX where the contestants played several different games, mostly NES if memory serves correctly. The winner of the early rounds got to run around in a maze full of games and could velcro the games on to themselves, they went down a slide at the end and kept all the games they had with them.

What was the name of that show?

I was just about to write about this. It came on 6:00 AM in Michigan when I was about 8-10 years old. I used to wake up automaticly every morning with no alarm to watch that show. I remember when somebody had the chance to get a neo geo aes on there every once in a while and I was like oooohhhhh aaaahhhhhhhh.

What was that show called?

Video Power I believe.

[Push Upstairs]

I recall an episode i saw a year or so ago where this "nerdy" guy totally kicked the ass of the other team all by himself (his partner could never answer or buzz in fast enough). It made me feel better knowing he was kicking the crap out of this smug looking ass who was on the other team.

I think the final score was 500 points to 75, totally kicking thier collective asses. He would have won had he not been paired up with a totally inept partner.

Makes me believe more than ever that these shows were rigged/designed so that people could hardly win.

[VG_Maniac]

I used to watch both Nick Arcade and Video Power. If anyone here is having trouble remembering Video Power...here's something to freshen up your memory:

http://members.fortunecity.com/aking1/world/videopower2.html

Looking back at Nick Arcade and Video Power, I liked Video Power more...although it was even cheesier then Nick Arcade was. I liked watching the kids play all the hottest NES titles and go through that maze at the end...trying to grab as many games as possible.

[ClassicGameTrader]

I used to watch both Nick Arcade and Video Power. If anyone here is having trouble remembering Video Power...here's something to freshen up your memory:

http://members.fortunecity.com/aking1/world/videopower2.html

Looking back at Nick Arcade and Video Power, I liked Video Power more...although it was even cheesier then Nick Arcade was. I liked watching the kids play all the hottest NES titles and go through that maze at the end...trying to grab as many games as possible.


Wow, that is soooooo 1991.

I can't link to the the pics because it is fortune city but check out the pic where dude has the teal shirt on under the sportcoat and fake Mike McCready are in the shot together.

I probably watched every episode of this show back in the day, hey, I wonder if any DP'ers were ever on it?

Why don't they have something like this nowadays?

[segagamer4life]

Speaking of gaming shows. I remember watching one early mornings on FOX where the contestants played several different games, mostly NES if memory serves correctly. The winner of the early rounds got to run around in a maze full of games and could velcro the games on to themselves, they went down a slide at the end and kept all the games they had with them.

What was the name of that show?

I was just about to write about this. It came on 6:00 AM in Michigan when I was about 8-10 years old. I used to wake up automaticly every morning with no alarm to watch that show. I remember when somebody had the chance to get a neo geo aes on there every once in a while and I was like oooohhhhh aaaahhhhhhhh.

What was that show called?

Video Power I believe.


I beleive we have a winner...lol.. good call.

[JPeeples]

Nick Arcade was just about my favorite show as a kid. It combined Nick's fresh shows at the time with gaming. A winning combo if there ever was one, and man alive was it ever surreal to see so much Neo-Geo stuff on TV.

[Matt-El]

Don't you have to bust out into a rap though when you say the name?

*Matt-El busts out his beat box*

Video! Video Pow-er! Pow-er!


LOL


Loved that theme!

[GamecubeFreek]

Got digital cable for Christmas, and one of the best features is the ability to watch the awful game show Nick Arcade on Nick Gas. Been years since I had seen it, and somehow I enjoyed it a lot better back then. LOL

That leads to this question: where are the games? Each episode, the kids would play original games that hardly looked at that fun (a lot of Pong variants) for control in the next round, but they were original. The credits say Psygnosis (sp?) developed them, the same guys that Sony would spend a ton on early in the Playstations life.

Do we know anything about these? The hardware? Anything?
Which digital cable providers have Nick Gas? I have been wanting to see that show again for so long now. If only I had digital cable...

[MrRoboto19XX]

I know for a fact comcast digital cable carries it, at least here in the "Greater Annapolis/Baltimore Area".

The thing I remember from Nick Arcade was the host rapping to the little jingle between games. So Rad.

[MASTERWEEDO]

i got suscom digital cable and i got nick gas. arcade comes on from 4 am to 5 am

[XxMe2NiKxX]

The only thing I remember about Nick Arcade is it featuring a very mysterious version of Sonic the Hedgeog 2 containing a very different version of the background of CPZ.

[GarrettCRW]

Looking back at Nick Arcade and Video Power, I liked Video Power more...although it was even cheesier then Nick Arcade was.

That's mainly because Video Power's end game wasn't cheap like Nick Arcade's.

[NEOFREAK9189]

Wow Video Power that is the good old days so 1991.
I remember the sound and video I have 1 min of video in my pc
any one have video of video power I pay $50 for video power tape vhs
today I rec the show of nick arcade :)

[2Dskillz]

I think the funny thing is that it seems like now would be a more appropriate time for shows like this, or is it just competition in gaming has changed because online play versus the old arcade days?

[Push Upstairs]

Probably wouldn't fly given that online play is more popular than hanging out at the arcade.

But if they did try and redo shows in this style maybe they could make them not so friggin lame.

[Red Hedgehog]

Don't you have to bust out into a rap though when you say the name?

*Matt-El busts out his beat box*

Video! Video Pow-er! Pow-er!


LOL


Loved that theme!

Even though I only watched the show about a dozen times, I still remember this verse from the theme rap:

This show is kick-in'
With maximum hype!
You say Video Power?
Yeah, that's right!

[LocalH]

I think those other games were made on an Amiga computer.

If you watch the end credits they mention Amiga but never play one on the set...
That's right. Amigas were heavily involved in the production of Arcade. The games at the beginning of the rounds, the Mikey parts, and the endgame were all generated by Amigas.

[RetroYoungen]

Geez, I just started watching this show again (have to stay up until 1 am in order to catch an hour block of it), and I just love it. But... the prizes left something to be desired. And I don't just mean for the time (the portable cassette player is all cool and the Commodore computer I saw at the end, rock on), but a typewriter? Encyclopedia that "makes homework fun?"

DAMN YOU, NICK ARCADE! At least you have games like El Viento and Greendog: The Beached Surfer Dude...

[Push Upstairs]

Makes you glad you didnt go on these shows and win the lamer prizes.

But we must remember that a 26 volume encyclopedia set was cutting edge oh so many years ago. :/

And the bad part about the show was that kids liked to pick the same few games to play.

"Will it be 'Last Resort' or 'Super Ghouls n Ghosts'?"

"Last Resort!"

NEXT SHOW

"Last Resort!"

[NEOFREAK9189]

I just got the video tape of video power
http://members.fortunecity.com/aking1/world/videopower2.html
http://members.fortunecity.com/aking1/tapes.html

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v20/neofreak9193/videopower1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v20/neofreak9193/videopower2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v20/neofreak9193/videopower3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v20/neofreak9193/videopower4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v20/neofreak9193/videopower5.jpg

[kainemaxwell]

Ah the memories. :)

[Push Upstairs]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v20/neofreak9193/videopower2.jpg

There sure is alot of dork in that screenshot.