The Arcade Files

Originally, Popeye was to be released before Donkey Kong, but Nintendo could not procure the rights to do so. However, they did not give up and was eventually given the blessing, with Shigeru Miyamoto and Genyo Takeda taking the lead for the project. Nintendo gave the world another fun arcade game for all to enjoy and a story worth sharing enjoy! Email the show: thearcadefiles@gmail.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/arcade_files Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thearcadefiles Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_arcade_files/ Check out Revival Arcade at https://www.revival-arcade.com and follow their social media! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/revival.arcade/     Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revival.arcade/                                                 

Sega enters the cute character competition in hopes of getting some attention off of Pac-Man, with a new maze game called Pengo. The game was a commercial success in North America and was the first arcade game to have a fully interactive environment. Just remember if you encounter a Sno-bee in the wild, just chunk some ice at him. Enjoy the show! Check out Kid Shoryuken's YouTube channel and his arcade walkthroughs: https://www.youtube.com/user/KidShoryuken Email the show: thearcadefiles@gmail.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/arcade_files Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thearcadefiles Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thearcadefiles/

Irem enters the arena with Moon Patrol back in 1982 and was the first video game to feature a full parallax scrolling experience. Not only that, but teaming up with Williams for distribution led to one of the most beautiful cabinets released. Moon Patrol is a fun game and has a great story, with a game designer who wasn't a one and done, he was just getting warmed up. Enjoy the episode! Atari's Moon Patrol commercial featured in this episode is sole property of Atari and was used as an educational piece. No copyright infringement was intended in its use. Leave me those reviews and don't forget to subscribe or follow to never miss out on new episodes. Check out the upcoming auction in September from the Museum of Pinball, hosted by Captain's Auction Warehouse! https://captainsauctionwarehouse.com/ Email the show: thearcadefiles@gmail.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/arcade_files Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thearcadefiles Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thearcadefiles/

Back in 1982, Atari is looking to repeat the formula set by Nintendo and Donkey Kong. Thus, Kangaroo was born, but from Sun Electronics, with a four screen game design, and simple enough game play, plus it was cute looking game. However, some employees at Atari were not to thrilled about this game being picked up for distribution by Atari and they let their voice be heard. How so? Well just listen and find out, enjoy the episode! Atari's Kangaroo commercial featured in this episode is sole property of Atari and was used as an educational piece. No copyright infringement was intended in its use. Read the article from Arcade Heroes & Amusement Expo 2021 https://arcadeheroes.com/2021/07/09/amusement-expo-2021-round-up/ Email the show: thearcadefiles@gmail.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/arcade_files Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thearcadefiles Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thearcadefiles/

In the summer of 1982, Taito released Jungle King to the arcades, but was quickly met with lawsuit and had to change the game to Jungle Hunt. Not only is this classic remembered for that little uh-oh, but it was the first game to introduce players to parallax scrolling, with the player jumping over enemies. Hmm...sounds familiar. Atari's Jungle Hunt commercial featured in this episode is sole property of Atari and was used as an educational piece. No copyright infringement was intended in its use. Email: thearcadefiles@gmail.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/arcade_files Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thearcadefiles Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thearcadefiles/

It's late 1982 and Taito is releasing their first military themed, run & gun coin op title. It does great in Japan, but does that translate well to the rest of the world? Unfortunately, Front Line feels like a forgotten game during the Golden Age of Arcades, but it's worth mentioning and should be fondly remembered.  Email: thearcadefiles@gmail.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/arcade_files Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thearcadefiles Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thearcadefiles/ Check out Taito's Egret II mini arcade console coming in March 2022, but this link is only in Japanese! https://www.taito.co.jp/egret2mini/shop

During the development of Donkey Kong, many ideas and concepts were laid out, so many in fact that not all could fit in one game. Shigeru Miyamoto wanted a sequel to Donkey Kong and wanted Donkey Kong to be playable character, but it was not to be. Enter, Donkey Kong Junior, the son of DK, who must rescue his father from Mario. This is the only title featuring Mario as the bad guy and it sure made an impact, enjoy the episode. Email: thearcadefiles@gmail.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/arcade_files Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thearcadefiles Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thearcadefiles/

It's 1981 and SNK still hasn't released an arcade title to North America, but that all changed with Vanguard. SNK licensed the game to Centuri who released it, not only was it the first "talking" game for Centuri, but it was one of few arcade titles in 1981 to introduce a continue screen. Vanguard has great history and story to share, enjoy the episode! Learn more about Retro Raccoons, mentioned in today's episode, via https://glitchbit.com/ Or if your feeling froggy, order the game, via https://amusement.itsgames.com/ Email the podcast thearcadefiles@gmail.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/arcade_files Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thearcadefiles Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thearcadefiles/

How does one follow up the massive success of Pac-man? Well, apparently you work with a third party entity to develop the idea. That's exactly what happened with Ms. Pac-man, not originally conceived by Namco or Midway, but by General Computer Corporation. How did this happen? Only one way to find out, enjoy the episode! Source codes article mentioned in today's episode: https://github.com/historicalsource?tab=repositories Social Media Links Twitter: https://twitter.com/arcade_files Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thearcadefiles Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thearcadefiles The old fashioned email: thearcadefiles@gmail.com

It's September of 1980 and Cinematronics released Star Castle to the arcades. Using experimental artificial intelligence (A.I.) to challenge the player, Star Castle helped pave the way for future creators in expanding computer A.I. for video games even into today's time. This was also "color" vector graphics game, which wasn't common at the time. Star Castle has a great history and I hope you enjoy the episode. Link to Bandai Namco Studios Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYC5taNHZWnASB-Z0Mf3BHA Follow the show on social media! https://twitter.com/arcade_files https://www.facebook.com/thearcadefiles https://www.instagram.com/thearcadefiles/ Or email the show at thearcadefiles@gmail.com

It's December of 1980, a new game shows up at the local arcades from Centuri it's called Phoenix. Never heard of it, but it's an important one. Doing something Space Invaders and Galaga didn't do, introducing a "boss" as the final encounter of the game and progressive level game design, no repeats here, a true first indeed. Enjoy the episode! Follow the show on social media! Twitter: https://twitter.com/arcade_files Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thearcadefiles Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thearcadefiles/ Or send the show an email: thearcadefiles@gmail.com

In late 1980, Namco released a maze chase game, Rally-X, in Japan and with the help of Midway, Rally-X was brought to North America in 1981. Originally, Rally-X was thought to be a big hit, however, when it finally released against Pac-man and Defender, it fell to the wayside. Regardless, Rally-X was a pioneer in the video game industry, being the first to have a bonus stage and background music. Enjoy the episode! Twitter: @arcade_files Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thearcadefiles Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thearcadefiles/

It's 1980 and arcades are dominated by One Player games. However, Midway is here to solve the problem with Wizard of Wor, a pioneer of Two Player cooperative play, even with the computer AI helping if you are a lone gamer. Also an early adopter of synthesized speech and a maze like game at that. A truly unique title during the early years of the Golden Age. Enjoy! Forbes Article Link mentioned in today's episode https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattgardner1/2021/02/19/insanely-rare-sega-arcade-cabinet-found-abandoned-in-uk-field/?sh=4195c73256bd Twitter: https://twitter.com/arcade_files Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thearcadefiles Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/thearcadefiles 

It's 1981 and arcades are in desperate need of some variety. Enter Qix, the first puzzle game for the arcades and developed by a married couple. Qix went on to be a initial big hit for Taito America and is an incredibly unique game to this day. What many consider a sleeper hit today, this game paved the wave for future puzzle games that would later pop up in the gaming industry. Enjoy the episode! Email: thearcadefiles@gmail.com Social Media Twitter: @arcade_files Facebook & Instagram: thearcadefiles

Released in 1981 by Stern in North America, Scramble made quite a bit of money and brought some new features never before seen in an arcade game. However, many have forgotten about this pioneer, but not today. Enjoy a very early game in the shoot-em-up genre, that helped define it. Check out the social media links and email for the podcast, as well as, articles and YouTube video mentioned in today's episode. Email: thearcadefiles@gmail.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/arcade_files Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thearcadefiles Arcade Heroes article: https://arcadeheroes.com/2021/01/16/newsbytes-atgames-launches-arcadenet-new-videos-vr-wow-arcade-ports/ Wilcox Arcade article: https://www.wilcoxarcade.com/single-post/my-thoughts-on-arcade-port-begging YouTube Video with discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS8XRSskN30

It's the late 1970s and Taito dominated the arcades with Space Invaders. However, Namco wanted to cash in as well by releasing Galaxian in 1979. They had developed never before seen hardware and a complete 100% RGB color game, Galaxian quickly became the game to play in the early 1980s. Galaxian has a history and story worth sharing, helping propel Namco in the arcade scene, especially in North America and creating the iconic little spaceship we all know and love. Enjoy today's episode and check out the links mentioned in the podcast. Play Conquest Online: http://www.codemystics.com/conquest/ Follow The Arcade Files on Social Media Twitter: https://twitter.com/arcade_files Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thearcadefiles Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thearcadefiles/ Email: thearcadefiles@gmail.com

It's May 1983 with Star Wars: Return of the Jedi coming out in theaters and Atari has timed it just right to release a Star Wars arcade game. With the blessing of George Lucas, Atari created a beloved game that is still enjoyed today. This is the story of Star Wars: The Arcade Game, enjoy! Email: thearcadefiles@gmail.com Social Media Links: https://twitter.com/arcade_files https://www.facebook.com/thearcadefiles https://www.instagram.com/thearcadefiles/ https://parler.com/profile/TheArcadeFiles/

It's 1981 and the Gorfian Empire is invading Earth, you must protect it all cost! Gorf was a pioneer in during the Golden Age of Arcade, being an early adopter to use synthesized speech and the first arcade game to feature multiple screens. We can thank Jamie Fenton for creating this little gem and giving other developers new ideas for future titles. I hope you enjoy the history and story of Gorf. Follow The Arcade Files on social media: https://www.facebook.com/thearcadefiles https://twitter.com/arcade_files https://www.instagram.com/thearcadefiles/ https://www.parler.com/thearcadefiles Insert Coin Documentary https://www.insertcoindoc.com

Hot off the heels of his successful Missile Command game, David Theurer used inspiration from a childhood nightmare to create what many considered to be his magnum opus, Tempest, and provided another legendary title for the Golden Age of Arcade. However, Tempest had a rather interesting beginning that could have lead to a disastrous release, if Theurer hadn't changed course. Plus today's episode features special guest music from Night Rider 87, if you are interested in their music, check out the following links and follow them on social media. Links http://nightrider87.com/ http://www.youtube.com/c/NightRider87 http://twitter.com/nr87_official https://open.spotify.com/artist/3VAER4DIsFQnc5plsXy1X4 https://www.instagram.com/nightridermusic https://nightrider87.bandcamp.com/ https://soundcloud.com/nightrider87

Released by Atari in June of 1981, David Theurer created the legendary game, but one that has a no win scenario. The game was released during the middle of The Cold War, between the USA and the USSR. It hit a little too close to home for the developers, but they were trying to convey a message to the player. What message was that? Tune in to find out. Find The Arcade Files on social media: https://twitter.com/arcade_files https://www.facebook.com/thearcadefiles https://www.instagram.com/thearcadefiles/