It’s time to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Pac-Man with the start of all Pac miniseries! Podouken finally talks about the big yellow ball in the room, NAMCO’s Pac-Man. We delve into the often recounted (and often incorrect) history of arcadedom’s most influential game and tell what part pinball played in birthing it into existence. How did the most expensive coin-flip in history go so wrong for one arcade company? What compensation did Pac-Man’s creator get for making the most popular arcade game of all time? What date should we use when determining the release date of a game? It’s pinball, Popeye, pizza, Pac-Man, professors, and Pixels for this Podouken podcast.

We get in the damn robot and play some of Sega’s Virtual On! The final Listeners’ Choice episode takes on your second/third/fourth favorite brand of giant, bipedal, murder robots. Listen as Borelo, Madlle, and Rod-TGH tell of the history and lamentations involved with buying and moving a Virtual On: Cyber Troopers unit. We marvel at the technical achievements made by the Sega AM3 team on an aged arcade board. We talk a lot about the current state of Mortal Kombat. How beefy is this big boy cabinet? What is your Virtuaroid name? How does The Last Starfighter fit into all this? Get those answers plus: Fast Food Fighters, the brief history of Gundam, VOOT Christ, deadlifts, and a talk with listener Andrew Olivera who nominated the game.

I OFFER YOU 80,000 SWISS FRANCS TO LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE.* The second Listeners’ Choice is all about the first arena fighter - the precursor to Super Smash Bros. - NAMCO’s The Outfoxies. Join a full house of co-hosts as we talk about this rather obscure game that features a unique cast of characters like a chimp assassin and some eleven-year old homicidal twins. Why was this game called The Outfoxies? Did it ever take off in Japan? What is the best place to store guard sharks when not in use? We answer those questions and talk about arcade PCB prices, evil contractors, Gals Panic, and more Tiger King (for some reason). Special thanks to listener Tim Walker for nominating this game and Owlnonymous for joining us.

*Not legally binding.

Shall we play a game? For the first episode of the Listeners’ Choice miniseries we distill Capcom’s trivia arcade game, Quiz & Dragons, back to its truest form - a board game! Who will win the trivia battle of 80s sports and Richard Dreyfuss questions? Why does one letter (eclipse vs. ellipse) cause so much drama (thanks autocorrect)? Will knowledge from past Podouken episodes help the hosts get to the end or will their own stupidity condemn them? All of that plus counting teeth, recording during a hurricane, early Image Comics superheroes, and high-pitched character voices. Special thanks to listener Matthew Manduchi for nominating this game.

HOLY SH...EBOYGEN! It’s time for another Arcade Obscura where each of the hosts pitch their choice for underrated or underappreciated two-player beat ‘em up game. PastBlaster brings us a game from a familiar company that uses six-buttons to possess and destroy your enemies. Rob brings us a sequel from a company that only made two arcade games. Mr. SNK takes the obscure part of this episode to the limit with a noir game we’re still not sure even exists, but - if it does - deserved to win the Pulitzer for that year (sorry Updike’s Rabbit at Rest). We have a DOGOOOONE good time with this one. Also we coin the term “scifyclops”, discuss some larger beat ‘em ups, fight Mucus Tick, and maybe fire a host.