The Arcade

Ludicrous Leadoff:

* Capcom Announces $260 Retro Game Machine

(watch the reveal video for this beast here)

News of the Week:

* Ubisoft Donates To Notre Dame Reconstruction, Makes Assassin’s Creed: Unity Free To Download

* Sony Reveals First PlayStation 5 Details

* Microsoft Officially Announces Disc-Less Xbox One S

* Final Fantasy XV Director Making New RPG About The Paralympics

* Gamescom 2019 Is Getting Its Own Announcement Show

Dennis’ Nickname:

The man who is counting down the days until Las Vegas

Blast From The Past:

* Super Metroid (SNES / April 18, 1994)

Ludicrous Leadoff:

* Anonymous Millionaire Wants To Set Up A Real-Life Battle Royale Game On A Private Island

(check out the original article here)

News of the Week:

* Super Meat Boy Forever Has Been Delayed

* Sega Releasing Genesis Mini On Sept. 19

(visit the official site here)

* Konami Planning To Release Contra, Castlevania Classics Collections

* Retro Streaming Platform Picks Up Arc System Works, SNK & Others

(visit the Kickstarter page here and the official site here)

* Gearbox Officially Unveils Borderlands 3

(watch the announcement trailer here)

* Borderlands 1 Remaster Released On Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC

(watch the announcement trailer here)

Dennis’ Nickname:

The man who hopes that Las Vegas turns out to be exactly like it is in the movie “Casino”

Blast From The Past:

* Kill Bill Vol. 2 (Movie / April 16, 2004)

* The Punisher (Movie / April 16, 2004)

Ludicrous Leadoffs:

* Google Earth Adds Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego Game

(see it in action for yourself here)

* Bethesda Adds Skyrim Grandma To Elder Scrolls VI

(watch the anniversary w/ the announcement here)

News of the Week:

* Google Announces Stadia Game Streaming Service

* Apple Announces Apple Arcade Premiums Subscription Games Service

(watch the announcement trailer here)

* Nintendo Reportedly Planning To Release Two New Switch Models This Year

* Xbox One S: All-Digital Edition Reportedly Releasing May 7

* Facebook Announces Latest VR Headset, The Oculus Rift S

(see the announcement trailer here)

Dennis’ Nickname:

The man who is working on music again

Blast From The Past:

* Hellboy (Movie / April 2, 2004)

* Shaun of the Dead (Movie / April 9, 2004)

Ludicrous Leadoffs:

* THQ Nordic Hosts AMA on 8chan… Things Don’t Go Well

* Appearance Of Sonic the Hedgehog From New Movie Leaks Online

(see what a full-body shot looks like here)

News of the Week:

* Nintendo Announces Pokémon Sword And Shield For Switch

(watch the first trailer here)

* Nintendo Announces Labo VR Kit For Switch

* Epic Games Announces $100M Prize Pool For Competitive Fornite eSports Events In 2019

* Microsoft Reportedly Planning To Release All-Digital Xbox One S Console In May

* Microsoft Unveils HoloLens 2 Headset

(watch the announcement video here)

Dennis’ Nickname:

The Trivia King

Blast From The Past:

* Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (Movie / March 18, 1994)

* Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Movie / March 19, 2004)

Ludicrous Leadoffs:

* Sealed Copy Of Super Mario Bros. Sells For Over $100,000

(read the official press release here)

* Bowser Set To Take Over Nintendo

(watch Reggie Fils-Aime’s retirement announcement here)

News of the Week / Nintendo Direct Recap:

* Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening Remake Announced For Switch

(watch the debut trailer here)

* Super Mario Maker 2 Revealed

(watch the first trailer here)

* Tetris 99 Revealed During Nintendo Direct

(see the Tetris action for yourself here)

* Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice Announced For Nintendo Switch

* Fire Emblem: Three Houses Release Date, Gameplay and Story Details Revealed During Nintendo Direct

(watch the new trailer here)

* Platinum Games Reveals Astral Chain, Exclusive To Switch

(watch the announcement trailer here)

* Assassin’s Creed III Remastered Announced For Nintendo Switch

Dennis’ Nickname:

The man who can confirm he is just “OK” at Tetris

Blast From The Past:

* Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (Movie / Feb. 17, 1989)

* Office Space (Movie / Feb. 19, 1999)

* Late Night with Conan O’Brien (TV Series / Sept. 13, 1993 – Feb. 20, 2009)

(Programming Note:  We will be away next week due to scheduling conflicts, but we plan on being back with you on Friday, March 8th.)

Ludicrous Leadoffs:

* Crazy Person Gets Smash Bros. Ultimate Running On Old Sony Watchman

(see what this madness looks like here)

* PlayStation VR Getting Sequel To Groundhog Day Movie… As A VR Game

(watch the first trailer here and read the full article on long Bill Murray’s time loop lasted here)

News of the Week:

* Microsoft Plans To Bring Xbox Live To Nintendo Switch, Mobile Devices

* Nintendo Restarts Development Of Metroid Prime 4 With Retro Studios

(watch the announcement video here)

* Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Sells Over 12 Million Copies In December

* Nintendo Delays Mario Kart Mobile Game Until Summer

* Nintendo Announces Dr. Mario Mobile Game, Coming Summer 2019

* EA Stops Selling FIFA Points In Belgium To Comply With Loot Box Regulations

Dennis’ Nickname:

The man who is foolishly putting too much stock in the opinions of groundhogs this year

Blast From The Past:

* Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (Movie / Feb. 4, 1994)

* Blazing Saddles (Movie / Feb. 7, 1974)

* Mario Party (Nintendo 64 / Feb. 8, 1999)

Ludicrous Leadoffs:

* Donkey Kong 64 Stream Raises Over $340,000 For Trans-Rights Charity

(check out the official stream here)

* Awesome Games Done Quick Raises $2.42 Million For Charity

(check out the official pledge total page here)

* Fortnite Made $2.4 Billion In 2018

(read the research paper here)

News Of The Week:

* Amazon Reportedly Developing Own Cloud Gaming Service

* Rocket League Now Features Cross-Platform Multi-Player

* Bungie Splits With Activision, Keeps Destiny Franchise

* Final Fantasy X, X-2, & XII Given Release Dates For Switch, Xbox One Releases

* Nintendo Switch Was The Best-Selling Console Of 2018 In The U.S.

Dennis’ Nickname:

The man who looks forward to a day when he is no longer shackled to the arduous task of brainstorming a new nickname for himself every week

Blast From The Past:

* Silent Hill (PS1 / Jan. 31, 1999)

* Dr. Strangelove (Movie / Jan. 29, 1964)

Friends, this week The Arcade continues its look back on the past year with part two of our 2018 Year In Review.  On this episode, we’ll focus our attention on some of the remaining big and big-ish stories that we’ve yet to have our say on from the year that was.  Included in this are Billy Mitchell and his disqualification from the Twin Galaxies record books, Telltale Games abruptly closing their doors, Epic Games and Discord tackling Steam head-on, and Atari doing some strange things, just to name a few.

What was discussed:

* Telltale Games Shuts Down Out Of Nowhere

* Epic Games, Others, Look To Challenge Steam In Digital Game Store War

* Retro Companies Up To Some Odd Things

* Billy Mitchell, Twin Galaxies, & Disputed High Scores

* Ubisoft Opens A Studio In Winnipeg

* Hello Games Finally Starts To Fulfill The Potential Of No Man’s Sky

* Sony Releases Own Attempt At Retro Mini-Console, It Flops

* Microsoft Is Busy Buying Game Dev Studios

* Sony Announces It’s Plan To Skip E3 2019

* The Vatican Launches Pokémon Go-Like Game Where You Collect Catholic Saints

Dennis’ Nickname:

The man who shouldn’t be, but is always surprised by how outraged people become over clickbait

Greetings friends, and welcome to 2019!  Hopefully, all of you out there managed to survive 2018, and we here at The Arcade are glad to be getting back into the swing of things after an enjoyable holiday break.  This week, we’ll take a look back at some of the bigger stories that played out last year for part one of our 2018 Year In Review.

The Big Topics of 2018:

* Fortnite: The Game Sensation Sweeping The Nation

* Nintendo: Switch Sales Still Staying Strong

* Microsoft & Sony: Next Console Generation Already On The Horizon

* Loot Boxes Finally Start To Get Their Cumuppins

* Crowdfunding: Cautionary Tales Abound In 2018

* eSports Continue To Grow In North America

Dennis’ Nickname:

The man who thinks 2019 should “gear down big-rig, you’re all over the road…. already”

Friends, the holiday season is firmly upon us and what better way to feel the warmth of the season than with our 12th annual Christmas Music Special.  As we have with all of our past Christmas Music Specials, we endeavor to bring you some holiday songs that you probably haven’t heard before because, by this point, Jingle Bell Rock is rocked out and Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is hard to take after the 786th listen.

On the show this year, we bring you a festive assortment of musical treats spanning different countries, eras, and genres too.  We start things off with some “prime cuts” from the new holiday album by recently released by William Shatner.  After that experience, we go back in time to a bygone era to experience some classic soul Christmas music from the likes of Stevie Wonder, James Brown, and the recently departed Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.  From there, the show makes a hard left turn and comes home for an all-Canadian Christmas group which spans the country by including the Crash Test Dummies, Dan Mangan, the Barenaked Ladies, and the late Rita MacNeil.  Closing out the show, we wanted to lift you up out of your chair and get you moving, so we put together a little bit of a Christmas dance party.  Because, why wouldn’t we?  Getting you bopping around will be tunes from Dragonette, John Legend, Dinosaur Jr., Eton John, and RuPaul.

As always, we encourage you to follow the iTunes links below to purchase these songs for yourself and add them to your collection.  We hope you enjoy this show, and we wish all of you out there a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

What Was Played:

(click on the links to buy!)

* William Shatner (feat. Henry Rollins) – Jingle Bells

* William Shatner (feat. Joe Louis Walker) – Little Drummer Boy

* William Shatner (feat. Iggy Pop) – Silent Night

* William Shatner (feat. Elliot Easton) – Run Rudolph Run

* William Shatner (feat. Dani Bander) – Feliz Navidad

* James Brown – Santa Claus Goes Straight To The Ghetto

* Stevie Wonder – Everyone’s a Kid at Christmas Time

* Clarence Carter – Back Door Santa

* The Temptations – Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer

* Aretha Franklin – O Christmas Tree

* Aretha Franklin – T’was The Night Before Christmas

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