The Arcade

Ludicrous Topic:

* Shit Selling For Way Too Much Money

Legitimate News Ludicrous Leadoffs:

* Microsoft & Sony Announce Unholy Alliance… Sort Of

* Valve Officially Announces Half-Life: Alyx

(rewatch the announcement trailer here)

The Big Topics of 2019:

* Game Services Coming Out The Wazoo!

* Nintendo & The Switch Keeping Up The Pace

* Microsoft Readies For The Next Generation

* Sony Laying Low

* Loot Boxes Steadily Put In Their Place

* A Look at the Games Coming Releasing In The Early Part of 2020

Dennis’ Nickname:

The man who is willing to give 2020 the benefit of the doubt

Welcome, one and all, to The Arcade’s 13th annual Christmas Music Special!  If you’re new to this kind of episode, well, it’s one of the special shows we do each year where we put together an assortment of holiday-themed music you won’t hear anywhere else.

Starting things off this year is the Ludicrous Leadoffs, (those Christmas songs that are just an extra special kind of special), which include selections from South Park, Futurama, Radio Free Vestibule, Spider-Man, and a rendition of Silent Night done entirely with goats!  From there, we go beyond the borders of North America to bring you some Christmas music from different corners of the globe, including Japan, Australia, Barbados, and more.  After a musical trip around the world, we come back home with some solid classic rock Christmas offerings from the likes of Foghat, Blues Magoos, Kenny Wayne Shepard, and Cheap Trick.  To round this year’s program, we pull a few highlights from the 1999 album, “I Wanna Be Santa Claus” by none other than Ringo Starr.  Somehow, we only became aware earlier this year that Ringo Starr had a Christmas album, and by gawd, we weren’t going to miss a chance to share it with you!

As always, we encourage you to follow the 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!)

* ActionAid Sweden – Silent Night (Goat Edition)

* Radio Free Vestibule – Christmas on Acid

* South Park / Trey Parker – A Woodland Critter Christmas (Excerpt)

* Futurama – Back To Work

* Spider-Man – Spidey Bells (A Hero’s Lament)

* Bucko & Champs – Aussie Jingle Bells

* Kuljit Bhamra – Merry Christmas Everyone!

* Banks Soundtech Steel Orchestra – Carol of The Bells / What Child Is This

* Kishore Kumar – Aata Hai Aata Hai Santa Claus

* Shonen Knife – Space Christmas

* Kenny Wayne Shepherd – Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer

* Foghat – All I Want For Christmas Is You

* Blues Magoos – Jingle Bells

* Cheap Trick – I Wish It Was Christmas Today

* Ringo Starr – Come on Christmas, Christmas Come On

*

Ludicrous Leadoffs:

* Man Spends $1.4 Million On Game Character, His Friend Accidentally Sold If For $552

* Go Champion Retires After Realizing AI Is ‘an Entity That Cannot Be Defeated’

News of the Week:

* Desert Bus For Hope 2019 Raises Over $850,000

* Valve Officially Announces Half-Life: Alyx

(watch the announcement trailer here)

* Valve Explains Why Half-Life: Alyx Is A VR Exclusive

* Valve Releasing Source 2 Game Engine Tools Alongside Half-Life: Alyx

* Pokémon Sword & Shield Becomes Fastest-Selling Switch Game

* Nominees Announced For The 2019 Game Awards

Dennis’ Nickname:

The man who is winding down the last days of Movember, in anticipation of Decembeard (Donate to Dennis HERE)

Blast From The Past:

* Pink Floyd – The Wall (Album / Nov. 30, 1979)

* National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (Movie / Dec. 1, 1989)

Ludicrous Leadoffs:

* Researchers Develop AI System Able To Play StarCraft II At Grandmaster Level

(read through the research paper here)

* AMC Unveils Airplane Mode, A 6-Hour Plane Ride Game

(learn more at the Steam page here)

News of the Week:

* Royal Canadian Legion Creates Fortnite Level To Mark Remembrance Day

* Blizzard Officially Announces Overwatch 2 At BlizzCon

(watch the reveal trailer here and the gameplay trailer here)

* Blizzard Announces Diablo IV At BlizzCon

(watch the reveal trailer here and the gameplay trailer here)

* Blizzard Announces Next World of Warcraft Expansion At BlizzCon

(watch the reveal trailer here)

Dennis’ Nickname:

The man who still doesn’t know how he feels about the fact that Sonic The Hedgehog was redesigned for the Sonic The Hedgehog movie

Blast From The Past:

* Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Gamecube / Nov. 15, 2004)

* Half-Life 2 (PC / Nov. 16, 2004)

* Assassin’s Creed 2 (PS3, Xbox 360 / Nov. 17, 2009)

* Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2 / Nov. 17, 2004)

Ludicrous Leadoffs:

* Rare Pokémon Card Sold For Almost $200,000

(check out the official auction page for the card here)

* Florida Man Buys Classic Game Collection, Pays Over $1 Million

News of the Week:

* Conan O’Brien To Appear In Death Stranding

* Death Stranding Confirmed For PC Release

* The Last Of Us Part II Now Delayed Until May 29, 2020

* Analogue Announces All-Encompassing Handheld System, The Pocket

* Blizzard Reportedly Unveiling Overwatch 2 At BlizzCon This Weekend

Dennis’ Nickname:

The man who is officially taking part in Movember (Support Dennis HERE!)

Blast From The Past:

* Band Hero (PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, DS, Wii / Nov. 3, 2009)

* Nirvana – MTV Unplugged in New York (Album / Nov. 1, 1994)

Halloween season is back up upon again, which means it’s time for us here at The Arcade to rescue you from the never-ending barrage of Thriller, the Monster Mash, and the Ghostbusters theme. You see, every year at this time, we make it our mission to seek out and bring you Halloween music you won’t hear anywhere else and, by gawd, we’ve outdone ourselves this year. Leading off this year’s proceedings is one of the most recognizable voices in all things spooky, Vincent Price. From there, we share a version of the Monster Mash that combines the well-known song with 1980’s hip-hop, a ditty from the cult classic movie Phantom of the Paradise, and a pair of songs from Bob’s Burgers and South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut. After our opening pack of Ludicrous Leadoffs, we move on and give attention and praise to a character that doesn’t get much love this time of year, the Devil. We give our regards to the Dark Lord with a pack of songs ranging from Robert Johnson all the way to a track from Cuphead. After saying “hi” to Satan, it’s only appropriate that present the Obligatory Metal Group, which, as you can tell by the name, is something we do every year. Serenading you with metal tones this year is Mercyful Fate, Dissolution, and one of the most Halloween appropriate bands of all-time, KISS. Wrapping up our Halloween show for 2019 is Christopher Lee performing a reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s classic, The Tell-Tale Heart. It’s only appropriate to bookend the show with Vincent Price and Christopher Lee, two of the best voices for Halloween, ever.

What Was Played:

(add these songs to your collection with the links below!)

* Vincent Price – How To See Ghosts Or Surely Bring Them To You

* Bobby Boris Pickett – Monster Rap (Radio Edit)

* Phantom Of The Paradise – The Undead – Somebody Super Like You

* Bob’s Burgers – Boyz4Now – I Love U So Much (It’s Scary)

* South Park / Trey Parker – Up There

* Robert Johnson – Me and the Devil Blues

* Black Sabbath – NIB

* Mill Supply – Satan

* Futurama – Robot Devil – Robot Hell Song

* Kristofer Maddigan – One Hell Of A Time

* KISS – Creatures Of The Night

* Dissolution – Depleted Catalyst

* Mercyful Fate – Nightmare

*

Ludicrous Leadoffs:

* Paralyzed French Man Walks Again With Brain-Controlled Exoskeleton

(read the official research paper here)

* Call of Duty: Modern Warfare For PC Takes Up A Whopping 175GB

News of the Week:

* Google Stadia Finally Has A Concrete Launch Date

(watch the date announcement trailer here)

* Sony Patent Points To Next-Gen PlayStation VR

* Xbox’s Project xCloud Game Streaming Service Now In Public Beta

* Internet Archive Adds 2,500 MS-DOS Titles To Its Library

(visit the page for MS-DOS games here)

* New Dr. Kawashima Brain Age Game Announced For Nintendo Switch

(watch the first trailer here)

Dennis’ Nickname:

The man who, in following up on last week’s nickname, would like to update everyone that he is on the last boss of Link’s Awakening and will have the game beaten shortly!

Blast From The Past:

* Team America: World Police (Movie / Oct. 15, 2004)

* Black Dynamite (Movie / Oct. 16, 2009)

* Brütal Legend (PS3, Xbox 360 / Oct. 16, 2009)

Ludicrous Leadoffs:

* Cuphead Now Able To Be Played In A Tesla

* Wendy’s Releases Free Fantasy Tabletop RPG

(visit the official site here and watch the announcement trailer here)

News of the Week:

* Sony Reveals Name, Release Window, For Next PlayStation Console

* The Last Of Us Part 2 Releasing On Feb. 21, 2020

(watch the latest trailer here)

* Naughty Dog Confirms The Last of Us 2 Won’t Have A Multiplayer Mode

* Sony Brings PS4 Cross-Play Out Of Beta

* PUBG Cross-Play Between Xbox One And PS4 Has Launched

Dennis’ Nickname:

The man who is surprised to find that all it has taken for him to play through Link’s Awakening is improved graphics, numerous quality of life improvements and a fully orchestral score

Blast From The Past:

* Frank Zappa – Hot Rats (Album / Oct. 10, 1969)

* Final Fantasy VI (SNES / Oct. 11, 1994)

* Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GameCube / Oct. 11, 2004)

Ludicrous Leadoffs:

* PlayStation UK Twitter Account Insists X Button Is Actually Called Cross

(see the offending tweet here)

News of the Week:

* E3 2020 Possibly Becoming More Of A Festival Than A Tradeshow

* Nintendo Theme Park At Universal Studios Japan Set To Open In 2020

* Nintendo No Longer Sticking To Monthly Release Schedule For NES, SNES Games On Switch

* Final Fantasy VII Remake To Include Classic Mode For Combat

* Kojima Says Death Stranding To Include Very Easy Mode For Movie Fans

Dennis’ Nickname:

The man who would like to provide a Surgeon General’s warning that election cycles can angry up the blood

Blast From The Past:

* Katamari Damacy (PS2 / Sept. 21, 2004)

* Type O Negative – World Coming Down (Album / Sept. 21, 1999)

Ludicrous Leadoffs:

* Bethesda Teaming Up With London Distillery To Make Doom Vodka

(visit the official site here, if you’re of legal age, that is)

* KFC Releasing Col. Sanders Dating Sim On Steam

(watch the announcement trailer here, and visit the Steam page here)

News of the Week:

* Apple Details Apple Arcade Service, Coming Sept. 19

* Nintendo Announce Ring Fit Adventure Fitness Game

(watch the gameplay demonstration here)

* Nintendo Recently Files Patent For Tilting Joy-Cons

(check out the Japanese patent page here)

Dennis’ Nickname:

The man who wants to press “F” to pay respects to Billy Mitchell

Blast From The Past:

* DuckTales (NES / Sept. 14, 1989)

* Scribblenauts (DS / Sept. 15, 2009)

* Mortal Kombat II (SNES, Genesis, Game Gear / Sept. 9, 1994)