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Quint's look at Sundance flicks CHASING GHOSTS (a video game doco) and KING OF CALIFORNIA starring Michael Douglas' crazy beard!

If I had the money... by Valebant	Jan 29th, 2007 03:34:02 AM
I'd buy one of those table-top Pac-Man arcade machines they used to have in Pizza Huts. I see Amazon advertising them all the time. Any references to The Last Starfighter?
I remember the craze around the TMNT Arcade Game by IndustryKiller!	Jan 29th, 2007 04:03:34 AM
I remember hitting the mall and heading for the Arcade, right after hitting Kay-Bees of course. For months there was a crowd around that game. I must have beat the fucker 6 times ands till come back for more. I remember after you beat it you and the three other guys who you had been playing with would look at each other and give satisfied knowing knods as if you had just successfully taken a hill from the Viet Kong. Good times. Three friends and I played it through on an emulator disc on X-Box a few years back. We were stupified as to how difficult Krang was. Of course that game was a mere precursor to the original Mortal Kombat. The first time I ever saw a guy get uppercut into a pit full of spikes was like a religious experience. My two favorite things, horror movies and videogames, had been made as one. Joy.
PAC-MAN GOTTA EAT...SOME DOTS by MaxCalifornia.	Jan 29th, 2007 04:39:14 AM
Ha, I wanna see this. Middle aged balding nerds indeed!
I cried by BannedOnTheRun	Jan 29th, 2007 05:03:24 AM
during the scene where they track down a 300 lb. Pac-Man trying to score some powerpills in Compton.
When I was hanging around... by cornponious	Jan 29th, 2007 05:21:36 AM
Bally's Aladdin's Castle arcades, at Fayette Mall in Lexington, KY, the #1 game that EVERYBODY wanted to play was Dragon's Lair. They had a second monitor attached to the top of the cab so people could watch it since there was always a huge crowd around it. That was truly the largest arcade I had ever been in. There were hundreds of games. It was geek heaven. Now there's a food court where it used to be. The times, they are a-changin'.
Ahh the good old days.... by kingoflight	Jan 29th, 2007 06:18:12 AM
Unless your japanese or over 20 the arcade is pretty much dead thanks to the home console, but thoese who remember wasting away in front of thoese glow boxes i am sure chasing ghosts will be a blast. gonna have to keep my eye out for this flick....i'll never forget that hacked street fighter i used the play.
DOUBLE DRAGON PWN3S YOUR ASS! by The Ghoul	Jan 29th, 2007 07:16:53 AM
I remember the shock of having to battle your friend to the death at the end of the game.
PCP JUNKIES GOTTA EAT! by The Ghoul	Jan 29th, 2007 07:19:32 AM
Did anyone ever beat Mr. Big at the end of NARC? I always ran out of rocket bombs. Any hints? Killer clowns are still scary!
I remember too well by Jek Piggy Porkins	Jan 29th, 2007 07:25:40 AM
The end battle of Double Dragon was crazy! You just spent hours and tons of quarters working together to beat the game and then your dickhead friend beats you senseless with a bat, gets the girl, and the glory. SUXXX!
Michael Douglas in "The Sentinal 2" by Spandau Belly	Jan 29th, 2007 07:43:35 AM
The first film to be seen by a negative number of people.
Aladdin's Castle in the Fayette Mall! by vikingkitty	Jan 29th, 2007 08:26:43 AM
I remember my elementary school days in rural Kentucky, when we would visit Lexington for sporting events and academic competitions. Getting to stop at the mall and the arcade was the always the highlight of every trip.
Tron is the best arcade game of all time. by Some Dude	Jan 29th, 2007 08:33:52 AM
Four games, plus an amazing cabinet.
REMEMBER STARCADE? by The Ghoul	Jan 29th, 2007 08:49:27 AM
The video game show with host Geoff Edwards. I loved that show! You always got a preview of the new games coming soon to your arcade. That's where I saw Q-bert, Robotron, Journey, Dragon's Lair etc. for the first time. It was so exciting when the games you saw on TV came to your arcade.
I remember the game I was hooked on by ELGordo	Jan 29th, 2007 09:37:23 AM
The arcade version of Clin Eastwood's Firefox. The game showed clips from the film and I think they used the plate shots from the film in the game as well when you had to fly through cannions. Also one summer in Mallorca I was dead hooked on Splatter house. Nothing better than to be a Jason Vorhees clone beating monsters and zombies to shit. Good times. Is there a trailer for Chasing Ghosts? I want to see this sucker bad.
DR. WEST GOTTA EAT! by The Ghoul	Jan 29th, 2007 09:49:45 AM
I used to play Splatterhouse on my uncle's Turbo-Grafix 16, along with Bonk's Adventure, and golf. Turbo Grafix 16 you left TOO SOON!
What were some of the other arcade greats? by BGDAWES	Jan 29th, 2007 09:55:31 AM
I remember (some of these have already been said) 1.)NARC 2.)Lethal Enforcers 3.)Smash TV 4.)The Simpsons Arcade Game 5.)Tron 6.)Pole Position 7.)Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom. I'm trying to surf the web to jog my memory but my fucking work blocks any site that is scanned with 'video games', sweet. I wonder if I could file a discriminatory law suit against my corporation on behalf of geeks and dorks like myself.
WELCOME TO NBA JAM! by The Ghoul	Jan 29th, 2007 10:27:03 AM
BOOM SHACKA LACKA!!!!!!!!
Arcade Greats by Ray Garraty #47	Jan 29th, 2007 10:55:47 AM
Star Castle, Front Line, Jungle King, Asteroids, Gorf, Gauntlet, Defender, Galaga, Robotron. Ms. Pac Man was really huge when it came out, too, and improved on the deep Pac Man mythos. Another big one a few years later was the Star Wars game where you flew the X-Wing. Like Star Castle and Tempest, it had those awesome vector graphics or whatever they were called.
I forgot by Ray Garraty #47	Jan 29th, 2007 10:56:55 AM
...Missle Command.
I love almost all the AICN catchphrases but... by Judge Dredds Dirty Undies	Jan 29th, 2007 11:05:49 AM
THIS YEAR'S LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE is really fucking shit. AICN catchphrases GOTTA EAT.
If they did a documentary... by Ray Garraty #47	Jan 29th, 2007 11:16:35 AM
About the ET cartridge for the Arari 2600 I'd probably go see it. That was messed up. You just fall in the pit, float out, fall in a pit, over, and over, and over...
BANNED IN THE USA! by The Ghoul	Jan 29th, 2007 11:52:09 AM
Judge Dredd, The originator of the LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE stuff I think was banned and now has returned as Terry Bollea. LOOK AT HIS STYLE, HIS LEXICON!
IS IT THE SHOES? by The Ghoul	Jan 29th, 2007 12:45:57 PM
No one could beat The Ghoul in NBA Jams. I always had Brad Daughtery and Marc Price. Of course, I used passwords and set the game to big-head mode! HE'S ON FIRE!
Bubble Bobble by Col. Tigh-Fighter	Jan 29th, 2007 01:09:04 PM
Greatest game ever. Also loved Rainbow Islands. And I finished Outrun on each ending!! Good times
Snow Bros. took the cake! by Spandau Belly	Jan 29th, 2007 02:23:32 PM
Y'all know it!
Looking forward... by Veni Vidi Vici	Jan 29th, 2007 03:05:17 PM
to seeing Chasing Ghosts. I grew up playing arcade games. Some of the greats: TMNT, Simpsons, Star Wars Trilogy, House of the Dead, Virtua Cop, Asteroids, X-Men, Avengers, Alien vs. Predator, MK2, Samurai Showdown, Outrun, and Off Road Derby. Ahh the memories.
What the hell ever happened to BANG THE MACHINE? by Harry Weinstein	Jan 29th, 2007 03:33:02 PM
The documentary about the Street Fighter II Championships? Anyone? Anyone? Doesn't seem to be available on DVD...
Ah, beloved Tron by BannedOnTheRun	Jan 29th, 2007 03:33:13 PM
Battlezone! Zaxxon! Galaga! Robotron 2084! Phoenix! Marble Madness! Popeye! Crazy Climber! Can I get some love for Crazy Climber?
TWO systems before Sega Master System? by Harry Weinstein	Jan 29th, 2007 03:53:21 PM
I'm not counting Pong and the gazillion clones, sequels, and sequels to clones of Pong - just video game systems based on cartridges. No home computers either or else we'll be here all day. Besides the Atari VCS/2600, there was the Odyssey2, Intellivision, Bally Astrocade, Vectrex, ColecoVision, Atari 5200, and that's just off the top of my memory. I could look it up, but I think there was even a Sega home console that predated the SMS in some markets, if not America. ColecoVision was not to be fronted on, it came damn close to bringing arcade-quality graphics home. Donkey Kong on ColecoVision looked like actual Donkey Kong for the most part.
TRON arcade game by MaxCalifornia.	Jan 29th, 2007 05:18:48 PM
Ahh, yes the classic Tron 4-in-1. Shooting those ants to get to the top of the screen, check. Light cycles - check (I still remember how to do it...you gotta make a P shape on the screen and trap that idiot in the loop of the P). Shooting holes in that descending cone thingy - check. And then there's the freakin' tanks maze part where you have to use the spinner to move your turret - whilst also moving the tank with the joystick. Too much co-ordination required for an eight year old, I think. I also played a lot of BOMBJACK, KUNG FU MASTER (remember that, you just walk from right to left, kicking and punching dudes, and on later levels they throw in snakes and MIDGETS to miz it up), OUT RUN, INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM (I still remember that heart-hurling fucker saying 'Soon, Kali Ma will rule the world' when he kills you), PAPERBOY (everyone wanted to play it because of the cool handlebar controllers), the STAR WARS sit-down-in-the-cabinet game, and DRAGON'S LAIR, which again, everyone wanted to play, but nobody had any idea what to do and the game was over after about ten seconds.
SK229 by BGDAWES	Jan 29th, 2007 05:39:34 PM
Ah, the SMS. My buddy had that growing up. Remember Space Harrier, Fantasy Zone, and Ghostbusters. That system was legit, with some great games. I also had Coleco Vision (but can barely remember it) and the Turbo Grafix 16, that was a quality system as well. The most rare system I had was the Atari Lynx, hand held. I think Atari tried to release their own 64 bit machine back in the day but that was the time I sort of 'retired' from video games. It's funny, if you put a system in front of me I'd probably play for hours but I just don't anymore or actively seek one out.
80's arcades..... by Quake II	Jan 29th, 2007 07:23:43 PM
Where a large portion of my allowance went every week. I used to loiter for HOURS just watching people play games. Arcades were the Studio 54 for the pre-teen crowd.
Colecovision.... by Quake II	Jan 29th, 2007 07:34:32 PM
Was the first system to start keeping kids out of the arcades. The games were starting to look & play just like the cabinet versions and I never had one. But my jaw dropped the first time I played a Colecovision Donkey Kong demo in a store. Remember the segment in the movie Nightmares where Emilio Estevez battles "The Bishop Of Battle" and eventually loses, thus becoming part of the game....Creepy! j/k
Amstrad 6126 vs Amiga 500 by NKG	Jan 29th, 2007 08:06:38 PM
In Greece the consoles came late. From 85 to 90 half greeks had an Amstrad and the other half had an Amiga or an Atari ST ,... It was madness... Bombjack, Basket master, wonderboy,Shinobi, Kung fu Master, International Karate +, Double Dragon, Saboteur, Chase HQ, Rick Dangerous and of course the best beat em up of all... Target Renegade.... the Amiga guys had better machines and better grafics. Speedball 2, Nitro, Final Fight, Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge, Silkworm so many great games. Then they decided to bring all the consoles in one year. In 1990 we all of a sudden had to choose between Gameboy, NES, Megadrive (your Genesis) and Sega master system. Gameboy kicked all asses. So many hours on so many games. Alex Kidd, Forgoten Worlds on the SMS and Double Dragon , Tetris, Metroid, Robocop on my Gameboy... Then the SNES came along. I cannot describe the obsession i had over Street Fighter. Mario Kart and The Star wars games , NBA JAM , ROCK N ROLL RACING!!!!! , Contra, Mortal Kombat 2, what can I say I was hooked... The Arcades are currently banned over here but in those days you could not be a 15 yr old and not be impressed by Mortal Kombat, Golden Axe, Terminator 2, Super Sidekicks, Samurai Showdown, Virtual Cop, Tekken and many others... I remember having a SNES and waiting fot the MK game to have the fatalities and the blood . Those Genesis bastards won that battle .. They also had Sonic... and Streets of Rage.... Great Times... We are due for video games documentaries.
Amstrad 6128 vs Amiga 500 by NKG	Jan 29th, 2007 08:07:34 PM
In Greece the consoles came late. From 85 to 90 half greeks had an Amstrad and the other half had an Amiga or an Atari ST ,... It was madness... Bombjack, Basket master, wonderboy,Shinobi, Kung fu Master, International Karate +, Double Dragon, Saboteur, Chase HQ, Rick Dangerous and of course the best beat em up of all... Target Renegade.... the Amiga guys had better machines and better grafics. Speedball 2, Nitro, Final Fight, Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge, Silkworm so many great games. Then they decided to bring all the consoles in one year. In 1990 we all of a sudden had to choose between Gameboy, NES, Megadrive (your Genesis) and Sega master system. Gameboy kicked all asses. So many hours on so many games. Alex Kidd, Forgoten Worlds on the SMS and Double Dragon , Tetris, Metroid, Robocop on my Gameboy... Then the SNES came along. I cannot describe the obsession i had over Street Fighter. Mario Kart and The Star wars games , NBA JAM , ROCK N ROLL RACING!!!!! , Contra, Mortal Kombat 2, what can I say I was hooked... The Arcades are currently banned over here but in those days you could not be a 15 yr old and not be impressed by Mortal Kombat, Golden Axe, Terminator 2, Super Sidekicks, Samurai Showdown, Virtual Cop, Tekken and many others... I remember having a SNES and waiting fot the MK game to have the fatalities and the blood . Those Genesis bastards won that battle .. They also had Sonic... and Streets of Rage.... Great Times... We are due for video games documentaries.
Joysticks.... by Quake II	Jan 29th, 2007 08:15:10 PM
Worst movie attempt to "cash in" on the video game craze. 80's sex romp that takes place in an arcade. They couldn't afford to license the artwork and graphics for most of the games, so the cabinets are generic looking and you never see the hits of that time. Best reference: The opening of "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" shows what the 80's arcade was like in all its glory.
Neo Geo Nam '75 by Uncapie	Jan 29th, 2007 08:17:41 PM
"I'm not going back there..."
CENTIPEDE GOTTA EAT!!! by TheUglyBaby	Jan 29th, 2007 09:31:35 PM
Who's the bitch NOW??!!??
Atari's swan songs by Harry Weinstein	Jan 29th, 2007 11:30:48 PM
Lynx was a very good system indeed - a bit hefty size and price-wise, but way ahead of its time in that its graphics and sound were beyond all other portables until the GameBoy Advance came out... but the 64-Bit Jaguar was total garbage, and a sad final note for Atari. It would be like if Spielberg had died during post-production on WAR OF THE WORLDS... just tragic and a totally unworthy end to a legendary figure.
Harry Weinstein by BGDAWES	Jan 29th, 2007 11:35:52 PM
Holy shit, that's such a great analogy. (I'm serious, it's difficult to express tone in TB's). Was the Jaguar really that bad?
VIKINGKITTY! FAYETTE MALL! by cornponious	Jan 30th, 2007 05:26:35 AM
Hey, very interesting. What part of rural Kentucky did you grow up in? Because I, too, grew up in rural Kentucky. Lincoln County to be precise. Living an hour away from Lexington was harsh, because I was so close to all the Aladdin's Castle excitement, but didn't get to be there very often. Usually only on holidays or, as you stated, during school trips. Rest assured, though, whenever I was there, I was in that arcade, wasting quarters and just hanging around. Several good games have been mentioned here. I was always partial to Tron and Robotron. I recall seeing tron at the Danville Cinemas when it came out, and then when it was over, I walked across the parking lot to the Kentucky Arcade and played the game. Talk about heaven...
CHASING GHOSTS Arcade @ Sudance by Can You Dig It	Jan 30th, 2007 03:29:37 PM
In half a dozen years of attending "The Dance," this was the absolute greatest promotion ever. Gotta prop the publicists for this one. Talk about a great idea, they took over a storefront -- an art gallery, I think -- and for a few days, they turned it into a full-blown, old school arcade stocked with classic games: Tron(!), Pac Man, Missile Command, Joust, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, Tempest, Centipede and more ... all set to free play! I was in geekified heaven and found myself visiting the spot multiple times daily. Got to chat with the filmmakers who were really cool dudes and thanked them for doing it. Oh and the film? AWE-some. They documented the period, caught up with ex-champs and, most importantly, they accorded the subjects deserved respect. Someone distribute this NOW.
CRAZY CLIMBER GOTTA EAT... BIRD POOP! by redfang	Jan 30th, 2007 03:40:04 PM
What a great game that was! Though it was also the one that was most often broken, due to people slamming both joysticks up and down all day.
It's All About NARC, Double Dragon and TMNT by pockybot	Feb 4th, 2007 12:53:07 AM
I fondly recall the greatest gaming age of all time: 80's arcades. I LOVED going to the arcades from the early 80's(I remember the day Xevious came out in 1982, one of my ALL time favorites) til the late 80's. My fave games are NARC(forget GTA 3, this was visceral hyper violence with hookers, exploding limbs and drugs way before Mortal Kombat), as well as Double Dragon 1 and 2, Strider(such a glorious dynamic), TMNT(no way you could get 4 strangers to cooperate together now days), Toobin, The Ninja Warriors(one of THE best soundtracks next to Rastan), the deluxe cabinet of OutRun, Rampage, Vs Super Mario Bros, Golden Axe, APB, etc. Thankfully thru modern day compilations and emulators everyone can relive these classics, but nothing can replace the time these actually came out. Oh, and Im STILL in my 20's despite being an avid gamer since the days of Centepede and Pacman:) I feel really bad for kids growing up today who will never know the glory of the old games. I wrote a song called "1989" that's an ode to this great arcade era: http://www.xenocanon.com/mp3.p hp
Oh yeah, I STILL Love "The Wizard" by pockybot	Feb 4th, 2007 12:55:43 AM
Im very glad the Wizard finally came to dvd. I absolutely love that film. For me tho, it was all about Tilt, Aladdin's Castle and "The Game Room" in Sacramento California circa 1985-1989:) Back then, it was ok to be preteen and dropped off at the arcades all day.
Amiga 500!!!! by livrule	Mar 10th, 2007 07:42:08 PM
Oh yes! .... Speedball 2 .....'ice cream'!!!!
Berzerk was the best by Rupee88	Mar 11th, 2007 12:07:16 AM
"Kill the humanoid. Kill the intruder!"
Aaah the Memories by caerlas	Mar 11th, 2007 12:30:55 AM
These are a few of my favorite arcade memories. My brother, Father and me pounding away at Double Dragon at the local 7-11 on weekends, along with Alien Syndrome, HEAVY BARREL!!! and Ikari Warriors. Then at the Pizza Hut playing Gauntlet, Bad Dudes, Golden Axe, and Bubble Bobble. Then there were the large arcades after school huddled with friends around TMNT, X-men, Avengers, Smash TV, SF II, Lethal Enforcers, MK I and II, and Knights of the Round. Good times all of them. My solo faves were Strider, Bionic Commando, Rad Mobile (the car you sat in that tilted with every turn), Black Tiger, and Magic Sword.

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Quint's look at Sundance flicks CHASING GHOSTS (a video game doco) and KING OF CALIFORNIA starring Michael Douglas' crazy beard!

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