I've been watching a LOT of this show lately, ah the memories. I saw maybe a dozen of these back in the day but in the past two weeks have seen three times that many.
Here are my random thoughts.
Geoff Edwards is both a riot and a total dick, pretty much the same reasons for both. He doesn't know jack about video games and never seemed to catch on. After a kid told him he had mastered Dragon's Lair, Edwards continued to call it "Devil's Lair". During a "Name the Game" competition, he called Galaga "GUY ALLA" (as if the kids weren't having a hard enough time). He's also really condescending. Of course, all of these things make me laugh.
The "interviews" with the contestants are PAINFUL. I mean, is there any other game show with such awkward contestants? Most of them can barely get a word out. And the ones who can AIN'T GOT NO GAME!
I wonder why no one ever did the Crystal Castles warp trick. That would not only win the game, but it would win THE GAME. No one gets 140,000 total on one show.
Which leads to another musing. The scoring system is just terrible. If you're really really good at a low scoring game like Space Invaders or Tron, you have no advantage if the other guy is even mediocre at a high scoring game like Pole Position. It's very badly balanced, and yet it still seems like the better player typically gets a shot at that big prize.
I wish I could go back and play. Even the crappy prizes are really cool TODAY, like that "Mister Disc" portable record player or the big Mattel Aquarius set-up. And oh what I wouldn't do for a Wacko arcade machine.
It's almost a guarantee. Poindexter always wins. The "cool kids" almost always lose.
The real genius of the show is "Kevin", the guy you never see who explains the game and announces the gifts. He gets his digs in to Geoff Edwards and they're genuinely funny AND impromptu. When "Kevin" talks, I LISTEN!
In SEVERAL separate episodes, Geoff Edwards attempts to throw a dig at "Kevin" by calling him a "snake in the grass" or "resident snake" immediately after a contestant chooses Super Cobra. Now you'd think after "Kevin" explains that there are no snakes in this game the first time, Edwards would try a different approach. Whadda dummy.
I saw a mildly retarded kid kick an adult's ass, that was my favorite episode so far. I also saw two females, twins, one of whom was extremely hot (the other one was very "butch") beat twin teen boys. These girls were by far the most enthusiastic players I have seen on the show. Unlike most of the morose, downplayed excitement, these two were jumping around like they were on crack. Just awesome.
Were there two "Journey" arcade games? Seems the marquees are different, and the first "Journey" looksl ike some 360-degree shooter, not the game with the band. I've never seen this cabinet before and unfortunately haven't seen anyone PLAY this game on the show.
I want to run a Starcade game. At CGE, or Philly, or right here on the forums.
Watching the game show has prompted me to pick a few titles up again (on MAME) after a long time away, most notably Congo Bongo and Munch Mobile. I keep thinking when I watch the show that I would never have as much trouble playing these games as the contestants do! But you know what? I suck at them too.
That's it for now. Just wanted to dump my Starcade brainwaves so I can move on.