Sunday, March 15, 2020

New Short Documentary Explores the Phenomenon That Was 'Nick Arcade'

'Would you like to play Joe & Mac?'

If you were alive in the '90s, lived in the U.S. and remotely liked video games, odds are you've heard of Nick Arcade.


Hosted by Phil Moore, Nick Arcade was part game show, part tournament, pitting two teams of two kids against each other through two initial trivia rounds, with the winner advancing to the "Video Zone" to play against the virtual "Video Game Wizard" of the day via green scene magic. Filmed at Nickelodeon Studios at Universal Studios Florida, the series ran for 84 episodes over two seasons in 1992, with re-runs occurring throughout most of the '90s and the mid-noughties on Nick and Nick GAS.

If you want a quick throwback to the '90s, Wrestling With Gaming has released a super short 22-minute-and-change documentary on their YouTube channel that quickly runs down the origins of the show and breaks down each facet of it in a very digestible way, providing factoids in the process, behind-the-scenes footage and briefly chatting with co-creator Karim Miteff.


There's a lot of great trivia here, like the rumor that someone at Nickelodeon ordered too many space camp trips, so they were given away as prizes on various network game shows, and that Nickelodeon was weary of the idea that Nintendo and Sega would consent to having their games featured on the show at the same time: only for the producers to solve the problem.

This show blew many fans' minds when it came out and was way ahead of its time: its legacy deserves to be preserved! As the doc hints it could still come back, thanks to the passion of WWE superstar Xavier Woods, who wants to host a new incarnation of the show. Legends of the Hidden Temple is coming back for Quibi, so there's a good chance we could see a Nick Arcade revival, too!


The Nick Arcade Story | The Show That Put People Inside Video Games

Nick Arcade was a TV game show centered around video games that aired from 1991 through 1992. Two teams of two were pitted against with the winning team after 2 rounds getting to compete inside of an actual video game for the grand prize. Nick Arcade was a technical marvel at the time and an extremely popular show for Nickelodeon. This is the story of how a group of pioneers, Amiga Computers, and a charismatic host made the impossible happen… putting people inside of real video games. This is the story of Nick Arcade.

Check out Bilal Smith & information on his documentary Nickelodeon Studios: Past, Present, & Future at the links below:

https://www.facebook.com/NickStudiosPastPresentandFuture
Website https://bilaalsmith.wordpress.com/
Instagram: @theworldofbant
Twitter: https://twitter.com/b_smith5

I tried to avoid getting too much into the technical details on this one since this video will probably attract a more general audience than my content usually does. To learn more about the technical aspects of Nick Arcade visit: https://www.broadcastbeat.com/enthlevel-a-game-show-for-the-21st-century/

--Ends--

From The A.V. Club:

Get a behind-the-scenes look at the "Video Zone" in this Nick Arcade documentary

C'mon, you know want to watch this Nick Arcade documentary

Of all the shows that made up Nickelodeon’s original early-90s programming block, perhaps none was more ambitious than Nick Arcade. Combining the elements of classic game shows with groundbreaking video technology, Nick Arcade offered contestants the chance to play inside a virtual world that, at the time, at least, dazzled adolescent viewers at home. How the creators managed to pull this off is the focus of a new documentary short from YouTubers Wrestling With Gaming.

As Nick Arcade co-creators Karim Miteff and James Bethea explain, the show’s success was due to a piece of software known as the Mandala. This was the technology that converted excitable pre-teens into interactive sprites that could interact with coins, switches, and enemies in the “Video Zone.” Looking back, these tense video game showdowns seem about as advanced as the technology used by your local weatherman, but at the time it was pretty cutting-edge stuff.

Ultimately, the blue screen magic behind the one was really just one part of what made Nick Arcade so special. Hyper-energetic host Phil Moore kept things entertaining during the most mundane trivia competitions. The “Video Challenge” segments, meanwhile, featured titles from Nintendo, Sega, and Neo Geo, which seems almost unimaginable in today’s climate of corporate competition. Even the losers got to go home with a comfortable pair of British Knights.

A relic of a bygone era that was still way ahead of its time, Nick Arcade remains firmly imprinted on the minds of TV viewers of a certain age. Given the massive increase in gaming-related entertainment, streaming, and virtual reality in the past five years, it seems like only a matter of time before we get some sort of a reboot.

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More Nick: 'Dreams' Player is Making Incredible 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Video Game!

Originally published: Tuesday, March 10, 2020.

Original source: Destructoid.
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