A PODCAST FOR ARCADE LOVERS. From the owners of 100+ arcade and pinball cabinets, and the proprietors of a real-life arcade comes PODOUKEN, a brand new podcast that takes a deep dive into the world of video arcade games, and explores the history, story, strategy, art, music, restoration, preservation and fun of arcade games.
Remember, the Force will be with you, always. The vector series continues with one of the best arcades to ever do it - Atari's Star Wars. What very Star Trek name did Star Wars originally go by before Atari gained the license from Lucasfilm? How did a focus group give us one of the top arcade grails ever? Did we discover a hidden and somewhat obscene new arcade cabinet format? How many parcels…
Welcome to.....NOT Podouken, but Rankdouken. The internet's dumbest named ranking thing. In this episode, we take a listener request to rank......Fruits! Rankdouken is normally a YouTube exclusive show, be sure to check out our channel for more video contant such as Listener questions, and occasional game play sessions. Due to travel and life, Podouken missed an episode release, but will be back…
Hell is empty, and all the devils are here. Any good miniseries must include the best game of that genre, so let's discuss Dave Theurer's gorgeous vector Atari game, Tempest. If Tempest was a steak what cut would it be? Why does this episode leave Rob breathless? Was the Cranberries Doors and Windows the best video game of 1995? Did Tempest birth the most popular arcade-based urban legend? We…
Have fun storming the castle! We circle back with Cinematronics to see what they cooked up to compete with Atari's Asteroids - the beautiful vector classic Star Castle. Did this game's life begin as a game about the beginning of life? How did Atari's failure to port this Star Castle lead to one of their biggest hits? If arcade games rose up to kill humans based on what the game was about, what…
Atari treads new ground with their first terrestrial vector arcade offering, Battlezone! Was this the first game with true military applications? How did constant complaining lead to getting credited in one of the best arcade games made? What genius idea did Pastblaster's wife have to witness the Gumball 3000 rally for free? Was Battlezone the original Virtual Boy (but better in every way)? This…
Roger, Roger. What's our vector, Victor? In 1977 arcades lit up with a new vibrant and high-resolution display that brought a dead video game publisher back to life. This was the vector monitor and it did more than just connect the dots, it dropped jaws and led to some of the most memorable arcade games ever created. We kick off our new miniseries with the first vector coin-op game, Space Wars by…
The Three's Company apartment lease is up and it's time to move out and move on in the only way we know how - with an Arcade Obscura on underrated or obscure three-player arcade games! The first pick is so undefineable that Jarrod had to create a new word for the genre. The next pick gives us gore and bad line deliveries to go with our beat 'em up. The last pick takes a famous character, gives…
Pastblaster finally gets his flowers as we cover one of his favorite games - Capcom's excellent three-player beat 'em up, Alien Vs. Predator. Where does Alien Vs. Predator rank on the list of all-time arcade beat 'em ups? Are you familiar with the Vela Incident of 1979? How did comics lead directly to this game (and a movie that we'd rather not mention)? Did Christmas come early for Jarrod with a…
We return to our normally scheduled broadcast to tear into one of the best 3-player and 80s games ever made - Rampage by Bally Midway. Did Rampage lay out the landscape for future sandbox video games? Can you tell the difference between Ralph Wolf and Wile E. Coyote? What led to the long-standing partnership between game designers Brian Colin and Jeff Nauman? Did we really just go around the moon…
While the episode title could be interpreted as a comment about the three knuckleheaded hosts, we're taking a very foolish look at the little known Mylstar arcade game The Three Stooges in Brides is Brides. Why is this game so intent on players wiggling men's joysticks? How does a game based on a property made 50 years before the game's release play 45 years after it came out? Did this game stay…