Spider-Man Pinball at the Boardwalk Arcade

We're on vacation in Wells, Maine this week, and me and the kids washed no time in getting to the Boardwalk Arcade. One of the first games we hit was a Spider-Man pinball game featuring the villains of all three movies.

The table is pretty interesting, and was a blast to play. My son even matched the numbers at the end to win a free game.

He's couple of pics:

Wreck-It Ralph

There's nothing more exciting for a retro gamer then seeing throw backs to their favorite characters. Wreck-It Ralph by Disney Animation seems to be dishing up what every hardcore old school gamer wants. 8-bit deliciousness, current FPS and what seems to be an interesting underlying current day commentary on gaming in general is drawing me to this movie like Mario to a mushroom! Check out the trailer, check out the cameos. This is going to be fantastic. I think I'm going to have to pick up a mic after this and have a nice chit chat with the world of Secret Identity. I am JAZZED!

Dad Was an Arcade Hero Last Night

Every year our family goes to Maine, and one of the best parts about the trip is that there are a few great arcades in the area. Last night we went to the Boardwalk Arcade at Wells Beach, and I had a great moment with my five-year old son. As we were winding down our arcade trip, my son pointed over to a machine in the corner--one of those "claw" games that are designed to rip you off (you know the ones).  He pointed to the machine, and more specifically at a penguin plus toy inside and said "Dad, will you win me a penguin?"

I strolled over to the machine, only to find out this was a claw game with a twist. You have to play a Tetris-like minigame just to get a chance at using the claw. Lose the game, and you don't even get a try with the claw. So I popped my two quarters in, and beat the minigame on the first try. I then deftly maneuvered the claw over the penguin in question, and snagged it on the first shot.

As my son watched with glee, the claw dropped his brand new toy down the chute, and I walked away a hero for the day.

Original Tron Film Out On Bluray April 5th

Oh man! I'm so excited to see they finally released the original Tron film on bluray. Last year when Tron Legacy came out I wanted to get the film prior to watching the sequel. Unfortunately it was impossible because Disney had done some testing and found that today's audience would be turned off by it. They actually had screenings where folks were laughing at the visuals. I have to tell you, the visuals are a bit better in Legacy, but it's still glowing folks running around inside a pretend computer.

I realize this is not a retro game, but it's based around the concepts of some of our favorite retro games of the past. It plays off of classic arcade game names and even has the awesome, "Flynn's Arcade" in the film. Super stuff. Get on it! Order one! I'm going to order mine soon and after I check out all the goodies I'll be posting a review.

Grab Pac-Man on the New Chrome Web Store

If you aren't using Google's Chrome web browser by now, you should be. Not only is Chrome a great, simple browser, but Google just launched an app store featuring hundreds to apps that will make your browser feel like your smart phone. Many of the apps are free, and a couple cool free ones feature everyone's favorite ghost-chomping hero, Pac-Man. The first is Pacman Classic Arcade, whihc is a recreation of the original, and the second is Google Pacman, which features a board designed like the Google logo.

Both apps are free, and when you download them to Chrome, they become buttons you can click when you open a new browsing tab. To find them on the app store, just do a search for Pac-Man.

Sure, you can find these game elsewhere as well, but it's nice to have them just a click away when you're already using the Chrome browser.

X-Men Arcade Coming To PSN, XBLA!!

Most retro gamers will probably remember the excellent 1992 X-Men arcade game.  Up to six players could team up and battle against the likes of Nimrod, Wendigo, Juggernaut and a slew of other enemies.  The co-op brawler featured Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Dazzler (yes, Dazzler) as playable characters. Konami will be brining the classic game to PSN and XBLA this fall, and it will feature 4-player offline and 6-player online co-op.

For those that need a little memory jog, check out the trailer below that was shown at NYCC lat week.

That's right! Brian and I are back in action with NEW Cartridgecade segments. We'll be announcing the new episode soon. You'll be able to go check out the podcast by going to Secret Identity and downloading the latest episode, going to drivethrucomics.com to download or by streaming it via the link on the right column of this site. We'd like you to stop by our message board (RIGHT NOW) and tell us what games you want to hear us talk about.

Bob's Sub and Cone in Welfleet MA

There are not a whole heck of a lot of arcades in the Welfleet area that have upright machines that don't dispense tickets. I go up every year and I'm always happy to see that Bob's Sub and Cone still has some old school machines. Let power off a list here:

• T-Mek
• Primal Rage
• Area 51
• Hydra
• Crazy Taxi
• Die Hard
• Shrek Pinball
• Cruisin Exotica

Arm Champs II at the York Beach Arcade

The arcade at York Beach, ME is called 'Fun O Rama,' and I've been going there for over 25 years now. Every time I visit, I end up playing something for the first time. On Wednesday, it was "Arm Champs II," an arm wrestling game that feels like a cross between "Over the Top" and "Street Fighter." You are pitted against a variety of colorful characters as you literally arm wrestle the robotic arm of the machine. I can only imagine these fell out of style after some kids had their forearms shattered. Seriously, my arm was hurting after two matches and a bonus level strength test. Still, I did amass a 2-0 record, so I guess that makes me the arm champ.