Hey, hey Arcaders Joshua here! Recently I had the privilege of doing an article for our friends at Skywalking Through Neverland about my experience seeing Star Wars A New Hope on the big screen for the first time. Please go to their site to check it out https://skywalkingthroughneverland.com/star-wars-a-new-hope-at-35/
If you never heard of Skywalking Through Neverland, they are a great on-line community of Star Wars, Disney, and Marvel fans that span many generations. Every week Richard and Sarah host an extremely great podcast that dives into these three subjects with behind the scenes interviews, fan reactions and reviews, and more. If you’re a fan of Star Wars, Disney, or Marvel I highly suggest checking out their podcast. Skywalking Through Neverland is also the flagship podcast of the Skywalking Network which includes other podcasts like Talking Apes, a podcast about the Planet of the Apes franchise, The Culture Popcast, a spin-off podcast that includes other areas of fandom, and Sabers and Spells, a podcast that also talks about fandom from film and TV to collecting and fashion. If you love to listen to podcasts I recommend all of these as well. just click the link above to head to their site.
Thank you again to Skywalking Through Neverland for this opportunity.
WE’RE BACK!! The Cartoon Connoisseur Theater Podcast is your podcast destination for all things cartoon related. Join your host Joshua (aka Ubernerd527) as he talks shows, movies, and comics from traditonal to anime. Our first podcast includes a review of Pokemon: Detective Pikachu. Does this movie stand up to all the hype? Can it please hardcore fans and newcomers alike? listen in to find out. Also don’t forget to leave your review in the post below!
The Cartoon Connoisseur Theater Podcast is the copyright of Rebellion Productions and is in association with The Arcade Archives Network. This podcast is intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. All copyrighten material used is property of their respective owners. All original material is the copyright of Rebellion Productions.
But just who is Reggie Fils-Aime? What is his “secret origin” story?
Well, it turns out he was born in New York – specifically the Bronx and then grew up in Long Island – to a couple that had immigrated to the US from Haiti in the 1950s. From there he had a pretty ideal childhood, attending and graduating from Cornell University. After that he ended up having some very notable stints in different places like Proctor & Gamble, and even had worked at Pizza-Hut for a time where he played a part in the introduction of the Bigfoot Pizza.
(Anyone remember this commercial?)
In the early 2000s Reggie found his way to VH1 where he not only helped with organizing a charity concert for the victims of 9/11 but he also helped lead an initiative in helping the channel target younger audiences as well as retain their core ones as well. This experience would unknowingly prepare him for his next big gig, and one that would change his life as well as the lives of many gamers from the Nintendo camp.
At the end of 2003 Reggie joined Nintendo as Vice President of Sales and Marketing and in E3 of the following year made perhaps the biggest splash of all with the aforementioned line.
Was it the way he said it? No one really knows, but the interesting thing about it is that Reggie himself didn’t even come up with that line. Instead it was someone from Nintendo’s Public-Relations dept. and it did take some convincing for Reggie to go through with it but once he did…the rest was history in more ways than one.
And in not too long of a time after that Reggie was then promoted to President/COO of Nintendo of America, a position he held until this past April.
But beyond that, Reggie was also a hard-worker who lead by example and didn’t take no for an answer.
“I push people really hard. I push our agencies hard and I push our business partners hard. What I think people respect that I do what I’m asking then to do – long nights, long weekends – whatever it takes to get the job done.”
-Reggie Fils-Aime
And through the Wii’s golden years, to the ups and downs of the WiiU, and then Nintendo’s resurgence with the Switch, Reggie has definitely been a guiding light on Nintendo, right alongside Shigeru Miyamoto and the late Satoru Iwata.
And while his Nintendo quest has come to a close, I can definitely say as a Nintendo fan that it has been one heck of a quest to witness, and seeing a company whose games left an indelible mark on my childhood come back into the limelight in the most genuine of ways is nothing short of amazing and incredible.
So enjoy your retirement Reggie, for after all you’ve done for Nintendo and gamers all over it is well deserved, and whatever your new quest will be, may it be a great one.
Welcome to the latest issue of COIN UP! This is the review series where I go back in time and review those arcade games of the past that you probably remember or or have a memory vaguely playing at the local arcade- the game tucked away in a corner while you’re waiting for your turn at Dragon’s Lair. If you have a favorite game you would like to see in a review- let me know in the comments section below! This beauty will be a part of our Shmup series!
Wait- what’s a Shmup? Good question! It’s a shortened name for Shoot Em’ Up- a genre of game that involved a space fighter or jet moving in a direction (or all, as we’ll see later in this series!!!) Shooting enemies who move in a pattern (or random as well…) trying to shoot you down. My favorites tend to be space shmups (or space shooters!) And this one is at the top of my list!
is a space shooter that was designed (and their first game by the way) by Data East. The game was released in 1980 by Data East in Asia and Europe and by Gremlin Sega in the U.S.
With the success of games like Space Invaders and Galaxian, a fledgling Data East wanted in on the action. This would be the game that would break them into the U.S.- and the world.
Data east cabinet
Sega/Gremlin cabinet
AstroFighter was always one of those visceral favorites of mine- meaning when you even look at the game, those familiar smells, and yes, tastes of that bygone era come flooding into my head again.
It was 1980. We had a little Mom and Pop Deli up the road from our house. I rode my bike there every chance I got. If my Mom needed ANYTHING from the store, I was on it! The reason- they had a 5 piece arcade in the back! They had this game- I could play for hours! We always needed bread at home- Mom would give me $2.00 for a loaf of bread that cost .60! So, I could get a Twix bar, (or a Whatchamacallit, before they put caramel in them, by the way!) a Nehi Grape, and enough for a game or two! So, every time I play this game, it just takes me back!
Remember- this game came out in 1980- at the height of Space Invaders and Galaxian’s popularity. So at it’s core, it plays the same. But- it has so much more going for it! Let’s go over the game’s instructions for a moment-
The first thing you will notice- you have a fuel gauge! Now- it’s not just about stopping them from reaching the bottom (which you have to do… but more on that in a moment…) you are quickly running out of fuel. The enemy groups are moving down towards the bottom of the screen. If they get there… they REAPPEAR at the top! IN FULL FORMATION! That’s right- you may have gotten a few of them. but if EVEN ONE gets to the bottom- the ENTIRE FORMATION is back. And- to make it a bit more difficult- you move up the screen a little. AND YOUR FUEL GAUGE IS STILL GOING DOWN! Reach The Master ship to refuel (and score a nice bonus) to start again!
Let’s look at the the opponents in this galactic war, shall we?
This is your ship- the Astro Fighter! She’s fast- but with a quickly dwindling fuel supply, and a single blaster to shoot down the enemies, do you have what it takes to survive?
This is your ships gauges- it will tell you everything you need to know at a glance. Ships remaining, sector you’re in, and your fuel is displayed.
The first wave of enemies the player faces are blue ships that stay in a small formation, moving from side to side, then occasionally dropping down a notch.
The second wave of ships are purple, which behave in pretty much the same manner, although their formation covers a much wider area, spanning across almost the entire width of the screen.
The green ships afterwards (which somewhat resemble T. I. E. Fighters from the Star Wars movies) fly at a diagonal, reverse direction, then fly at a diagonal again.
The final round of yellow ships only occupy a few vertical rows that move straight down. These are the easiest to hit- fire away!
Watch out for comets! They randomly fly down the screen. Shoot them for a bonus! There tons of them!
At the very end of each level is the GS MASTER ship, which is at the top of the screen and moves from side to side. It can shoot in ANY DIRECTION and it’s very fast- moving from left to right at the top of the screen! Hit the center to destroy it and get it’s fuel for a bonus, and to continue the fight!
Look at this- a new tag! It’s because Astro Fighter is our first game with sequels! That being said- things are about to get… interesting. that’s because there wasn’t one- but TWO SEQUELS to Astro Fighter! Remember how I said there were two companies involved with Astro Fighter? Now- this wasn’t a unusual arrangement- companies like Namco, Tekahn, and Konami did this all the time. It’s 1979- you are a big Japanese arcade company- kicking major butt in Japan with some great killer arcade games. The problem is- you have no american plants for manufacturing and distribution- losing out on a HUGE market. You read about U.S. companies like Atari, Midway, and Centuri who is rocking it with their own games- but HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM- no distribution in Japan. So, you reach out to the american manufacturer to come to an agreement- Distribute OUR games in western markets- we will distribute in the east. It always works out for us- the Arcader. If they hadn’t- we wouldn’t have had seen games like PAC-MAN, Swimmer, and Scramble.
Well, that’s what happened here. Data East had created the game. Sega became the distributor in the western markets. The game did well enough in the U.S. that Sega wanted a sequel. Not a problem! in early 1981- Data East had completed a sequel- Super Astro Fighter.
There were a couple of problems with this sequel.
One was Data East decided to release Super Astro Fighter on their DECO cassette system- the games were put on a micro cassette- that transferred the game data to the game PCB. It was a great concept that unfortunately had two problems- as the cassette got older, the data would corrupt- making it impossible to load- the other was the load times at power up were LONG. Up to three minutes. To a U.S. distributor- this was no good. Bally had distributed Burgertime from Data East. the first few thousand had the DECO system. Distributors HATED it! Bally quickly took the games data, and but it on a rom, and used one of their own PCBs for the game- so if you have an ORIGINAL DECO cassette Burgertime cabinet- consider yourself lucky. Most were converted to the PCB version. Super Astro Fighter a sequel- meh. It’s more of the same game wise. Some enemy ships appearances change a bit, Some enemies are completely different, moves have been updated- Some dive like in Galaxian, there’s some new backgrounds, but that’s it. the sounds are AWFUL- scratching fingernails against a chalkboard awful- especially for 1981. Just watch the video- I DARE YOU! (skip to 4:00 to see the game- I’m not kidding.)
The second problem was Astro Blaster was such a success in the U.S., Data East decided to open their own offices in here. While it would be a a few years before they would build their own cabinets here (or use JAMMA ready cabs- like the ones made by DYNAMO) Sega wasn’t needed exclusively at this point. Also, because of Astro fighter’s success, other companies were jumping up to snap up their titles- Taito released Lock n Chase in 1981. Sega wasn’t going to take it sitting down- so they went on to make their own sequel. and in my opinion- a better game. Astro Blaster!
We’ll talk about this amazing game in a future Coin Up!
Home versions- yup- we had some!
The two I found were on two different computers. One looks official- the other… not so much. Surprisingly, Data East’s first game wasn’t on their own compilation for the Wii- being it’s the game that started it all.
(get this compilation- it’s good.)
The first one’s from the TI- 99. I looks good. kind of a port of both Astro Fighter and Super Astro Fighter-
The other one I found was for the EACA EG2000 Colour Genie- a computer out of Germany. It’s called Cosmic Attack.
Then, out of the blue… there is this AMAZING HOMEBREW!
From programmer Robert DeCrescenzo- This is an AMAZING PORT for the Atari 7800! The Atari 7800 was a great system that didn’t get much love in it’s time- it’s so great to see homebrewers are making great games for it! so, if you have an Atari 7800, and your looking for a really good Shmup- you can’t go wrong with this one! head over to Atariage to get your copy!
As I find more ports- I’ll post them!
Appearance and Sound-
Given this is game not only was programmed in 1979, but was Data East’s FIRST GAME…
It looks good. The gauges on top tell you everything you need, from fuel remaining, to what sector your in. That being said, the enemy ships are… a bit sparse. I mean, we had Space Invaders two years before, and at least they were- animated. The ships in Astro fighter are static. May be they should have animated the windows. make them look like moving eyes. They look like that already. I would have given them a bit of depth and look more threatening. Also- there’s only the four types of enemies.A few more would have made it that much better. But, the final round with the master ship looks great! When you warp into his sector- you know it’s on!
Given that, the sounds are spot on. The warping sound is very reminiscent of the thumping noise in Space Invaders. It keeps the sense of urgency high throughout the game. The laser fire and explosions do their job. But, the fuel critical sound mixed in with the master’s warbling noise will get the heart racing! Knowing your’e just a couple of seconds from defeating the master ship and collecting the precious fuel (and some sweet bonus points in the process) or certain doom is palpable. and the master ship’s explosion is spot on!
Control-
Why am I giving this a four? It could fire… a bit faster. I’m not asking for a rapid fire chip. But knowing you only have a minute or so to get out of a sector, and your ship is firing like it’s in a game of GORF… no bueno. It gets the job done, but it could be better.
Difficulty-
Astro Blaster will give you a challenge. The enemy ships movement and speed takes a sector to get used to. Except sector four- they come straight down- so fire away! The master ship is tough- just keep firing at its center- you’ll get it!
Play ability-
With it’s simple but challenging game play, you will be coming back to play Astro Blaster again and again to see what else it has to offer!
So, whats the final score?-
You know this was going to be a five out of five! It’s such a piece of my history. out of most games I played as a kid- this one sticks out. And as the sophomore game from Data East- it’s good. and it’s one of those shmups you can just pick up and play- no explanation required. Astro Blaster is hard to find today- complete boards fetch a hefty price. But- fret not Arcaders- this classic can be played on the 412 Game Elf board- or better yet- there’s always Retropie to get your Astro Fighter fix! And don’t forget the amazing Atari 7800 port!
Hey gang- Thank you for joining me on this journey through another rare classic arcade game here on Coin Up! And to celebrate the return of my favorite passion project, I give you- OUR NEW VIRTUAL COIN UP CARDS! Collect ‘em! Trade ‘em! look at them! they make great holiday gifts! Please give me a shout! Have you played Astro Blaster? Do you like it? Hate it? What’s your high score? Let me know!
Thanks for reading and keep playin’ like it’s 1981!
My Life as a Teenage Robot went under my radar when it premiered in 2003, in fact it wasn’t until much later that I even knew it existed thanks to Nickelodeon’s so called retirement home for its cartoons shows NickToons Network. That is due to the fact that unlike other cartoons on Nickelodeon at the time Teenage Robot didn’t really have the popularity of shows like Spongebob Squarepants or Fairly Odd Parents. Which I feel is a little undeserved because it had a unique art style and characters, even if the set up itself was a little cliché.
For those who have never seen it My Life as a Teenage Robot the basic premise is this: X-J9, or Jenny as she likes to be called, was created by her “mother”, a scientist named Nora Wakeman to defend the world against evil aliens and mutant monsters that attack the world and almost a daily basis. However being a teenage robot Jenny wants nothing else than to be a “normal” teenage girl. She gets that chance after meeting her neighbors Brad and his younger brother Tuck who befriended Jenny and convince her mother to let her live her dream. From then on the show is all about Jenny trying to live a “normal” teenage life while still defending the Earth from villainous foes.
The show was created by Rob Renzetti, who has worked on other cartoons shows like Dexter’s Lab, Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, and Gravity Falls. The show has an amazing voice cast including Janice Kawaye as Jenny, Eartha Kitt as the villainous Vexxus, Quinton Flynn as Sheldon, and Billy West as the Vice Principal as well as various other characters in the show. Teenage Robot was both critically praised and nominated for a bunch of awards including a Prime-time Emmy Award and several Annie Awards. Unfortunately as stated before it just didn’t get the popularity that shows like Spongebob and Fairly Oddparents had and was cancelled before the third season aired which led to it only being shown on NickToons Network.
I feel that this is a shame because Teenage Robot has that same feel as shows like Dexter’s Lab or Powerpuff Girls but had its own identity especially in the design department as most of the show took inspiration from the Art Deco designs that were popular in the 30’s. I believe another shortcoming is that fact that people get to hung up on details and can’t just enjoy it. We don’t ask why Bugs Bunny wears gloves and walks and talks or how Dexter can have an enormous Lab under his house that would cost over a billion dollars to create, we just accept it and enjoy it because it’s a cartoon and not real. While it fun to question things sometimes I feel people can just over analyze things which makes things less enjoyable. Overall I feel Teenage Robot is fun and and hilarious even causing me to pause the show to laugh at some of Its jokes. Teenage Robot is also very self aware as it makes fun of it’s own silliness at times. For example there is a scene where Jenny is sunbathing and my first thought was why is she sunbathing she’s a robot if anything her metal body would just get super hot and probably burn everything around her. No sooner did I think this then it actually happened on screen causing me to laugh. Even though Teenage Robot is a comedy It also has cool fight scenes and weapon designs. I would also be remiss in my duties if I didn’t mention the awesome theme song too, definitely one of my top ten favorite cartoon show theme songs. I would highly recommend the show to anyone like myself that loves cartoons shows. Just remember that like most of the classic cartoons this show just requires you to turn off your brain and just enjoy.
is a space shooter that was designed (and their first game by the way) by Data East. The game was released in 1980 by Data East in Asia and Europe and by Gremlin Sega in the U.S.
This is your ship- the Astro Fighter! She’s fast- but with a quickly dwindling fuel supply, and a single blaster to shoot down the enemies, do you have what it takes to survive?
