One of the items in my personal gift guide is a homebrew arcade machine. I have a feeling that it’s going to be my “midlife crisis” acquisition (though I’m hoping midlife won’t hit me for another thirty years). I didn’t really grow up inside arcades, but arcades certainly grew up with and around me. I still remember walking into Happy Joe’s pizza parlour and begging Dad to let us play a few rounds of Donkey Kong.

So, while I was surfing around for the ultimate home arcade game cabinet, I stumbled across Starcade.tv. What a blast from the past! If you never watched the show, you can view a few of the episodes in this archive. Starcade was one of my favorite TV programs when I was a kid – right after G.I. Joe and The Transformers, of course. I wonder what happened to all those old Starcade contestants? Did they ever get proper haircuts? I remember watching them play Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace, thinking that video games couldn’t get any better than that.

Remember Starcade?

I think I’m staying up late tonight. I want to be the first geek on my block to get achievements for Frogger. I wasn’t much of a Frogger fan in the arcade, but I think it’s good enough to spend a few more dollars on. I’m looking forward to Pac Man, too – although I wish it was Ms. Pac Man, instead. Here’s the scoop:

Today, Xbox Live unveils Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays, a new program that will provide a regular launch schedule of new Xbox Live Arcade titles on the Xbox 360. Starting today, Xbox Live Arcade games will now go live worldwide on Wednesdays at 0800 GMT (Midnight Pacific) – hitting gamers around the world all on the same day. July 12 – Frogger; July 19 – Cloning Clyde; July 26 – Galaga; August 2 – Street Fighter II; August 9 – Pac-Man.

“What’s that? The outlet? Mm-hmmm. That’s where the electricity comes out.” Oh, you mean the holes.

Frogger is Coming!