Tag: Steve Spears

I want one!

Chances are you already took care of the ’80s fan on your Valentine’s Day list, but if not — and you need to really suck up to someone — might I suggest this bucket-list gift idea? Your own arcade machine featuring more than 145 classic games built right in.

Dream Arcades is selling these beauties, and then even have a Valentine’s Day special (that’s been extended to the end of the month), which includes a bunch of add-ons at no extra cost. (Cool stuff like a DVD-ROM upgrade and more games.)

The manufacturer says these are the actual games you played in the arcades — not some fake reproduction. That’s good news for the Pac-Man and Asteroids fans who still remember the winning patterns.

What’s the price, you ask? Well, hang on there. Let me add that each arcade machine comes with a 19-inch monitor, custom cabinet and even a greasy-faced 14-year-old kid who delivers you pizza by the slice while spinning REO Speedwagon from the DJ booth. (I could be wrong on that last amenity, but that’s how I remember arcades back in my Super Skate days. Can you turn it up when you play Don’t Let Him Go?)

Okay, so the price is a little up there. The sit-down table version is $1,999; the stand-up machine is $1,899. Pizza not included. But I’m sure they’ll throw in an REO cassingle if you ask nicely. See more at dreamarcades.com.

(from Stuck in the 80s Feed http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/80s/content/80s-games-live-again-your-own-home-arcade-machine)

It’s the morning after the Super Bowl and people are freaking out about the TV commercials. Yawn. Happens every year. But the one that’s causing the most distress? The GoDaddy.com ad with supermodel Bar Refaeli making out with a web nerd. (Watch it again.) Seriously? That’s old hat.

In the ’80s, when the idea of the nerd was practically evented (and thus you would “Herd Nerds to the GAP”), a smooch between a babe and a geek was standard operating procedure. For example:

SIXTEEN CANDLES: Farmer Ted (Anthony Michael Hall) and the prom queen (Haviland Morris)! How quickly you’ve forgotten. And it went much farther than a kiss, but that’s all we got to see on screen in this John Hughes classic.

REVENGE OF THE NERDS: Louis and Betty (Robert Carradine and Julia Montgomery). First in the Moonwalk attraction at the college carnival, and then later as the Tri-Lambs triumph on campus. 

WARGAMES: Yes, Matthew Broderick was supposed to be a nerd here. But he still scored a kiss — as the world was about to come to an end — with Ally Sheedy.

ELECTRIC DREAMS: Lenny Von Dohlen and Virginia Madsen! Now that’s creepy. We miss the campy computer/romance flicks of the ’80s.

WEIRD SCIENCE: Triple the trouble here with Anthony Michael Hall, Ilan Mitchell-Smith, and Kelly LeBrock, not to mention their high school sweeties (Suzanne Snyder and Judie Aronson) whom they steal from Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Rusler.

I’m sure I’m missing many more. Care to add your favorites?

(from Stuck in the 80s Feed http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/80s/content/relax-super-bowl-fans-nerds-kissing-babes-ruled-80s)