Video Power

I woke up with Johnny Arcade everyday for as long as this show was on the air. At first, half the show was a cartoon with video game characters as the heros and villains, while the other half of the show was Johnny giving video game tips, and previewing new games. Later, it turned in to a game show that Johnny Arcade hosted, with kids playing against each other, where the winner got to run through an obstacle course thing, picking up video games while they went (as somebody mentioned before, the games were all crap, except for the few times when the gave away Neo Geos). Now, while this version of the show wasn't as good, it did leave us with one of the funniest tv moments ever. After a kid lost a round, the announcer for the show announced his consolation prize, a Game Boy game. Just as the announcer was finishing, the kid whined, "But I don't even have a Game Boy." Johnny looked directly in to the camera, smiled a smile of extreme embarrassment, and got the kid off camera as fast as he possibly could. Thank You.

I remember discovering this show... it was Christmas morning, and I woke up ungodly early at 6am and tried to rouse the rest of my family to open presents. They wouldn't budge. (And, as I had learned some years prior, going downstairs before my parents on Christmas day got me in a huge amount of trouble, to the point where they confiscated all the presents I got for two weeks.) So, I was basically stuck in my bedroom until my parents woke up.

I turned the TV on randomly flipped and ended up watching Video Power. I had never heard of it before but I loved it! I watched it every day it was on for the rest of the school year. I remember I had to leave early for school once, which resulted in me missing the last half of the show. I complained and whined to my parents, but they still made me leave early.

I guess they took it off the air around the time school ended that year, as I only recall watching it once or twice during summer vacation.

But I did love watching it while it was on. I even remember the lone quote in the quotes section. (And, as I also recall, thought it was the most hilarious line ever at the time.)

The 90's for video games was no doubt a silver age as the subculture was one the rise and it was practically just about everywhere and growing at a rapid rate even to this day. So, a game show based upon the subculture wasn't a surprise. This is an under the radar gem as it's became slightly overlooked and forgotten. It's also another one of those childhood gems as I remember watching this early morning on the weekdays on cable.

Watching this was a lot of fun, that theme song which is an honorable mention on favorite theme songs. It's catchy with its 90's hip hop tone, but hearing it, it really got you pumped up knowing you in for a good game. Really like the game show setting as it a bit sci fiish but also a little rough urbanized which fit giving the show a 90's cool atmosphere and reflecting the video game subculture.

The host Johnny is good, he has sort of this wacky personality. Though I'll admit that's one bad thing about the series, I feel the host is overacting, which is why some of the comedy with him doesn't always hit at least for me. And even the contestants had some of the same awkward looks that we did in places, I couldn't help but think "Is this guy for real." I just feel in some of his hosting he could of toned down the comedic persona in places, which would of made contestants and even the audience feel a little more comfortable with him, which is part of what being a game show host is about guiding players comfortably while having fun at the same time.

Though one highlight was that in the middle of the show he would sometimes give out some pro tips on certain games that are currently out or new, which was pretty helpful because back then we didn't have "Youtube" we couldn't access video guides, which shows why this show is a product of it's time. We have a video game tournament portion which is similar with "Starcade" and "Nick Arcade" where if you have the highest score you gain points. It starts of with the basic quiz show questions to answer to gain points but of course we're all here for the video game playing. There a bit of a participator sense to those segments, I remember as a kid always being excited when they play a game and saying things to the team on the screen to go here on this game, get that, nail that guy, oh how could you miss that, things like that it was that exciting. The video games that were played were one mainly for the Nintendo Entertainment System which makes sense since that system was the biggest best-selling console at the time. It's true that none of the other systems we're familiar with are around like the "Sega Genesis" and "Super Nintendo" which could of added more variety to the show, but both systems didn't come out till a little latter and didn't gain big popularity yet, which is why I can look past the slight lack in variety.

And of course, the highlight no doubt is the video game shopping spree, which is just awesome it's every gamers dream to get as much video games as you want and desire without a worry in the world. Though this game is also a scavenger hunt, as you have to find specific games in a limited amount of time and stick them onto your Velcro suits, though the only bad thing is the Velcro doesn't always work as the games sometimes slip off the suits, someone should of retested a few of them.

But anyways at the end you go down the slide and then your collected game are counted and if you have enough of the specific games to find you would get a big price like in one episode a "Neo Geo" console which is an awesome price from the fact that system is now a bit rare and extremely pricy than ever before; let alone the fact it's a awesome system. Hopefully the contestants were able to find Neo Geo games as they weren't soild in a lot of stores except "Toys R Us" and some video game shows like "Software Inc" damn I miss both places.

Overall, it's a solid game show, like any of the Nintendo games on the show it's a good piece of game show and video game history worth a play.

Rating: 3 stars

In 1990, I was a contestant on the Gameshow version of "Video Power." It was a cheese masterpiece. I beat some kids at Tecmo Bowl and Bases Loaded (NES classics) to win a trip around this maze o' $9.99 clearance sale video games that I could stick to a velcro suit I wore (which was made of crap velcro that didn't stick well at all.) The contestants were between 10 and 13 years old, with preference given to girls (who sadly were often cannon fodder for boys with carpal-tunnel from constant video gaming.) The show had three rounds. In the first round, 4 kids would play a game for 1:41 to determine which two could get the farthest in a game (not all playing on the same NES.) Those two would then compete in a question round for points and then play a final video game (another 90 seconds or so) for like 30 more points (enough to make the question round basically worthless.) The bonus round had the velcro suit. 30 seconds to attach video games to yourself and slide down some lame slide. Finding a special video game warranted a special prize (often a crappy remote control car.) The producers were dumb as dirt as there were often 5 or ten or the special game in the unsearched maze, making it a joke to win. Daily winners went on to a weekly game for a prize of a Sega Genesis or so (back in the day, that was a cool thing to win.) I got thrashed in the weekly game, partially because I think I was the shitty Hawaii team in the Bases Loaded final, as opposed to the other kid who got to play as LA.

Watching the tape of myself later, I realized how retchid this show really was. The cartoon version (which came both before and after the gameshow's run) was way better than watching some acne-warriors try to stick games to themselves. In the end, I enjoyed being on it and at least I wasn't on "Steampipe Alley" (all you New Yorkers know what I'm talking about.)

In the Summer of '91 (at age 12), I attended the YMCA Day Camp on Castle Hill Avenue in the Bronx. One day, we all went on a field trip to "Video Power". I wasn't picked to be a contestant, but I did get a seat within a section that the camera usually points at. So just being in the audience had a lot of classmates sweatin' me at school the Fall after. I still have that episode on tape, and it's quite amusing looking at yourself with a flat-top haircut. Months after I turned 16, I was taking my road test (on Castle Hill Ave.) and noticed that the YMCA Day Camp was shut down. It's quite a shame to see nothing to look back on when you've attended that camp for six years. Oh well, life goes on. I'm 23 now and hope that anyone who reads this happened to attend the YMCA Day Camp anytime from 1986 to 1991. If so, E-mail me and title it "YMCA" or anything of that nature. I don't want to overlook it as junk mail. PeAcE! :-)