Video & Arcade Top 10

Video & Arcade Top 10
Genre Game show
Created by Robert Essery
Presented by Nicholas Picholas, various others
Composer(s) Nicholas Schnier
Country of origin Canada
Original language(s) English
Production company(s) The Robert Essery Organization
Release
Original network YTV
Original release 1991 – 2006
Chronology
Related shows Clips

Video & Arcade Top 10 (often abbreviated as V&A Top 10 or simply V&A) is a Canadian game show broadcast on YTV from 1991 to 2006. Filmed in Toronto, Ontario, it was a competitive game show in which contestants played against each other in video games for prizes, with assorted review and profile segments on current games, music, and movies featured as well. V&A Top 10 is one of a select few English language Canadian game shows to run nationally for 15 years, joining Front Page Challenge, Reach For The Top, and Definition in that category. Reruns of the series from the late 1990s and 2000s have recently aired on GameTV.

The series was hosted throughout its run by Nicholas Schimmelpenninck,[1] a.k.a. Nicholas Picholas, who's also known as a longtime DJ at Kiss 98.5 in nearby Buffalo, New York. He was joined by assorted co-hosts during the show's run for main hosting duties, (including Gordon Michael Woolvett at the series' beginning and Leah Windisch at the series' end), and an additional two hosts were generally used to present other segments. Past co-hosts have included Lexa Doig, David Phillips, and Liza Fromer, among many others.

Gameplay

The main portions of each episode would have four contestants playing one player modes of video games against each other, typically from Nintendo consoles supported at the time of filming. Two separate games on the same console were played on each episode by two different groups of contestants, with the hosts explaining what needs to be done in order to win each round before gameplay begun. Scoring was calculated by having the contestants try and either get the highest score, collect the most of something, maintain the most health, or get the best time in their game, depending on the genre, with a tie-breaking method emphasized on air in case it was needed. For example, in WWE WrestleMania X8 on the Nintendo Gamecube. they had to pin the most people, while in Super Mario 64 for the Nintendo 64, they had to collect the most stars. During gameplay, Nicholas & the main co-host would tell the audience about the games' rules, plots, special moves, and sometimes secrets or codes while assorted gameplay footage was shown on screen, though specific coverage of the contestant's progress and scores weren't revealed to the home audience.

Though Nintendo consoles were the most frequently used systems on Video & Arcade Top 10, games for Nintendo's Game Boy handheld systems were also featured occasionally, either being played through the Super Game Boy peripheral on the Super NES, or the Wide-Boy 64 adapter for the Nintendo 64. Later seasons also occasionally featured games on PlayStation consoles. Likely as they didn't have TV connectivity at the time, games for Nintendo's Virtual Boy and Nintendo DS systems were not played on episodes.

At the end of the round, the winning contestant generally won a copy of the game that they just played, and a second small prize, typically a Timex watch in later seasons. Some seasons featured an additional first place prize from a show sponsor, like a Toronto Blue Jays prize pack or a KFC Big Crunch meal. By the end of the series' run, first place winners received a title from the show's "video game library" rather than the game they played on that episode.

Each losing contestant would win a consolation prize of their own. For example, later seasons saw the 2nd place finisher win dinner passes for the Medieval Times dinner theater in Toronto, while the third & fourth place contestants each won a Video & Arcade Top 10 t-shirt, or by the last season, an Air Hogs helicopter toy. Each contestant was also paired up with a viewer at home that sent in a postcard & an attendee in the studio audience that would each win the game that their assigned contestant won if they came in first place.

The show was aired abridged, editing out some host bloopers and portions of the show that didn't impact the final results. As a result, contestants had much more time than what was shown to reach their goals in the featured games. At least six shows were shot sequentially, and the same audience was used for three shows in a row, meaning that they would have to be present for several hours during taping.

Top 10 Bonus Wall

After each round, the winner would then go to the show's bonus round, The Top 10 Bonus Wall, to win another prize. Here, they were blindfolded and (in earlier seasons) spun around three times, after which they would put their hand in a container of 11 balls (10 white, 1 red) with numbers corresponding with the prizes to be won. If the player pulled a white ball, the number on it indicated the prize with the matching number that they won. If they pulled the red ball, then they could choose any prize that they wanted from the bonus wall.

Bonus round prizes included video game peripherals, action figures, playsets, board games, educational prizes, and passes to Toronto-area tourist attractions, among numerous others. These prizes were usually provided by sponsors for the show, and advertisements were common during commercial breaks.

Additional segments

Aside from the main gameplay, a number of segments and contests were featured to profile other new video games and popular media for the home audience, or respond to viewer letters, during and after each round. Many of these had an attached contest where viewers could send in a postcard or letter to try and win a prize, with the mailing address for these contests shown frequently on screen on each episode.

Theme music

The theme music for Video & Arcade Top 10 was composed by Nicholas Picholas, who also provided original mega man music for Clips and Destructo Bros. on the Run, two other game shows that aired on YTV in the 1990s.

References

  1. "Qantum Buys the Cape; Cherry Creek Buys the East End; WSMN Goes Dark". NorthEast Radio Watch. 2005-02-07. Retrieved 2012-01-14. An intervention was also filed by one "Nicholas Schimmelpenninck," aka "Nicholas Picholas" of Wild's U.S. competitor, WKSE.

External links

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