History Series / NickArcade

* GoodBadBugs: At least one winning team benefited from a brief delay between losing their last unit of power and the level resetting by grabbing the final orb during that interval.

* GoldenSnitch: The Video Challenges ''could'' have been... [[SubvertedTrope but most teams only ever bet 5 or 10 points]] (a question was worth 25, or 50 in round 2).

** GameShowHost: Phil Moore, who later hosted Nick's ''You're On!'' (1999) and appeared as a semi-regular panelist on ''Series/FigureItOut''; Niels Schuurmans in the Pilot.

* UndesirablePrize: The grand prize was often a trip to Universal Studios in Orlando...where the show was taped. Basically, this meant that if you weren't impressed with the park the first time, you "won" the opportunity to see the same things all over again. [[InvertedTrope On the other hand]], if you enjoyed the park, you got a return trip on Nick's dime.

* AbhorrentAdmirer: The Smooch Aliens of the space stages, a pair of aliens (And not GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe kind) that cover Mikey with smooches whenever he lands on an enemy space.
* AWinnerIsYou: Beat the game wizard, and the message "You did it! You beat the game." flashes on the screen.

On October 26, 2014, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2fxsl_cIgA a copy of the original pilot for the show, courtesy of series co-creator Karim Miteff, resurfaced.]]

** One of the games, played twice during the run, was [[http://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_2_(Nick_Arcade_prototype) a very early version]] of ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2'' which used ''Sonic 1''[='s=] Star Light Zone theme for Emerald Hill. The ROM was eventually dumped onto the Internet on November 7, 2006 and was even [[FanNickname dubbed]] the "Nick Arcade prototype." Not so obvious during the show's original run, its appearances caught the attention of the ''Sonic'' fanbase during the repeats on Nick GAS.

* DoubleTheDollars

* BonusRound: The Video Zone, essentially taking the players and putting them into a video game. There were three levels, the first two had random themes, while the third was one of three "bosses". Each teammate took a level, while both tackled the third. In each level, the team had to collect three items while avoiding pitfalls that would take a "life"; losing five lives causes the level to end and the player(s) would have to "reset". If they found a hidden powerup, their lives would be restored. Collecting three items moved each teammate to the third level, completing that won the grand prize. The team also won a prize for each level completed, and each item collected won them $50. The team had a minute; if they ran out of time, GameOver. [[SurpriseDifficulty This was much harder than it sounds.]]

* {{Crossover}}: Phil Moore cohosted the "Nickelodeon All-Star Challenge" that aired during The Big Help in 1994; crossing over with ''Series/{{Double Dare|1986}}'', ''Series/LegendsOfTheHiddenTemple'' and ''[[Series/WhatWouldYouDoNickelodeon What Would You Do?]]''

* ItIsPronouncedTroPAY: Whenever ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' or ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 Sonic the Hedgehog 2]]'' were used, Moore would always call Dr. Robotnik "Dr. Robotonik", adding an extra "o" to his name for some reason. He would also occasionally forget a "t," calling him "Dr. Robo Nick."

* {{Crossover}}: Phil Moore cohosted the "Nickelodeon All-Star Challenge" that aired during The Big Help in 1994; crossing over with ''[[Series/DoubleDare1986 Double Dare]]'', ''[[Series/LegendsOfTheHiddenTemple Legends of the Hidden Temple]]'' and ''[[Series/WhatWouldYouDoNickelodeon What Would You Do?]]''

* [[ItIsPronouncedTroPAY It Is Pronounced Tro-PAY]]: Whenever ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' or ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 Sonic the Hedgehog 2]]'' were used, Moore would always call Dr. Robotnik "Dr. Robotonik", adding an extra "o" to his name for some reason. He would also occasionally forgets a "t," calling him "Dr. Robo Nick."

The winning team entered the Video Zone, where they were transported into video game levels and had to collect three items to move on. If they ran out of time, GameOver. [[SurpriseDifficulty This was much harder than it sounds.]]

* BonusRound: The Video Zone.

* {{Crossover}}: With ''[[Series/DoubleDare1986 Double Dare]]'', ''[[Series/LegendsOfTheHiddenTemple Legends of the Hidden Temple]]'' and ''[[Series/WhatWouldYouDoNickelodeon What Would You Do?]]'' called "Nickelodeon All-Star Challenge" that aired during The Big Help in 1994.

** '''Pilot''': ''"Hey you guys, pause those [=VCRs=] and put down those joysticks. It's time for Nick Arcade, the show that tests your video savvy and your video game skills. Today, one lucky team will actually get to go inside a video game, for a chance to win this fabulous bonus prize: A trip to Universal Studios Florida! And now, here's the host of ''Nick Arcade'', the best-dressed Tetris player in the free world, Niels Schuurmans!"''

** '''Pilot''': ''"Hey you guys, pause those [=VCRs=] and put down those joysticks. It's time for ''Nick Arcade'', the show that tests your video savvy and your video game skills. Today, one lucky team will actually get to go inside a video game, for a chance to win this fabulous bonus prize: A trip to Universal Studios Florida! And now, here's the host of ''Nick Arcade'', the best-dressed ''Tetris'' player in the free world, Niels Schuurmans!"''
** '''Season 1''': ''"Behind this door is the Video Zone, a place between our world and the video dimension. Waiting to challenge you for control of the Video Zone is one of the [[BigBad Game Wizards]]. Is it... Merlock, Scorcha, or Mongo?"'' *Camera pan over contestants* ''"These two teams will compete for the right to enter the Video Zone and face the Game Wizard's challenge. Who will it be? Find out today on... ''Nick Arcade''! And now, here's your host, (insert preparatory phrase), Phil Moore!"''
** '''Season 2''': ''"Get ready for the ultimate Video Challenge, as these two teams go head-to-head with a maze of electronic obstacles for the right to face one of our Game Wizards in the Video Zone! (insert preparatory phrase here, like "Strap yourselves in!") Here comes...''Nick Arcade''! And now, here's your host, (insert preparatory phrase), Phil Moore!"''

* FakeDifficulty: The video zone is made considerably harder because the players can't see the obstacles they're facing directly, and only see an empty, monocolor stage. They have to look over at a monitor to see what obstacles are being projected onto them digitally. If you've never tried to perform coordinated actions by watching yourself on a live monitor, give it a shot with a webcam to see just how hard it is.

** '''Pilot''': ''"Hey you guys, pause those [=VCRs=] and put down those joysticks. It's time for Nick Arcade, the show that tests your video savvy and your video game skills. Today, one lucky team will actually get to go inside a video game, for a chance to win this fabulous bonus prize: A trip to Universal Studios Florida! And now, here's the host of Nick Arcade, the best-dressed Tetris player in the free world, Niels Schuurmans!"''
** '''Season 1''': ''"Behind this door is the Video Zone, a place between our world and the video dimension. Waiting to challenge you for control of the Video Zone is one of the [[BigBad Game Wizards]]. Is it... Merlock, Scorcha, or Mongo?"'' *Camera pan over contestants* ''"These two teams will compete for the right to enter the Video Zone and face the Game Wizard's challenge. Who will it be? Find out today on... Nick Arcade! And now, here's your host, (insert preparatory phrase), Phil Moore!"''
** '''Season 2''': ''"Get ready for the ultimate Video Challenge, as these two teams go head-to-head with a maze of electronic obstacles for the right to face one of our Game Wizards in the Video Zone! (insert preparatory phrase here, like "Strap yourselves in!") Here comes...Nick Arcade! And now, here's your host, (insert preparatory phrase), Phil Moore!"''
* PieInTheFace: WeaponOfChoice for Game Over the bully enemy in the neighborhood stages

* UndesirablePrize: The grand prize was often a trip to Universal Studios in Orlando...where the show was taped. Basically, this meant that if you weren't impressed with the park the first time, you "won" the opportunity to see the same things all over again. [[InvertedTrope On the other hand]], if you enjoyed the park, you got a return trip on Nick's dime.

** TheAnnouncer: Andrea Lively.
** GameShowHost: Phil Moore, who later hosted Nick's ''You're On!'' (1999) and appeared as a semi-regular panelist on ''Series/FigureItOut''.

On October 26, 2014, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2fxsl_cIgA a copy of the original pilot for the show, courtesy of series creator Karim Miteff, resurfaced.]]

** '''Pilot''': ''"Hey you guys, pause those [=VCRs=] and put down those joysticks; it's time for Nick Arcade, the show that tests your video savvy and video game skills. Today, one lucky team will actually get to go inside a video game, for a chance to win this fabulous bonus prize, a trip to Universal Studios Florida. And now, here's the host of Nick Arcade, the best-dressed Tetris player in the free world, Niels Schuurmans!"''

* AbhorrentAdmirer: The Smooch Aliens of the space stages, a pair of aliens (And not GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe kind) that cover Mikey with {{Kissgusting}} smooches whenever he lands on an enemy space.

!!GameShow Tropes in use:

* CelebrityEdition: On three occasions in Season 2, cast members from then-running Nickelodeon sitcoms would compete against each other. One episode had cast members from ''Main/SaluteYourShorts'' competing against each other, another episode had cast members from ''Welcome Freshmen'', and a third celebrity episode, which was the final taped episode, featured cast members from ''Series/ClarissaExplainsItAll''.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: A few of the questions were about R-rated media, such as Creator/StephenKing's ''{{Film/Misery}}''. They also gave us this gem:

* {{Crossover}}: with ''[[Series/DoubleDare1986 Double Dare]]'', ''[[Series/LegendsOfTheHiddenTemple Legends of the Hidden Temple]]'' and ''[[Series/WhatWouldYouDoNickelodeon What Would You Do?]]'' called "Nickelodeon All-Star Challenge" that aired during The Big Help in 1994.

** Pilot: ''"Hey you guys, pause those [=VCRs=] and put down those joysticks; it's time for Nick Arcade, the show that tests your video savvy and video game skills. Today, one lucky team will actually get to go inside a video game, for a chance to win this fabulous bonus prize, a trip to Universal Studios Florida. And now, here's the host of Nick Arcade, the best-dressed Tetris player in the free world, Niels Schuurmans!"''
** Season 1: ''"Behind this door is the Video Zone, a place between our world and the video dimension. Waiting to challenge you for control of the Video Zone is one of the [[BigBad Game Wizards]]. Is it... Merlock, Scorcha, or Mongo?"'' *Camera pan over contestants* ''"These two teams will compete for the right to enter the Video Zone and face the Game Wizard's challenge. Who will it be? Find out today on... Nick Arcade! And now, here's your host, (insert preparatory phrase), Phil Moore!"''
** Season 2: ''"Get ready for the ultimate Video Challenge, as these two teams go head-to-head with a maze of electronic obstacles for the right to face one of our Game Wizards in the Video Zone! (insert preparatory phrase here, like "Strap yourselves in!") Here comes...Nick Arcade! And now, here's your host, (insert preparatory phrase), Phil Moore!"''

* {{Pilot}}: The original pilot for the show was taped in late 1991 on the ''[[Series/GetThePicture Get the Picture]]'' set. Niels Schuurmans was the host, and [[RecycledSoundtrack it recycled the theme]] from a short-lived Nick program called ''Outta Here!''. Schuurmans also hosted the December 10, 1990 pilot for ''Get the Picture'', which had the podiums from ''Family Double Dare''.

The most notable part was the "Video Challenge" squares, where one of the teammates got up to a wall of "arcade machines" (which usually had [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]], [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]], UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis, and UsefulNotes/NeoGeo games) and participated in a timed challenge on that game. Viewers could be treated to kids failing hard at collecting rings in ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1 Sonic the Hedgehog]]'', or the poor sap who chose ''[[VideoGame/GhostsNGoblins Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts]]''.

* CelebrityEdition: On three occasions in Season 2, cast members from then-running Nickelodeon sitcoms would compete against each other. One episode had cast members from ''Main/SaluteYourShorts'' competing against each other, another episode had cast members from ''Welcome Freshmen'', and a third celebrity episode featured cast members from ''Series/ClarissaExplainsItAll''.

GameShow produced for Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} in 1992, hosted by Phil Moore. The main part of the show consisted of a game board divided into 18 squares. Two pairs of contestants controlled a kid named Mikey, leading him to the goal to get points and avoid the enemy.

* {{Pilot}}: The original pilot for the show was taped in early 1991 on the ''[[Series/GetThePicture Get the Picture]]'' set. Niels Schuurmans was the host, and [[RecycledSoundtrack it recycled the theme]] from a short-lived Nick program called ''Outta Here!''. Schuurmans also hosted the December 10, 1990 pilot for ''Get the Picture'', which had the podiums from ''Family Double Dare''.

* {{Pilot}}: The original pilot for the show was taped early in 1991 on the ''Series/GetThePicture'' set. Niels Schuurmans was the host, and [[RecycledSoundtrack it recycled the theme from a short-lived Nickelodeon program called ''Outta Here!''.]] Schuurmans also hosted the December 10, 1990 pilot for ''Get the Picture'', which had the podiums from ''Family Double Dare''.

* [[ItIsPronouncedTroPAY It Is Pronounced Tro-PAY]]: Whenever ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' or ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 Sonic the Hedgehog 2]]'' were used, Moore would always call Dr. Robotnik "Dr. Robotonik", always adding an extra "o" to his name for some reason. He would also occasionally forgets a "t," calling him "Dr. Robo Nick."

* ObviousBeta: One of the games, played twice during the run, was [[http://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_2_(Nick_Arcade_prototype) a very early version]] of ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2'' which used ''Sonic 1''[='s=] Star Light Zone theme for Emerald Hill. The ROM was eventually dumped onto the Internet on November 7, 2006 and was even [[FanNickname dubbed]] the "Nick Arcade prototype." Not so obvious during the show's original run, its appearances caught the attention of the ''Sonic'' fanbase during the repeats on Nick GAS.

* Pilot : The original pilot for the show was taped early in 1991 on the ''Series/GetThePicture'' set. Niels Schuurmans was the host, and [[RecycledSoundtrack it recycled the theme from a short-lived Nickelodeon program called ''Outta Here!''.]] Schuurmans also hosted the December 10, 1990 pilot for ''Get the Picture'', which had the podiums from ''Family Double Dare''.

The most notable part was the "Video Challenge" squares, where one of the teammates got up to a wall of "arcade machines" (which usually had [[NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]], [[SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]], SegaGenesis, and NeoGeo games) and participated in a timed challenge on that game. Viewers could be treated to kids failing hard at collecting rings in ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1 Sonic the Hedgehog]]'', or the poor sap who chose ''[[VideoGame/GhostsNGoblins Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts]]''.

** Pilot: ''"Hey you guys, pause those VCRs and put down those joysticks; it's time for Nick Arcade, the show that tests your video savvy and video game skills. Today, one lucky team will actually get to go inside a video game, for a chance to win this fabulous bonus prize, a trip to Universal Studios Florida. And now, here's the host of Nick Arcade, the best-dressed Tetris player in the free world, Niels Schuurmans!"''