Arcade Tee Blog

8bit Christmas T-Shirts

Posted on by Arcade Tees
8bit Christmas Santa and reindeer design and ugly Christmas sweaters.

8bit Christmas Santa and Reindeer. 8bit Christmas T-Shirts are becoming very popular. As we are in the midst of the Holiday Season it is especially relevant.  We offer our own high quality 8bit Santa and reindeer T-Shirt but we’ve spotted some amazing UGLY Christmas sweater designs too.  Most noteworthy is a new trend of the Ugly Arcade Christmas Sweaters. These festive designs seem to be dominating the internet right now.  It seems like the ugly Christmas sweater is now a Holiday tradition. Furthermore, home gaming goes into full swing in the Winter months. So what’s the level up from this?! Let’s investigate further…

The Best Ugly Arcade Christmas Sweaters

Combining the ugly Christmas Sweater with arcade T-Shirts and we get the Ugly Arcade Christmas Sweater T-Shirt super hybrid.  What a genius combination!!! It’s an ugly Christmas sweater that’s a T-Shirt and the content is arcade related.  This may become fashion because, who knows, maybe not so far in the distant future people will wear the T-Shirts Year round.

Prepare for the Holiday Season

First of all, don’t fall into the trap of having to show up for the family Christmas gift opening in some fancy clothes.  You are an arcade enthusiast with a passion for arcade tees.  Show up at the family Holiday gathering in one of these great Ugly Arcade Christmas Sweater T-Shirts. At that point, the family will know. Aunt Gertrude will say wow, this is a person who has some serious 8bit presence. If she or anyone else gives you a stupid gift, in that moment they will know that they majorly f’ed up. They will know as they are looking at your awesomely designed apparel in contrast to the usual garb. The following Year, they won’t make that same mistake because you have worn the banner of your passion in true Holiday spirit.  Be proud of arcade gaming and, as always, wear it on your chest.

Halloween Arcade Costume and T-Shirt Ideas

Posted on by Arcade Tees
Halloween arcade T-Shirt ideas.

Need a Halloween arcade costume or T-Shirt?! Boo! Yes, we’re getting to that time of year again where, for people in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s getting cooler outside, plants are dying, trees are starting to lose their leaves and the days are getting shorter. It’s right about now in late September, early October people start thinking about Halloween. For gamers, it’s also an exciting time of year, you don’t need an excuse any longer to stay inside and play games.  As we think about combining two things that we really like, Halloween and arcade gaming, it’s not an easy synergy.  We spent some time trying to come up with some ghoul ideas to lend a scream to the arcade world this Halloween season.

Traditional Arcade Costumes

Normally, when people think of Halloween dress up, they think costume. We’d venture to say that if you are going trick or treating or to a costume party, you’d go costume.  So let’s go that route first.  A quick search on Halloween costume stores gave us some interesting results.

Arcade Costume Websites


Typical costumes you will find include Donkey Kong, Mortal Kombat (Scorpion, Sub-Zero and Katana), Pac-Man, Q*bert Space, Invaders and Wreck it Ralph costumes. Some of them are, honestly, not bad.  We then looked on Amazon and that’s when we found Super Snake.  Not sure what to say about that one but it is definitely humorous.  There are other similar legit arcade versions like Tetris and Pac-Man but the reviews indicate cheap foam that doesn’t hold it’s shape.

Halloween Arcade T-Shirts

The visit to Amazon opened up another Halloween angle that spirited more investigation.  Every Halloween there is always that someone who refuses to wear a costume to a costume party and, when forced, they show up with the typical “This is my costume” T-Shirt.  With a little creativity and taking the T-Shirt angle, we thought we might be able to dig up a few ideas.

Go Mario (or Luigi)

A simple green or red shirt and matching hat mixed with a fake mustache would get you looking like Nintendo arcade legends Mario and Luigi.  They sell pre-made shirts and hats with the letters “M” and “L” if you don’t feel like putting the time into it. We added an image with a link to a cheap but good hat and mustache on Amazon for Luigi. Mario will be suggested when you go to the page if you are looking for him instead.

Aside from that, you would just need some darker blue jeans or navy pants, black shoes and some suspenders and then your set to start stomping turtles, cleaning pipes, rescuing princesses or whatever your thing is. NOTE: Please don’t stomp real turtles, just arcade ones.

Pac-Man Face Tee

Just like Mario and Luigi, Pac-Man is universally recognized.  If you want to be a little lower profile but still get the point across, maybe try a bright yellow Pac-Man face shirt. Wear some dark pants and shoes and the focus will be on Pac-Man.  Have the kids wear blue, red, orange or pink blankets or shirts and you can go as a Pac-Man family.  Sting some foam balls in between you and the kids and it will add to the effect and you won’t have to worry about losing them. Don’t get tangled!

Amazon also sells ghost costumes for kids but if your crafty, the T-Shirt of blanket idea would be way more awesome!

The 8-bit bit

8 Bit Pixel Ghost T-Shirt.The 8-bit graphic trend has been in full swing for some time now.  There are plenty of 8-bit shirts out there.  You can go 8-bit pumpkin or skull but we found an awesome 8-bit ghost shirt that looks cool.  Maybe wear some black pants and shoes and that’s all you need.  You could always get one of those all black hoods that hides the face if you wanted to take it a step further.

Whatever way you slice it, there are many cool ideas you can use for Halloween arcade costume ideas. Maybe we’ll add some more arcade costume ideas as time passes.

Have any ideas of your own for Arcade Costume ideas?

Feel free to place a comment below, we would love to hear from you!

Our Halloween Arcade Video Pick

We thought it would be a bit of a bummer if we didn’t at least show some real arcade action in relation to Halloween.  First thought was Konami’s Castlevania but one game in particular that we love from back in 1985 was Capcom’s Ghosts ‘n Goblins.  Check out this video of a rare arcade cabinet and it’s gameplay:

 

Killer Queen: What’s The Buzz All About?

Posted on by Arcade Tees
Killer Queen arcade at Logan Arcade, Chicago, IL, 8/13/2016.

I stumbled upon a phenomenon last week that I wasn’t prepared for.  I thought I had seen the pinnacle of arcade excitement back in the 80’s but was floored when I found out otherwise.

The Killer Queen Arcade Tournament

On 8/13/2016 my friends and I traveled to Logan Arcade in Chicago to play some games for the day. We arrived early since we had almost an hour and a half drive back home.  We were expecting a minimal crowd as we walked in.  Megadeth’s Rust in Peace Polaris was playing on the sound system and there was electricity in the air.  We turned the corner and looked into the main pinball room and saw hundreds of people losing their $h!t playing in the back corner. Well, actually, only a small handful were playing and the rest were watching.  What was going on?! Killer Queen arcade was what was going on.

What is Killer Queen?!

Killer Queen arcade tournament crowd viewing projector. Killer Queen is more than just a new arcade game, it is a phenomenon.  Never in the years that I have been arcade surfing have I EVER saw such excitement.  It was more like experiencing a championship football game on a smaller scale.  According to their website, Killer Queen is “The world’s only 10-player arcade strategy game.” Killer.  The event we experience supposedly had players from 10 different States and certainly encompassed numerous strategies.  The game itself has three ways that each side can win.  My apologies ahead of time for those that understand it better but these are the ways I gathered that you could win:

  1. Kill the enemy Queen 3 times
  2. Fill your “hive” with purple balls
  3. Walk the snail slowly across the screen to your goal net.

Once the tournament was over, I had to sneak in and figure all of this out.  The first few games I got crushed, there was too much going on.  After getting the hang of it, it felt like Joust but much more cerebral. When I started communicating with my teammates we actually started winning.  Playing the Queen has a lot of responsibility associated with it.  If you have an ineffective Queen you are almost guaranteed to lose.  I found that I liked playing one of the 4 other drones. I started trying the snail trick but the opposing Queen was too smart for that.  However, once I started to get in a rhythm with collecting the purple balls and we were communicating, we won almost every time! An absolute blast either way!

Killer Queen T-Shirts

So how does Killer Queen arcade relate to T-Shirts?  Well, not totally directly, but in Chicago and all around the World, social arcade gaming is gaining intensity and is become more a part of Pop Culture.

If you want to show excitement about something and want it less permanent than a tattoo, most people go for a graphic T-Shirt.  A cool Killer Queen arcade shirt can open up a discussion with a stranger and lead to more excitement for that game and other social arcade gaming.  It’s all around us now, people LOVE it, so embrace it on your chest 🙂

Edit: 10/18/16

Our Killer Queen Arcade T-Shirt Pick

Killer Queen T-Shirt blue with yellow and orange queen and drones. Image courtesy of Alan from BumbleBear Games.The more we pay attention to the current arcade culture and Killer Queen in particular, the more passion and excitement we see.  We received an interesting email yesterday from General Manager of BumbleBear Games.  We had linked to an Amazon Killer Queen T-Shirt that we thought was legitimate but it wasn’t.  After communicating via email we have that rectified and now have a link to the official Killer Queen Arcade T-Shirts.

Where are we going with this? Why are we talking about this?  There is a point here that we are very passionate about: the protection of  copyright and intellectual property.  All too often we see pirated T-Shirt designs that are blatant frauds. We’ve had images of our own copied off of websites and put on other products.  This just isn’t cool.

As we support this evolving industry be sure to support official and original merchandise.  We will do our part to try and make sure we link to legitimate sources.  If you see something we posted that is in question, please contact us here. Likewise, if you see something someplace on the internet that isn’t legitimate, speak up, it’s the right thing to do. Together we can make the internet a more awesome place!

Want a Killer Queen Tee?

 

Click here for the official Killer Queen (BumbleBear games) Shop.

Holy Re-Theme: Batman 66 Pinball

Posted on by Arcade Tees
Batman 66 pinball re-theme by Stern.

There’s been plenty of rumors floating around.  Then the Stern Epic 30th Anniversary party was announced with Adam West as a guest. Shortly after, a friend of mine spotted an article on the the new Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders cartoon movie. That was about all we needed for proof of what was to come.

Holy Re-Theme, It’s Semi-Official!

Today, it was all over Facebook and social media although not on Stern’s official pages. A flyer of the upcoming re-theme of the Stern Batman pinball machine. We’ve played the original many times and have enjoyed it thoroughly and are really looking forward to what this new theme has to offer!

Here are the Batman 66 features from the flyer:

  • All-Star development team consists of George Gomez and Lyman Sheats in collaboration with Joe Kaminkow and contributions from Eugene Jarvis and others!
  • All-new game design, retaining the popular crane toy from 2008 Gomez and Sheats’ Batman The Dark Knight
  • New interactive toys!
  • 2 LCD displays – one LCD replacing the dot matrix in the backbox, and an additional interactive LCD on the playfield!
  • Voice-over by Adam West, Batman in the original TV series!
  • Iconic art package!
  • And much more!

Other noted features include:

  • Jointly branded by Stern Pinball and Joe Kaminkow’s Ka-Pow Pinball
  • 240 limited edition machines, dressed even more so than normal limited edition game
  • There will be a premium – There will be no pro
  • Customers who order with deposit gain VIP access to Adam West meet and greet at Westin Hotel during Chicago Pinball Expo
  • LE deposit $2,000 – Premium deposit $500
  • 30 Super LE machines will be made, purchase by invitation only
  • First shipments planned for November 2016

Batman 66 T-Shirts

Batman 66 slot machine at the Tin Lizzie in Deadwood, SD. So how does all of this Batman 66 pinball business relate to T-Shirts?  Well, not totally directly, but the modern day culture of loving the the 66 classic TV series has a way of making it’s way into other pop culture events.  There has been many hints of interest in the last few years.  Things always come back around.  If you haven’t seen something in a decade or two, it’s like seeing it new or, at least, stirring up good old memories. The first signs of this coming were when the Batman 66 TV series were being released on DVD a few years ago.  This was followed up with other merchandise and, within the last year, the Batman 66 slot machine. Check out the picture we took in a casino in Deadwood, SD in May 2016.

If you want something less permanent than a tattoo, most people go for a graphic T-Shirt.  No doubt there has been a lot of classic gaming T-Shirts out there, that’s why we do what we do.  A cool classic gaming shirt can open up a discussion with a stranger that you never imagined would happen.  It’s all around us, people love it, embrace it 🙂

Here is our pic to fit with the Batman 66 Pinball motif of the post:

Removed. No longer available.

NES Classic Edition: Classic Gaming is Back, But Smaller

Posted on by Arcade Tees
NES Classic Edition pixelated banner with Nintendo T-Shirt.

Nintendo Classic Edition: 1985 creativity meets 2016 technology

Yesterday we caught wind of Nintendo’s plan to re-release the iconic NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) as a new “Classic Edition”. The new console is much smaller (looks about half the original size) and is loaded with 30 games!

The release date of the Nintendo Classic Edition system is November 11, 2016 so mark your calendars. Just in time for the Holiday Shopping Season!

The system comes with one controller and the speculated price is ONLY $59.99!  Supposedly a second classic style NES controller can also be purchased for ONLY $9.99! This is like 1985 pricing except more games.

The original NES controllers will not work on this new system and it is not known at this time if the game will accept cartridges in what appears to be a slot for them.  It may just be aesthetic.  For people that don’t like the feel of the squared off controller, the Wii Classic Controller Pro will also work with this system.

This announcement came off of the recent success of the release of Pokemon Go!. Pokemon Go sent Nintendo’s stock skyrocketing almost 25% this last Monday. This huge surge was the biggest surge in Nintendo’s history since 1983.  See a pattern here?!

A personal perspective on 80s home gaming

I remember showing up a the local K·B Toys store in the local mall in the mid to late 80s buying these games individually for $50+ a pop.  I’m personally really looking forward to playing the Legend of Zelda again. Think about this, the old cartridge batteries are long sense dead.  I was at the Midwest Gaming Classic in Brookfield Wisconsin in April and I saw the old NES consoles for sale and a few of the Zelda cartridges there.  That thought quickly faded as I remembered the unreliability of the systems as they got older and having to blow on the cartridge connector to get the game working some times.  No more, that issue is solved with modern electronics and the games being built in!  I’m also very interested in seeing the quality on a HDTV as the system comes equipped with a HDMI connector. Very cool!

Here are the games included with the NES Classic Edition

 

  • Balloon Fight
  • Bubble Bobble
  • Castlevania
  • Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest
  • Donkey Kong
  • Donkey Kong Jr.
  • Double Dragon II: The Revenge
  • Dr. Mario
  • Excitebike
  • Final Fantasy
  • Galaga
  • Ghosts N’ Goblins
  • Gradius
  • Ice Climber
  • Kid Icarus
  • Kirby’s Adventure
  • Mario Bros.
  • Mega Man 2
  • Metroid
  • Ninja Gaiden
  • Pac-Man
  • Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream
  • StarTropics
  • Super C
  • Super Mario Bros.
  • Super Mario Bros. 2
  • Super Mario Bros. 3
  • Tecmo Bowl
  • The Legend of Zelda
  • Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Nintendo T-Shirts

So how does all of this relate to T-Shirts?  Well, not totally directly, but the modern day culture of loving the 80s classics has a way of making itself known just like other pop culture events.  If you want something less permanent than a tattoo, most people go for a graphic T-Shirt.  No doubt there has been a lot of classic gaming T-Shirts out there, that’s why we do what we do.  A cool classic gaming shirt can open up a discussion with a stranger that you never imagined would happen.  It’s all around us, people love it, embrace it 🙂

Here is our pic of the day to fit with the Nintendo Classic Edition motif of the post:

Removed. No longer available.

Creative T-Shirt Ideas While Playing Pokémon Go

Posted on by Arcade Tees
Pokemon Go: What T-Shirts are cool to wear while playing the app.

Pokemon Go tet notification screen capture. We had to get on the Pokémon Go bandwagon today.  It went from one ordinary night receiving a text of an ambiguous nature to having it blow up all over the place the next day.  A testament to the power of new technology!

Augmented Reality: Pokémon Go

It was just a matter of time before some game or app busted augmented reality technology into the mainstream.  This isn’t a tech blog site, we’re all about T-Shirt design. However, it’s interesting to talk about how much people wanted to experience this technology and integrate it into their daily lives.  We have often been thinking, wouldn’t it be cool to have augmented reality with the driving experience?  Heads up display’s of dangers that lie ahead, being able to see thing before they are actually visible.  This technology needs to have money behind it to get to the consumer level. Games like Pokémon Go are proof of concept. Augmented reality, it’s here!

A Classic Arcade Reflection

Although this site is primarily dedicated to classic 80s Arcade Gaming shirts and apparel, we feel the passion that this new age of gaming is bringing.  Essentially that’s what arcadetees.com is all about.  Passion. We wanted to create a site that people could easily find cool classic arcade gaming t-shirts to wear and share their passion for that awesome late 70s and early 80s gaming era.  That era will never happen again because of the way technology has changed BUT that same passion can be experienced again through cool new games like Pokémon Go that push new technology into fun uncharted gaming territory. Kudos to Nintendo, Google and Niantic for bring that excitement to today’s youth (and adults) again in this new era!

Some Best of Web Pokémon Shirts

We decided to search the web for some of the coolest Pokémon T-Shirts to wear while playing the Pokémon Go app.  Is this necessary?! No, none of this is, it’s just fun and cool.