In Armchair Arcade's fun new series, we ask the provocative question, "What makes a particular videogame sexy?" Each week's feature will explore some of the many intriguing approaches game designers have taken over the years to make their games more sensual, not just with increasingly detailed graphics, but also with romantic and seductive gameplay. While some of the games we'll be looking at are unabashedly low brow, displaying their raw sexuality like a badge of honor, other games in contrast are remarkably subtle, often downplaying their suggestive themes.

This week's entry, written by Christina Loguidice, features one of the first female videogame characters and is also one of the biggest quarter gobbling arcade games of all time, Ms. Pac-Man. Enjoy, help spread the word, and of course, let us know what you think:

Back by popular demand here at Armchair Arcade, we have Neave Frogger, Neave Asteroids, Neave Pacman, and Neave Tetris N-Blox for play directly in your Web browser! Just click on Games on the left-hand menu. All we ask in return is that you provide feedback and comments for the great content we provide, like Armchair Arcade Radio, and occasionally click on an ad or two (also see our special offers). Have fun!

Please enjoy these free games, courtesy of team members at Armchair Arcade, as well as Neave Games:

Match 3 InvadersMatch 3 Invaders is a hybrid of two classic genres: the shoot'em up (Space Invaders) and the Match 3 (Bejeweled). Can you concentrate on lining up color matches while simultaneously dodging enemy fire? Can you endure the excruciating time limit as the aliens descend lower and lower upon your position? Most importantly of all: Can you rack up enough points to enter you name on the hallowed High Score Table? Wouldn't you like to know? Match 3 Invaders was created in Unity and runs right in your browser.


Thrust LifterThrust Lifter is a game of timing and precision. Guide your lander into narrow tunnels, avoiding collisions with walls, fires, lava, electricity, and all manner of aliens. Get to the Chilenoids before they run out of oxygen and bring them back to the home pad before taking off to your next destination. Features 15 beautiful levels and an original soundtrack, available as a separate download. If you like the game, purchase a registered copy.


Jeepney JeepersJeepney Jeepers is an homage to classics block-busting games like Arkanoid and Breakout but with a crazy twist! Blow up blocks, roast the invaders, rescue your fellow humans and--above all else--get to the last level and take on the awesome might of THE GORFINATOR. Collect upgrades and unleash the unbelievable block-busting power of the five-pronged MULTIBALL. Bust that crit bubble for the amazing SUPERBALL. Bounce up them balls as much as YOU want, no more, no less! If you have trouble downloading the game, try right-clicking on the link and use "save as." See the original announcement page for the game here.


MayhemMayhem is a combination platform and shoot'em up game that is playable in your browser. Shoot the aliens, snatch the power-ups, but don't fall to your death! Features destructible terrain, lots of power-ups, a variety of aliens, and of course, a menacing end-game boss. This game was made with Gamemaker HTML 5 edition. If you have issues with Firefox, try using a different browser or hit enter or space after clicking on the game window.

TRS-80 GamesTRS-80 Emulation Page features a full TRS-80 Model III emulator which functions entirely inside of your browser. Multiple classic games from the machine's heyday are offered for your enjoyment, via a simple 1-click "Load 'N Run" option. You will also be able to play Retro-ZAP!, the new retro-game release written by Shawn Delahunty. (The emulator and games function best in Google's Chrome browser, but all major browsers will work with sufficiently fast system hardware.)

Neave Frogger | Neave Asteroids | Neave Pacman | Neave Tetris N-Blox

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As Google often likes to do, today they've placed the focus on an important anniversary, The 30th Anniversary of PAC-MAN. Naturally, Pac-Man is one of a handful of pop culture icons that encapsulates what many people think of when they think of the word "videogames". Heck, even when people are shown playing videogames in commercials, you'll STILL hear 30 year old Pac-Man sound effects coming from their modern day handheld or console! As you no doubt know, I wrote a colorful book called Vintage Games with Matt Barton not too long ago, and sure enough, Chapter 13, entitled "Pac-Man (1980): Japanese Gumption, American Consumption" features the pie guy himself and the games that incredible title influenced. So, be sure to re-read the chapter in your copy of the book as we celebrate this important videogame milestone - Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time (2009), by Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton, through Focal Press.

NOTE: In case you haven't noticed, you can go to Google's Home Page and try their first ever interactive doodle. Yep, you can play a nifty variation of Pac-Man right in your browser (just "Insert Coin" once for one player, or twice for a two player game with Ms. Pac-Man). Nice job, Google!

Hello, everyone. I'm debuting a new regular video series entitled, "Armchair Arcade TV". The first one, with the surprising name of "Episode 1" is on little known Centuri arcade game, Route 16 (Route-16), from 1981, with feature coverage of its first home translation for the Emerson Arcadia-2001 and its family of systems. Other games and systems are also featured. This is my first time on Adobe Premiere and on a new computer system, so the usual issues cropped up in the creation of this, but naturally these will improve in all ways over time, including the host segments. In the mean-time, enjoy the first episode. The full transcript follows the video.

Since I had to pull my Fairchild console out anyway to capture some additional footage for the documentary, I thought I would take a moment to do something I've been meaning to do for some time. This is just a direct capture of the 2009 homebrew Pac-Man cartridge by Tim Ruan and Fredric Blaholtz for the Fairchild Video Entertainment System (VES), which was the first ever programmable cartridge-based console, released all the way back in 1976. This was recorded off of my Fairchild Channel F System II, a later revision of the console that redirected the previously internal sound out to the TV to better match the feature set of later competing systems like the Atari 2600 VCS. Naturally, this game is an amazing achievement for a Fairchild system that has a library of fairly simple and blocky games. The occasional graphical glitchiness in various parts seems to be related to my system and/or my capture device, not necessarily the game itself.

More quick iPhone photos of new collection additions, this time the amazing new homebrew cartridge for the Fairchild Video Entertainment System (VES)/Channel F, Pac-Man, with an impressive flip-top cartridge shell design, and the Skunk Board (Skunkboard) for the Atari Jaguar, which is a USB-based Jaguar development board containing flash memory as well as the ability to upload to Jaguar RAM. At some point the full color box and manual for the Pac-Man cartridge will also arrive and I'll do a full video review of that and the Pac-Man Collection for the ColecoVision, each of which is stunning in their own right and would have set the world on fire if they were released when these systems were still new.

My wife, Christina, was nice enough to pick me up the new Pac-Man arcade machine Christmas tree ornament from a local Hallmark store ("as a surprise" as she likes to point out). You can see the details of it here, but it's presently only available in-store. Below I have some casual photos and a short, unedited video of the ornament in action (actually, I ended up taking it again since the digital camera was in time lapse mode for some reason), of course as my daughters are attacking it. It lights up and plays the Pac-Man theme and a short gameplay sound effects sample when you press either the Player 1 or Player 2 buttons.