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33 years ago, The Simpsons released a hit novelty album just one season into the show's run

Premiering in December of 1989, The Simpsons very nearly instantly struck a chord with pretty much all of America — screwball comedy and animation that was entertaining enough for most kids, absurdist humor and relatable topics for adults, and plenty of subversion that would come to define the satirical cynicism of...

9 gift ideas for the Classic Nerd in your life

First of all, we're sorry. We know you've already seen a bazillion gift guides for all the different people who might be on your holiday shopping list. But this one comes from the heart — we're old, nerdy, and tired of receiving boring gifts. OK, we'll actually take any gift no...

A brief history of Pong: The game that made the video game industry

The video game industry as we know it got its start on November 29th, 1972, when Atari officially announced the release of the Pong arcade machine. Nolan Bushnell had an inkling that video games were going to be big, so he recruited coworker and friend Ted Dabney to create what...

That time the Blues Brothers had the best-selling blues album of all time

In the rich and deep history of blues, not many would have predicted a high point would come in the late '70s with a Canadian and an Albanian-American who told jokes for a living. But hell, that's exactly what happened when Briefcase Full of Blues was released by the Blues...

A decade ago, Frozen became a monster hit

It's officially been a decade since those damn songs got stuck in your head. 10 years ago, on November 27, 2013, Frozen was released in theaters. The movie features the songs (among others) "Let It Go," "For the First Time in Forever," and "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?...

7 TV shows only '80s kids will remember

I think the 1980s were truly the peak era for Saturday mornings. The process of developing kids' shows had been refined by that point, and we were well ahead of the days of streaming or DVRs — if you wanted to watch those shows, your only chance was to wake up...

The most underrated attractions at Disney World

With 17 to 20 million visitors every year, it's hard to imagine that anything at the most-visited theme park in the world can really be considered "underrated." But there is definitely a cycle of hype, even at The Happiest Place On Earth, which is actually like a whole bunch of...

Movies from the '90s for nerds to watch this holiday season

Ahh, remember celebrating the winter holidays in the ‘90s? Stores would actually close (without posting about it on social media), a pile of holiday movies from Blockbuster warmed up by the fire, and we tried to kill each other over Elmo toys. Those were the days. While the ‘90s were...

The top 5 kids movies from the '80s to watch for Halloween

For those of us who grew up or had our formative years during the 1980s, we're familiar with the rampant anxiety issues thanks to some of the movies that were for some reason marketed to kids. That said, they were usually also pretty awesome movies, even if a bit traumatizing....

The top 10 cartoon theme songs of the '80s

While Saturday morning cartoons weren't anything new in the 1980s, it kind of feels like that's when they hit their peak. Producers had refined their strategies (improving upon the '60s and '70s), the stories balanced lightness with coolness (unlike the brightness of the '90s to come), and also, I just...

22 of the best retro songs to add to your Halloween playlist

It’s that spooky time of year when your spine begins to tingle with a familiar feeling: being judged by your friends based solely on your Halloween playlist. But fear not — I’ve been refining mine since I was but a wee vampire. If you’re looking for some killer...

Sitcom families from the ‘90s we wish we were part of

Even if you were one of those freaks who somehow didn’t have a childhood that instilled so much trauma into your psyche that you’re still struggling to hold it together today, you have to admit that everyone wished they were born into their favorite sitcom family. Even the...

September 28th in nerd history: Let's get physical (physical)

Happy Ask a Stupid Question Day! This might be a confusing day for those who were taught that there is no such thing as a stupid question. Turns out, that was a lie — of course there are stupid questions. But at least for today don't worry about whether the query...

September 27th in nerd history: I like my milk like I like my cake — chocolate

Happy National Chocolate Milk Day! I personally choose to ignore the urban legends about how chocolate milk came into existence, because I don't care. It's the perfect drink, and was one of the few highlights of school lunches. Don't ruin this for me. This is The Reset Button from Classic...

September 22nd in nerd history: The number one song today in 1978

A very happy birthday to both Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, or as some simply call it, Hobbit Day! That's right, Bilbo, one of the wildest but also richest hobbits of the shire, shares a birthday with his nephew, who also happens to be Bilbo's one and only heir. Look, I'm...

The 10 most-essential anime from the '90s

Modern anime fans don’t know how good they have it. Back in the late ‘80s and most of the ‘90s, you had to know a guy who knew a guy to burn a VHS tape of the latest show or movie, and you were lucky if it was even...

The new Metalocalypse movie is a love letter to '80s dark fantasy

When I was in college I had a friend we all simply called, "Heavy Metal Tim." Heavy Metal Tim had long curly hair, wore a devil's mustache and goatee, and — you guessed it — was really into metal. One time he invited me over to his house to watch an Iron...

10 movies from the '90s that got the future wrong

Back in the '90s, we all just assumed everything after the year 2000 would be either a sci-fi paradise or a hellscape. There wasn’t really anything in between, but the common thread was that technology was going to go nuts with robots, flying cars, and neon lights everywhere. It...

Some of the coolest old-school things we saw at Comic-Con International 2023

Despite the lack of major stars dressing up as their MCU characters and announcing the newest Marvel movies to 6,000 people who waited in line overnight, the 2023 Comic-Con International in San Diego was as busy as ever. Turns out, nerds still like getting together to talk comics, TV,...

40 years later, the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon is still having an impact

I always wondered why Dungeons & Dragons, the Saturday morning cartoon inspired by the role-playing game of the same name that ran for three seasons from 1983 to 1985, was the way it was. Namely, why isn't it more similar to the game? "I had absolutely no time [and] I had...

The truth about the Kessel Run line in Star Wars (sort of)

You've certainly heard about it before: The big mistake in Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope (or more simply, Star Wars when it first came out), in the form of a piece of dialogue written by none other than George Lucas himself. The line, uttered by Han Solo in...

Twisted Metal is getting its own ice cream flavor

It's the sweet treat we never knew we needed on a hot summer day — a scoop of ice cream inspired by a murderous, psychotic clown. I'm not sure how many hours I spent just rolling around in Sweet Tooth's ice cream truck, trying to blow up my friends and AI...

Outrageously dangerous '90s toys that could never be sold today

Some may groan when people say that ‘90s kids are built different, but when you look at the so-called "toys" we were playing with, you had to be built different to survive. One false move with one of these and your ass was grass. We’re looking at the most...

Revisiting Ninja Gaiden for the NES: Is it worth playing again?

Sometimes arcade games lie to you. Case in point: the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. If you visited an arcade sometime in 1989 with three of your friends, you probably easily blew $10 worth of quarters EACH on the TMNT arcade game. It was thrilling, fast-paced beat ‘em up alongside impressive...

The top 5 episodes of the original Quantum Leap — according to IMDB

By Nicholas Yanes A few months ago, the Quantum Leap revival was renewed for a second season. With fans waiting for the continuation of the reboot to return, it’s a perfect time to look at the original series — focusing on its top five episodes. For those new to this...

What to know before you visit Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood

It was always my destiny to visit a video game in real life. I believed as much when the first incarnation of Super Nintendo World opened at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka. This was in the middle of the pandemic, and they were like, we’ll risk it all because...

90s song lyrics you've been getting wrong for decades

There’s nothing better than driving down the road on a hot day, windows down, radio blasting, and completely butchering your favorite song at the top of your lungs. Even with our favorite songs, those we’ve heard hundreds of times, there are still those verses where we kind of...

Win over $1,000 in cash & prizes for a mindful spring

Spring is in full swing — celebrate by entering to win ~$1,000 in eco-friendly and sustainable prizes and cash. ENTER NOW...

Enter to win a PS5

No more overpaying on eBay or scouring Best Buy websites to find out where they're in stock — the PS5 is here, baby. And we're teaming up with some friends to give you one — plus a PlayStation gift card and additional goodies. Enter now! Enter Now...

WonderCon exclusive — X-men: The Animated Series director Larry Houston's secret cameos

How the legendary animation producer and director snuck Thor, Spider-Man, and more into the '90s X-Men cartoon....

The coolest old-school things we saw at WonderCon 2023

There’s nothing quite like opening your doors to thousands of nerds in a confined space and pumping them full of sugar, caffeine, and nostalgia. WonderCon was back in full force for 2023, packing Anaheim with more cosplay and expensive collectibles than any sane person should possibly be able to...

Every game you can play on Nintendo Switch classic consoles

Updated 5/5/2023 I get it — there are emulators, handhelds, and all kinds of other ways you can play classic console games these days. But they can be buggy and unpredictable. Nintendo made a really savvy move, at least for consumers like me, when they essentially built their own...

Win a dream trip to Italy

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90s fads we’re embarrassed about today

Every decade has its fads. The '80s had things like suits with shoulder pads, parachute pants, and leg warmers, while the 2000s and 2010s dropped the ball with fidget spinners, twerking, and eating all that damn avocado toast! But what about the '90s? As much as we glorify the past...

10 SNES game soundtracks better than anything on your playlist

Look, taste in music is subjective. I won’t argue that, but you also shouldn’t argue the fact that if you don’t have at least one Super Nintendo game soundtrack on your playlist, you’re objectively wrong. I don’t want to hear any whining about “oh, video...

Stranger Things season 5 predictions based on 80s movies

The fifth and final season of Netflix’s uber-hit, Stranger Things, is filming. Naturally, that leads us to wonder what will happen next. Will Eleven get back to her waffle-eating ways? Does Will finally get a new haircut? And what about Enzo’s? What about Surfer Boy Pizza? WHAT HAPPENS...

6 underrated old-school movies on Disney+ nerds should watch right now

When it comes to movies, I’ve always been plagued with FOMO. I remember being in awe at the sheer plethora of choices as I perused the video rental store. And the stakes were high — you could only pick one, and you had to hand over actual cash before they’...

Giveaway: Win 4 nights in Jamaica

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Giveaway: Win a 3-day wine excursion in Santa Barbara

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10 Seinfeld episodes that kids today wouldn't understand

This is going to sound a lot like “old man yells at clouds” type stuff, but it's a simple fact that kids today just can’t understand how things used to be. I’m not saying that to make it sound like they’re spoiled, only that I’m jealous...

Andor proves why Rian Johnson deserves another chance at Star Wars

I remember the crossed arms, the tense faces, the utter look of confusion, and maybe a tinge of fear. As my friends shuffled into the bar after watching The Last Jedi, I have to admit that I was a bit surprised. You see, I’m one of “those people,” the...

90s commercial jingles you can't get out of your head

I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets irrationally pissed off at kids today who complain about having even a single 30-second commercial play while they binge-watch 10 episodes of "True life of a squid tamer" or whatever the hell is popular these days. Considering the fact you can...

Revisiting Tecmo Bowl: Is it worth playing again?

Is there anything more American than sitting back, putting on the game, and watching a bunch of dudes try to give each other CTE? Actually, yes, yes there is — playing a video game where you pretend like you’re one of those dudes. Football video games have come a long...

Terry Hall’s best songs with The Specials

I’m getting to that age where if I hear certain musicians on the radio often enough I start to wonder if it’s because they died and those are the tributes. But there are some whose passings still seem to come out of nowhere and punch me right in...

The NSFW Thundercats outtakes you need to hear

Imagine yourself as a full-grown adult, a professional voice actor, stepping up to speak into an expensive microphone. You’re getting paid real money, lots of it, to do this. You look at the script and begin to read, and hear yourself uttering this line: We should have known the...

The top 10 TV sitcom theme songs from the 1980s

What happens inside your brain when you read the following words? Making your way in the world today Takes everything you've got Taking a break from all your worries Sure would help a lot It’s time to get a drink with Norm and the gang, that’s what. That...

90s child stars that gave up acting

I will never forgive my parents for not forcing me into a child acting career. I mean, if they had, I wouldn’t just be a depressed manchild with childhood trauma and no sense of responsibility — I’d be all those things and rich. Which, you know, kind of justifies...

Movies That Time Forgot: Explorers (1985)

Would you believe me if I told you that I’m just learning, right now as I clack-clack-clack away at the keyboard, as I sit down to write an article about the 1985 movie Explorers, right now, this instant, I just learned that both Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix are...

The top 5 old-school rides at Disneyland — ranked

Walt Disney sure seemed like a cool dude, but frankly, I don’t think I’d want him to be my boss. For starters, he was never satisfied. He was famously quoted as saying, “Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination...

The top 10 Stephen King horror adaptations

While he’ll probably never be regarded in the same literary echelon as H. P. Lovecraft or Edgar Allan Poe, you can’t deny Stephen King has commercialized horror on a scale that’s never been seen before him or since. He could take a sweatshirt and turn it into...

The best Halloween TV specials from the 90s

Halloween is the best holiday and I’ll fight anyone who says otherwise. Halloween specials were some of the most exciting events as a kid leading into the spooky season. These specials were a chance for a show to really go off the rails and get nuts with concepts and...

The most valuable NES cartridges of all time

If Biff were actually smart, he wouldn’t have brought back a sports almanac from the future but just mugged his younger self of all his NES games before he had the chance to trade them in for 25 cents a pop.  We’ve all been there — broke kids whose...

Ten of the cheesiest horror movies from the 1990s

When my son first saw a tab open for a website called Classic Nerd, he was intrigued — and then he immediately started making demands. First and foremost, he demanded I write an article of his choosing. For some reason, a kid who knows literally nothing about horror movies or the...

How to beat the apocalyptic heat at Disneyland Resort

Infants screaming. Eyes stinging. Old people parking their scooters in the middle of stores right in front of where you want to look. Rides shutting down for hours. The smell of roasting meat in the air. I know—sounds like the apocalypse. But in reality, this is Disneyland on a...

The 15 nerdiest pop songs from the 80s

The 1980s were a turning point in nerd culture. From Revenge of the Nerds premiering in 1984 to The Breakfast Club breaking down high school caste barriers to Patrick Dempsey exploring the meaningless void of popularity in Can’t Buy Me Love to Blade Runner just being badass, the booming...

The craziest TV fan theories from the 90s that could actually be true

Fan theories have been around forever, but once the internet let people actually spread their insane babble across the web instead of as mad crayon scribblings on their bedroom walls, they really took off. I’ve spent many an afternoon (OK, many a 3 a.m.) pouring through these theories...

Every GoldenEye N64 single-player level ranked

For an entire generation, whenever GoldenEye was mentioned you were talking about a video game, not a movie. And when you were talking about that video game you were almost always talking about getting the gang together for a few rounds of its legendary multiplayer option. Even just typing about...

The top retro-future movies from the 1970s

The 1970s were all like: But also: You get the point: It was pretty much hell on Earth. But it was also a time when science fiction movies often invoked a vision of the future where apparently everything was different except for the hairstyles and clothing. "Hey, we're in deep...

Games that Time Forgot: Ground Zero Texas

There was an age when people like Cory Feldman, Tia Carerre, and Mark Hamill were starring in video games: The Golden Age of Live-Action Video Games, or simply GALAVG as some call it (no one calls it either of those). Of course. today we’re not talking about Wing Commander...

The 10 most important lessons from 80s vampire movies

Once seen as dusty, old dental cases in frilly shirts who’d lounge in their coffins and listen to baroque between victims, vampires received a major makeover in the ‘80s. They rocked out to Bauhaus. They invaded high schools and suburbia. They wore an absolute ton of sunglasses. The decade...

The worst gaming mascots of the 90s

As soon as Mario jumped on his first Goomba, other companies began falling over themselves to create a mascot that could rival the ethnically-ambiguous plumber. It made sense — all the biggest companies in the ‘90s had a recognizable mascot they could weaponize to trick consumers into thinking they actually had...

8 awesome Super Nintendo games that are worth playing again

We all have fond memories of playing games on the consoles of yesteryear, don’t we? Unfortunately, most of the time when we actually go back and play those games, we realize there’s a reason we left that technology behind forever. But the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) was...

The strangest things from old-school Super Mario console games

I’ll never forget when I got my first Nintendo Entertainment System (aka NES, aka just straight-up Nintendo, aka Original Nintendo). Picture 7-year-old me, in a K-Mart somewhere in the middle of New Mexico, with my older brother, 4 years my elder, pointing to the pile of NES consoles in...

Nerdy movies to watch for July Fourth

When it comes to the movies, America really can’t be beat. And when it comes to nerdy movies?  Put the two together and you actually have a lot of movies that straddle the line between nerd and patriotic.  Here are some films that you can watch over July 4th...

The 8 best punk covers of Disney songs

Riff raff / street rat/ I don’t buy that Those words could have been uttered by any number of British punks in the ’70s. I can hear Mick Jones belting it out, anthemizing yet another cry of working-class angst. But no, it was a dude and his monkey who sang...

The 10 best cereals that only existed in the 90s

Let’s be real for a second: the ‘90s were peak-cereal era.  No decade prior or since has even come close to the level of pure madness going on in that industry. Companies were basically throwing as many insane ideas at the wall as they could to see what stuck....

The top 5 retro cars you can play in Rocket League

For a game that’s free to play, Rocket League sure is good at getting me to give it money. In large part, that’s because they do a really great job of creating scarcity. The item shop only has a limited number of items each day, so if you...

5 retro movies to celebrate AI (probably not) becoming conscious

Here at Classic Nerd, the news that a Google engineer thinks the AI chatbot he’s been working on has become sentient wasn’t shocking or scary. That’s because we’ve been preparing for this moment for decades. Whether or not it actually is (almost certainly not really) sentient,...

Every dinosaur in the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies — ranked

Note: This list was written before and does not include new Dominion dinos. There’s something about dinosaurs that just takes you right back to childhood. Both Michael Crichton and Steven Spielberg cited their own childhood fascinations with dinos as what sparked their passion for Jurassic Park. It is pretty...

6 old school video games ready for a reboot

It seems like everything is getting a reboot these days, from superheroes to Jumanji to Bonkers. But they’re getting it all wrong. Why waste time remaking a perfect movie, like Dirty Dancing, when there are oodles of old-school games that would make for killer titles on next-gen consoles? These...

The 5 best songs recorded by athletes

There’s nothing cooler than releasing your own single as a professional athlete.  Or at least, that's apparently what every athlete in history thinks because a lot of them put out singles. Music critics would never, NEVER, touch this subject, so it’s up to us to tackle this age-old...

Ten 90s cartoon episodes that were way too dark for children

It’s easy to forget, but cartoons were originally targeting adult audiences. Even Bugs Bunny was originally aimed at adults, but soon began to appeal to youngsters on Saturday mornings. This eventually paved the way for the rise of iconic channels like Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network producing cartoons specifically for...

The top 10 John Hughes movies

There are some directors you think of when certain movie genres come up: Alfred Hitchcock mastered the psychological thriller, Akira Kurosawa cornered the market on the samurai epic, Sergio Leone dominated the spaghetti western—and John Hughes wrote the book on movies about teens. Of course, Hughes branched out into...

5 retro toys that had to be taken off the shelves for being too dangerous

Absentee parents and stupid kids spoil the fun for the rest of us. Case-in-point: Rad toys that met their demise because they were deemed too dangerous to our precious youth. Here, we’re breaking down some of the most infamous toys that met the banhammer in epic ways. Lawn Darts...

The Cartoon Network shows you don't remember

Since its debut in 1992, Cartoon Network has been host to a wide variety of animated shows. From the likes of The Powerpuff Girls to modern series like Craig of the Creek, the network has triumphed in its prolific history of entertaining kids and kids at heart. But for every...

6 extremely unsettling things from ALF that no one talks about

I wish I could have been in the room when the concept for ALF was pitched. I imagine some greasy guy with a look that says he’s constantly late for things, those huge ‘80s glasses that get dark in the sun (so they’re like halfway dark when he’...

5 of the weirdest 80s sci-fi music videos

The 1980s were a golden decade for sci-fi — one that lived out its dystopian Cold War-laced paranoia vicariously through futuristic David vs. Goliath stories on the silver screen. It all added up to some of the best sci-fi cinema ever made, in my humble opinion. Empire Strikes Back, Flash Gordon,...

Every theatrical Star Wars film — ranked

Across four decades, three trilogies, 12 theatrical films, seven animated series, countless theme park rides, a holiday special, all kinds of continuation novels, and enough merchandising deals to fill the belly of a Sarlacc, Star Wars has pervaded pop culture like no film franchise before or since. Like Luke Skywalker...

80s children's movies that would freak kids the hell out today

The 1980s were all like ... and ... but also ... The point is, the '80s were a time when anything seemed possible: The Russians could nuke you at any second, you could become a magical tiger warrior or you might even end up on Star Search. But behind all that glitz and...

The Mario game you probably never played

Every self-respecting Nintendo fan knows what Mario Party is. The four-player board/video game mashup that destroys friendships has seen tons of variations over the past couple decades since its debut on the Nintendo 64. But what if I told you that there was a Mario Party game that was...

The top 10 Weird Al Yankovic parodies from the 1990s

A long, long, time ago… If you just hummed the tune to “American Pie” to yourself as you read those words, you might be a Weird Al fan. Or, technically, a “Weird Al” fan, but for purposes of entertainment, we’ll be leaving the quotation marks off from here on...

8 sci-fi TV shows from the 90s you forgot existed

“Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra.” I don’t really need to remind you what show that line is from (I hope). This is not a ranking of the best sci-fi TV shows from the 1990s—which means there will be no Next Generation. No Star Trek shows at all, in...

Obscure facts about Disneyland Resort to annoy your family with next time you visit

The smell of fresh churros in the air, thinking about the jokes you’d make if you were the captain of a boat on Jungle Cruise, and parents who finally crack and threaten to never go again—that’s right, it’s Disneyland! The self-proclaimed Happiest Place on Earth—despite...

Every theatrical Batman film, ranked

Whatever name you prefer to call him by—Batman, the Batman, Batsy, the Caped Crusader, the World’s Greatest Detective, the Dark Knight, the Dork Knight, Beloved—Bruce Wayne’s alter ego has taken many forms over the years in his efforts to protect Gotham from clowns, plant ladies, and...

The top 10 WWF wrestlers of the 1980s

I knew it was fake. I mean, my parents straight-up told me. But I still begged for the pay-per-views, lived and died with every moment as my favorite wrestler seemed to be finished, then back, then finished again and finally winning with a surprise reversal that went into their finishing...

The top 10 live-action fantasy movies from the ’80s

With new advancements in special effects and the success of Star Wars in particular, studios and filmmakers turned their attention as they headed into the 1980s towards a genre of storytelling that has been entertaining audiences since time immemorial: fantasy. With special effects wizards who could now build life-sized dragons...

The top 10 representations of nerds in cinema

The Nerd has a long history in the movies, one that probably dates back to silent comedian Harold Lloyd and the bespectacled klutz he played in films like Safety Last! (1923) and The Freshman (1925). The term “nerd” was apparently first popularized in the mid-seventies by Happy Days when it...

The top 10 sweetest pads owned by James Bond villains

From their laser beam tables to their bionic eyeballs to the fluffy white cats that sometimes follow them around, there’s never been anything subtle about Bond villains. That includes the lairs from which they conduct their dastardly business. In the latest (and last) from Daniel Craig, No Time to...

10 music videos that homage classic horror cinema

Thanks to directors like David Fincher (Madonna’s “Vogue”), Michel Gondry (Kylie Minogue’s “Come into My World”), and Spike Jonze (Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” and Fatboy Slim’s “Weapon of Choice”) the music video has been elevated to an art form—one that challenges filmmakers to tell a complete narrative...

Top 10 kills of the Jurassic Park films

For many, Jurassic Park brings to mind warm, nostalgic memories of graceful long-necked Brachiosaurs munching treetops or the InGen chopper soaring by pristine, green Hawaiian hills as John Williams’ iconic JP theme plays majestically. But as everyone’s favorite cynic Ian Malcolm points out in The Lost World, it’s...

The 10 most underrated films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

I’ll admit something feels a bit oxymoronic about a list of the most underrated films of the MCU. From Star Trek to Star Wars, Marvel’s film franchise is about as popular at the moment as any ever has been and doesn’t show any sign of slowing soon....

Top 10 spooky movies that are actually set on Halloween

Halloween’s a pretty theatrical holiday. Maybe the most theatrical holiday. I mean, we carve faces in pumpkins and light them up with candles, dress our lawns with cardboard tombstones and cotton cobwebs and creaking coffins, and go out in elaborate costumes — or stay in and scare ourselves sleepless with...

10 movie aliens we wish really existed

More often than not, movies depict aliens as monstrous beings out to destroy us, invade us, enslave us, assimilate us, or simply use us in ungodly experiments involving Chihuahuas. No question about it, when it comes to the pictures, aliens tend to get a bad rap. There are, however, those...

The best TV shows to stream with your kids

The main thing we learned over the last 2 years or so is that not doing stuff outside of your house sucks. On the other hand, not leaving the house is pretty great – unless you have little ones stuck in the house with you. I mean, we all love our...

Every Friday the 13th film, ranked

There’s something about Friday the 13th… Friday the 13th certainly wasn’t the first of its kind. Well before 1980 you had a long history of slashers and proto-slashers from the likes of Hitchcock, Bava, Fulci, Argento, Canada… Friday the 13th’s writer Victor Miller was even given the...

10 best-selling PlayStation 1 games you forgot about

Some of the best times we spent as kids – even now – have been playing PlayStation 1 games. Released in 1994, there are a countless number of PS1 games we loved, liked, and weren’t all that crazy about. Some games we could play by memory at this point. If you...

The best home video game systems of the 90s, ranked

Oh, the ’90s. For many, this was a golden era of movies, TV, and video games. The beauty of it all! We’re going to ignore the fact that it’s 2020, and the ’90s were now three decades ago. In my head, it’ll always be last decade. For...

The 10 best rides from Roller Coaster Tycoon

The key to a flourishing theme park in Roller Coaster Tycoon is the perfect balance of rides for all guests. The roller coasters are going to make you money and attract the most guests, but you have to cater to smaller wallets and lower ride intensities as well. Some rides...

5 toys from the 1980s that still give us nightmares

The more I remember the decade of my young childhood, the more I understand why my doctor gave me that seemingly large prescription for Xanax. It was like all the marketers of the world got together sometime in 1981 and just said, "What if we did our best to ruin...

1990s children’s movies that were actually terrifying

With each generation comes a little more worry and supervision from parents. I can’t imagine being a kid nowadays; asking your parents to watch a movie and them scouring the internet for reviews, warnings, and general advice from other parents about what is and isn’t okay. The ’90s...

The best Mario Kart: Double Dash powerups, ranked

It’s a tale as old as time. You’re in first place, on the last lap of a race. The victory is essentially guaranteed. But suddenly, you get a warning at the bottom of the screen: a blue shell is coming. The shell hits you, and the vehicle spirals...

Movies from the 80s for nerds to watch this holiday season

The snow is falling, gifts are being wrapped and a strange green creature is gnawing at your face—that's right, it's the winter holidays! As you curl up in front of your digital fire with a smartphone in hand and telling Alexa to order your groceries for you so you...

The 10 best Super Smash Bros. melee stages

If you don’t think Melee is the best Super Smash Bros., you’re simply wrong. The graphics are fantastic, the controls are superb, and the character list is at its peak in the franchise. But what I think truly sets Melee apart from the other Super Smash Bros. games...

The top 10 Nintendo GameCube games of all time

I’ll never forget the months my brothers and I spent pitching my parents on the latest video game system we had to have. I mean, it was a CUBE that you could play games on. Ahh, the Nintendo GameCube. Though it wasn’t Nintendo’s best-selling console of all...

The top 10 Nintendo DS games of all time

Do you remember how cool the Game Boy was? A gaming console that you held in the palm of your hand – mind-blowing! It was black and white, everything was so tiny, and the sounds were so cool. All out of a small little box. It’s incredible to think how...

C-3PO’s top 7 moments

The final Rise of Skywalker trailer has sparked a great number of theories online. One moment from the trailer, in particular, caused a great deal of emotional agony for a lot of fans… Is this the end of C-3PO? In the trailer, when asked what he’s doing by Poe,...

Movies That Time Forgot: The Ewok Adventure

As an 18-year-old graduating high school, I remember hating Jar Jar Binks when Episode I came out. The Phantom Menace was possibly the biggest cinematic moment of my life, and yet despite the fact the special edition reworks of the original Star Wars trilogy sat uneasily in my mind, I...

The top 7 kids video game characters from the 90s

The 1990s spawned an entirely new generation of gamers; ones who craved fantasy worlds made of impossible colors and creatures. Maybe we knew we’d need an escape from the harshness of reality a few decades later? That took a dark turn. Anyway, with those games we loved came characters...

The four best LEGO Star Wars games of all time

Editor’s note: This was written and published years before the Skywalker Saga game was released. So just relax. “What’s in a game? That which we call a LEGO, by any other game would be as fun.” The word “LEGO” has a pretty impressive effect on most people. Take...

4 nerdy costumes you can wear this Halloween from stuff you already have

There’s nothing like expecting to not get invited to anything for Halloween only to get an invite to a sweet party at the last second because someone cooler than you couldn’t make it. Not that I would have any personal experience with pity invites… Of course, the challenge...

The creepiest old-school video games

Growing up, a lot of us had our video game systems connected to the TV in the basement. This was usually a fantastic setup, as we could turn our volume loud and yell at each other even louder. Mom would just shut the door, and she wouldn’t have to...

The top 10 Weird Al parodies from the 1980s

He's the man who, unbelievably, is over 60 years old, yet somehow hasn't lost a single step — not when it comes to his songwriting, his wit, and sure as hey-all not when it comes to rocking the accordion. That’s right, we’re talking “Weird Al” Yankovic. But despite the...

Kids movies from the 90s to watch this Halloween

It’s finally that time of year again. The temperature drops about two degrees from the scorching summer, and suddenly we’re all excited for leaves, pumpkins, and being terrified under a blanket fort. That’s right, blow the inches of dust off your VCR and get the blankets out...

7 mini-games from Pokémon Stadium N64 you forgot were awesome

You’ve seen just about every nostalgia-riddled article that lists the best Nintendo 64 games of all time. We’ve all dusted off our consoles (and blown into the cartridges once or twice to get of in-game glitches) and fired up Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros recently. The one...

8 horror films from the 80s for (almost) every mood

Halloween is just around the corner, which means it’s time for an annual binge of horror films. But sometimes picking the right movie isn’t as simple as plopping down on the couch and firing up the first classic scream flick you see. We’re humans, and humans have...

Games That Time Forgot: Adventures of Lolo

Sometimes being a blue ball with eyes and feet has its benefits. That’s more or less the premise behind the underground, quirky puzzler, Adventures of Lolo. Besides being a blue ball, Lolo is also out to save his girlfriend, cleverly named Lala (a pink ball with eyes and feet)...

Why the original Animal Crossing was and always will be the best

Close your eyes. Hear the whistle of the train. The high-pitched babbling of your neighbor. The “ding ding” of your full mailbox. Since 2002, Animal Crossing has continued to call us home. It stole our hearts on GameCube, and our captivation with it endured through the Nintendo DS, 3DS,  Wii,...

The galaxy's worst Star Wars quotes, ranked — Prequels edition

Few stories have managed to captivate the hearts of so many like that of Star Wars, with its gorgeous musical score, dramatic cinematography, and unforgettable quotes and one-liners that have been repeated and parodied for generations. But for all the iconic phrases it has given us, there have been some...

5 predictions from The Running Man that came true

In the 1987 Arnold-helmed sci-fi thriller, The Running Man, the opening scroll sets up the movie by painting this cheery picture: “Television is controlled by the state and a sadistic game show called ‘The Running Man’ has become the most popular program in history. All art, music and communications are...

7 life lessons we learned from Roller Coaster Tycoon

Nostalgia is a funny thing. The second I hear a classical German or Austrian song from the 1800 or 1900s, I immediately picture the merry-go-round from Roller Coaster Tycoon spinning slowly, a short queue line of guests who prefer less intense rides waiting for their turn on “Merry-Go-Round 1.” Go...

Movies that Time Forgot — Starchaser: The Legend of Orin

There’s nothing quite like a Star Wars movie. Next to that, there’s nothing quite like a Star Wars ripoff. But the first time I experienced the story of Orin, the hard-on-his-luck kid who’s been raised his entire life under the guise of a lie, and who happens...

6 Star Wars characters who totally got screwed on their deaths

The epic, beloved space soap opera — er Star Wars saga — is not lacking in fatalities. Attack of the Clones alone sees about 160 characters meet their endings onscreen; this doesn’t even include the Jedi that perish on Geonosis offscreen. Some of the residents of this galaxy far, far away...

Old-school Star Wars video games you forgot were awesome

I must have been five years old the first time I sat down and played the original Star Wars arcade game. Sitting INSIDE an arcade game, first of all. And second of all, it was flipping Star Wars. F*#$#$@! And since then, it’s been a long love affair where...

Five MCU characters that should get their own movie

If you haven’t seen Avengers: Endgame at this point … well, we don’t what to say to you. We might have spoilers somewhere in here, and you know what? We’re not sorry, you should have seen it by now if you’re reading this article. SHAME ON YOU....

Movies That Time Forgot: Naked Space

Everyone knows the classic exchange from Airplane! “Surely, you can’t be serious.” “I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley.” But how many of you know this even more classic exchange from the movie spawned out of a desire to capitalize on the success of the Leslie Nielson...

A Guide to Overwatch For Old People

So you’ve been playing video games since way back when, have finished Red Dead Redemption 2 twice, and rock Fortnight. You might have strong opinions about the games you play and keep up to date on new releases, but you’re still wondering what this Overwatch thing is about....

Why I've only read the Game of Thrones books and not watched the show

Lately, I’ve been turning away from every glance of Facebook. No, not because they steal my data and let trolls sway how I vote: it’s much worse than that. My feed is filled with nothing but Game of Thrones posts. From random friends to the New York Times...

Marvel Cinematic Universe movies you can watch with your 5-year-old

My son started seeing previews for Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies and understanding that there was something cool about them before he was even three. And thus began the refrain now seemingly uttered in our house daily: “When you’re a little older…” The MCU offers entertainment value out the...

Games That Time Forgot: Road Avenger

I don’t know that I begged my parents for anything more than I did the Sega CD. It was the Christmas of 1992 when they apparently caved, likely putting themselves back into credit card debt at the time, and I screamed in joy as I unwrapped the insanely unreasonably-sized...

5 video games I still find time to play as a dad

One of the most annoying parts of being a parent is the amount of time it takes away from playing video games. That and being pooped on. But there are those hallowed games that are just too good, too alluring, too its-better-than-being-pooped on to NOT find time to play. As...

We played Game of Thrones Risk with 6 players and it was epic AF

As you gear up for the Season 8 premiere of Game of Thrones, ask yourself a critical question: What happens when you get six old nerds together in a cabin somewhere in the mountains of Colorado after a huge snowstorm? Yep, you guessed it — a game of Game-of-Thrones-themed Risk breaks...

2 big things we hope don't get effed up in Star Wars Battlefront 3

Star Wars Battlefront 2 is now selling for as low as $14.99 for digital versions. While Anakin as a playable hero has revitalized the game slightly, it’s clear this title’s days are numbered. It’s pretty likely there will be a new developer for Battlefront 3, so...