Video & Arcade Top 10 was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 game show

Game show

A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...

 broadcast on YTV. It was a competitive game show in which contestants play against each other in video games for prizes. It debuted in 1991 and ended in 2004. Reruns currently air on GameTV.

It was hosted by Nicholas Picholas, with Leah Windisch as the most recent co-host. Past co-hosts included Lexa Doig

Lexa Doig

Alexandra L. "Lexa" Doig is a Canadian actress. She portrayed the role of Rommie in the science fiction TV series Andromeda, and had a recurring character on Stargate SG-1.-Career:...

, Gordon Michael Woolvett

Gordon Michael Woolvett

Gordon Michael Woolvett is a Canadian-born actor from Hamilton, Ontario Canada, best known for his work as Seamus Zelazny Harper on the television series Andromeda . Previous to Andromeda he starred in another science fiction TV show, Deepwater Black...

, Yvonne Gaudry, Mika Ward, David Phillips

David Phillips (actor, host)

David Joseph Phillips is a Canadian actor best known for starring in numerous theatrical performances in Toronto and at the Stratford Festival, hosting Video & Arcade Top 10 and The Miss Canada Pageant, as well as starring in the films Poker Night and Shark City.-Early life and education:Phillips...

, Raymond Miller, Liza Fromer

Liza Fromer

Liza Fromer is a former co-host of Breakfast Television at Citytv in Toronto.She graduated from Ryerson University with a degree in Radio and Television and is a Canadian broadcast journalist. Previously, she worked as a video game columnist for TV Guide Canada...

, and Nicki Catney.

Concept

The main portion of each episode would have contestants play video games against each other. The host would explain what needs to be done in order to win and then let the contestants start playing. During game play the host would tell the audience about the games plot, special moves, and sometimes secrets or codes.

Scoring was done by having the contestants try and do something or collect something a certain amount of time (for example: in Wrestle Mania 18 they had to pin the most people; in Super Mario 64

Super Mario 64

is a platform game, published by Nintendo and developed by its EAD division, for the Nintendo 64. Along with Pilotwings 64, it was one of the launch titles for the console. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, and later in North America, Europe, and Australia. Super Mario 64 has sold over...

they had to get the most stars).

The show was aired abridged, cutting out most of the bloopers made by the hosts. This would mean contestants had much more time than what was shown to reach their goals.

Six or seven shows were shot sequentially and the same audience was used for three shows in a row, meaning that they would have to sit through several hours.

The show would also feature short segments profiling the latest albums and home video

Home video

Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...

releases.

Letter time

Made famous by Nicholas Picholas and using the song "It's letter time, it's letter time (my favourite time of the day!)" before reading the letter. Letter time was shot in the middle of the show and had Nicholas Picholas reading a fans letter extremely fast, often messing up several times. The person who got their letter read out would be sent the game that was being played or another game that was featured later in the episode.

Winning

Upon winning the contestant is blind folded, spun three times, and is then to put his hand in a container of ping pong balls with numbers corresponding with the prizes to be won. If the player got the red golf ball then he is to choose any prize that they wish. Prizes were usually sponsors for the show and ads were common right before the credits.