Mini Arcade Tour

I thought it would be fun to create a little video of the arcade space, to show the slow but steady progress. Hopefully I can make some good progress during Christmas, as I'll finally have some time off from work and school. Check out the vid below!

Fun with Ms.Pacman

Went to our local arcade recently (yes, we actually have an arcade!), owned by a local pizzeria (Valentino's). Once there, my friend Rick and I enjoyed a few games of Ms.Pacman. The machine's DIP switches were set for ultra-fast game play, and Ms.Pac flew around the mazes at an astonishing rate. Check out the video that Rick filmed . . . please forgive the quality, as my phone isn't that great for videos.





Anyway, it was fun while it lasted. It's just a little too bad that I suck at Ms.Pacman!

Gathering the talents. . .

I know, I know. . . . it's been an insanely long time since I've posted on the blog (or the website). But between a new job that keeps me ultra-busy and taking night classes (I'm about a 3/4-time student), it leaves little time or energy to work on my beloved arcade. Fear not! I'm gearing up to get some things done soon.

I have acquired a couple PCs for use as cabs:  An older HP  that will be used for the video pinball cab (see earlier post). An NEC that will most likely be used in a cocktail cab that I have planned, and tan IBM unit with see duty in the Horizon's sister cab, called 'Vertigo'.

Anyway, the Horizons cab is almost completed and I have new pics to post soon. I will also be adding to the 'Cab Tech' section of my website, and will include some good shots of the Horizon build.

3D Pinball Cab Concept Sketch

So I have been thinking about what the next cabinet is going to be. Since I won't be able to afford a real pinball cabinet anytime, I wanted to make a cabinet based on a pinball emulation that, to me, is about the best I've ever played. Produced back in the mid-90's, Hyper-3D Pinball was awesome! I played it forever and a day when it was new. The original game only seems to like running on Windows 95, but I still have the old HP computer (with the bad-ass Pentium 75 CPU) that I played the game on back then. The sketch you see here is a general cabinet idea I'm going for. Although the HORIZONS cab isn't fully completed and I should finish it first, I figured it can't hurt to plan ahead a little bit. . .

Bad News for Home Arcade Enthusiasts. . .

GAMEROOM MAGAZINE IS DEAD!!

    Since 1988, GameRoom Magazine has been a wonderful resource and inspiration for home arcade collectors and builders. Starting with a focus in jukeboxes, GR expanded into the realm of pinball machines, video games and eventually had articles featuring home game rooms. Because of a continued poor economy, GR has had a difficult time getting enough advertisers to maintain its operations, and closed its doors in November of 2010.

    I was fortunate enough to have had an article published in GameRoom's "Coin-op Confessions" section, back in May / June of 2010. It was a wonderful magazine and it will be dearly missed. More details about the demise of GR can be found here.

LED Light-art experiment #1

    After seeing the latest TRON movie, and then learning that the illuminated suits that the characters wore were real and not CG'd, I got curious. I was able to find Glowhut.com - a place where you can buy various illuminated wires, tapes and panels.
    I bought a couple of wires from them that included a voltage regulator and power adapter. The wires are actually quite flexible and easy to work with.
    I am planning to possibly utilize the LED tape in different colors on the West wall of the arcade to illuminate the vertical slat decor that's already there. Then the plan will be to paint / apply geometric designs between the slats that will glow under black light. The goal is to give the wall a 1980s TRON-ish feel.

More artistic endeavors in the arcade

    Well, despite working full-time, maintaining a household and being in school (almost full-time), I'm still squeezing in a little late-night work on the first art piece for the arcade. This mural, called MOONSCAPE, will depict a large space-scene. The large sphere is the moon, with planet Earth and Saturn off to the left. The Moonlight Mini-Arcade logo will be placed in the center of the mural, surrounded by various video game characters floating and flying through space. There will also be a couple astronauts on the moon surface, playing the arcade game "Lunar Lander" - fitting, eh?
    Most of the detail artwork will be done with black-light friendly acrylic paints. There will eventually be black lights mounted to the ceiling, and covered by a long bezel, to illuminate the mural.
    As you can see, the work is still at the very beginning stages, with only the planets roughed in.