Build Your Own Arcade Controls

Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Older News

04/30/2007
Jamma-In-A-Box $50 off sale for BYOAC members!
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If you have been around for any time at all at BYOAC, you're familiar with Arcade-In-A-Box. For those who might have missed it, the basic concept is to put the entirety of an emulation cabinet inside a control panel -- the entire arcade in a single box!

Ed from AIAB also sells a Jamma-In-A-Box. Same concept, but running a Jamma board instead of a computer. It's also known as a SuperGun. These are very cool and have gotten great reviews (including one by yours truly for the AIAB).
Right now through the end of May, Arcade In A Box is selling the Jamma-In-A-Box to BYOAC members for $50 off, dropping the price to $399!
Jamma-In-A-Box is a JAMMA supergun unit designed to play standard JAMMA Compliant arcade PCBs. There is no emulation involved in these units. They play the actual PCBs used in arcade cabinets.
Features of the JIAB
a.. Works with most Jamma Compliant PCBs
b.. 2 sets of audio out plugs. Split Mono for standard Jamma connection and Pass through RCA jacks for use with CPS-2 boards.
c.. Happ Arcade Controls and JAMMA Harness
d.. Your choice for joystick, button and t-molding colors.
e.. Internal Arcade Power Supply
f.. High Quality Black Melamine Construction
g.. jrok RGB to NTSC Encoder allows for Component, S-Video and Composite video out
h.. ON/OFF Switch
i.. 80mm Exhaust Fan
j.. Wired for 6 buttons per player, game specific kick harnesses are available

Check out the video:

Sweet! Now that I have a projector in the basement I think one of these may be in my future :) To get your discount, you have to use the discount code of "BYOAC" without the quotes.
Did you know that AIAB also makes custom arcade controllers? If you've got something in mind ask them for a free quote!

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--- saint

New product from Groovy Game Gear!
[Link]
Look out, here comes another new product from Groovy Game Gear! No, it's not my ambient lighting widget that I'm lusting after (hint hint Randy), it's the KeyWiz-QD™!
The KeyWiz-QD™ comes with the same great High-Performance core features of the KeyWiz product line. Added to this is the convenience and versatility of DB-25 connectors. Designed to accept both Male and Female DB-25 plugs, the KeyWiz-QD will allow use of a standard M/F "Straight-Through" DB-25 cable that is split in half, providing "keyed" connections for 1 and 2 player controls. Four additional on-board screw-termninals provide convenient access to 5v, Shazaaam! and Ground connections.
Each players controls are separated to their own connector, with numerous important Admin functions duplicated on each. 5v, Shazaaam! and multiple grounds are also available on each connector.
Price: $32.95 and it is available now.

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- Submitted by saint on 2007-04-30, posted by saint

04/29/2007
15% off arcadetokens.com/arcadereplay.com for BYOAC members!
[Link]
Santoro's giving BYOAC members a 15% discount through the end of May at arcadetokens.com/arcadereplay.com - excellent!
From santoro
I finally got off my behind and added Coupon and Gift Certificate functionality to my site. I am offering 15% off any purchase to BYOAC members.
Please
1) Include your nickname in the notes field so I can verify you are a Member. I will be verifying.
2) One coupon code per order.
3) Coupon is good through the end of May
The magic code is: BYOAC2007. You will be prompted to enter it in the payment screen.
Pick up BYOAC, MAME, or generic arcade tokens at a discount, or try out the arcade memories mugs! I've been tempted to pickup a 6-pack of the mugs for a while now for my gameroom bar. Anyone thinking of buying me (saint) a present for how swell of a guy I am, now's a great time!

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- santoro

04/28/2007
MegaMan on the Atari 2600?
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Custom Atari 2600 game, was going to be part of I Am 8-bit but didn't make it quite in time. Check out the game play!

Found by way of Wired!
[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

New PacMan ghost screensaver
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Trebeck from our forums has created a PacMan ghost screensaver and posted it for everyone to enjoy. Sweet! Thanks Trebeck!

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- Submitted by saint on 2007-04-27, posted by saint

04/27/2007
Canvas art
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File this under "stuff I want" -- unfortunately they only ship in the UK so I can't get it :( Still cool for those of you on that side of the water!
Retro Perspective is a site selling retro-themed art printed on "heavyweight matte canvas, using UV based pigment inks which are guaranteed to last as long as 75 years." The canvas is stretched over a frame.
I think some of these would look great on a game room or home theater wall. If anyone buys one of these tell them you heard about it from BYOAC and that the owner wishes they'd ship to the United States! :) Anyone know of a source of similar style artwork in the USA?

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

The Rise and Fall of PacMan
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Found this over on Destructoid which is somewhat NSFW. Clip is funny with one instance of mildly strong language :)

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

Online PDF gaming magazines
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Stumbled upon a post on a blog listing online PDF gaming mags. Some interesting projects out there to read, thought I'd pass this on! I think Adenture Lantern is the one that intrigues me the most :)

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

04/26/2007
E3 and E For All -- what's the scoop?
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If you haven't been living under a rock for the last few years you're probably familiar with E3 - the video gaming trade show that attracted tens of thousands of visitors each year. This year E3 is closed to the public and is by invitation only. The new design for E3 is meant to make it less of a public circus and more for high-profile video game business types to mingle and see what's new.
The successor to the old E3 for the public is the new E For All Expo taking place in Los Angeles in October at the Los Angeles Convention Center. "Entertainment for All Expo (E For All) is a new event created for games & gamers - people who are passionate about video games and everything related. Experience the excitement and energy first-hand when this crowd comes together to test-drive all the latest games and gadgets."
According to MacWorld News, "additional attractions are in the works, such as video game tournaments, a job fair, family-friendly offerings and Video Games Live, a concert of video game music."
Advanced tickets have already gone on sale to those who can get them - no word on general public ticket sales yet.

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

Into the Pixel - 2007 video game art exhibition
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Here's another video-game inspired art exhibit. Rather than being retro oriented, this one takes a look at modern video games and the artwork they employ.
"The Into the Pixel exhibit will feature 16 exemplary works of video game art, selected by a panel of jurors from a field of submissions gleaned from artists around the world. The exhibition offers an opportunity for published video and computer game artists to be reviewed and recognized by the public and by their peers in both the art and video game milieu."
"The 2007 Into the Pixel Art Exhibition will premiere at Creative Artists Agency in June. The framed art will be unveiled in July at the E3 Media & Business Summit in Santa Monica, California. The Exhibition will open to the public at the new E for All Expo at the LA Convention Center, October 18-21, 2007."
The picture below is from the 2006 exhibition.

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

Build Your Own . . . Video Game Pipe Cleaner Sculptures
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More artistic talent that I don't have :) Here's someone building video game characters out of pipe-cleaners!

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

04/25/2007
Andy of Arcade Ambiance fame needs help
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Specifically, he needs help getting Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat sounds for his newest project. If you've got skills in these games and would like to help, check the comment thread for details . . .

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- Submitted by saint on 2007-04-25, posted by saint

Build your own . . . arcade sprites
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Got ambitions of creating your own arcade sprites but no talent? Check out SpritePimp.com -- they rip sprites from various console and arcade games, and let you insert captions on the sprite like the ones below. Not a huge amount of sprites available yet but maybe they'll grow :)
Site works better in IE than Firefox.

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

Arcade auction, Saturday May 5th, York, PA
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Just a reminder of our amusement equipment auction on Saturday, May, 5th in York, Pa. at the York Expo Center.
For information concerning this auction please contact Rob Ritterhoff at 609-425-4281.
Thanks,
USAA

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

Somedays tech support feels painfully like this!
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This will be painfully funny to anyone in the IT business!

[] [Link to this story]
--- Submitted by saint on 2007-04-25, posted by saint

New project - Hardcore Playstation 3 DIY Cabinet
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Added Hardcore Playstation 3 DIY Cabinet to the examples page.
The author had this to say about their project:
Custom designed, professionally built table-top style dual-monitor cabinet for Playstation 3 head-to-head gaming action. Cabinet also houses a computer for emulation, and has swappable control panels. Designed after Japanese gaming cabinets, the creator even went so far as to find the same seats used in the Japanese cabinets for authenticity and feel. Different than our usual projects, this is a pretty sweet setup! Check out the site for more details!

This makes 1180 projects in the new database so far!
[] [Link to this story]
--- saint

04/24/2007
Gamebox 1.0 - Virtual Reality Video Game Thriller - Anyone seen it?
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--- SPOILER WARNING ---
This news item is about the new movie called Gamebox 1.0, and includes a brief synopsis of the movie. If you don't want to read potential spoilers (I haven't seen the movie so it will just be what's in the trailers) skip ahead to the next news item after the picture.
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Gamebox 1.0 looks to be a cross between Tron and pick-a-modern-day-thriller-here. "A reclusive video game tester discovers a revolutionary new console system with the power to feed on the player's most intimate hopes and fears. In addition to featuring a wireless headset, the mysterious game system also sports a camera with which Charlie is encouraged to photograph his friends so they may become characters in the game. Compelled by the prospect of escaping reality and truly immersing himself in a realistic, three-dimensional environment ..." (fye.com).
I'm intrigued, and will probably pick it up just because of the premise, but it looks like it's just as likely to be horrible as is it good. Have you seen this flick yet? Post your thoughts in the comment thread and let me know if I should spend the $20!

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

Internet Radio Meets Retro Gaming!

Emulators, emulator cabinets, websites, newsgroups, and art exhibits not enough retro-gaming for you?
Retro-gaming has another outlet that might not be familiar to all of you - radio! Not AM/FM radio, but Internet radio. Check out the following ways to while away some time . . .

Retro Arcade Radio
"Retro Arcade Radio is a free Internet streaming radio station that celebrates the late '70s - early '80s arcade gaming scene. If you fondly remember the days of Pacman, Donkey Kong, Defender, Centipede, Asteroids, Berzerk, Intellivision, Colecovision, Vic20, C-64, and the Atari 2600, then this station is for you! I have also mixed in a helping of period gaming commercials for added fun!"
I've been listening to Retro Arcade Radio off and on for some time now, and it's pretty amusing to have playing in the background. I'm listening to it now in fact :)
For the pinheads among us, there are not one but two shows to catch! The first is TOPcast Pinball Talk.
"What is TOPcast (Pinball Internet Radio)? Well it's a one hour Internet radio show that allows people to call in (or email) and ask tech questions about their (broken) games. They also have Special Guests on the show that work in the pinball industry. And there's special features like Stump the Chump, Game of the Week, Tech Tip of the Week, Play of the Week, and more! The show is hosted by Norm & Shaggy of 'This Old Pinball' video DVD pinball repair and restoration fame."
Norm and Shaggy have been in the pinball game for a long time, and are well known and regarded in the pinball scene. The next (their 30th!) show is Wednesday April 25th, and their guest will be Wayne Neyens, pinball designer for Gottlieb from 1949 to 1965. There's even a webcam during the show. Tune in and soak up some pinball expertise!
The next fix for your pinball habit is Talk Pinball.
"Talk Pinball is a webcast (online radio show) where enthusiasts can call in and talk to game designers, manufacturers, collectors, and more. We also share repair and restoration tips as well as answer tech questions."
The show is hosted by enthusiasts and veterans Jesse Kujawa (Pinball Magic) and Lloyd Olson (LTG). You can call in and ask questions live, and this past Sunday their guest was none other than Game Room Magazine/RetroBlast's own Kevin Steele! That episode isn't downloadable yet but hopefully will be soon :)
The last one is kind of the grandaddy of them all - RetroGaming Radio!

RetroGaming Radio is the brainchild of Shane Monroe. Those of you who have been around for a while may remember when Shane ran Insert Coin, one of the original emulation scene websites, before he branched out in a variety of related projects. One of those was RetroGaming Radio, and they're now in their 7th year!
"Currently in its SEVENTH year broadcasting, RetroGaming Radio is a FREE monthly MP3 radio show spotlighting the greatest era of video gaming. From hard hitting gritty interviews with famous classic game programmers to edgy relevant editorial commentaries ... classic game reviews to a social commentary look at video games on the internet ... RetroGaming Radio delivers hours of great content every month. Yours for free ..."
And when they say hours, they mean hours! The current episode is almost 4 hours long. "This month, we interview Bob Polaro (Atari 2600 Defender), review the High Definition version of Dragon's Lair, rant about the means justifying the end in video games, get an update on the GP2x handheld, Scott "Subarubrat" gives us another great hardware flashback on multicarts and C64 transfer cables and does two 8-Bit flashbacks for us - all this plus our huge Bits & Bytes segment - plus more!"
RetroGaming Radio as well as the other three mentioned here really do a great job covering the retro gaming hobby and everything related - be sure to check them out!
[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

04/23/2007
Oscar Controls mirror online
[Link]
Due to real life constraints, Oscar Controls is for all intents and purposes closed. Perhaps one day they'll come back, but for now it's all mothballed. However, the owner is still an arcade enthusiast and supporter of the community.
The Oscar Controls website is down, but the owner has given me permission to host a mirror of his site here at BYOAC. There's a wealth of information, tutorials, and eye-candy to be had there as well as information on the products they used to sell.
Please bear in mind it's a mirror - don't try to buy a spinner, it won't work! :)

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

More I Am 8-bit Pictures!
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I-Mockery.com went to the 8-bit art show and has more pictures posted, including several I hadn't seen before.
*WARNING* - A small number of the pictures are pornographic. NSFW or children!

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- Submitted by saint on 2007-04-23, posted by saint

Haloid - Metroid vs Halo movie
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Neither game is one I've played (OK, my most recent console is a Gamecube and it's for the kids), but this fan-video looks cool! I won't give any of it away by commenting further, but it's not over when the credits start rolling. Possibly not safe for work or children.

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--- Submitted by saint on 2007-04-22, posted by saint

DDR while juggling ... fire!
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Playing Dance Dance Revolution. Juggling fire. Not normally two phrases associated with one another. I'm not personally talented enough for either of these two activities, but here's a kid doing both at the same time!

Link brought to us by forum member Donkey_Kong!
[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- Submitted by saint on 2007-04-22, posted by saint

04/22/2007
New project - KillerArcades - Galaga
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Added KillerArcades - Galaga to the examples page.
The author had this to say about their project:
After having helped out some friends on theirs, I finally got a chance to do my own from scratch. Based on a Galaga theme, this system runs multiple emulators with illuminated pushbuttons and balltop joysticks. Have done almost a dozen of these now for friends and co-workers now and am loving every minute of it.

This makes 1179 projects in the new database so far!
[] [Link to this story]
--- saint

Build Your Own . . . Sherman Tank!
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If you can dream it, someone will build it! Take a look at this project built by a man for his son to tool around in. When I was a kid, I thought I was cool in my big-wheel!
How's this arcade related? The control is an X-Arcade joystick :)

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

Speaking of Tanks and X-Arcade
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Speaking of tanks and X-Arcade -- they're having a pretty good sale right now. Don't know how long it's been going on or when it's going to end, but you can pick up the X-Arcade Tankstick for $200 ($50 off), the trackball unit for $50 ($50 off), the Solo for $99, and the Dual for $129!
Open acknowledgement -- BYOAC gets a small commission if you buy one of the X-Arcades through a BYOAC link.

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

Speaking of vendors - checkout Pinewood Princess' latest!
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One of our favorite vendors and a board participant, check out one of Pinewood Princess' latest projects :) Her work continues to impress, and I can speak personally being a repeat customer!

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- Submitted by saint on 2007-04-22, posted by saint

Discountddrpads.com
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Got an email from Discountddrpads.com asking to do a link exchange with BYOAC. I don't do link exchanges, but I'm always happy to give a plug to a new vendor on the block, so here tis :) They specialize in metal DDR pads, so if you're in the market give them a look!
[] [Link to this story]
--- saint

04/19/2007
1UP Retro Music Video
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Sitting here, falling asleep at the keyboard, I'd about decided to skip news updates tonight. Then I popped this up and thought I've got to share this one :)
Want a doseage of pure extreme retro gaming action? Look no further! This music video is a metaphorical punch in the face of a tribute (and parody) to the retro video games from the 80s to early 90s.
This is another one that's going on my cabinet. Check it out :)

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

04/18/2007
I am 8 bit is underway - BYOAC member has the inside scoop!
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OK, maybe it's not a scoop, but Koolmoecraig from the forums was lucky enough to hit the I am 8 bit exhibit in Hollywood yesterday. You may remember this when we covered it in the news previously.
koolmoecraig took pictures and has posted them online, take a look! I'm jealous, I want to go :)

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- Submitted by saint on 2007-04-18, posted by saint

Speaking of Tron - Tron Guy on Jimmy Kimmel
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The Tron guy goes on Jimmy Kimmel's show. Personally I wasn't terribly thrilled with Kimmel's interview but ... meh ... interesting to see the Tron guy "live" instead of just his web site :)

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--- saint

Honda Tron commercial
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If you haven't seen this yet . . . Pretty cool :)

Link found over at RetroBlast :)
[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

Are arcades on the rise in America?
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There's the success of Ground Kontrol, Brooklyn's Barcade (recent writeup at RetroBlast) that was featured on Fox News and also write-ups at a variety of industry web sites such as GamePro.com.
According to the articles, the number of arcades in the US has dropped from a peak in the '80s of more than 10,000 to a low of about 2500 about 4 years ago. Now that figure's grown to 3500, retro-gaming is everywhere, and arcades are making the news. Even orangutans are playing video games now! Are arcades making a come-back, or is it more hype than reality?
What's your 2 cents worth?
[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

Columbus Ohio arcade auction, Saturday April 28th
[Link]
From their email:
For information concerning this auction please contact Jeff Schwartz at 502-551-1866.
Thanks,
USAA

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

04/17/2007
New project - Cronin's Arcade - 1 Piece Design
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Added Cronin's Arcade - 1 Piece Design to the examples page.
The author had this to say about their project:
This is my third cabinet, second one from scratch. I built this machine for my daughters' school raffle. We raised $2500 with this machine!
The plans for this design can be downloaded from my website.. http://www.croninsarcade.com

This makes 1178 projects in the new database so far!
[] [Link to this story]
--- saint

New project - Age of Steam Machine
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Added Age of Steam Machine to the examples page.
The author had this to say about their project:
An arcade conversion with a twist: retrofitted an old cabinet to look like an age of steam style machine by completely covering the exterior with copper sheeting and brass screws.
saint's note - impressive! Inducted into the Hall of Fame.

This makes 1177 projects in the new database so far!
[] [Link to this story]
--- saint

Build Your Own ... Rubik's Cube Mario and Koopa Paratroopa
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80's geeks unite! Here's another person more talented than I (the number of these indivudals increases distressingly every day), this time a master of Rubik's Cube. What he does is take a set of Cubes, arranges them the hard way (no dissasembling or other cheating) so that the individual colors end up where he wants them, and creates pixelized artwork by combining cubes. Once again, pixels are pixels whatever you create them out of.
His Flickr pages include instructions and the final results for creating Mario and a Koopa Paratroopa. I have to say I'm tempted to try my hand at the Mario. How much can 24 Cubes cost anyway...?

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

PC-Mag's Top 10 Weird Game Controllers
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PC-Magazine gets in the game and takes a look at unique game controllers. From the chain-saw controller to the $35,000 full motion-gaming system, there are some pretty interesting gadgets here. Be sure to take a look at the Paradox hand-held controller with built in trackball, might be a worthy consideration for people building panels without trackball but still wanting that occasional fix -- $27, but only 30,000 units being made so don't dally. I was going to try to come up with a favorite but I want to try them all :)

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--- saint

04/16/2007
The Ultimate Video Game Quiz Challenge: Nintendo
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So, think you're a retro-geek (is there an echo here?), eh? Here's another 10 minute time killer that'll give you a chance to prove it!
Take the Nintendo (NES) quiz and see how much of a retro-geek you are. I rated as a "Nintendo Moron" with a score of 600 and it was probably deserved.
(Edit - removed embedded version since it autoplays music. Click the picture below to take the quiz!)
(Found via Destructoid, but direct linked to Zipperfish instead as Destructoid can be a bit NSFW. Fun site to check out nontheless!)

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

The Ultimate Video Game Quiz Challenge: Atari
[Link]
So, think you're a retro-geek, eh? Here's a 10 minute time killer that'll give you a chance to prove it!
Take the Atari quiz and see how much of a retro-geek you are. I rated as an "Atari Noob" and I thought I had done pretty well!
Warning - it's not forgiving of spelling errors. I missed one question because of an apostrophe.
(Edit - removed embedded version since it autoplays music. Click the picture below to take the quiz!)
(Found via Destructoid, but direct linked to Zipperfish instead as Destructoid can be a bit NSFW. Fun site to check out nontheless!)

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

Sweet eye candy cabinet!
[Link]
Sweet! File this one under "Things I seriously want to do to my cabinet!"
Here's a home-built arcade cabinet of fairly nice appearance with a unique twist - ambient glow lighting! The builder installed an LED Ambient Light System from http://www.a-r-e.nl. The system monitors the color tones on your screen, and using LEDs, emits an appropriately colored glow. Check out the picture, very cool! At roughly $250 for the basic package shipped to the US ($165 EUR before shipping), it's a bit pricey, but there are other packages including a cheaper do-it-yourself option with some soldering required.
Hey guys, if you want to send out a review sample I'm your man!

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

Super Mario - First Person
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I'm really *not* that big of a Mario fan but there seem to be a lot of them out there. I enjoy the games but it would never occur to me to create some of the things people have made.
Here's a clip of Mario done in first-person perspective. Looking at it from this perspective, if I was Mario, I'd have just stayed huddle in a ball hoping it would all go away ... :)

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

Space Invaders . . . Shoes
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OK - we have had:

Space Invaders socks

Space Invaders performed with real people

Space Invaders wrapping paper

and . . . the Space Invaders welcome mat

Presenting the latest addition to the mix, the Space Invaders shoes (Kotaku.com)! Can underoos be far behind? :)

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

04/15/2007
Another Mario quiz
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Hot (?) on the heels of the last Mario quiz comes another one, this time from GameDaily. How well do you know Mario?
I scored 9 out of 10, woot!

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

Build your own . . . movie theater arcade?
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MSNBC.com is launching a gimmick where you can play a game of Breakout, and as bricks fall they turn into RSS news items. Geeky, probably fun for a few minutes. What makes this newsworthy(?) is the next step for this. They're going to put it in a movie theater, and the audience's bodies become the paddle controller! A camera watches the audience, and as everyone leans left the paddle leans left, and so on.
I have a mental image of an entire theater of people leaning back and forth in unison like some mirrored snake charmer. I wonder what happens if some people lean the wrong way...? :)

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--- saint

Konami characters and their 80's counterparts
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Separated at birth? Konami characters and their 80's counterparts at Shamoozal Nerdlog.

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

04/14/2007
Free game giveaway of the day
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It's been a while since I plugged this. This has been going on for several months, someone following it carefully could have built up quite a collection by now!
Remember you have to download *AND* install it that same day to get the fully registered version.

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

Geeks playing video games - beyond arcade controls . . .
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Virtual game parts displayed on any surface that you can interact with - VR shoes - play your favorite PC games in fully immersive virtual reality -- read more about it at TechEBlog :)

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

Animated Space Invaders door mat!
[Link]
OK. I want one.

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

Pac Man and other classic arcades animated with tea lights
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This is pretty cool :) When you get down to it, video games are pretty much made up of individual pixels. Gather enough tea-light candles, put them in a grid, and you get the ability to . . .

Found over at Techabob!

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

04/13/2007
Free Kraft Dance Pads are back
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Utena wrote in to let us know that Kraft is giving away free dance pads again ($6.00 shipping) through June 31, 2007. I picked one of these up last time, and while they're certainly not arcade quality you can't beat the price. These might be candidates for hacking into something more arcade-quality-like.
Anyone tinkering with one of these be sure to post about it in the comments thread!

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

New project - Custom Media Room AV Rack (e.g. Arcade Cabinet)
[Link]
Added Custom Media Room AV Rack (e.g. Arcade Cabinet) to the examples page.
The author had this to say about their project:
Custom Media Room AV Rack
Here is my custom built AV rack for all my equipment in my media room (I know it looks like an Arcade Cabinet but how else was I going to sell this project to the wife)...
I started with a X-Arcade Dual and, of course, wanted more so I now have a custom control panel with two 8-Ways, one 4-way (Tornado Terry), Trackball, and Harddrive Spinner.
I have shelves behind the coin door for all my AV equipment for the media room and my laptop pc for MAME. I can also either use the TV stereo speakers for classic sound or switch the the 5.1 system for extra loud game playing...

This makes 1176 projects in the new database so far!
[] [Link to this story]
--- saint

Video Game icon interviews
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Speaking of video game legends, here's an interview with Nolan Bushnell (taken from the Atari Anniversary Edition compilation so it may not stay up for long -- if you don't have a copy you ought to consider picking one up, they're cheap and pretty cool). He talks about Atari's early years, the development of Pong, and other tidbits of early gaming history.
You'll also find interviews with the creators of Joust and Robotron and Defender. Cool stuff :)

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

An interview with Ralph Baer - the father of video games(?)
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Gamasutra.com has posted an interview with Ralph Baer, the father of video games. What's that you say, wasn't it Nolan Bushnell? You'll have to read the article to sort that out. It's an interesting read!

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--- saint

04/12/2007
Dragon's Lair music video - MEGA-COOL!
[Link]
Ok, I've admitted my geekness here before, and I'm doing so again. However, I'm ok with that because, well, you're here too, right?
One of my all time favorite arcade games ever is Dragon's Lair. The first time I laid eyes on one in the arcade was one of those magic moments of my youth I'll always remember. Sadly, I stank at Dragon's Lair, but the eye candy always kept me hooked when someone was playing.
Fast forward to recent history. I own an original Dragon's Lair poster (the full sized movie style), and at least five different versions of Dragon's Lair or a sequel for my computer. Dragon's Lair 3D is one that I've had for a while but never cracked until I found this -- it has a music video to accompany it, sung by the voice of Daphne (Julie Eisenhower), and it's awesome!
Check it out - this is going on my cabinet!

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--- saint

04/10/2007
Amiga Magazine Rack launched!
[Link]
"After more than 2 years of development, the Amiga Magazine Rack is launched! What started out as 3 independent projects which comprised indexes of coverdisk content and game reviews has grown into . . .The database has almost 30,000 reviews indexed and of these reviews about 20,000 are linked to scans that you can read online."
Too cool! Get your Amiga itch scratched at the Amiga Magazine Rack!

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--- saint

Donkey Kong 3 stories tall with post-notes!
[Link]
A bunch of folks at UCSC with a lot of time and imagination on their hands have created a three story mural of Donkey Kong (the game, not the character) with Post-It® Notes. Very cool! Some details:
3x3" Post-It® Notes on glass
4 floors x 2 windows
E2 Building UCSC
10 people
6400 notes
Currently this work is visible at the E2 building at UCSC, it is scheduled to be removed on or before May 1.
Back in 2005, they did the same thing with Super Mario :) Brought to our attention by forum reader dbaleckaitis!

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--- Submitted by saint on 2007-04-10, posted by saint

04/09/2007
Ultimarc parts + Guncon2 PC driver == False alarm :(
[Link]
I believe this is the first retraction I've had to make in quite a while. It turns out that the Ultimarc + Guncon2 PC drive combination has hit or miss results, and is not a reliable viable solution :( See the discussion thread for more...
[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- Submitted by saint on 2007-04-09, posted by saint

Take the Mario test!
[Link]
Think you know your Mario? Take the Mario Test and see how much of a retro-Mario-geek you really are! I scored as:

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--- saint

04/08/2007
By the way (RTM)
[Link]
By the way, the chief editor for RetroGaming Times Monthly is one of us! Scott Jacobi is also known as Procyon on the BYOAC forum, and is not only an arcade builder, he's also the one behind command.dat for MAME, and a regular contributer to StrategyWiki where he's contributed guides to many arcade games and is currently working on laying the groundwork for a guide on how to find, install, and use MAME.
Where does he get the time? I figure anyone that involved deserved a pop on the front page :)
[] [Link to this story]
--- saint

CCAG - The Classic Computing and Gaming Show coming May 26 in Ohio
[Link]
Speaking of RTM, saw this posted on their home page:
The CCAG 2007 is coming May 26, 2007 at the American Legion Hall--Clifton Post
22001 Brookpark Rd
Fairview Park, OH
2:00PM - 6:00 PM

Among other attendees you'll find Treyonics, home of the Devastator, and AtariAge (Have you played Atari today?)!
"Buy, sell, trade, play, and see classic video games, computers, peripherals, memorabilia, and more at the Classic Computing and Gaming Show (CCAG) on May 26, 2007. Vendors, clubs, and collectors will be displaying and selling their retrogaming and retrocomputing goods, from Pong and Atari to Nintendo, Apple and IBM to Commodore and everything in between with many set up for you to play with and explore."

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--- saint

Issue # 35 of the Retrogaming Times Monthly, is now online!
[Link]
Highlights from the April 2007 issue include:

Many Faces of "Millipede"
Nintendo Realm - Mid April to Mid MAY 1986
NEScade - "Marble Madness"
Apple ][ Incider - Aztec, Archon & Beyond Castle Wolfenstein
Video Game Rock
Old Wine in New Bottles: Retrogaming on Modern Hardware
You can find all these and more inside the Retrogaming Times Monthly!
115 months in a row - the longest-running online free retro-gaming newsletter ever!
Alan Hewston
Staff writer and web editor for the Retrogaming Times Monthly
The longest running FREE online classic video game magazine ever.

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--- saint

Mala (BYOAC)Wiki
[Link]
loadman has started a Mala page on the BYOAC wiki for this popular front end:
This is to reduce general MaLa FE questions in the Software section as the MaLa forum is German based. Even though you can post in English some find it a bit daunting for some reason. I made a Wiki page to help with that too HERE
Thanks to all who gave me Wiki Tips!

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--- saint

Ultimarc parts + Guncon2 PC driver == make a PSX lightgun work in 31 khz (VGA PC)!
[Link]
Finally someone discovered the right way to use the GunCon2 to a VGA PC Monitor. The sync conversion needed to make it work is made by a microcontroller contained in the JPAC hardware. Fortunately this chip is sold (already programmed and ready to be used) as a replacement part from Ultimarc. Here is the circuit that you need . . .
Sweet! [Read more]

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--- saint

Online video game comic strip
[Link]
Here's another online video game comic strip. Some pretty funny, some I don't get (I don't play WOW... yes, I admit it, I've never played WOW.), but I think you'll dig it!
Navigation was a bit wonky, be sure to hit the ARCHIVES drop down to see them all. Mario hungover after an all night mushroom party ... heh.

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--- saint

New project - Custom Bubble Bobble Upright
[Link]
Added Custom Bubble Bobble Upright to the examples page.
The author had this to say about their project:
My 1st arcade project, love Bubble Bobble so i made this as a homage to Taito/Bubble Bobble. 14 Week to make and prepare.95% complete.

This makes 1175 projects in the new database so far!
[] [Link to this story]
--- saint

04/07/2007
Sega Dreamcast end of line . . . (?)
[Link]
Yeah, I thought the same thing. Didn't Sega dump the Dreamcast years ago? It appears that wasn't the case -- though you couldn't buy a new one from them, apparently Sega was still repairing them for you. However, I saw this over at DCEmu:
Sega's Dreamcast repair service, which has continued to operate despite production of the console having been halted in 2001, will cease from September 28, hammering the final nail into Dreamcast's coffin.
[Read more on their site]

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

04/05/2007
TAFA (The Arcade Flyer Archive) to Launch Two New Coin-Op Flyer Archives
[Link]
After seven years of cataloging coin-op video game flyers, The Arcade Flyer Archive (TAFA) is pleased to announce the launch of two new flyer archives.
The pinball flyer archive will include electromechanical, solid state, bingo, video pinball and pinball redemption. The arcade and amusement game flyer archive will include an even wider assortment of game types, including pitch n' bat, rifle, bowler, novelty, driver, wall, 16mm film and other electromechanical and novelty coin-op equipment. The three flyer archives will be independently cataloged.
[] [Link to this story]
--- Submitted by saint on 2007-04-05, posted by saint

Pinball at the zoo and a gameroom show too in Kalamazoo!
[Link]
No, I'm not making that up. Caught this on RGVAC the other day. April 20th and 21st, the second annual Kalamazoo Arcade and Gameroom show takes place in conjunction with the Pinball at the 'Zoo show.
Rediscover Pinball @ The 8th. Annual "Pinball at the 'Zoo". It will be held at the Kalamazoo County Fairgrounds located at 2900 Lake Street, Kalamazoo, Michigan on Friday April 20 & Saturday April 21, 2007.
It will feature a Coin-op Auction, Multiple Pinball Tournaments and Vending Booths with Parts and Machines for Sale. All games will be set on free play. Auction will be held on Saturday the 21 st. at 10:00 AM. NEW This year will be our Arcade and Gameroom show.

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--- saint

04/04/2007
USAA Amusement Auction - Saturday, April 14th
[Link]
From USAA:
Just a reminder of our Amusement Equipment Auction on Saturday, April 14, 2007, in Indianapolis, IN at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. The Auction will begin at 10am and the doors will open for inspection at 8am.
Our Land Pavillion Indiana State Fairgrounds,
1202 East 38th St.
Auction Phone 502-551-0405
For information concerning this auction please contact Jeff Schwartz at 502-551-1866.

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--- saint

Video Games Live!
[Link]
A musical compilation of some of the classic 8 bit game tunes. Performed by the Video Games Live orchestra. Cool beans!

Thanks to MameMaster for the tip! There's also another one with Metal Gear Solid music.

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- Submitted by saint on 2007-04-04, posted by saint

Build Your Own ... Trash-80 arcade machine?
[Link]
In the spirit of retro-retro . . . No one would ever think of coding an emulator for a Tandy CoCo, right? Slow 8-bit processor, less than 2 Mhz processor... You'd have to be out of your mind. Or? Maybe?
This guy wasn't one to flinch from a challenge! No, it wasn't possible to get an emulator running an arcade ROM on his CoCo, but it *was* possible to port the actual arcade ROM code to native CoCo code. The results? Donkey Kong running natively on a Tandy CoCO. Check it out!

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

8-bit-pixel-brick art!
[Link]
A few retro-crazed folks found a pile of bricks, had some time on their hands, an over-active imagination, and . . . voila!

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- Submitted by saint on 2007-04-04, posted by saint

04/03/2007
Check out Retrogaming Times Monthly
[Link]
Here's an online retro gaming magazine celebrating 114 months in a row of continuously publishing retro-gaming goodness! Current issue is March with April around the corner.
This issue's highlights include:

Many Faces of David’s Midnight Magic (pinball game many of us probably remember)
A prototype Atari 2600 game called "Save Mary"
NES vs Arcade Ghosts 'n Goblins

Apple II Incider: The Atari 5200 vs. The Apple II

Nintendo Realm - Early April 1986 - an ongoing look at NES goodness

Old Wine in New Bottles: Retrogaming on Modern Hardware -- a topic near and dear to this website's heart

There's always something interesting to read at RTM - check them out!

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- Submitted by saint on 2007-04-03, posted by saint

04/02/2007
New project - MAME-O-MAT
[Link]
Added MAME-O-MAT to the examples page.
The author had this to say about their project:
Converting an existing cabinet into a MAME machine. I'm blogging my progress from start to finish from day one, including all the headache decisions over controls and interfaces.
Unique features planned: inputs for 3d shutter glasses and wireless network for PC administration.
I picked up the cabinet for $50 from a local arcade. It had all been painted over black, and missing the marquis. (Be sure to read the very first blog entry for Mar. 1, 2007)
This makes 1174 projects in the new database so far!
[] [Link to this story]
--- saint

New project - mamemia CONTROLLER
[Link]
Added Black.Board MAMEMIA Controller to the examples page.
The author had this to say about their project:
saint's note - mamemia's been a member here for quite some time and has built many projects. This is kind of an update to earlier projects he's submitted. This is a German site, several racing controllers, desktop arcade controls, cool stuff!
Some homemade Controllers

This makes 1173 projects in the new database so far!

[Comments] [] [Link to this story]
--- saint

Kevin's back from Chicago!
[Link]
Kevin Steele (RetroBlast, Gameroom Magazine) is back from the Spring 2007 Chicagoland show and looks to have had a good time!

Check out some of the pictures and the gaming goodness that was there, wish I could have gone!
[] [Link to this story]
--- saint

New project - Todd's Mame Arcade Cabinet
[Link]
Added Todd's Mame Arcade Cabinet to the examples page.
The author had this to say about their project:
Hey everyone, just wanted to share my most recent project of building a full blown arcade system with every arcade mame ala mame and numerous consoles to boot.

I have written an article that takes my 3 months of research, the entire buy list of components, and my reasoning behind each decision. I think it will help you save a ton of time if you have been thinking of building your own dedicated cabinet on the cheap. You can read it here:
Read my article and let me know what you think! What a fun project this was! Cheers, Todd
[Comments]
This makes 1173 projects in the new database so far!
[] [Link to this story]
--- saint

A New Dance Pad
[Link]
saint's note - more of an ad than a news item, but... what the heck :) This place has many different dance pads and an adapter to use them with XBox, PC, PS, and PS2.
TX19000 Metal Dance Pad-Dance Dance Revolution

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--- saint

New Game Console Development Course
[Link]
saint's note - this one has been sitting in my news bin for a while. I confess I was dubious at first but they're still around and it looks interesting so . . . :)

Silicon Valley, USA, November 2006 - World's First Online Video Game Console Development Course
Nurve Networks LLC and Game Institute have teamed up to take online game developement training to the next level with world's first course on the technology and development of gaming hardware and consoles. Game programming is great fun and extremely rewarding, but unfortunately there is a whole world of game development that most people never get to experience anymore -- hardware design. In the 70’s and 80’s a "game developer" not only designed the game itself, wrote the code, and made the art, but he or she often designed the hardware as well! This lost art is what this course is all about: learning how to design, build, and modify your own game consoles from scratch.
"To develop a game for a console that you not only designed, but also hand-built with your own soldering iron, is one of the most enriching learning experiences you will ever have as a game developer or software engineer. There is just nothing that can get you closer to the root layer or give you that sense of total ownership and mastery of a subject", says course creator Andre' LaMothe.
This Game Institute exclusive online course is the first and only one of its kind offered anywhere in the world. The course was developed by best selling game developement author Andre' LaMothe and NASA Ames Research Center's Josh Hintze. Nowhere else will you learn the concepts and skills required to create your own video game console (and then build your own games for it!) in such an easily accessible setting.
In addition to the course's online content, students receive a complete hardware kit containing over 100+ components, including items such as: pre-manufactured printed circuit board, microcontrollers, "The Black Art of Video Game Console Design" by Andre LaMothe, soldering iron, digital multimeter, Nintendo gamepad controller, resistors, capacitors, LEDs, and much more!
For more information and to enroll in the course visit Game Institute at: http://www.gameinstitute.com/courses.php?coursedisplay=121
Hey guys - if you're looking to have someone review the course I'd love to lay hands on it :)
[Comments]
[] [Link to this story]
--- saint

saint sells out part 2
[Link]
OK, most of you have realized this was an April Fool's joke. There's not a ton of money in this hobby after all so I didn't sell out for a ton of cash. . .
(It was a small amount of cash and a box of Twinkies.)
For those of you not up on the April Fool's tradition, here's some more tomfoolery.
[Comments]
[] [Link to this story]
--- saint

04/01/2007
saint sells out!
[Link]
Well, I've resisted this for a long time, but frankly money talks and this is screaming! I've been approached by a company looking to bust into the lucrative home-arcade-retro-gaming market. After laborious negotiations (they waved a big fat check in front of my face and I caved in like a ... a .... thing that cavesin quickly), we came to an agreement and I agreed to turn over the keys. I'm not exactly going to retire, but it was a *serious* amount of money. I'll probably quit my job for a year and explore other interests before I have to go back to work. Schweet!
We have to wait until Monday to officially sign papers (lawyers... feh), but come Monday April 2nd BYOAC as you know it will be no more.
They've promised me some content will remain readily available to the public, and the remainder will be available on a for-purchase basis at a reasonable cost. However, expect to see some pretty big changes coming -- think a "gaming portal" type of thing. You'll be able to play games online in your web browser, interact with each other on the message boards in a new virtual-reality avatar type of thingie, purchase sweet retro gaming gear, and other such kewl changes.
The biggest news is that they'll be selling low cost, made overseas, arcade gaming gear. By outsourcing the construction of most of the gaming components, slightly reducing the material quality, and using pre-fabbed plastic housing instead of building out of wood, they'll be able to offer you lightweight arcade control devices at pennies compared to what is being sold now. Better yet, they've negotiated (or are negotiating) with the arcade copyright holders to sell ROMz in an I-tunes like model. You'll be able to download them from their servers each time you want to play (they won't reside on your cabinet), and DRM mixed with RFID technology will enable them to ensure they only get played on the cabinet/device you pre-signed up for. They've got several hundred lined up now with more on the way. Sweet!
The existing content of BYOAC will be available for purchase for those of you who still want to go it your own, but frankly the commercial stuff was destined to wipe out the build-your-own hobby for some time now anyway so I expect that piece of the site to get little attention.
Some details are still up in the air, more details coming Monday. I'll still be around for a few days during the transition, but after that I'll just be another visiting guest -- it's been fun guys, thanks for everything!
--- saint BYOAC Owner (for another day) April 1, 2007
[Comments]
[] [Link to this story]
--- saint

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