Category Archives: Computers/Tech/Games

IBM PC

Mason’s First Computer

Although I knew there would come a day when Mason would want his own computer, I didn’t realize was that he would be six-years-old when that day came. This has been in the works for a while, but things really kicked into gear Christmas Morning. One of Mason’s more expensive presents this year was a Leap Frog brand (I think) learning laptop that plays cartridge-based educational games. It’s not *really* a laptop — it just looks like one. The screen is black and white and only about three inches in size. Mason took one look at it and cast it aside. Later, after the Christmas buzz had died down, Mason came to Susan and said, “you know how you told me to still like the person, even if they get you a bad gift? Well, I still like you even though you got me that laptop.” The disappointment spawned from the fact that, for a moment, the kid actually thought we had given him a real laptop. Keep dreaming, bucko!

Backtracking a bit … sometime last year, dad bought a new computer and said we could have his old one for Mason. The machine’s not that old — in fact, It’s a pretty nice computer, with more horsepower under the hood than my server. I set the machine aside but never got around to the reloading project. After Mason’s disappointment Christmas morning, I decided this might be a good time to go ahead and get Dad’s old computer up and running. Reloading computers always seems like a bigger deal in your head than it usually turns out to be. With the web these days, tracking down drivers even for machines a few years old is typically a non-issue. In less than an hour I had XP loaded and configured.

On the way home from work yesterday, Mason and I stopped by Staples and picked up a couple of wireless NICs. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate Staples? Unfortunately in Yukon, only two chains carry computer parts — Staples, who rarely has what I’m looking for in stock, and Wal-Mart, where I somehow manage to set off the security alarm every time I exit the building. Deciding between these two stores really is “the lesser of two evils.” I am at the point where I will start driving to Oklahoma City just to avoid these two particular stores. I should have done that yesterday, but I didn’t. I went to Staples, where they had two registers open and both were stopped in their tracks because of merchandise that didn’t have price tags on them. The two network cards I bought were marked $39.99, but rang up as $59.99 — that was another ordeal. ARGH. That’s a good pledge to make for 2008 — stop shopping at Staples!

Installing the USB network cards took less effort than buying them. I haven’t used a USB NIC before — I was afraid that the small form factor would mean bad reception, but so far they seem to work pretty well. It’s amazing how worthless a computer seems these days without the Internet. I couldn’t update Windows, couldn’t find drivers, couldn’t do anything before I got the machine online. And really, that’s all Mason wants to do. Nickelodeon and Disney have a few websites set up with games and cartoons, and that’s all Mason wants to do on the computer so far.

So anyway, things are up and running. Mason spent some time last night on iCarly.com (gag) watching videos, until Morgan clocked him in the head, commandeered the chair and headed off to Sesame Street’s website. How early they learn.

Commodore 64

Floppy Failure

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For the fourth day in a row now, I’ve continued working on my quest to convert all of my old Commodore 64 disks into modern D64 images. Over the past few days I’ve converted approximately 150 disks out of the 700 or so disks I still have. After handling 150 floppy disks in a row over the past few days, I’ve gotten pretty good at predicting which disks are going to convert, and which are going to be full of read errors.

Back when I first got my Commodore 64, floppy disks were roughly ten bucks for a box of ten ($1/disk). For the first few months I had my computer, especially while using a 300 baud modem, a box of ten disks would last a few weeks. By the time I graduated to 1200 baud, I was filling one side of a disk each night.

Keep in mind that you were only supposed to use one side (the front) of a floppy disk. The back side was not “notched” and by default, could not be written to. The simplest solution to this was purchasing a disk notcher, which ran around $5. After floppies were notched, you could write to the back side of them as well, doubling their capacity. There were all sorts of reasons people gave why one should not do this. Some people said that the backsides of disks weren’t quality checked, and were prone to data loss (maybe true). One person once told me that the dust filters inside disks were only meant to run clockwise — when run counter-clockwise (when the disk was in upside down), the filters would essentially run in reverse, dumping any collected dust directly into your drive. I can’t imagine that’s true. Regardless of whether or not it was good practice, I was young, broke, and desperate for disk space. I used the backsides of disks whenever I could.

By the time my parents were driving me all over the city so that I could trade games in person with fellow Commodore 64 owners, I was going through blank disks like mad. Mail order companies began delivering diskettes much cheaper than the stores — maybe $60 or $70 per hundred, vs. the still going rate of a buck a disk at retail stores. None of my friends nor I had $60 or $70, so we would all chip in and split a hundred pack two, three, sometimes four ways. It kept us going.

At the time I don’t remember these disks feeling or performing any different than the name brand floppies sold in stores, but boy can I sure tell a difference now. Some of the floppies I pull out of my old disk box are stiff as a board and as thick as cardboard. I haven’t had a single one that felt like that fail me. Others slide out of their old disk sleeves almost like an undercooked slice of cheese pizza, drooping over my fingertips. You can practically see the 1’s and 0’s falling off the disk. Those are the disks that are failing with multiple read errors.

The other disks that are failing almost without exception are my first hundred or so disks. Keep in mind that I was a Commodore user for basically a decade, meaning the earlier disks in my collection are years older than the later ones. As I mentioned earlier this week, I recently read on the net that the average lifespan of a 5 1/4 floppy disk was six months. Some of my earliest disks are 21 and 22 years old — the “younger” ones are merely 15 years old. Apparently those few extra years, combined with the cheap ass brands of floppy disks I used over the years, are finally catching up with me.

Surprisingly, I haven’t run into any disks yet that are completely unreadable. The ones that are bad simply have random bad sectors, usually near the beginning or the end of the disk. Once I’m done with this conversion project I’ll have to go back through and test them all, seeing what still works and what doesn’t. It’s the project that never ends, I tell ya.

Console Video Games, Main

Passing the Torch

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Sometimes it’s easy to forget that what is old and mundane to many of us is new and exciting to children. In fact just the other day, the kids went wild when I rolled down the windows while driving in the car. I can’t remember the last time I got excited over wind blowing in my face, but the kids loved it. Mason once told me his favorite thing about my truck was “the time I rode in the back of it.”

I was twelve years old back in 1985 when the original Super Mario Bros. came out for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). 1985 wasn’t so long ago, it seems. Although I didn’t own an NES for several years after its release, two of my neighbors (Doug Deckard and Jason Lee) did, and it was there I got my first taste of Mario, the little red-suited plumber that could. I spent hours at both of their homes, learning the game inside and out. A few years later when Super Mario Bros. 3 came out, Jeff, Andy and I would spend hours upon hours at Jeff’s house, racking up extra men and playing weekend-long gaming sessions trying to beat the game.

Back to the kids for a moment; one of the things that really excites them is the projector I have upstairs. Whether it’s watching movies or playing games, the kids really don’t care what’s on as long as it’s on the giant screen. Last night while Mommy and Mason were out and Morgan became inconsolable, I put Shrek III on upstairs and her eyes lit up. “Shrek’s biiiiiiiig,” she said, her tears instantly drying.

Recently, Mason’s discovered that all my gaming systems are hooked to the projector as well. A while back I picked up one of those Yobo NES clones. I’ve heard mixed reviews as to their compatibility and quality, so I decided to hook it up over the weekend and test some games out. The minute Mason heard the sound of videogames echoing from the upstairs game room, he weaseled his way up there into the middle of everything. One of the first games I tested was Super Mario Bros. 3. Mason’s been playing the original Super Mario Bros. since he was around two, but for some reason I guess he’s never played #3. Like a true gamer, he picked up the game in no time.

So far, Mason’s spent the better half of the weekend learning the ins and outs of Super Mario Bros. 3. And while I still enjoy the game in small doses, I have to remember that what I’ve been playing for twenty years now is all new to him. Every brick that explodes, every new enemy, every new treasure that’s discovered lights up his eyes. “Dad, look at this!” he exclaims every time he finds a new hidden room. His joy reminds me of the joy I used to get from playing games, a joy that got lost somewhere in the battle for faster processors and better graphics.

Enjoy it while it lasts, kid.

Commodore 64

D64 Disk Conversions

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One of my goals for 2008 is to finish all of the analog-to-digital conversion projects I started in 2007. This includes converting all our VHS tapes to DVDs, and all of our old CDs, cassette tapes and records to MP3. Another one of the projects, which has proved to be both the most rewarding and the most frustrating, is the conversion of all my old Commodore 64 diskettes to D64 images.

Just to get everybody up to speed … on one hand, in the real world, you have real Commodore 64 computers and real Commodore 64 disk drives that use real floppy disks. On the other hand, you have virtual Commodore 64 machines, called emulators, that run on modern personal computers. These virtual computers need virtual disks to work, and those disks are commonly stored in D64 format. You can take those virtual D64 disks and put them in a virtual disk drive connected to your virtual Commodore 64 and load them and play them as if it were all real. There are two ways to acquire D64 images. You can download them, or, if you have the proper equipment, you can make your own.

So, let’s talk about the “proper equipment.” The tried and true method requires a unique combination of hardware and software. On the hardware side, you’ll need a computer running DOS with either a SPP, PS/2, EPP or ECP parallel port. You’ll need a real, vintage Commodore disk drive, and you’ll need a special “X1541” cable to connect the two. There are at least six different flavors of “X” cables (X1541, XE1541, XM1541, XA1541, XH1541, and XP1541), each of which require different software tweaks and configurations. Once you get everything wired up and talking, the DOS-based program Star Commander will allow you to convert real Commodore disks to D64 disk images.

The trickiest part of the whole process is finding a parallel port that works. In my experience, the older the computer, the better your chances are of getting everything working. I finally got everything to work by using a 486 PC from the mid-90s, which I keep around for this sole purpose. Adding to the project’s complexity is the problem of getting D64 images off my 486 and onto my laptop. When’s the last time you networked a DOS-based machine to a Windows XP laptop? I ended up with a dual-boot setup on the 486; that way I can transfer disks through DOS, and connect to my home network using Windows 98 (using ten-year-old networking tools and protocols) to transfer the images over. Clunky, but it works. I don’t complain.

Star Commander is a DOS program that resembles the old DOS versions of PC-Tools and Norton Commander, with a split screen display showing the Commodore drive on the left side of the screen and the PC’s hard drive on the right. Once everything’s connected and working, creating a D64 image is simply a matter of pressing a button, waiting, and praying that my disks are still good and not full of read errors.

The back side of most disk sleeves contained pictoral examples of things that could damage your disks, including: magnets (which includes monitors, speakers, motors, and cell phones), bending, heat, cold, touching the disk, opening the drive while the disk was loading, opening the drive while the disk was being written to, powering the drive or computer off with the disk still in the drive, or exposing the disk to dirt, dust or smoke. Even if you managed to keep your disks away from all those things, the biggest killer of floppy disks has been time. The older 5 1/4 disks get, the more prone they are to develop errors. According to this page, the average life span of a floppy disk is six months. Most of the disks I’m converting are between 20 and 25 years old.

And of course, I run in to errors. If there is a silver lining to this cloud it’s that the errors aren’t always where data is stored. The conversion process tries to copy and archives every track and sector of a floppy disk. So far I’ve found lots of disks with errors on the inside or outside edge (Track 1 or Track 35), but that doesn’t always seem to affect the data stored on the disk. The only way to know for sure is to test every archive, something that would take years.

It takes roughly a minute to convert each disk to a D64 image, not including things like sorting, cataloging and testing. I have roughly 700 Commodore floppy disks — double sided. That’s 24 hours of conversion time alone; hopefully I can get them all done within a month or two, assuming I put all my other analog to digital conversions on hold. Testing each one could take a year.

The most common question people ask me about this is, “why are you doing this?” Even my wife asked, “hasn’t somebody already done this?” For the most part, yes. 95% of what I’m archiving has already been archived. Through Google, I could find 95% of the programs on my disks and download them all in a single day. That leaves 5%, however, that aren’t out there. 5% of my programs are things I, or friends of mine, wrote or created. There are pictures, letters, stories, demos and even programs that my friends and I created. There are things on these disks that I have the only known copy of. It is a race against time to archive these things on to a new media that is not deteriorating on a daily basis. In D64 format, these disk images can live on forever. It is a way to finalize my old C64 collection, to set it in stone and share it with the world. I’m not sure that the world’s that interested in it, but it’s something I feel like I need to do.

The hardest part of the entire process is not getting sidetracked by playing each disk.

Commodore 64

Kraft Joysticks

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For at least a decade, the problem with emulation has not been technological in nature. For several years now, modern computers have been able to, for all intents and purposes, faithfully reproduce older computers, videogame consoles, and arcade machines. The difference between emulation and “the real deal” is all the other things that went along with those old gaming experiences — and one of the most memorable things about those old games were their controls. Playing Atari games doesn’t feel right to me unless I’m using an Atari joystick, and playing arcade games, no matter how accurately MAME reproduces their sounds and graphics, does not feel right unless I’m standing in front of an arcade machine’s control panel.

Shortly after getting my Commodore 64 back in 1985, I got my favorite joystick of all time. Made by Kraft, the joystick had a short, black stick and a base the same color as the Commodore 64 itself. It also had a small switch on the bottom that swapped the stick between 4-way and 8-way mode. I’m sure a lot of it is just what you grew up with, but I hated all the Commodore joysticks that included buttons on top of the sticks (Wico, Thrustmaster, Boss, etc.) The Kraft’s small size allowed it to be held much like the Epyx 500 sticks (which came out a few years later). My friend Jeff owned the Epyx sticks and, while I liked them too, the Kraft was always my favorite.

After almost twenty years of off-and-on usage, my old Kraft finally gave out on me. At first, it started having problems going left. You could still make it go left, but you had to press the small stick really hard. Unfortunately, the small stick wasn’t meant for that kind of pressure and it quickly bent before breaking. I’ve tried a few other joysticks (including original Atari 2600 joysticks) on my old Commie, but games haven’t felt the same since. After a year or two of missing that old Kraft, I did what pretty much everybody looking for old things does.

I turned to eBay.

I found a few of the old joysticks online, but I passed them by due to high prices. Most of the ones I saw were selling for $40 or more. Apparently, other people were interested in the sticks as well. After almost a year of searching I finally got one for $20. Finally! When the joystick arrived it was well-used, but at least it worked. I quickly hooked the stick up and got back to playing. In the back of my mind, I wondered how much life this stick had left in it. I kept my eBay searches going, in hopes of a better deal. Eventually, I found one. Four, to be exact.

A month or two ago I found someone selling four Kraft joysticks, still new in the box. The best part of the deal was, the seller was only asking $5 per joystick, and was willing to combine shipping. I bought all four in a heartbeat. When the joysticks arrived I was surprised to find they were black in color with a red firing button. Apparently Kraft made two different color combinations — a black/red combo (for the Atari 2600) and a beige/black combo (for Commodore 64 owners). Functionally, the sticks are the same (Commodore 64 and Atari 2600 joysticks are interchangable).

Considering my original Kraft stick lasted 20 years, I now own a lifetime supply of joysticks. Time to get gaming, I’d say!

IBM PC, Main

Response to Five PC Gaming Myths

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ExtremeTech.com ran an article today titled Five PC Gaming Myths. This article was so poorly thought out, I felt strongly compelled to write a response. With that, below are the five myths along with select quotes from the article, along with my own comments and responses.

Myth #1: PC gaming is way too expensive

In an attempt to debunk this first myth, the author points out that gaming machines can be bought for “under $1,500.” I don’t know about you, but right off the bat, $1,500 sounds pretty expensive to me. The author justifies the price by stating that “computers do more than just play games,” but he fails to mention that in this day and age, so do gaming consoles. The original Xbox, which can be bought for “under $100”, makes a pretty good media center and emulation box. My favorite quote from this section was, “Of course, $1,500 isn’t chump change. It’s far more expensive than a $300 console system,” which sounds to me like he’s supporting the myth he’s supposed to be debunking. The final section of his argument is that new PC games cost $50, while PS3 and Xbox 360 games cost $60. Of course the author ignores Wii games (which list for $50). To further make his point, the author points out that older PC games are “often available for $20 or $30.” That’s true. Then again, Wal-Mart has select PS2 games bundles with 3 games for $10.

Another fact the author neglected to mention was that his $1,500 machine will no doubt need to be upgraded. My PS2, Xbox and Gamecube (and Atari 2600, NES and Super Nintendo, if you want to go old school) have never needed upgrading. They’re still running on the game processors, video cards, and RAM they shipped with. I doubt a $1,500 gaming PC purchased the same day the PS2 launched (in 2001) will run new games without needing upgrades.

Rob’s Summary: PC gaming is more expensive than console gaming.

Myth #2: PC gaming means nothing but broken releases, updates, and patches

Once again, the author makes several statements which seem not to dispell but rather support the myth. The author states that because PC game makers must test their games against loads of configurations, “some PC games release with bugs and need to be patched. Okay, virtually every game gets a patch.” Maybe it’s just me, but if “virtually every game gets a patch,” doesn’t that sound like broken releases? The author’s major point here is that console games are now requiring patches as well.

The second half of the author’s argument is that “Windows does a good job of auto-patching itself,” a comment that just sent IT employees across the globe chuckling. And again, the author points out that all three modern consoles require system firmware upgrades.

What the author does not mention is how many times I have purchased PC games only to get them home and discover that they would not work with my computer. Sometimes it’s the video card, sometimes it’s the processor, sometimes it’s a driver, sometimes nobody knows why and I’m just out of luck. I’ve never purchased a PS3 game that didn’t work on my PS3 when I got it home.

Rob’s Summary: I think even my hardcore PC-gaming friends would agree that PC games receive more patches than console games. While I agree that it’s probably not as bad as some people envision, it’s certainly more prevelant on PCs than it is on consoles.

Myth #3: PC games don’t sell, and are falling far behind console game sales

The author’s argument here is that people wrongfully compare the total number of PC games sold to the total number of console games sold, where instead we should divide the total number of console games sold by the total number of consoles to get more accurate comparisons. I’ll buy that. His other points are that the online sales of PC games aren’t included in those numbers. My problem with this whole myth was, who cares? I don’t care if Halo 3 only sells twelve copies this year as long as I get one, copies, and I couldn’t care less if PC games outsell console games 100 to 1. Sales numbers don’t affect my personal gaming experience one bit.

Rob’s Summary: Somebody, somewhere is still losing sleep over which platform sells the most games.

Myth #4: Online gaming on the PC is a mess, and no match for the likes of Xbox Live

The author’s argument here has three major points. First, he states that PC-based online gaming programs Steam and Xfire do more than Xbox Live. As a caveat I have not used these services, but based on their websites, I can do some simple comparisons.

The author complains that for online gaming to work, the 360 and PS3 need to download upgrades. He conveniently forgets to mention that Steam performs mandatory auto-updating every time you run it, one of the biggest complains about the product. The author complains that Steam is free, while Xbox Live is not. Again, he avoids the fact that online gaming on the PS3 is free.

His final argument is that Xbox Live costs $50/year, while “on the PC, with the obvious exception of MMOs like World of Warcraft or Lord of the Rings Online, is almost always free.” The obvious avoided logic here is that if you play *2* PC games online, then PC gaming is more expensive.

Once again in a poor attempt to persuade readers, the author has left out some obvious facts. The fact is, online console gaming is four hundred and ninty-two billion times easier to set up than most online PC games. Boot up your console, it’s online. Load up your game, and you’re ready for online play. Anyone who’s ever tried installing an online game on their PC, configure Vista, open ports on a wireless router, only to hit a blue screen or simply give up after hours of effort knows what a pain in the ass it can sometimes be to get these things to work.

Rob’s Summary: Online gaming on a PC is more complicated than online gaming on a console, and is no match for Xbox Live.

Myth #5: Copy protection on PC games is a major headache

The author begins this one with, “Okay, I’ll kind of give you this one.” He later states that some annoying PC copy protection schemes can be circumvented with “no CD cracks.” He ends his argument with, “So yeah, PC copy protections can be a bigger annoyance than the console ‘just pop in the disc and don’t worry about it’ model.” His only real complaint against console gaming is that things downloaded to your console cannot be easily moved to someone else’s console. My response to that would be, well, duh.

Rob’s Summary: Copy protection on PC games can be a major headache.

Hidden in the middle of the author’s conclusion is the hidden gem, “great games are where you find them.” That may be the one part of his article that I completely agree with. Truly good games are platform independent. You can find good games everywhere. Too bad the same can’t be said for web journalism.

Arcades/Arcade Games, Main

1984 Arcade Review (Springfield, Missouri)

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In downtown Springfield, Missouri directly across from the YMCA lies the 1984 Arcade. On Wednesday, June 20th, my friend The Stranger and I drove from Oklahoma City to Springfield to visit this tribute to the classic arcades of the 1980’s. The 1984 Arcade opened its doors in 2005, and boasts anywhere from 50-60 classic arcade games on the floor at any given time.


The journey begins.

We were greeted at the front door by a friendly young lady who explained to us how everything worked. Admission is $5, which includes unlimited plays on every arcade game. Blue credit buttons have been added to the front of each cabinet; pressing the button adds credits to the machine. The only games not included in this deal are the pinball machines, which still cost patrons one quarter per play.

The arcade is decorated with classic retro stylings — vintage movie posters, t-shirts, and arcade-inspired decorations from glow-in-the-dark Space Invaders to a giant, wall-mounted Ms. Pac-Man. 80’s music is constantly in rotation while music videos of the 80’s are displayed on various televisions throughout the arcade. It’s almost enough to make you think you’ve travelled back in time to the 1980’s, except back then I don’t remember any arcades being quite this nice!


My head as a power pellet.

The 1984 Arcade is divided up into three separate rooms. The middle room (where visitors enter) has the most games. The room off to the left has more games, along with bar-height tables and chairs. The room to the right has even more games, a snack bar, and even a coffee bar (“Sinistarbucks.” Cute.) Each of the three rooms had small areas to sit and rest (if you were there with kids, for example). One area had an Atari Flashback hooked up for playing Atari games; another lounge area had an all-in-one Pac-Man joystick game connected to a projector which projected your game on to the front window. Neat idea!


I Thirst.

But enough about the decor; let’s talk about games! The 1984 Arcade is stocked, baby. Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Galaga, Space Invaders, Battlezone, Asteroids, Centipede, Missile Command, Moon Patrol, Zaxxon, Gorf, Dig Dug, Frogger, Gauntlet 1 and 2, TRON … their collection of machines reads like a who’s who list of classic games. While no arcade will ever have ever game every patron is hoping to find, 1984’s lineup will leave very few visitors disappointed. The list of games the arcade owns hasn’t been updated in over a year, so if your happiness depends on one specific game being present and operational, I’d call first. That being said, I found the selection not only incredibly diverse but also noticably lacking in “fluff” games (SNK’s P.O.W. was probably the only one I wouldn’t consider a classic) and there wasn’t a single game there I hadn’t heard of before.


Line of classics.

Of the approximately 60 games on hand, only two were broken (Turbo and Gyruss). The condition of each game was surprisingly nice. Many of the games had new joysticks, and the cabinets (including the control panels) were all in outstanding shape. In fact, all but a couple (noticably Burgertime ) were in their original cabinets. There’s something about seeing the spray-painted stencils on the side of a Moon Patrol cabinet or the wood-grain stickers on an original Pong machine that makes the whole experience that much cooler. These are the details that are lost when playing MAME. There is no feeling quite like standing in front of a TRON cabinet, black lights glowing brightly. Games like Karate Champ with its dual-joystick control system, Tempest with its spinner or Battlezone’s tank controls simply don’t feel the same when played on a keyboard in front of a PC.


This was already old school in 1984.

One really neat thing about 1984 is the “high score wall,” where mini versions of each game’s marquees are on display along with the all-time high score from each game. Beat the score and you’ll have your initials and score immortalized in black marker (until someone comes along and breaks it). In fact, within thirty minutes of our arrival The Stranger demolished the standing Burgertime record of 79,000 with his own of 189,000. Chomp on that burger, 1984! For his efforts, The Stranger walked away with a button and a free pass for our next visit. And, oh yes, there will be another visit. I, unfortunately, was not as lucky in my quest to break a high score. Even on games that I previously thought I was good at (Shinobi, Moon Patrol, Dig Dug) I was rarely able to achieve 1/10th the posted high score. Back to arcade training camp for me.


That’s not a mirror. Gauntlet and Gauntlet II.

Summary: Anyone even remotely interested in classic arcade games should check out the 1984 Arcade. The Stranger and I drove 300 miles each way to visit the arcade and both felt the trip was entirely worth it. The staff was incredibly friendly and we chatted several times about the arcade.


Pinball wizard. There has to be a twist.

Notes:

– Hours and Attendance: 1984 Arcade is open 4pm-11pm, Wednesday-Saturday. On the Wednesday we attended, there were a total of 10 people (including the two of us) throughout a four-hour span. Wednesdays and Thursdays are the arcade’s slow days, while Friday and Saturdays are busier. If you’re looking for a quiet, less crowded experience, visit during the week. If you’re looking for a party, try the weekend. Also, for the record: you must be at least 16 or accompanied by a parent; no smoking, and no drinking. We found these rules to be a big plus.

– Parking: as the arcade is located downtown, parking, especially on the weekends could be a problem. Fortunately we were able to parallel park almost directly in front of the arcade, but I could potentially see parking far away during peak hours.

– Pinball: During our visit, four of the arcade’s six pinball tables were inoperable. Neither of us are big pinball players and as such this didn’t affect our visit in the slightest. That being said, if you’re planning on a lengthy road trip in order to go play pinball, you might call or e-mail in advance.

– Why are you still reading this and not driving toward Springfield, Missouri right now???

Link: http://www.1984arcade.com

Commodore 64, Main

Commodore Motherload!

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While skimming Craig’s List this morning, I ran across the following ad:

I am moving and need to sell in two days. Come get it all for $39 in cash. 3 VCRs, 10 Commodore computers, 8 monitors, various printers, some games, Acer scanner, keyboards, cables, some computer books and magazines, floppy disks and floppy organizers, and more. Call John at … Please do not leave recorded messages.

Quicker than you can say “Commodork” I was on the phone with John, arranging to pick up the stuff at high noon. Of course the minute I hung up the phone, I remembered Susan had a dentist appointment today at noon. What to do? Fortunately I was able to coax (okay, swindle) Johnny into driving to pick up the stuff. I’m not sure either of us had any idea what was in store for us.

After arriving at the seller’s house, my first thought was … wow, that’s a lot of stuff. The list of items in the ad did not truly convey just how big the pile of hardware was going to be. My second thought was … Susan’s going to kill me. Money was exchanged, small talk was made, and then we got to loadin’.



Johnny’s truck, full o’ stuff.


Here’s just some of the stuff in the bed.


Susan is going to kill me dead.


As advertised, tons of Commodore hardware.

Some of the stuff is destined for the garbage, some of it will be given away to people who can use it, and some of it will probably live in my garage or gameroom for years to come.

Console Video Games, Main

Wii Will Rock You

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Thanks to a friend of mine who happened to be in the right place at the right time (thanks Ice), we are now the proud owners of a Nintendo Wii (pronounced “we”). For those not in the know, gameplay on the Wii focuses around the console’s unique controller. Games are played by waving a handheld remote around in front of your television, pretty much ensuring that you’re going to look like an idiot while playing (which makes watching people play the Wii almost as much fun as playing the Wii itself). The console supports four controllers but only comes with one, which meant a trip to Wal-Mart shortly after the machine arrived. And while the Nintendo Wii is the cheapest of the “current gen” consoles, it’s still not cheap. The console itself runs $249 + tax (which is less than half the price of a PS3), with a second controller and a game adding another $100 to the total.

The game that comes with the Wii, Wii Sports, includes five “mini” sports games that show off the system and the controllers. Mason and I played Tennis for almost an hour last night. Mason had to be constantly reminded to “back away from the television screen” and “quit swinging the controller wildly near other people’s faces”. He holds his own, though — in our last game of the night, I squeaked out a victory of three games to two in a five game tennis set. In our head-to-head baseball game, I wasn’t quite so lucky — Mason won, with a score of 3-0.

And, if all this “remote swinging” sounds kind of dangerous, it can be. Check out Wii Have A Problem, where damage from Wii’s is recorded and can be sorted by people, televisions, lamps, ceiling fans, and more.

Console Video Games, Main

PS3 – I Snoozed, I Losed.

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In October of 2000, my wife and I sat overnight outside the Mustang, Oklahoma Wal-Mart sitting in two cheap lawn chairs, waiting in line for the Playstation 2 to be released. It was a cold night; we wore winter coats and shared a blanket between us. We spent from 10pm one evening until 7am the following morning chatting with other hardcore videogame fanatics, holding our coveted positions in line (first and second, for the record). By calling ahead, we already knew the score — the Mustang wal-Mart had six PS2s in stock, and we were buying two of them. (Wal-Mart’s rules stated that only one console would be sold per household, but we had a loophole; our drivers licenses had different addresses listed on them.) Despite the fact that the store only had six units available, an hour before the doors opened there were twenty to thirty people in line. Some of them were hardcore gamers, dying for an opportunity to purchase the latest and greatest videogame system available. Others were parents, desperate to put the perfect gift under the Christmas tree that year. The rest of the people were simple consumers, caught up in the hype and just wanting to “be a part of something.”

Susan and I did end up getting the first two PS2s sold in Mustang, Oklahoma. At $299 each, the PS2 was a significant investment at the time. My $299 price ballooned to nearly $500 with the addition of a second controller and two $50 games. The other PS2 was purchased for a co-worker — we had a deal, whoever managed to get a unit would buy two, one to sell to the other one. Tony had no chance at Best Buy, and instead of turning a profit on eBay like so many other people who nabbed one of those prime first-day consoles, I stuck to my word and sold it to Tony at cost.

Today, Sony released the successor to the PS2, the Playstation 3. Along with today’s PS3, the current generation of gaming consoles also includes the Xbox 360 (which is relatively comparable in performance) and Nintendo’s Wii (pronounced “we” or “whee!”), which goes on sale Sunday. Of the three, the PS3 is the most technologically advanced. It has the most horsepower under the hood, and comes with a blu-ray DVD drive installed. Those features don’t come cheap. The PS3 comes in two flavors; one with a smaller hard drive and no hi-definition video ports for $499, and the deluxe edition that comes with a larger hard drive and the aforementioned video ports for $599. The Xbox 360 is less expensive, with two similar models priced at $299 and $399; the caveat being that the Xbox 360 comes stock with a regular DVD drive and not a next generation player like the PS3’s blu-ray drive. Few who follow technology will be surprised to learn that Microsoft is now selling an HD-DVD drive (high-definition DVD drive, similar to the blu-ray in performance and its direct competitor) for $199, bringing the total price of an upgraded Xbox 360 to, you guessed it, the same as the PS3.

Trailing in third place is Nintendo’s Wii. The Wii’s selling point is its revolutionary controller — a remote, or the “Wii-mote” as some have dubbed it, is nothing short of a magic wand that can be waved around in the air, controlling on screen actions. In demonstrations I’ve seen people playing tennis, swing swords, and boxing with the remote (a lightsaber game cannot be far behind). Nintendo plans on delivering a one-two punch with the Wii this holiday season. One, the Wii retails for $250, which includes the wiimote and a game (the $599 systems mentioned before do not come with a game; that’s an additional $60 per title). And two, Nintendo plans on releasing four million Wii consoles before Christmas 2006.

That brings me to today. Sony’s PS3 and its blu-ray drive use a blue laser, of which there is currently a shortage. As a result, Sony has only been able to produce 500,000 PS3s. 100,000 of those went to Japan; 400,000 of them were available to American shoppers this morning, although that’s not even true. Many of them were sold through “pre-sales” months ago. Other PS3 units are being sold in bundles. The only way to order one online via Wal-Mart is through a “deluxe gamers package”, which forces you to also buy 12 games; total package cost, $1,420. Circuit City is only selling them bundled with a hi definition television set.

The systems that didn’t go to rabid gamers this morning went straight to eBay. There are dozens of them on eBay in the Oklahoma City area alone, with price tags of up to $3,000. Wishful thinking, perhaps. A scan of already completed PS3 auctions within 150 miles of Oklahoma City show several “buy it now” auctions that sold between $1,500 and $2,000. Apparently all that stuff they taught us about supply and demand was not only true, but won out over patience and common sense in the end.

Am I bitter? A little. In the back of my mind I had kicked around the idea of picking up a PS3, playing it for a month or so, and then deciding if I wanted to keep it or sell it around Christmas time. A few casual phone calls last night put an end to that plan. The Wal-Mart in Lindsey, Oklahoma had “2 units, and 30 people in line for them.” Mustang had four units, and “more people than we can count here already.” At Target, a woman standing in second line was holding a sign — “this spot in line for sale, $700.” Best Buy had people in tents as early as Tuesday morning. With such a fevered pitch (and potential financial gain) surrounding the PS3, any half-hearted attempts such as my own never had a chance. At least people in Oklahoma are nice; elsewhere around the country there have been reports of riots and even people being shot.

About a month ago I put one of my old original Nintendo systems (1986) in Mason’s room. I only let him borrow a few games at a time. Last night the two of us played Excitebike (a motorcycle racing game), and One on One, a basketball game that I used to play on our old Apple II computer. Mason will be five next month. Although he certainly notices the difference between the Xbox’s graphics and those of older systems, I’m not sure he cares that much. To him, a fun game’s a fun game. Mason came running out his room last night into the living room to announce that he had finally beat the first castle on Super Mario Bros. I couldn’t help but smile a bit.

And, no one got shot in the process.

(Interesting side note: when I began typing this, there were approximately 6,000 “ps3” auctions on eBay. By the time I got done, there were 8,000. Let the madness begin.)