Lots of cabinet repair progress this week. While most of the woodwork is in decent shape, the back was pretty shot (lots of water runoff) and the floor had seen better days. Time to repair what I could, and replace whatever couldn’t be repaired.

The back doors are trashed, many orders worse than the rest of the cabinet. I’m guessing that the previous owners each swapped out door sets for their other Trons, leaving the worst of the lot for mine. I’ll be building new doors in a later episode.

And speaking of rebuilding new doors, I broke down and bought a Ryobi jigsaw. While I don’t loathe the thing as much as the Home Depot reviewers do, it does have some issues. The jigsaw feels rugged enough, but the actual construction could use some improvement. On first use, the laser sight was misaligned and blade angle wouldn’t stay positioned; breaking down the bottom base and aligning and tightening everything helped, but I still have problems cutting a perfect line. I figured it was my lack of skill, but with the universally bad reviews, I may end up exchanging this one for another brand.

Sideart removal was just as easy as it was with the control panel. Slathered on the Citristrip, went to bed, and scraped the next morning. As you can see in the image below, the end result is something like a giant glob of chewing gum. Wiping down the cabinet with Goof Off afterward removed the final remaining bits.

The first complete piece! I’m impressed with the Phoenix Arcade reproductions, so far the quality is top notch. I tend to be pretty obsessive about proper alignment, so I went with the wet application method just in case things went a bit off-kilter. Happened to have a window film applicator kit handy, but windex or a squirt bottle with a dash of dishsoap added will also do the trick. Wet application is what you see window tinting guys do: spray the entire surface area lightly, then apply. This let me slide the artwork around a bit to get everything lined up just right along the main control panel area, then I wiped off the front and back lips and folded the rest of the artwork over. Finally, I ran over it a few times with the squeegee and clamped the edges to keep them down until the surface area was completely dry.

Finally, priming and bracing the interior. I decided to retain the original bottom piece, but added braces for some extra strength. Additionally, the braces will serve as risers onto which I’ll mount the power supply board, bringing it up from the floor of the cabinet.

The big Bob Roberts parts order came in:

• used Midway Service Panel
• 8 ohm 15 watt shielded 6X9 speaker x2
• Set of 4 Black steel cabinet corner protectors
• Video game leg levelers (4)
• Video game leg leveler mounting plates
• K4900 19″ color cap kit
• Tron MCR 4″ SCSI cables
• Tron/MCR Replacement Video Cable
• Tron Lithium Battery Conversion Kit
• Lock set keyed alike 641 (1)1 1/8″ & (2) 7/8″
• cable clamp assortment bag of 25 each size (100 total)
• cable clamp pan head screws 1/2in (100) black
• .084 Plug & receptacle 3 position w pins & sockets
• xcelite flushcutter
• (and bonus, they sent along a free wire stripper for lagniappe!)

Next time: sanding, and then some more sanding!

• Restoring TRON - Stripping!
• Restoring TRON
• link love 06-11-08
• The TRON design documents.
• An interview with George Gomez.

• link love 06-11-08
• Operation Darkness demo is up on Xbox Live
• Music appreciation day.
• Video Games Live Las Vegas.
• Xbox Live Arcade Potential Delist List

Retro Space, the newest entry into the pre-built MAME cabinet scene. These things are supposed to sell for around 5000-6000 Euros (I think that’s like $40,000 or something these days). Kinda nice, but not that nice.

Speaking of paying lots of money for your games, here is Rotheblog’s writeup on the 15 most valuable classic arcade games.

And finally, Multiple:Option has released the newest version of Game Trivia Catechism DS (the iPhone version we’re working on is an expanded branch of this). It’s one of two apps he’s entering into the NeoFlash Summer Coding Compo, so wish him luck!

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The control panel plastics cleaned up quite well. After soaking the handle, buttons, and spinner in a bucket of warm water and auto detergent for a couple hours, I scrubbed away the many many years of dirt and grime. Particularly notable was the wad of solidified gum that had to be scrapped off with a razor.

Here’s the before:

And after a good solid cleanin’:

I highly recommend Citristrip for removing stubborn and baked on control panel overlays. It has a consistency of sludge, doesn’t reek like most solvents, and didn’t feel like it was going to immediately burn my hands off if I got some on me (still, wear gloves, it’s powerful stuff). After a liberal coating with a cheap paintbrush, I let the panel sit overnight. The next morning, the old CPO and paint slid right off. Followed that with a wipe down of Goof Off to remove the last bits of adhesive, and then sanded the panel and applied a coat of primer. Here’s the CP immediately after using the Citristrip:

The monitor! A Well-Gardner K4900, it originally came out of a horizontal game, as there’s a slightly noticeable bit of burn-in, but not enough burn-in for me to identify the source. As the cardboard bit on the end of the neck states, someone replaced the caps in 1997, but I figure it’s a good idea to replace them now again anyway while I’ve got the monitor out of the cabinet.

An arcade cabinet is deceptively simple. It’s like a big model, really. As long as you can get ahold of a parts list and schematics, you can put one of these together. Still, label everything. If you’re not sure, label it. Or even if you are sure, label it.

Parts order update:

• Phoenix Arcade reproduction TRON art
  (inner art, marquee, shroud art, CPO, spinner decal, and joystick insert)
• CP and joystick assembly nuts ‘n bolts kit (thanks for the lead, Jeff!)
• 18inch fluorescent light fixture for upper rear cabinet
• starters for the 3 original fixtures
• Various sundries for stripping, painting, and repair
  (Bondo, putty knives, satin black spraypaint for metal bits, etc)

The next parts update will be the big one, as I’m preparing to write up orders from Bob Roberts and Arcadeshop now.

• Restoring Tron - Repairing
• Restoring TRON
• An interview with George Gomez.
• link love 08-15-08
• The TRON design documents.

I intend to strip down the entire machine, repair and paint the cabinet, replace all artwork, and clean up and fix any mechanical or wiring issues that remain. When I’m done, this TRON should be damn close to like-new condition.

(Cyberball is next, but that one is gonna be a bit more of a challenge)

I began the teardown this weekend, removed most of the fixtures and exterior bits, and sanded and repainted half the brackets. Discharging the monitor, something I’ve honestly been dreading for years, was a nonevent, and I’ll be pulling that and the boards out next.

I’ll list out my parts purchases as I go, partly with the intention of tracking how much I really end up sinking into this, and partly to make things easier for the next poor soul who wanders by with a restoration project.

Initial parts orders:

• Rear screen art
• T-molding (40 ft)
• 4 f15t8/cw fluorescent lamps (2 spares)
• 2 f15t8/bl fluorescent lamps (very nice price, 1 spare)
• 2 f15t8/blb fluorescent lamps
• Polaris 651 High Voltage Probe

• Restoring TRON - Stripping!
• Restoring Tron - Repairing
• The TRON design documents.
• An interview with George Gomez.
• 10 Games You Should Have Played: A list

Jason Scott shares some neat Karateka trivia. I have no idea if the trick worked on the Atari 8-bit version, but then again I never tried putting the disk in upside-down.

Multiwinia trailer!

Also from Dtoid, Games time forgot: Space Ace. Poe’s Pizza, the place we’d trek to and burn our allowance on, had Space Ace in it’s lineup for quite some time. Still, for a kid on a limited budget, laserdisc titles were several places down the preferability list, as playtime could be painfully brief until you mastered the game.

Hey wow, SEGA discovered a roomfull of games, from back when SEGA games were good. /TEAR 9-9-99 NEVER FORGET

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• Bestest evars.

This following bit, from Dave Nutting’s response after attending the TRON design meeting, is particularly wonderful, and shows how little things in the game industry have really changed:

(by the way, Bill is Bill Adams, designer and developer of the game, and George is George Gomez, visual designer, and the guy responsible for the look of the cabinet)

Anyway, here are the goods. The design documents, outlining the seven (!) mini-games and basic gameplay features, a couple Disney memos regarding assets, and Dave Nutting’s followup mail about the game to Dave Marofske, then President of Midway.

TRON Design Document: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]
Disney memos: [1, 2]
Daving Nutting mail [1, 2]
…or just download the whole collection.

• An interview with George Gomez.
• Restoring TRON - Stripping!
• Restoring TRON
• Restoring Tron - Repairing
• An evening at EVO 2008.

So, the new games.

Capcom had delivered ten head-to-head Viewlix cabinets for the event, arranged in an outward facing circle near the center of the BYOC (Bring Your Own Console) play area. Eight of the cabinets were running Street Fighter IV, and the final two were builds of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, a game I hadn’t seen much of prior to last night but ultimately my favorite of the bunch. Additionally, an Xbox 360 kiosk was running Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, and I’d heard that Arc was on hand the day before with BlazBlue, although it was unfortunately gone by the time I arrived.

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is looking great. Something like the fighting game version of Super Robot Wars, the game pits characters from various Capcom properties against Tatsunoko Production’s lineup. So far, less than a dozen of the playable characters have been revealed, but the character select screen seemed to be built for a whole lot more. Assuming licensing talks go well (the reason there’s never been a US release of the Super Robot Wars games), it could be quite the collection. I hope Mospeada, Southern Cross, or any of the other Robotech licenses are represented.

Pictures and video after the jump!

Some gameplay footage:

Tatsunoko vs Capcom

Street Fighter IV

• Better late than never - 2008 ASI
• GTA IV midnight release.
• Better late than never - MarioKart Tour
• ASI Coin-Op Olympics
• Them!

Matt Barton and Bill Loguidice’s excellent A History of Gaming Platforms series continues on Gamasutra, this time with a personal favorite of mine, the Atari 8-Bit Computer. A book is in the works.

The Last Guy, available soon on PSN, is a clever rescue the civilians during the zombie apocalypse game that uses real-world satellite maps for the gameplay stages. As a promo, they’ve released a web version that builds the play level from a submitted web address.

Looking to fill out your Sega collection? CAG nebrazca78 is auctioning off a ton of Genesis, 32X, and Master System gear. I’m gonna keep an eye on a couple of those 32X titles.

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We’re looking for a talented chiptunes-style musician or two to contribute original music for the project, if that’s you or someone you know, please let us know!

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• The music of Cave Story.
• Games we play, music we make.
• link love 06-11-08
• snowymydog’s Pipeline for PSP

• What else I did last weekend.
• He reviews video games.
• Video Games Live Las Vegas.
• An evening at EVO 2008.
• 10 Games You Should Have Played: A list

The guys at Siliconera scanned the Mirror’s Edge comic that’s a Comic-Con giveaway from EA. Interesting aside, both the comic and game narrative are being penned by Rhianna Pratchett, Terry Pratchett’s daughter.

noise grid, removing the noise from gaming journalism. Sometimes, I really like noise. But sometimes, it’s nice to just read the news.

A conversation with Michael B. Johnson of Pixar, and, referenced in that conversation, an excellent interview Brad Bird did with McKinsey earlier this year. Our industry could learn a lot from these two guys.

Cool! The 2009 Nissan GT-R has a series of gauges designed by Kazunori Yamauchi, CEO of Polyphony and creator of Gran Turismo.

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Instead, I found his Music to Dry Yours Eyes To (and part 2) and listened to his selections. I began to think about the especially affecting songs I’ve come across, and, after basking in their associated melancholy and nostalgia for a bit, wrote this list.

While building this list, I realized that most of these are not necessary sad so much as they are hopeful songs. Some are empowered by personal events and history; others, the ones I find most interesting professionally, draw their strength in their coordination with film, by their place in a well-tuned recipe of story, cinematography, and sound. All of them would be suitable for driving alone in the dark, after a good rain.

Listed mostly in the order that I remembered them, which may mean something.

1. Michel Legrand (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) - I Will Wait For You

I’ll start by saying that most of these songs are less make me cry and more of the lump in the throat variety. Except for this one. Hearing it for the first time while watching The Umbrellas of Cherbourg late at night after an argument with my wife… oh man. It’s a beautiful and sad song within a perfect film. Connie Francis’ English version was particularly effective in Futurama, too.

2. The Sundays - Here’s Where the Story Ends

An almost embarrassing entry… for me personally, it’s the trash and tribulations of high school rolled up tightly into song form. The entirety of Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic is, really, but especially this song.

3. Mercedes Sosa - Unicornio

Seen here in the form I discovered it, as the backbone of Won Kar Wai’s short film The Follow for BMW. Silvio Rodríguez’ original tale of love and revolution is just as moving. The lyrics follow:

4. Berlin - The Metro

I don’t know what it is about “The Metro,” but it just hits me when I hear it. I can’t help but empathize with the subjects. Is this a sad song for anyone else, or just another poppy tune from the 80s?

5. EBTG - My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains

If there’s one thing that Everything but the Girl especially excels at, it’s writing thoughtful and depressing songs. I love them, and this is one of my favorites. It seems most of the depressing moments in my life are linked to an EBTG song in one way or another.

6. Gary Jules - Mad World

Thanks for the marketing machine behind Gears of War, if you missed the 1980s and passed on Donnie Darko, you’ve still most likely heard “Mad World.” Like Peter Shilling and “Major Tom,” this is one of those songs that stands out from a repertoire that otherwise doesn’t really grab me. The Tears for Fears original is a nice tune, but Jules nailed it with this version.

7. New Order - Elegia

I’m unable to separate this one from More, Mark Osborne’s 1998 short film. More tells the story of a factory worker and inventor who longs for the happiness of his youth, and the somber and brooding “Elegia” fits it perfectly.

8. DCFC - I Will Follow You Into The Dark

“If there’s no one beside you when your soul embarks, then I’ll follow you into the dark.”

Gulp. No life moments or memories attached to this one… it’s just a plain good thoughtful song, one of Ben Gibbard’s best.

9. Faye Wong - Eyes On Me

I’ve yet to play Final Fantasy VIII, for which Nobuo Uematsu originally wrote the song, so I’m interested in seeing if and how my perception of “Eyes On Me” changes once I do. I’ve been a fan of Faye Wong since I saw her in Chungking Express, and this is one of the few English language songs she sings.

10. Les Balayeurs Du Desert - Decollage

I discovered this song in the clip above, accompanying video of the wonderful Sultan’s Elephant public art installation by Royal de Luxe several years ago. It’s a sweet, thoughtful, and curious song, and for me, quite moving.

11. Zbigniew Preisner - Song for the Unification of Europe

A beautiful song from a beautiful movie, Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Bleu. With verses inspired by 1 Corinthians 13, the song is central to the plot of the film, with the scene above (the finale, so uh, spoilers) a key moment of realization.

And, as Simon ended his, these are my choices. How about you?

• The music of Cave Story.
• Finished: Eternal Sonata & Cave Story
• Interview: LiquidRain of rainwave.cc
• Highlights from the show.
• Alan Smithee

Mirrors Edge continues to impress me, and has become the title I’m most looking forward to. Something very different from the folks that brought us the Battlefield series, I really hope EA allows DICE to shine this one up. The design is smart and the direction and story appear to be solid (hell, even the trailer provokes emotion). I think this one has the potential to be one of the landmark titles of the current generation. So far, hands-on impressions have been consistently glowing.

I Am Alive came from out of the blue, and so far little is known about the game other than that you play as Adam, an earthquake survivor in a ravaged Chicago. My personal interest in this is that the just trying to survive the cataclysmic events gameplay (think War of the Worlds, in the role of the narrator) is something I’ve been thinking a bit about, and now that Ubisoft is out the gate, I’m keenly interested in seeing how they approach it.

The Xbox 360 as a Netflix ready device announcement was enough to push me to cancel my long standing Greencine account and make the move to Netflix. I’ve since tried the streaming on my PC, and the quality is acceptable (it varies depending on bandwidth) in exchange for the convenience of an immediate stream. Not every film in the Netflix library can be watched this way, but the selection is growing. Currently, in a queue of just under 300 movies, 41 can be immediately streamed, although I’m guessing that’s skewed downward from the norm due to my preference for more offbeat fare.

Not Quite a Highlight

I really feel for the poor guys at Bungie. Building up to a big reveal at E3 most likely meant a lot of stress and late nights in the weeks leading up to the show. Usually there’s the payoff at the end, but to suddenly have your legs swept out from under you… that could not have been pleasant.

And Finally

Flower might be brilliant, Left 4 Dead is going to be a must-buy, and I’m thrilled about Chrono Trigger DS.

Anything at E3 really catch your eye?

• This can’t be good.
• On the Best Buy HD-DVD Gift Card.
• Interview: LiquidRain of rainwave.cc
• The Play List, 2008.
• link love 07-28-08

Act I of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is up, and unless you are reading this right now, Act II or III might even be up too. But then, there might only be a day or two left until it’s pulled back down, so go watch it now!

Adam Isgreen has written a list of Game Design No-Nos. Please don’t do those things in that list, game designers of the world.

An interview with a few of the folks from Good Old Games, a classic game download service that’s starting up this fall. Here’s another interview at Gamecyte if you’re still craving words.

From that really smart guy at Lost Garden, a nice article that’s a little bit about Soul Bubbles but mostly about the opinion of experts and why game reviews are broken.

Lastly, Duke Nukem Trilogy. Wow. Just wow.

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