Looking forward to a weekend of beer, tools, sandpaper, and paint. Oh, and a date with my wife.
TILT: The Battle to Save Pinball, the fascinating story behind Pinball 2000, is now available on both iTunes and Netflix. You can buy the dvd, too.
The Making Of: Asteroids. Keep doing these stories, Edge! [via Arcade Heroes]
Scribblenauts: How a Nobody Game Became the Talk of This Year’s E3.
And finally, a Harvard psychiatrist explains Zombie Neurobiology.
Here’s the combined schedule of upcoming retro screenings at Tropicana Cinemas and Aliante Station. Big thanks to Mr. Kindred for compiling the list, I’ll update these as more dates become available.
June
Monday, June 8 – Singin’ In The Rain – Aliante 6:30 PM ($5)
Wednesday, June 10 – The Birds – Trop 7:30 PM ($8)
Monday, June 15 – Rebel Without A Cause – Aliante 6:30 PM ($5)
Wednesday, June 17 – Wet Hot American Summer – Trop 7:30 PM ($8)
Monday, June 22 – Breakfast At Tiffany’s – Aliante 6:30 PM ($5)
Wednesday, June 24 – Jurassic Park – Trop 7:30 PM ($8)
Monday, June 29 – Some Like It Hot – Aliante 6:30 PM ($5)
July
Wednesday, July 1 – Breakfast At Tiffany’s – Trop 7:30 PM ($8)
Monday, July 6 – Mary Poppins – Aliante 6:30 PM ($5)
Wednesday, July 8 – Top Gun – Trop 7:30 PM ($8)
Monday, July 13 – Casablanca – Aliante 6:30 PM ($5)
Wednesday, July 15 – Grease – Trop 7:30 PM ($8)
Wednesday, July 22 – Temple of Doom – Trop 7:30 PM ($8)
Wednesday, July 29 – 2001 – Trop 7:30 PM ($8)
August
Wednesday, August 5 – Pink Floyd: The Wall – Trop 7:30 PM ($8)
Wednesday, August 12 – Willy Wonka – Trop 7:30 PM ($8)
Wednesday, August 19 – Blazing Saddles – Trop 7:30 PM ($8)
Wednesday, August 26 – Enter the Dragon – Trop 7:30 PM ($8)
September
Wednesday, September 2 – The Fifth Element – Trop 7:30 PM ($8)
Wednesday, September 9 – Pulp Fiction – Trop 7:30 PM ($8)
Wednesday, September 16 – Reservoir Dogs – Trop 7:30 PM ($8)
Wednesday, September 23 – Back To The Future – Trop 7:30 PM ($8)
Wednesday, September 30 – Jaws – Trop 7:30 PM ($8)
October
Wednesday, October 7 – The Exorcist – Trop 7:30 PM ($8)
Wednesday, October 14 – Muppet Movie – Trop 7:30 PM ($8)
Wednesday, October 21 – Interview with a Vampire – Trop 7:30 PM ($8)
There’s a lot here, go see an old movie.
Okay, art time. The creases were especially fun to deal with, and — exacerbating the issues below — the arcadeshop sideart was thinner than the exceptional quality stuff that Phoenix Arcade puts out.
A little paint and some light sanding on mounting brackets and exposed bolts makes a world of difference.
I mentioned this part in the last post, but here it is in more detail. As the original side art was applied bare and the surface (minus areas I patched) still appeared to be in good shape, I figured I could get away with applying the new side art the same way. Unfortunately, the process of laying and lifting the art pulled up tiny bits of particulate, marring the smooth surface. Here’s a closeup of the results in the sunlight:
Hot tip! Never skimp on surface preparation. Seriously. Annoying lesson to learn after spending so much time cleaning up the rest of the cabinet. A couple coats of primer and a good sanding would’ve gone a long way.
Speaking of screw ups, I managed to stretch out the front of the control panel overlay as I was lifting it to remove an air pocket, resulting in some noticeable creases. I should’ve just used a pin. Sigh.
Overall, the cabinet does look a bit better now that everything has settled, especially when it’s not being hit with direct light.
Monitor, harness, coin door, and boards installed… it powers up (and makes the low wah wah wah sound), so that’s a start! Time to troubleshoot the guts.
It’s E3 week! Next week is WWDC week! Productivity hammered!
Pixelvixen707 talks Milo, or more interestingly, an imaginary blogger writes about an imaginary friend.
From Leigh Alexander, the chiptunes band that just might break through.
Miss any of the big three press conferences? Offworld points out the important bits from Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony. My personal favorites from each are Shadow Complex, New Super Mario Wii, and The Last Guardian.
Okay, time to get back into gear and finish up the Missile Command cabinet restoration. Last time I posted about it, I’d just rebuilt and polished the Trakball. Here’s what’s happened since then.
Unlike the TRON, the original Missile Command sideart peeled right off, albeit in many little pieces. I love how the artwork has baked into the cabinet — it looks neat, and helped with aligning the new art just right, too.
The cabinet was mostly solid, with the typical beat up edges and corners. A bit of bondo and a lot of sanding cleaned up most of the damage.
The original lower wood piece had been through hell, so I used it as a basic template and made a replacement.
Post paint and prep work. In hindsight, I really should’ve put more time into the sides of the cabinet. I figured that since the original side art was placed on bare wood, and since the wood was apparently in good shape, that I could get away with doing the same with the reproduction artwork. Unfortunately, every time I had to lift the side art during placement, it’d pull up miniscule bits of wood, marring the smooth surface. A proper coat of paint or two would’ve prevented that.
The Missile Command side art sat rolled up in a shipping box through spring, so, much to the annoyance of my wife, I flattened it out over a couple of weeks on the dining room table. Note the creases, they were especially fun to work out during application.
