The Stupid Gamer

This is definitely one of the strangest things I’ve come across during my days browsing through message boards. It’s not so much disturbing as absolutely fascinating. Here’s the basic story, followed by a few links.

BYOAC forum member, JMB, shared with the forum that he had come across a Craigslist posting offering up a free Ms. Pac-Man cabinet. Yes, somebody was willing to give away one of the most sought after and beloved arcade games of all time. All that was required was that somebody come by and pick it up. In fact, here is the listing word for word:

arcade game: Ms. Pac Man

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Reply to: sale-601115305@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-03-09, 11:20PM EDT

full-size stand-up arcade game.

Ms. Pac Mac.Works well, in very good condition.

MUST BE ABLE TO PICK-UP at 9:00 AM TUESDAY MORNING.

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JMB contacted the “seller” to see if it was still available, if he had any pictures, and why in the world he’d be giving away a free arcade cabinet. Here’s the reply he was given:

“When I bought this machine the previous owner told me it was haunted. I laughed, didn’t believe him, because I didn’t believe in that sort of thing.

Got a bad feeling the day it was delivered. Game started on its own in the middle of the night several times, had a tech service the machine three times (very pricy housecalls), but he couldn’t find the problem.

Three-year old daughter started talking about the “man in the video machine”, didn’t think much of it, then my wife saw a dark figure move across the basement and into the machine. She ran out of the house, would not return until the machine was out of the house. I moved it to my business garage (two miles away), and several times I have opened the garage to find tools missing or scattered, things tipped over.

This is why I am giving away a $1000 machine for free.”

I don’t know so far if anybody has claimed the machine, but I’m secretly cheering for somebody from the BYOAC or KLOV forums to pick it up so we can find out whether or not this Ms. Pac-Man is in need of a old fashioned exorcism or if paranoia is just playing with people’s minds. Whatever happens, it’s definitely something the seller believes in, because you don’t simply throw away that kind of money, and surely don’t tell somebody that what you have to offer is haunted, unless you feel morally obligated to do so.

Original Craigslist posting: Haunted Ms. Pac-Man?

BYOAC Forum Thread: Where the story is unfolding.

No, that’s not the cost of development, but rather the price to own one of the arcade machines. A price listing for Street Fighter IV appeared online today, and it came in at 2,394,000 yen, which is about $23,092.52. I’m really hoping than extra zero was tacked onto that price accidentally, because it would take quite some time for an arcade operator to make a profit on a single machine, let alone a whole row of them.

Ok, so you want to know the real reason why the listing is so high? Well, it’s because the game uses LAN to handle matchmaking, and the game comes in sets of 4 cabinets (minimum). Basically operators still have to drop the $23k, but at least that gets them four cabinets. But still, it’s going to take a while to turn a good profit on those things…

No, there’s not a new version of the Vectrex being released, and no, a successor isn’t in the works. What is happening is that I picked up a Vectrex along with 8 games, and it’s on its way right now to my humble little home. The Vectrex will take up residency in the arcade room, right between Donkey Kong and Ms. Pac-Man on a table (which also has a Virtual Boy fighting for attention).

I’ve always loved the vector games and how impressive they look in person. I’ve never owned a Vectrex, so this is going to be quite the treat for me. Ever since I added Asteroids to my arcade, I’ve been itching to get more vector-based games. While the Vectrex isn’t exactly an arcade machine, it’s pretty close.

Now if I can just get my hands on that Star Wars arcade game I’ve been chasing around…

So the wife and I moved into a new home last week and one of the first things we got set up was our home arcade. For the past 6 months or so I’ve been collecting, fixing, and selling arcades, but the only place I could store them in our 2-bedroom condo was in the garage. Now that we’re in a 6 bedroom house, I was able to dedicate a room to the cause. So, here are some pics of the room (details of the arcade follow the pictures).

The arcade consists of:

• Donkey Kong - fully restored
• Asteroids - 90% restored (needs a little work on the control panel paint)
• Ms. Pac-Man - 100% restored (will still do a cap kit on the monitor though)
• Jurassic Park pinball machine - 100% original in A+ condition
• Neo Geo MVS 4-slot system in a Japanese Candy Cab. Games include:
• Metal Slug
• Metal Slug 2
• Metal Slug X
• Metal Slug 3
• Metal Slug 4
• Metal Slug 5
• Samurai Showdown II
• Ghost Pilots
• Ninja Combat
• Aero Fighters 2
• Strikers 1945 Plus
• Garou Mark of the Wolves
• Puzzle Bobble
• Magical Drop III
• Baseball Stars 2
• Shock Troopers
• King of the Monsters 2
• SNK vs Capcom SVC Chaos
• Neo Mr. Do
• Andro Dunos
• Blazing Star
• …more on the way

• MAME cabinet w/ 25″ horizontal display, 2 player setup, spinner, trackball, and thousands of games (you name it, it’s on the machine)

The green tint you see to everything is due to the lighting I have. I have both a black light and green fluorescent bulb in the arcade. In person it looks great, especially with the dark blue paint on the walls. I still have room for some more cabinets, but right now I’m happy with it as it is. If the right game pops up in local listings however, we’ll see…

A video clip of a short walk through the arcade is available here (1 minute 8 seconds): http://youtube.com/watch?v=6wzsT7SuJdc

Sorry for the shaky footage. I was using a digital camera, and they aren’t the most stable things in the world to film with.

The first of many Neo-Geo MVS titles arrived in my mailbox today and I was all giddy as I hefted the carts and checked them out. While I still don’t have a cabinet to play the games in, I’m working on resolving that very soon. I’ve always been a big Neo-Geo/SNK fan, but I’ve never owned either an AES or MVS system. My exposure to SNK had been through console ports or within the arcades themselves. So for me, it’s all very exciting. I already have more games on the way, and I have a good line on a cabinet source, so here’s hoping it all comes together soon.

Oh, here are the two games that showed up:

Ninja Combat

Samurai Showdown II

Oh, and here’s some awesome SNK-inspired art. Enjoy!

The wife and I were in the mood for some pasta tonight, but our options are quite limited in this area. After considering a trip on the freeway into the city, we remembered that there was this little pizza place down the road that we’ve never tried. I grew up just a couple of miles from this place, but for some reason had never stepped inside. Upon arriving, it looked busy, and it smelled great on the outside. We stepped in and I immediately was attracted to the decor. They had a jukebox near the entrance and a ton of vinyl records and album covers all over the walls.

Just next to the order window, however, was what will definitely bring me back. There was a Flash Gordon pinball machine in good shape, an Area 51 cabinet, and an original Asteroids! The game was in great shape and played like a dream. After dropping a quarter into the Flash Gordon and earning 3(!) free games, I sat down and scarfed my calzone and breadsticks before making my way to the Asteroids. It was really in great shape. On the first play I managed to get my initials into the fourth position and on my second (and final) try I secured the number 2 spot. My score came in at about half the top score…so I gotta get back and sink a few more quarters into the machine to take that spot.

It was pretty surprising to see an Asteroids still on location making money. The machine has probably been there all its life or for a good part of it. I had to ask if it was for sale and the guy working there just shook his head and said, “sorry, man, it’s been a customer favorite for as long as I can remember.”

Every once in a while gamers have to take things into their own hands if they want to get the most out of their hobby. Timoe, of the BYOAC forums, is creating custom made arcade sticks for consoles, using only the highest quality authentic arcade hardware. In addition to quality components, Tim sports some solid construction and amazing style in his builds. You honestly aren’t going to find a better arcade stick out there.

You’ll have to contact Tim directly for a pricing quote as things are handled on a project by project basis. If you order more than one stick, I’m sure he’ll be willing to work out special pricing as well.

So far Tim has created sticks for the PC, PS2, Xbox, and Xbox 360. I personally am thinking of getting an Xbox 360 one built so I can finally stop screaming at my d-pad during Pac-Man: CE rounds. Also, a 360 compatible stick could be used on the PC via USB. See the pictures below for a look at his work:

To contact Tim, register at the BYOAC forums (http://arcadecontrols.com) and shoot him a PM. He’s pretty quick at responding, and he’s easy to work with. I’ve worked with him in the past when building arcade control panels.

The Internet is jam-packed full of blogs, fansites, and small networks fighting to carve out their space and find an audience. The downfall of many of these sites, however, is that they tend to regurgitate the same old news or the same old arguments. There are many exceptions, and a fellow BYOAC forum user directed me over to a prime example of a site whose staff is passionate about their covered topics.

The site is small, and there isn’t a lot of content thus far, but what is there provides for a good read. They aren’t in it for the chance to score a few ad bucks, and they aren’t dreaming of becoming the next mega site. The guys over at Before the Dark Times are sharing their experiences in entertainment media (mostly related to Star Wars) and allowing their excitement for the hobby to show right through. Here are two little pieces I particularly enjoyed:

A BtDT author grabbing an Asteroids arcade cabinet: here

The same author picking up a Ms. Pac-Man; one of my favorite arcade games ever made: here

There is a pretty amazing photoset up on flickr showing an arcade back when the coin-op machines ruled the gaming world. Some of the images are pretty amazing, and they can all be found here: Retro Arcade on flickr.

Here are a handful of my favorite shots:

Lately I’ve been getting into arcades again. For the past year I’ve been consumed by them. I can’t pass even the junkiest looking cabinet without approaching it and checking it out. After selling my Bubble Bobble this morning, I decided it was time to get working on my Donkey Kong cabinet. The cabinet is in 100% working order, it just needs some TLC to get back to mint condition.

Step one was general cleaning. I got some of those nifty Mr. Clean Magic Erasers to cut through random grime and tough spots, and just a wet rag and some soapy water for the rest.

After cleaning up everything, I had to replace the marquee light and get the monitor in better working order. Fixing the marquee easy. I just picked up a replacement from The Home Depot for $10 and that took care of that. The monitor image had faded pretty badly, but there wasn’t any burn-in. To make it look new again, I ordered a cap kit from The Real Bob Roberts. There were about 30 capacitors to replace on the monitor board, and it was quite the undertaking (for me) to replace them. Today, I installed the kit, and the results were spectacular. Check out the comparison pics below:

Capacitors (the blue cylindrical things):

Before:

Mid-way through. I had to go back and fix some mistakes after the first attempt. Notice the distortion on the left of the screen and some odd colors:

After (bluriness is due to long exposure time) It looks brand new!

And to think that the magic all happened here…on a crappy old card table in a small area of my garage. Not the most professional place to work, but it’s all I had.

Here’s my list of what I have left to do. I’ll provide updates as I make progress. Since I have trouble finding large blocks of time to dedicate to the machine, updates will be sporadic. By the end, however, it should be an enteraining read. So, here’s what’s left to do:

• Remove the old, damaged sideart
• Order replacement joystick (it works now, but it’s worn)
• Repaint the cabinet and replace the t-molding (white trim around the cabinet)
• Replace the joystick, buttons, stickers, and control panel overlay
• Replace the sideart
• Invite friends over to play!