The Stupid Gamer » Personal

Swine flu…not a gamer’s best friend

Jeff Rivera — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:05:05 +0000

Some time around last Thursday I must have come into contact with an Infected. I’m pretty sure I know who it was and where it was, but I guess you can never be sure. Either way, by Friday I was doubled over and clutching cold porcelain and realizing that it was going to be a rough weekend. During the holiday rush, however, deep down everybody kind of wishes they can get sick so that they have a valid excuse to sit home and put in unnatural amounts of time into their pile of new games, but that becomes a problem when you can’t sit up without nausea setting in. And no, you certainly can’t engage in any multiplayer gaming while under the effects of H1N1 because you’re doomed to moments when you’ll need to simply drop the controller and run for the bathroom.

So here I am today, still sick, but finally back on my feet. In theory I could get a lot of gaming in today, but no, my 360 is still not back from the Microsoft repair center. Can I blame that one on the swine flu? No, but it’s just as devastating.

Before anybody comments and asks what the point of this post was, I’ll just come out and admit that it’s nothing more than just simple whining. But seriously people, if you have it available to you get the H1N1 vaccine shot!

Welcome, APB! Another arcade joins the game room (with pics)

Jeff Rivera — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 05:17:15 +0000

Today my wife (who is 8 months pregnant), my dog, and I headed up to Nampa, Idaho (about 15 minutes east of Boise) to pick up an APB arcade game from a fellow KLOV/BYOAC member, FrizzleFried. Boise is about a 5 hour drive from here, so we got started early. The little adventure wasn’t without its complications, as you’ll see by checking out the pictures and descriptions below, but it was 100% successful and we had a great time. We’re back home, very tired, but happy to have our new game. It’s still in the garage, but we’ll get it moved down into the game room early next week after I do a little bit of extra cleaning on the machine (it’s already pretty darn clean). I usually don’t like splitting posts with a jump, but since this one is a little lengthy I’m going to do so in order to save the front page from being abnormally long.

We set our alarm for 6:00am, and after a couple of short snooze delays, we got up and got things going. Bowser was very excited to be going on a ride, and we were shaking off our sleepiness as we had a quick breakfast on the road of smoothies and cinammon rolls.

Not even 20 minutes into the trip our speedometer breaks. For the entirety of the trip we were estimating our speeds and trying to peer into the dashboards of the cars we were passing to get an idea of how fast we were going. After finding out that it takes 48 seconds to travel a mile at 75mph (the speed limit for 80% of the way), we got dialed in and relied heavily on the cruise control. Things got tricky in the cities when speeds varied between 25mph and 40mph often, however.

Despite the complications provided by the speedometer and the early start, Bowser couldn’t have been more content to be our travel buddy. He is always willing to go on road trips; even the long ones.

At times the landscape got pretty bland, but we were rocking some tunes the entire way to keep us entertained. This picture was taken about an hour outside of Boise, Idaho.

After getting into FrizzleFried’s hometown, we found his place easy enough and he greeted us quite warmly. I got the full tour of his arcades (including his Star Wars cockpit!), and we swapped some repair, buying, selling, and restoration stories. Bowser was getting antsy, and Frizz and his wife were nice enough to let him wander their yard while we all got to know each other a bit better. My wife is due at the end of next month with our firstborn, and they’re nearing the point in their pregnancy where they get to find out if it’s a boy or girl they’ll be having come October. We had a long ride ahead of us, so we had to cut short our time in Nampa, so Frizz and I loaded the APB up into the back of the Yukon. The first try failed, as it was a bit too big, but after removing the control panel it fit like a glove. Bowser was a good sport about dealing with tighter quarters on the return trip. So after loading up and saying goodbye, we headed out to find some lunch and to head back home.

We ate right there in Nampa at the Pizza Factory. After walking in I noticed that they had an arcade! They had a Metal Slug 5, Whitewater pin, Big Buck Hunter, Cruis’n the World, R-Type, Ms. Pac-Man, and possibly one or two more. The Ms. Pac-Man had a Willis control panel overlay, so I had to take a pic of that. It was actually the first Ms. Pac-Man Willis CP overlay that I had ever seen in the wild. Lunch gave us a chance to get ready for the return trip, and the food was pretty good too.

During the return trip Tami’s fatigue caught up with her for a bit and she crashed hard for about an hour and a half (remember, she’s 8 months pregnant). She woke up as I was in the middle of a bladder emergency. For some reason Bowser decided he was done with the back of the Yukon and he jumped the center console and tried to play lap dog with Tami. She was good to put up with it for the mile or so that it took for me to get to a gas station where we piled out, refilled the gas tank, let Bowser stretch for a bit, and grabbed some drinks for the remainder of the drive. Bowser returned to the back of the Yukon next to the arcade and he slept the rest of the way back. Tami and I cranked the tunes one more time and pushed through the rest of the drive.

When we pulled into our driveway I snapped a quick picture of the tripometer. You’ll aslo notice that even though we have the car in park with the emergency brake on, the speedometer is saying that we’re going about 110mph.

After putting a bit more air into the hand truck’s tires, I slid the machine out of the back of the Yukon, put the control panel back on the machine, and moved it into the garage. We both gave it a quick play, and it plays like a dream. APB has always been a personal favorite for a variety of reasons, so I’m really excited to bring this one home. It will spend the next couple of days in the garage where it will get a cleaning inside and out. After that, we’ll move it downstairs and into the game room where it will be a welcome addition.

Big thanks to FrizzleFried for such a smooth and enjoyable transaction. Also, I gotta give my wife all kinds of credit for spending over 10 hours in a car with an old arcade machine and a big dog while being pregnant and uncomfortable. Here’s hoping that this is just one more of many more arcade trips. If you want to read about our last road trip where we picked up a very special Spy Hunter down in Las Vegas, check out the link here: http://stupidgamer.com/2008/04/07/an-arcade-miraclea-spy-hunter-homecoming/

Vacation time!

Jeff Rivera — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:02:30 +0000

Hey everybody, I’ll be out of town and away from the Internet until August 18th. Where am I going? I can’t say.

I’ll be in Alaska, catching some poor and defenseless fishies.

An arcade miracle…a Spy Hunter homecoming

Jeff Rivera — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:58:39 +0000

Back in the early 90s, my cousin and I used to ride our bikes to this Fred Meyer department store in Bountiful, Utah each Saturday. We did so to check out the new comics and to play the 7-8 arcade games that they had in a small room up front. The games would rotate, but the regulars included TMNT, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter II, and Spy Hunter. Each Saturday for years I’d play that Spy Hunter at least once, until the store remodeled and the arcades were removed. As a kid, I was crushed.

Fast forward to 2008 and the wife and I decide to go camping down in Southern Utah to some sand dunes. Just before leaving I did my daily check on eBay, craigslist, and local ads for a Spy Hunter. BAM! There was one in Las Vegas and the auction was to end Saturday night. I contacted the seller and asked if I could pick it up if I won on Sunday, he said yes. I threw in a token bid, and we went camping.

Sunday morning we got up early, broke down camp, and made our way to St. George, Utah where we got some breakfast and I found a computer I could use in a hotel lobby. I checked eBay and…YES! I won! We started down for Vegas when the seller called and told me the directions to his house and that he’d be there all day.

We got there, crammed the machine in the back of my parent’s Yukon and rearranged all the camping supplies (and our dog) and made it all fit. Just wanting to get home, we drove the long drive back home, which is just north of Salt Lake City, Utah.

Last night as I was going over the machine, I found something really odd: a sticker from Classy Chassis Beauty Supply. This sticker came from a store that’s local to Bountiful, Utah (I googled it, it’s the only one)…and is only about 1/2 a mile away from Fred Meyer! I had somehow found my childhood Spy Hunter. I couldn’t believe it.

The machine needs some work to fix a broken trigger button, and it needs a good cleaning up, but knowing where it came from and where it’s been, I’m never letting this one go. Here’s a picture of the machine, before I get to restoring it, and before I get it down into the arcade room.

Stupid Gamer not dead

Jeff Rivera — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:04:28 +0000

Yeah, so I’m back from vacation in Hawaii. My real job is consuming all my free time right now, so updates will start again soon. Rock!

UNSEXY EDIT (a pic):

The Sundance Rock Band event was a blast

Jeff Rivera — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 04:32:03 +0000

I was at a Rock Band event last night at Sundance and they had the wireless guitars there. They played pretty much like the ones now, but, well, wireless. They still use the leaf switches (no clicky), but they felt a lot more responsive. To tell the truth, I usually use my GHII guitar when playing, but I did fine with the new guitar. I’ve got a full writeup of the event coming in the next day or two. I spotted Paris Hilton outside (blech), 50 Cent inside, and Scott Weiland inside as well. I can’t remember the name of the band that played, I think it was Incident Zero or something like that, but I’ll get the name for the writeup. And man…the things that go on in a VIP room back stage…

Here are a couple of pics:

Me looking like a dork on stage with the new guitar.

Ladies getting in on the action. That’s Jeff Castaneda, from MTV Games, kneeling down with the big grin.

Mallika, one of Harmonix’s concept artists (I got some good info on some neat upcoming RB stuff):

Sorry, but cool details about what I learned about PS2′s future with Rock Band, a possible Wii version, DLC content, and more will come in an official writeup. Just know that it was a great event and the Harmonix and MTV Games guys are some of the happiest people I’ve ever met in the industry.

Get Well Soon, Stephen!

Jeff Rivera — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:06:59 +0000

Stephen Smith, a regular contributor to the Stupid Gamer team, underwent open heart surgery yesterday to repair an aortic dissection. Steve will be hospitalized for two weeks and then will spend the next six weeks in recovery at home. Obviously we look after our own, so (unknown to Stephen) we’ve taken some of the Stupid Gamer Store commissions and sent him a little care package with some DS games to help him pass his time in the hospital and at home.

Thanks to those who have emailed or commented on Stephen’s condition. I haven’t heard from his wife yet, but she’s going to be updating us later with his condition. Obviously open heart surgery is always a risky deal, so our thoughts and prayers are going out to Stephen and his wife.

Get well soon, Stephen.

The Arcade is looking good!

Jeff Rivera — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 05:28:00 +0000

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.

I survived the Halo 3 launch

Jeff Rivera — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:42:18 +0000

With the Halo theme coming at me from two angles (a car playing the OST loudly and a goofball strumming it out on a guitar) and a crowd of about 350 people strong surrounding me, I stood outside my local Gamestop last night and waited eagerly for them to call my number and let me in to pick up my copy of Halo 3. The sights of the launch were all very interesting. The crowd was a pretty diverse mix of kids trying to look 17 or older, parents waiting with their kids, older teens congregating in groups, mid-20s guys who seemed to only want to get the game to go back to bed, and the 30+ crowd that was all amped up to be reclaiming a bit of their youth again, even for just one night. There were skateboarders looking like idiots packing the parking lot and making everybody that drove there fear that a rogue board might slam into the side of their ride. It was quite the crowd to see.

As midnight neared, I finished up the article I was reading on The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters in GameRoom Magazine and started checking with the people around me to see if I was in the right spot in line. I found that I was about 30 people back from where I should be, so I hopped up to my correct spot and watched as people filed into the store empty-handed only to come out with a goofy grin on their face and a copy of Halo 3 in their hands. The line moved quickly, and despite being 108th in line, I was still home a little before 12:30am to unpack my Legendary Edition box and get some time in with the game.

The first hour and a half of the campaign were enjoyable, but it’s all I could manage to get in before responsibility took over and forced me to get ready for bed. I checked my friends list on Xbox Live and noticed that Halo 3 had taken them hostage and was most likely going to keep them up much later than I was willing to. All in all, it looks like the launch of Halo 3 was quite the success.

Impressions and more to follow.

The Stupid Gamer Obituary Section

Jeff Rivera — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 05:14:28 +0000

Xbox
360, Xbox (Age 16 months)

On Sunday, August 5, 2007 of Bountiful, UT; beloved console of Jeff Rivera; rival of Wii and PS3; successor to Xbox; all of Bountiful, UT. Microsoft will receive notification of dead 360 on Monday. A closed casket burial will be held at the local UPS office in Bountiful, Utah. Xbox 360 is survived by roommates Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 3, HD-DVD drive, and many more members of the electronic world. Friends and family are encouraged to send money in lieu of flowers that will be donated to the Awareness of Crappy Manufacturing of Xbox Products Foundation. Online condolences can be expressed to

http://stupidgamer.com