The Arcade

The arcade is nearing completion. I have here several photos that show my overall progress so far. I created a cardboard "shell" of the tv to measure how well it'd fit in the arcade, as the tv is downstairs and weighs about 100lbs. Also keep in mind the layout for the joysticks have not been cut out yet, I plan on doing that asap. The bottom door has also not been cut out, and the perferated metal that will hold the speakers has not been installed. Aside from that and some paint it's finished. It will be able to play playstation 3, playstation 2, and a mame arcade pc. I plan on creating another drop-down door for the pc to enable keyboard and mouse support.

I will also be putting the playstation move on this bamf using the gun controller and some old fashioned rail-shooters like time crisis. There will also be a kick-plate (and hopefully a footrest) and some barstools for anyone who wants to just chill on it.

As it plays ps3 wireless controllers for players 3 and 4 will also work and to enable 4 player co-op mame style I have an xbox 360 pc adapter for the controllers so that players 3 and 4 could play games like dungeons & dragons shadow over mystara over the mame computer.

The cabinet itself is 36 inches by 38 inches, making it a freaking beast and it cannot fit through any of the doors to the house so I am currently working on a solution to cut the bad boy down to size. Any suggestions welcome.

It's name is Retro.

On Metro 2033

As an already huge fan of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise this game was right up my alley. This game, for me, is the pinnacle of post-apocalypse games at the moment. The graphics are great, the storyline is great, the controls are great, and the scares are great. This is just a great game overall and I highly recommend it to any post-apocalypse or horror fan. "Horror?" you say? Yes horror. I have jumped more at this game than Amnesia. This game has a habit of throwing mutant creatures or unexpected bandits at you out of nowhere. I almost fell out of my chair when I was walking down a tunnel and suddenly got shot by a bandit. "But doesn't the game mostly take place in a subway?" Yes it does, but this is definitely not a bad thing. You do go up to the surface ever so often but it is highly irradiated, requiring you to wear your gas mask at all times (which can run out of filters) and there are monsters everywhere. Underground, however, there are marketplaces, societies, and even underground wars going on. This game is highly realistic, requiring you to buy filters for your gas mask, if you are attacked while wearing your gas mask the glass could break, causing vision to become impaired, your quests are written down on a little pad that you pull out in real-time, no esc menu quest reviews, the HUD is only a crosshair and ammo supply, to heal you have to inject yourself with what I believe is morphine, you have to recharge your headlight, etc. This game is great, and I could talk about it all day, but I do not want to spoil anything for you. All I will say is it is a great game with the bonus of a great scare and I definitely recommend it for any post apocalypse or horror fan.

On Section 8 Prejudice

Sec 8 is a $15 dlc game. I personally purchased it for PC, as I am primarily a PC gamer. Sec 8 is primarily a multiplayer game although it does have a single-player campaign. The campaign is quite terrible with bad voice acting, bad story, and stupid bots. The AI in this game is not exactly the best. At first me and a friend of mine started a game and went against bots to understand the controls. I put the bots on normal and we decimated them, so we bumped the difficulty to the hardest setting and still we decimated them. Multiplayer is something to behold, however. It brings me back to days of the original Halo, prancing about in huge levels searching for your 3 other buddies, only this time there can be up to 60+ players and objective based gameplay. Objective based games mean that you aren't just running around aimlessly shooting one another, but actually have different goals that can allow individual player's skills to shine, while improving overall teamwork. There are too many games today where the highest ranked player shines instead of the team as a whole and this game takes one tiny step in the right direction.

On From Dust

From Dust is a quaint little game. It is by all means a time-killer. I was so anxious for Ubisoft to release this game (especially after they delayed it for pc and ps3) but when I finally got it I played for about 2 hours before I became just so bored I couldn't play anymore. The graphics are quite beautiful but aside from that it was quite a let down. I expected nature to change on it's own a bit more and for the villagers to be able to do ANYTHING on their own but all they do is build villages in extremely dangerous places and then want you to protect them. In one level there was a volcano that kept erupting over and over about every two minutes, shaking my screen violently and causing a loud boom. I actually just took my headphones off while attempting to make a bridge out of stone (which did not work because the waterfall would not stop flowing no matter how much Istopped it up.). All in all this game is basically the equivalent to solitare. It's there, its pretty fun for a while, but no one wants to play it for too long.

The Draw-Distance of the World

So it's been a while since my last post and the reason being is because, well, gaming has been coming to me in small doses and now I believe I have enough spoonfulls to make a hearty soup.

First off lets talk about Dota 2. For those of you unfamiliar, Dota was a mod for warcraft 3 that became massively popular and even moved on to league of legends and other type games. Dota 2 is now accepting BETA applications and you know I'm in on that. Dota, in my opinion, resembles a diablo-esque hack and slash and is a good time-waster if you play alone.
Secondly Age of Empires hos now gone free to play and although I have not yet played it I do have it downloaded. Judging by the former AoE games it should be quite good. Eric Ruth will be releasing the Team Fortress Arcade game soon and I have every intention on installing it on my actual arcade machine. I finally purchased Terraria and I must say it's quite lonely on single player. I had an npc hanging around for a while but then he ventured off to die I suppose. I look forward to playing it with a few of my friends once they are back from vacation and reporting how fun or awful it is in multiplayer.

Now that you've read all the above you are probably thinking to yourself "Where is the lovable snark we love so much?" and there is only one explanation...
I've been playing Trade Fortress 2 so fuck off unless you got a Stout Shako for two refined!

(I will post an elaborate detailing of From Dust after I play it all day tomorrow so be sure to check back in!)

Arcade Machine

I'm actually building an old-school arcade, did I mention that earlier in my posts? No? Well I don't see why not, it's the biggest project I'm currently working on. Anyway, its a big ol' MAME cabinet and it's not quite finished. I'll be updating this little post every time I change something or buy more materials.

What I have so far:
TV $25
Computer running XP $25
Speakers with (wired) remote control $20
MDF sheets $32.28 (x3)
Particle Board (Free)
2x4 (8 ft) $2.21 (x3)
USB Arcade Stick $39 (x2)
Cam Lock $6.57
Hinges $2.77
TOTAL: $260.81

What I still need:
Metal hole mesh (for speakers)
Coin Door (Decided on fake door)
Power Strip (Remote controlled)
Marquee
Light (for behind marquee) (Decided against the light, too much energy wasted)
Fan & Vents (To ensure it doesn't overheat) (just going to drill holes in the back and top instead)

What needs to be done:
Sanding
Painting
Insert TV
Insert Controllers

Dick Move

Way to go, Ubisoft. You tell us From Dust will be released tomorrow and then only release the Xbox version. No reason for the pc and ps3 delay was given. Why? Because they are dicks. Perhaps I'm being too harsh, but I mean come on...I mean, at least let us know a week before or something. I got off work, all excited to download it at midnight only to find that it won't be coming out for at least another month. Well there goes my week.