New project: cocktail arcade machine!

I've embarked on a new DIY project, which is building a cocktail table arcade machine. It will run old classics such as Galaga, Arkanoid, Donkey Kong etc using a vertical monitor configuration. My original aim was to build a Ms Pacman or Galaga replica, but I have decided instead to create my own design from scratch. I won't be finishing this cabinet as quickly as my first one, rather I plan to take my time and try and achieve a higher quality finish. Whether I achieve this or not remains to be seen!

Work to date includes purchasing a cheap 2nd hand PC and installing front end software and Mame on it. I also managed to completely hide Windows, so that the PC boots straight into the front end without any Windows screens or mouse pointers. I have mounted the 19" Sony monitor in a solid wood frame, and have created two control panels. Lots of work remaining, but at least I'm on my way!

Player 1 control panel

Artwork is sandwiched between a MDF base and 3mm plastic top. I designed the artwork using 'Inkscape' and incorporated some freeware vector images sourced from the web. Note: cutting plastic is a very frustrating experience!

Trackball close-up

Trackball glows green when in use, and red when in standby. I plan to obtain some replacement bolts with smooth rounded heads when I can track some down.

Player 2 control panel

I printed the artwork out using our A4 inkjet printer, and consequently you can see a clear join between the pages. I've ordered an A2 size print out online, which should provide me with a seamless control panel overlay.

Coin mechanism

The real deal this time, no more pressing a button to simulate inserting a coin! You can see the microswitch in the bottom right of the photo... when a coin falls through the mech it hits a wire arm that extends from the microswitch, triggering the switch and registering 1 credit.

19" monitor mounted in frame

This is an old photo- I have tidied the frame up quite a bit since then! The whole thing is screwed and bolted together, with the straps helping to provide additional tension. Actually, I'm not sure if the straps are doing much at all really. They can't hurt I guess :)

When Collector's Editions Aren't

As an unabashed BioWare fan, I was always going to purchase Dragon Age: Origins. When I saw that there was a Collector's Edition on offer, coming in a nice tin case with a cloth map, I immediately decided to sign myself up by pre-ordering a copy. I could quite easily complain about the common debacle of release dates - why did Australia supposedly have to wait until the 5th to get it until EB decided to break it and sell it early? Or the fact that Australians pay far too much for video games - why does it cost $100-$110 dollars compared to $50 in the US when the current exchange rate is $1AUD to 90c US? Both of those are perfectly legitimate questions that I'd love to get a reasonable answer for, but that's not why I'm unhappy right now.

My complaint is that I paid $20 extra for a so called "Collector's edition". A collector's edition that was supposed to come with a tin case and a cloth map. Instead, I received a game in a standard plastic case, wrapped in a cheap cardboard cover. One of the game's two "Game Discs" even came in a clear plastic sleeve as opposed to any sort of container. My bonuses for ordering the collectors edition are:
a) Four in-game items
b) One piece of DLC (that I could purchase separately if I so desired)
c) A bonus disc containing "making of" material.

This is hardly what I'd call a "collector's" edition, nor does it even live up to the claims of what the collector's edition is supposed to contain based on a simple web search. Not delivering the tin case and the cloth map borders of false advertising, and not including a jewel case (or something similar) to keep the two game discs together is very poor form. I cannot voice my disappointment strongly enough at this extremely poor delivery. I consider it highly unlikely that I'll order any more collector's editions if this is the dubious quality of the material that is going to be included in them.

I'll be forwarding this complaint to EA - it's practically misleading to call this a "collector's edition" when it's little more than the game plus downloadable content.

Digital Illusions and Sensible Software: Beginnings

For those of you interested in the early years of the greatest games companies of the Amiga era, check out the following youtube videos.
The first, dating from 1994, takes a look at a young Digital Illusions, and features interviews with Andreas Axelsson, Olof Gustafsson and Joakim Wejdemar. It's fantastic seeing DI when they were a small outfit- worlds apart from today's DICE. Just remember to turn on close captions/subtitles by clicking on the arrow at the bottom right of the video (just under "YouTube" - make sure you start playing the video first).

The second video features an interesting interview with Jon Hare, co-founder of Sensible Software. Sensible created many brilliant games for the C64 and Amiga, including Parallax, Sensible Soccer, SEUCK and Cannon Fodder. The interview is quite well done, and reveals how Sensible was founded by two guys on UK Govt. weekly grant of £40!

Ah the memories...

Battlefield 1943: failed to connect to EA online - solution!

If you too have been experiencing the error message failed to connect to EA online" in Battlefield 1943, don't fear- there is a solution! After many days of frustration at not being able to connect to 'EA online' to play Battlefield 1943 on my Xbox 360, I can now join online games with 100% success rate. How did I do it? Well, thanks to EA's customer support, and various internet posts, I have somehow stumbled upon the magic formula. Firstly, go to ea.com and create an account. Next, link your Xbox gamertag to the EA account (by adding a persona). This should have been simple, but somehow I entered an infinite loop of adding my persona, receiving an email from EA, clicking to confirm, and then entering my persona again. Repeat ad infinitum. Emailing EA solved the problem, with a friendly customer service representative manually linking my gamertag to my EA account. OK, still with me? If this hasn't solved your problem, then the next and final step is to download the Fight Night 4 demo. Yes, that's right, you need to download a demo for a totally unrelated game just so you can play Battlefield 1943. No point in arguing, as it's the only way I managed to solve my connection problem. Download the demo, skip the training, and then try and connect to EA via the game interface. Once you have accepted all the relevant disclaimers and managed to get online, exit the game and load up Battlefield 1943. Surprise, surprise, it now works! Good 'ol EA. You know, I never had this trouble playing COD4 online...

If this has been of assistance to you, please leave a comment. Oh, and feel free to click on one of my sponsor's messages... the GTI is gonna need new tyres real soon! ;)

PS. I should mention that during this process I also tried the 'change your Xbox 360 clock to 2005' trick as suggested by EA- it didn't make any difference for me at all.