Attempts into E3 – Update

Alright, now that we have established the game plan it’s time to get it into motion. I’ve had brief contact with our source in the inside and everything seems to be lining up. Granted, I really haven’t made that much of an effort in really getting things moving because the event is literally a year away. However, I have been monitoring the e3 website for a date when open registration will begin.

There have been hints on the internet that it will probably be around February of 2011 which is still plenty of time. Overall, it’s looking pretty good.

Wish us luck!

Attempts into E3 – Doing the Research

Alright, it’s harder than it sounds to get into E3.  I’ve looked at forums, google’d/googled/googld (however you spell it), and spent time on the e3 website learning how to get in.  The consensus is… YOU CANT!  It seems that E3 is left to the exclusive like a Vegas nighclub with Jay-Z headlining.  You have to be a high roller, a big shot in order to get it.  But that never stops me, at least when it comes to video games.

Through further delving, ignoring all the DO NOT ENTER signs along the way I have found maybe one way to get in.  E3 separates their attendance registration into two groups (my naming convention): Exclusive registration, Open registration.

The exclusive registration is for people who have a industry code given to them by the ESA.  I assume these are people that belong to TV and big websites.

Open registration, after reading the ESA’s requirements, is open to anyone!  However, the caveat is that you must provide proof that you are part of the industry.  So open registration really means “open to anyone that is related to the industry.”  This is our best bet to get in without having to deal with overpriced ticket scalpers.

Wish us luck!

Attempts into E3 – Background

So to all of our followers (none of course), I’m sorry for letting you all down.  College tis more time-consuming than I would hope to imagine.  My partner in crime, Ryan, has been diligently trading stocks left and right and has been learning Japanese on the side and this blog/podcast has gone into the wayside.  Hopefully, with some spare time here at work and maybe afterwards I would love to resurrect This Podcast! into its former glory someday.

For now personally, I’ll keep this to a simple blog for now.  Don’t get me wrong, I love doing audio podcasts and I want to continue them eventually.  But for time considerations, I’ll keep to writing.  Please forgive any grammatical errors or simple English rules that I ignore.  I am in fact an engineer and we’re taught to write in dull technical language.  Opinions don’t exist in engineering but only facts.  A blog is pure opinions, so this is new territory for me.

So on with the topic at hand.  Watching this year’s E3 (2010) for some reason resonated in me.  It might be the new spectacle of 3D technology or the rebirth of my passion for gaming, but it really struck a hard note.  I realised that I really really really want to attend.  I want to attend not as a high-powered reviewer of games that could make or break a franchise, but as a gaming fan.  I want to become the kid again in the toy store looking at all the newest and greatest gadgets being displayed.  That is why I have taken the initiative to gain admission to E3 2011.

In order to keep my sources anonymous (mostly because I really haven’t asked their permission yet to post anything about them) but I have an inside into the entertainment industry.  Let’s say I know one of those high-powered reviewers that could make or break a franchise.  I wouldn’t start guessing names because this reviewer primarily is in the movie realm and not the gaming realm.  He made is start as a reporter for some big named newspapers and then branched off to start his own website which has gain steam in the Indie scene.

Overall, the hopes are that Ryan and I would be writing for them covering E3 expo.  Whether we get published on the site doesn’t really matter.  We just want to attend as fans, kids of the industry.  We want to make that pilgrimage to the holy ground of gaming and expand on our travels to other expos like TGS and maybe even CES in Las Vegas.  Overall, the ultimate goal is to live out our dreams as gamers and technophiles.

Wish us luck.  I’ll hopefully be posting updates as to our progress.  Countdown to E3: 343 days

Arcade Machine: MAME Day

I have designed my control panel and it will feature my broken SNES controller in bedded into the panel.  Today we are going to work on the PC that will host the MAME emulator and test it out.  I’m thinking of just simply using my extra 17″ PC monitor to be the screen.  It’s size is an issue because most arcade games run on at least a 20″ screen, but this is a cheap alternative.

Aracade Machine: Case update 2

So it’s been a slow and arduous process and things over that This Podcast! camp are getting frustrating. We both are busy people and it’s very hard to co-ordinate this build. We both have been at each other’s throats about this build, but I think we’ve come up with a good solution.

First off, the original problem was that I was designing a cabinet for a Ryan, but dimensions are really hard to come by without physical representation to see how big something should be. It’s hard to get a feel of how big should a control panel (CP) be or how much room should the whole arcade machine take up? Therefore, we’ve decided to do a modified double build.Our modified double build will basically be that I will design my cabinet, but both games and emulations will be complete during or before the first cabinet build. Once mine is complete Ryan will have a better feel as to how big is too big. If you’re at all curios as to what mine looks like, just stay tuned and I’ll try to post my blueprints online. I would normally use a CAD program such as SolidWorks, but I don’t have a copy and the closest available one to me is at CU. So right now I’ve drawing things the old fashion way with pen and paper.

Finally, we’re going to have 2 completely different cabinet. One will be using a MAME emulator and the other will be a JAMMA cabinet so we get the best of both worlds. The walkthrough at the end of this build will hopefully cover these two bases well.

Thanks and stay tuned!

Arcade Machine: New design

So, we wanted to make this arcade machine a two player machine instead of a one player. The thing is that the Defender Machine (the one that the design is based off of) is only one player and the control panel only measures 6″X2.5′. So I have made some modifications to the side panel of the machine itself in order for the control panel to be inset from the edge of the sides and not flush.  The new control panel will measure 18″x2.5′, basically it will stick out more while maintaining the original width of the arcade machine.

Additionally I have included a back panel door that will not be on hinges or rollers or a slider even. This door will rest on the back from some corner brackets. I have put slots in the particle board so that these slots can rest in the corner brackets. The only thing is that this back door panel needs to be made with 1″ particle board instead of 5/8″ which the rest of the machine is made of. I might switch to some plywood if thats the case, but I’m not quite sure how well notches in the plywood will hold up.

I have included the new blueprints for our arcade machine. If you use them please credit where credit is due! Thanks!

Arcade Machine: Initial BOM

Yea, I’m really getting excited about this build and can’t wait to start actually cutting stuff up and stuff like that. The arcade machine is going to be my biggest, and first, build of any kind I’ve ever tried so there is going to be a lot of mistakes to be had and new things to read up. Put together, Ryan and I have pretty much no experience with building or electronics in general. Personally, I think we are both capable of doing something like this.Here are some of our “talents” that each of us have:
Ryan:

• Coding experience
• Built Own Desktop
• Good Research Motive

Me:

• Built Own Desktop
• Some Woodworking
• Soldering Experience

The key aspects that I think anyone needs to have for this build is probably the good research motive and some woodworking. The rest is taken care by those two, mainly the good research motive. This will probably and definaltly change as we start the actual build process, but so far it doesn’t seem to intense.Ryan can probably attest to this, but the hardest part so far is figuring out what games you want in the machine and how you want to implement them. Basically there are two options; you could use a emulator such as MAME or use actual JAMMA cards which is actually used in real arcade machines. For our build we decided to use the cards instead of an emulator for various reasons. In the final writeup I’ll list some pros and cons for both setups.As for the actual hardware of the arcade machines, we’ve been using a few sites that have outlined some basic steps to get started:

Russ Prince’s Blog

Kevin Umbach’s Blog

These two sites are really great for seeing step-by-step build, but they are geared to more of an experienced audience. I’m going to try to make a complete beginner’s guide to a build like this. Hopefully with those two sites and this one you will gain enough experience to take on even more difficult builds.Phew… now for the stuff you need:So far I have no idea as to amount of what or how much is this, but I do have a general idea of materials that are needed for this build.

• 5/8″ particle board (for the sides, back, and control panel)
• 1/4″ Maple board (for the front door where the coin slot will be)
• Long piece of 1×2 (support for the control panel and bevel for the monitor glass)
• Acryllic see through plastic (for the monitor glass)
• monitor or tv (haven’t decided what we’re going to use yet)
• our game chip thing (forgot what it’s officially called)
• buttons and joysticks
• Paint
• other electronics (Ryan has all those details covered and I will list those more specifically when we order them)

So far it looks like the machine will run about $600-800 total which is a whole lot better than buying a pre-built one at $2500.

Thats it for now. Leave a comment for suggestions and stuff. If you want shoot me an email at jayjoe.edge (at) gmail (dot) com.

Arcade Machine: Introduction

So, I know it’s been a long time since my last post and a really long time since our last podcast, but give us a break. Like you we’re lazy and unmotivated people and haven’t really found any cause to try any harder. Don’t get me wrong, we are still doing the podcast but it’s probably going to be during the summer.

I’m not writing this post to bring the bad news of This Podcast! is going on a break until the summer, but instead I am please to announced that we will be building our own custom arcade machine. Yea I know what you’re saying, “why not just buy one?” and I say, “Why not just build one for just that much cheaper?”.

I will do my best, god willing, to keep you updated on our progress as the building process begins. If things go to plan you should see and update once a week (yea right) and a final overall how to guide at the end of this build. Don’t worry, I’m going to take pictures along the way and make this ending guide a duh duh for people who have never touched a saw, solder wires together, or researched anything into what an arcade machine runs on.

So sit back and relax and enjoy the upcoming series of mispalled, grade school grammar blog posts of This Podcast! Arcade Machine Series.

Episode 13-Black Friday

Wow, it’s been a long time since I did one of these. Here is a black Friday exclusive for all of you tech savvy geeks out there. In this episode we go over all the good gaming deals out there this Friday! There are some good ones like Mario Galaxy, Assassin’s Creed, and Call of Duty 4.

Thanks for sticking with us. I promise I’ll try my best to free up more time to do podcasts with Ryan! Good news though, Ryan is starting a weekly podcast where he predicts the future of products released today. Stay tuned to www.ryanvest.com for all This Podcast! and Ryan’s solo project which should be amazing!

If you are wondering where the new episodes are on mypodcast.com they’re all now on www.ryanvest.com. I quit on the original site because of software issues I’m having with uploading podcasts. So, if you have any RSS or itunes feeds stuck on this.mypodcast.com switch it to ryanvest.com please!!!! You won’t be disappointed! The forums are still there and can be linked from Ryan’s site. Basically, just go to http://www.ryanvest.com and explore. He has all the feeds up and running like itunes and rss.

Have an epic holiday season and hope to talk to you soon!

Lack of podcasts

I know it has been a while since our last podcast and that has to do with school.  School has started and things have gotten gusy in my end.  So, with that said it seems that our next podcast won’t be until fall break/Thanksgiving break.  Sorry about that everyone and I hope that you will come back during Thanksgiving and look out for the next podcast!