Last week Gamespy was kind enough to ask my input for an article about next generation gaming in relation to the old school days. Here’s a link:
Hear from several people on the Xbox team and… me. Strange, I know. But there it is. Includes fun photos, enjoy!
Want to hear what I babbled about during my podcast at the Midwest Gaming Classic? Have at it:
Thanks to Team Fremont for giving me the interview. Enjoy! (Watch for background noise)
Oh and don’t worry – I now have a new de-soldering iron. Funny, when you fire up one for the first time it smells like burnt brake pads.
Late last night, a dear old friend of mine died…
After half a decade of faithful service, my trusty $7 Radio Shack de-soldering iron finally bit the dust. It died in the call of duty, too, as it snapped while removing a large electrolytic capacitor. It has helped me build countless portables, sadly it won’t be around to see the one it was working on come to competition.
Oh, hm, it’s that pesky 666 date isn’t it. I guess this freak death is to be expected.
On a lighter note, thanks to everyone who made it to the Midwest Gaming Classic, and especially those who came to see my presentation thing. Now if only they’d let me do karaoke…
OK I have a confirmation on my appearance. It’s Saturday afternoon at 5 PM. For more information on the show check out their official site.
The Midwest Gaming Classic Official Site – Official Link
On top of whatever I promised to do in the below update, I will also have a PowerPoint demonstration about the history of my projects, perhaps a video or two, and a couple “works in progress” I may also bring the original VCSp, since it’s been refurbished recently. See you there!
I had an idea just today, well, more of an old idea resurfacing. Anyway…
I’m wondering if anyone would be interested in a Neo Geo “Mini-Cab” arcade machine. This would be a bar-top single-slot MVS arcade machine with coin slot, arcade joysticks, swivel base, stereo sound and CRT screen. It would be about the size of a CRT “Mega Touch” machine and likely be themed, material and color-wise, like my own Neo Geo arcade machine.
I have admit part of my desire to build this is to use up the small CRT RGB monitor I have laying around so it’s one less thing to move this fall. But more than that, I am fairly dismayed at the death of “real” arcade machines out in the world today. All that’s left are Golden Tees and Mega Touches. Blah. At the very least a Neo Geo can give you a REAL golf game, yes of course I refer to the sublime NEO TURF MASTERS! Plus tons of other games that can be swapped out and are usually only $25-$40 each.
Anyone interested in such a thing? Neo Geo loving bar owners? MVS home conversion fans with limited space? The price would be well below that of a modern “arcade” machine. Shoot me an email if interested.
See Ben, Live in Concert! (Well sort of)
I will be speaking at The Midwest Gaming Classic which takes place June 3rd and 4th on the west side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I shall talk about my book, my projects and show whatever gizmo(s) I happen to be working on at that time. Perhaps I’ll even spill some secret project info, who knows?
Currently I’m scheduled to appear on the Saturday afternoon of the event, June 3rd. For more information and stuff, check out their site at www.midwestgamingclassic.com See you there!
For some reason I had an urge this week to create a new version of the trailer for my independent film Port Washington. The original trailer was a bit old and I thought it’d be fun to make one that has all the usual Hollywood trailer clichés. Here it is:
Port Washington Trailer Revision 2
Now it’s quite professional (sarcasm intended) and includes all the mainstays of a modern movie trailer, including:
   1) A Smash Mouth song
2) Sappy love music
3) Someone being punched or falling down
4) An explosion
5) Shots from every action sequence three times over
6) Giveaways of all the gags
7) And most importantly… “O Fortuna” (You’ll know it when you hear it)
 So if you haven’t seen Port Washington yet, why not check out the trailer and see if it’s up your alley? Then you can hit the official site and download the whole movie. (A normal Ben-style trailer is also available) Enjoy!