Current State of the Arcade, 2013

[Tdarcos]

2. It actually makes playing the game harder, because you still can only have four shots on the screen at a time. A good player times their shots carefully so as not to be left without at a crucial time

Oh, I didn't know about the 4-shot limit. In real life, the military cut a lot of full-auto machine guns back to 3-shot per trigger pull for the same reason, soldiers were wasting ammo.
(This is a revision and summary; the original text archived in The Troll Room.)

[pinback]

2. It actually makes playing the game harder, because you still can only have four shots on the screen at a time. A good player times their shots carefully so as not to be left without at a crucial time

Oh, I didn't know about the 4-shot limit.

Yep. Oh, by the way, is there anything completely unrelated to the topic you'd like to talk about? Maybe about... oh, let's pick a topic as far away from the current thread as possible... How about, the military!

Reminds me of a real-life issue, soldiers on the battlefield who had full-auto machine guns would often use way too much ammo when engaging the enemy, so the military started demanding that the manufacturers include a downgrade in the full-auto capability to a maximum of 3 shots at a time, so instead of a switch between semi-automatic (one trigger pull, one bullet), and full-auto (hold the trigger and it sprays bullets until you let go or you run out of ammo), it now had semi-automatic, 3-shot, and full-auto. Some weapons simply had semi-auto and 3-shot, they dropped full-auto.

Excellent.

[ICJ]

It's Rolls-Royce. I fucked up.

Tdarcos, I am going to start deleting your off-topic posts in arcade threads.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

I probably gotta get rid of Polybius, Centipede, Marble Madness and Qix.

I would create a new Polybius cabinet someday. One that looked more like the one on KLOV.

Food Fight is coming tomorrow. That means there will be 17 of them. That's too many. Christ, more than 4 is too many.

What am I doing

[bruce]

I probably gotta get rid of Polybius, Centipede, Marble Madness and Qix.

I would create a new Polybius cabinet someday. One that looked more like the one on KLOV.

Food Fight is coming tomorrow. That means there will be 17 of them. That's too many. Christ, more than 4 is too many.

What am I doing

Uh.

I might be interested in that Marble Madness. Lemme talk to Amy.

Bruce

[Flack]

Remember, I have dibs on the Polybius cabinet.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Uh.

I might be interested in that Marble Madness. Lemme talk to Amy.

Bruce

No sweat.

I would only ask what I paid, which is less than what I was going to charge craigslist idiots. I just shipped a game from Pennsylvania to Colorado and it cost $371. I'd like to THINK it would be cheaper to ship a game from CO to MO but you never know.

And of course, if you got sick of it, I would probably buy it back from you.

(I am trying to get my eggs in a container so I can get a home with Melissa in Denver proper, which is why I am selling games and such.)

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

I did commit to selling Qix. I feel awful about it. I genuinely feel like shit now that I have made the decision.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Remember, I have dibs on the Polybius cabinet.

Yessir! I do remember. I remember..... too much.

I think the problem with that one is ... Well, let me talk about it.

You had mentioned in your YDKF that you enjoyed being "Guy who owned 30 arcade games." To some degree I enjoy being the guy who claims he owns a Polybius. It's nice that people contact my zombieworld account and ask me questions. It's also nice that my version of the game seems to have become more prolific, to the point that now artists are referencing it when they draw it.

Now, the thing is silly and goofy for non-urban legend reasons. It is meant to take a 25" horizontal monitor. Not the 19" one I have positioned vertically. It looks ridiculous. 99% of the people who see it don't care and wouldn't notice. But that aspect of it bugs me.

The monitor is freeballing. I couldn't try to move that machine or anything. So if Mel and I do get a place together and I have to move the games, I'd have to take the monitor out.

The KEY thing with that game is that it has the wonderful Ultimarc 4/8 way stick. And it has Aardvark's adapter for it, which is the only one in the world. I would have to take that control panel out. Or, I would have to take at least the mounting bracket Vark made and the joystick out. It's a $55 joystick. I need to keep that.

So now it's a shell that does not have a monitor and it does not have a joystick. I could place a new joystick in there, of course. And that would be fine. And that is probably what I would do.

What, really, is the purpose of it? It's purpose is to act as a sponge for all the arcade games that arcades ought to have, but I don't have. Donkey Kong, Galaga, BurgerTime, Frogger -- those are games that should be around when you have as many as I do. But since they all have standard controls and since I am not in love with those games, the Polybius machine does a good job fulfilling that requirement.

Ideally I'd like to find a cabinet that looked like the Polybius on KLOV. (Which also has a vertical orientation!) Ideally I'd like to make one that looked like that and have the multi-game in there. But I am not taking on any more projects.

I guess... I guess what I find myself saying is that the Polybius is ready to be yours. I can take the monitor and joystick out at any time. I can put a new joystick in. I would leave the JAMMA harness, of course. It is ready... to be owned by you, Flack.

It is ready for its new home.

[RetroRomper]

Food Fight is coming tomorrow. That means there will be 17 of them. That's too many. Christ, more than 4 is too many.

What am I doing

Serious question: is your fun / enjoyment derived from owning the games or from playing them?

[ICJ]

Food Fight is coming tomorrow. That means there will be 17 of them. That's too many. Christ, more than 4 is too many.

What am I doing

Serious question: is your fun / enjoyment derived from owning the games or from playing them?

I'd go:

1) Playing them when I throw a party or get-together, or when arcade enthusiasts come over.

2) Playing them by myself

3) The hunt for them

4) The simple act of owning them

5) Positive, fun repairs (adding a new high score save kit, getting a broken game working)

6) Repairs on a game that was once working, but broke

7) Moving the goddamn things

So the hunt is more fun than simply having them around. But they get lots of opportunity to be played!