"Arkanoid"

Arcade Games & Cooking.

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"Arkanoid"

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

I can't have every thread here called "the xx files," so instead I'll put Arkanoid in caps, like they do in the opening scene for the game. Engrish and associated offshoots is the best language in the world.

I can't find an empty cab! The two people I have purchased more than one game from are out, and I got nothing through a craigslist and KLOV post. This has suddenly made the Egg Venture cabinet I got a year ago suddenly much more valuable in my eyes (it's the one I threw the 48-in-1 into).

I don't have many contacts out here, that is for certain. There's an enormous underground, a network of communication that I don't have access to. I thought I'd get a heads-up on something that wouldn't be much help, like a Pole Position cabinet. But no - nothing! This is very disarming. I think Colorado just has low inventories statewide, but there's not a JAMMA cab to be found.
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Post by hygraed »

I can't help but notice that you have not in fact put Arkanoid in caps

Arkanoid is probably the best of the Breakout clones. I remember playing Arkanoid II: Revenge of Doh on my friend's dad's computer when I was about five. This would have been roughly 1993. It was one of the first "real" (i.e. not edutainment) video games I ever played, and I couldn't get enough of it. I also actually understood how it worked, which automatically set it above games like Earl Weaver Baseball and Super Huey.

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Post by pinback »

The best breakout clone even is none of them. I will never, and can never, understand the fascination.

Never.

They are all horrible games, and now I want Xeno back.
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Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

hygraed wrote:I can't help but notice that you have not in fact put Arkanoid in caps
I hope guest posting is on so 8-bit Memories can chime in.

I meant to put Arkanoid in quotes, but then I messed it up. Actually, in the opening screen for Arkanoid, it has it in caps and quotes. It also says that your platform thingie is "VAUS". So Arkanoid is named after the spaceship that you are not actually a part of anymore.

And apparently there are 33 levels.

Arkanoid is probably the best of the Breakout clones. I remember playing Arkanoid II: Revenge of Doh on my friend's dad's computer when I was about five. This would have been roughly 1993. It was one of the first "real" (i.e. not edutainment) video games I ever played, and I couldn't get enough of it. I also actually understood how it worked, which automatically set it above games like Earl Weaver Baseball and Super Huey.
Taito released a number of their games for the PC in the 90s. We had Arkanoid for it as well! I can't remember if it was Doh or the original, but yeah. I also seem to remember that they were EGA games, not VGA.

While I'm here, let me answer another question, which is: CAN A BROTHER GET A JAMMA CAB? The answer is that, no, a brother can not get a JAMMA cab. I hope Arkanoid is still fun playing on the floor with wires straight into a monitor.
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Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

pinback wrote:The best breakout clone even is none of them. I will never, and can never, understand the fascination. Never. They are all horrible games, and now I want Xeno back.
Arkanoid follows the BioShock Rule of Giving The Player What He Wants To Blow Away What Otherwise Would Be Frustrating Design. Well, it was obviously 20 years before BioShock, but still.

What would you most like to do in a Breakout game? If you could do anything. Just shoot the fucking bricks, right? Arkanoid lets you do that if you get the red power-up.

Plus my sweetie likes it, so.
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Post by pinback »

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:What would you most like to do in a Breakout game?
Come to the realization that only my own fears, not the bricks, can truly imprison me.

WHAT COLOR IS THE "MEDITATE" POWER-UP, JONSEY??
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Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

Well, if mediate means along the lines getting other people/balls involved, it's the light blue one.
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Post by hygraed »

What about getting other people's balls involved

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Post by pinback »

I nominate Bruce.
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Post by bruce »

pinback wrote:I nominate Bruce.
Suck. My. Balls.

Bruce

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Post by Worm »

Is ... is this really what you're passing up a 360 for?

Honestly, it's looking pretty cramped in your arcade room! Not that an XBOX will cut down on the clutter! Though geez, don't you have one placed in such a way that to play it a person has their back to the side of another cabinet?
Good point Bobby!

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Post by pinback »

Now that Xeno is gone, there is room for an Arkanoid and three more Mr. Do!s.
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Post by Worm »

Haha, does that old woman from King of Kong have a higher Mr. Do score than Robb?
Good point Bobby!

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Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

Worm wrote:Is ... is this really what you're passing up a 360 for?
I say that's why, but honestly, the games for the 360 sound terrible. Plus, the thing had the red ring of death issue for its first two years of life. They apparently just do a retail exchange now, but in that time where it was unknown whether or not you'd get the thing fixed for free, I don't blame anyone for not bothering.

Honestly, it's looking pretty cramped in your arcade room!
I'll have ten of them again when Arkanoid gets built. I don't have room for any more, so it will always be some assortment of games equaling ten.

Not that an XBOX will cut down on the clutter! Though geez, don't you have one placed in such a way that to play it a person has their back to the side of another cabinet?
I have them doing a "U". The consoles are in a separate area, by the television. I have room for three consoles and the Directv box. Those three consoles are currently:

- Xbox
- Gamecube
- Saturn

I have a TV in my office. (I know you just lost respect for me because I said I have an office.) I don't have one of those switchers, so I can only have one plugged in at a time. The three systems in there are the PS2, the Atari 800 and the K-Gen thing.

I wouldn't really get rid of the Xbox if I got a 360, because the Xbox is modded to do the Xbox Media Center, which is the greatest DVD program ever. But space and money really isn't an issue - the quality of the craftsmanship of the 360 was horrible for years, and there isn't a tipping-point number of games I care about. There's Pac-Man CE, Space Giraffe, Saint's Row (did that come out on the PC?), Dead Rising and GTA4 currently. And I understand that Dead Rising sucks on a Sony Wega.

Maybe if there were another 10 games for the 360 that looked good. I'm in no hurry.
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Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

Worm wrote:Haha, does that old woman from King of Kong have a higher Mr. Do score than Robb?
She was a Q*bert expert, not a Mr. Do! expert.
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Post by bruce »

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:
Worm wrote:Haha, does that old woman from King of Kong have a higher Mr. Do score than Robb?
She was a Q*bert expert, not a Mr. Do! expert.
ANSWER THE QUESTION.

Bruce

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Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

bruce wrote:
Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:
Worm wrote:Haha, does that old woman from King of Kong have a higher Mr. Do score than Robb?
She was a Q*bert expert, not a Mr. Do! expert.
ANSWER THE QUESTION.

Bruce
Yes, Doris (can't remember the last name) is about a million times the Q*bert player I am. If I remember right, the original game gets no harder after the 5th level. Which is great if you can get to the fifth level. Which I can't. Not that I have really applied myself or anything, but still. There is nothing in my history that indicates that I could or would ever be her equal.

Anyway, I came here to also write that YES, a brother CAN get a JAMMA cab. Well, a cab, anyway - a guy has a wood grain Centuri cabinet in Longmont, and I am picking it up tonight. Not JAMMA, but it doesn't matter. At least it is vertical.

He also had everything you need to build your own Arkanoid kit - PCB, wire harness, spinner, marquee, etc. He's actually the fourth guy I have encountered that has Arkanoid parts in six days. And even though I have a kit (board, harness, spinner) coming in the mail, I said "what the hell" and decided to buy a second spinner from him, too.

This will make the spinner tally, when all is set, as follows:

Two (2) Arkanoid spinners
One (1) Tempest spinner
One (1) EZ Arcade spinner (although I broke this)
One (1) Apache Push/Pull USB spinner that my brother got me

Moving right, or left (but only right or left) shouldn't be a problem around the house for a few years to come. Also, I've never owned anything with woodgrain before! This is very exciting!
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Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

Well, I picked up the cabinet last night. It was an empty The Pit. I had never heard of The Pit. Sure enough, it's got wood grain. I'll post a pic when I get home. Actually, maybe I'll try a whole restoration thread.

It didn't have a control panel, which is fine because I have to roll my own. I'm glad I didn't chuck the one from Egg Venture, because if I can get it to lock in place, I'm going to use it for this project.

It's rather dirty, and I am going to try to do some things I didn't do for the last conversion, like, ah, vacuum. I'm going to also give all the parts I can a good scrubbing.

Anyway, I expect that the actual circuit board and harness will be here Monday, so I'll be able to get going then. I think I am going to replace the monitor with a Happ Vision Pro after all. There's enough burn on the display where it would bug me, and if I am trying to make the Nicest Arkanoid Ever, I might as well go all the way.
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Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

Well, no pics, but I continued to work on it today.

We have Arkanoid! I was able to wire it correctly and it came up. There's a problem with the edge connector, however, in so much as the pin for "fire" broke off. I would hope that it will be a relatively easy fix.

The Electrohome G07 monitor in The Pit was great as well, because it uses composite negative sync. So does Arkanoid! I was able to take the molex connector from the old game and hook Arkanoid's wires up to it, and plug away. I'm very stoked.

Still a bunch of stuff to do, like:

- Remove The Pit sideart
- Wire the control panel
- Er... put together a control panel, really.
- Decide if I want the coin lights lit or not
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Vitriola

Post by Vitriola »

Lit!

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