Mini Star Wars Working Arcade machine! by Le Chuck @ BYOAC forums!

A Mad Genius! Le Chuck (he goes by in the BYOAC forums) has built a micro Star Wars. I been following this thread since Feb 2012 and watch this amazing job basically come to life over the last few months! His build is being featured on USA Today, Gizmodo and Engadget.  Great job we are so proud of you Le Chuck!   Le Chuck isn't just a Mad Genius builder.  He shows respect to other fellow builders as well.  He ran a BYOAC awards for "best builds" in 2011.  Check out the thread here for more by Clicking Here

Look below to see the working Micro Star Wars machine.   Le Chuck just let us all know when George Lucas gives you a call and wants to order one!



Thanks
Brent Dolan
http://www.extendedplayarcade.com/
facebook.com/extendedplayarcade     <----- now on facebook

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More on the Card show from another website!

Twin Galaxies International announces that it will be an exhibitor at the 56th Philly Non-Sports Card Show to introduce the video game trading cards to the industry and media, conduct celebrity card signings and present awards.  read more...

They forgot to mention video game greats like Rick Carter, Lance Maurice Eustache (Royal Lance), Steve "wagonator" Wagner,  Brent "Mr. 300" Dolan  will be there along with other video game legends Richie Knucklez, Billy Mitchell and Walter Day.  If I missed anyone I will add them.    Just doing a quick post.

Thanks and see ya there!
Brent
http://www.extendedplayarcade.com/

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Non Sports Trading Card show????

Non Sports Trading Card show    WTF?  Yes there is such a thing.  Trading cards are big and maybe even bigger than ever.  There are trading cards for everything from Video game Greats like Walter Day founder of Twin Galaxies, Billy Mitchell World renoun Video Game World Champion to Trading Cards about Twilight the movie.

For more on the Non Trading Cards info check out http://www.nonsportupdate.com/

The funny thing about all this I was asked by Walter Day to be there seeing they are unveiling my Video Game Card.  I haven't seen it but I will be going to see.  I am on this list of along with Walter Day, Billy Mitchell, Richie Knucklez, Steve Wagner, Lance Eustache, TriForce Johnson and more  Click here for more info

Hope you can make it.

Brent Dolan
http://www.extendedplayarcade.com/

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Ride with Walter Day to the Smithsonian art museum

Get your motor running and ride with Walter Day to the Smithsonian Art Museum's video game history exhibit. Walter day continues his path into making video game history. Walter never forgetting his true roots is at the Smithsonian Art Museum on March 16th 2012 (St. Patrick's Day Eve).

Thanks to Day, Iowa has its own chapter in the history of video games. He continues to put his "dent in pop culture" and he also adds to video game legitimacy.

I am sure in Walter's wildest dreams that he would ever seem himself in a part of history like this. As they quoted him saying “Years ago, I studied history in college and wanted to be a history teacher,” Day said. “Now, I am history. It’s a remarkable life journey.” Read more....

It is another great accomplishment for our video game ambassador.

Above is a photo taken by long time friend Ray Dollard. Ray is also the one that gifted Walter an amazing Ovation Guitar at Funspot in 2009.

Again congrats to Walter Day!
Brent Dolan
http://extendedplayarcade.com


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New Music Video with tons of Video games in it! can you name them all?

they come to get us from Guillaume Panariello on Vimeo.

"They come to get us"
by Guillaume Panariello

"The Death Set lead an army of pop culture icons through the streets of NYC in the music video for “They Come to Get Us”. The group’s latest album, Michel Poiccard, is out now via Counter Records. Directed by: Guillaume Panariello Featuring The Death Set - Johnny Siera and Dan Walker Drawing by - Julie Fabre, Charlotte Serrus and Guillaume Panariello Editing, post production and SFX - Guillaume Panariello With the participation of - Loïc Lami and Marie Chareyre Sound Design and mix - Gilles Cabau Produced by Guillaume Panariello and Julie Fabre Thanks to... Samir Amar Khodja, Emmanual Darley, Kristy Lituma, Mina Lituma (the cat), Jerome Mettling, Pierre Maillard, Andrew Kramer, Mattrunk. They Come to Get Us From the LP "Michel Poiccard" Counter Records (Ninja Tune), 2011. Written and Produced by Johnny Siera and Dan Walker Initial Production by Beau Velasco and XXXChange Drums by Jahphet Landis www.thedeathset.com www.guillaumepanariello.com"

New Music Video with tons of Video games in it! can you name them all?
Post them on extendedplayarcade.blogspot.com
Brent Dolan
www.extendedplayarcade.com

Also Check out my new computer "Built from scratch" gaming editing rig at www.brentdolan.com

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Suck on that Roger Ebert!

Couldn't care less if Roger Ebert doesn't consider video games art. Stick to your VHS copy of Citizen Kane, and keep on hating, while games continue to be a more enjoyable form of entertainment than any movie could hope to accomplish. While I hate EA's NFL deal, I give a lot of props to the company. Battlefield, Reckoning, Mass Effect and so many other solid titles that boast the EA logo on the case.


"Mass Effect 3 Ships 3.5 Million Copies"



Nick P. Zaveri
www.extendedplayarcade.com

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Modern Warfare 3 MW3 Noobs Welcome!

No Sleep and Vertigo here I come!

Who's with me?

But I won't be picking it up at midnight. I can wait till tomorrow.

"So Fired Up Let's Do this"





Brent Dolan
www.extendedplayarcade.com
www.thekongoff.com

Making Progress on the Oak Cocktail Arcade Machine

Well I have the new Leather club chairs in. After my wife and I decided to move the Golden Tee video Arcade Machine out of our Living room we replaced it with the Oak Cocktail Table I been working on for the last 6 or so months here and there. My wife actually noticed how nice of a job I was doing on the cocktail table. She suggested we move it into our living room. I haven't had to much time with my 4 and 2 year old running around so I been slowly making as much progress as I can. I been just throwing photos of progress up on my website here. Hopefully when it is all said and done I will be able to sort it out and clean up the site a bit. But I am sure something else will come up. It is all good.

Thanks
Brent Dolan
Extended Play Arcade
www.extendedplayarcade.com

So on at The Kong off!

This year it will be Donkey Kong's 30th Birthday. Donkey Kong is arguably one of the most sought after arcade machines in the history of Classic Arcade gaming. There was even a Movie "The King of Kong a fist full of quarters" made about it. Well anyways with all that being said. They are having a Kong off (well thekongoff.com to be exact) over at Richie Knucklez place. These guys are the same guys that brought you the recent Tron off . The Tron off was a huge success and I believe in my heart The Kong off might be the biggest thing the Classic Gaming World has ever and will ever see.

Anyways with all that being said check out the Billy Mitchell, Steve Wiebe and Hank Chien battle this March 19th and 20th for 48 hours straight at www.thekongoff.com

Thanks

Brent Dolan

www.extendedplayarcade.com

COD BLACK OPS

You down with C. O. D. Of course you are. It is just the hottest game on the planet right now. I know it is a brandy new game and that usually breaks all the rule I have for this site. But this game is beyond just a game. It is almost now a social status.

Check out this article I wrote about the game play and a way to open up the Black Ops Arcade zombie's game.

http://extendedplayarcade.com/callofdutyblackops/

Brent
http://www.extendedplayarcade.com/

Time for a Cocktail?

Time for a Cocktail?

Well this past Friday 17th of September my cocktail kit arrived and it is NICE!. It is made out of oak plywood and is built like a tank. Leg levelers and half completed control panels. The guy even threw in a cheap hinge that might work just good enough for now.

My next step is to find some small flush speaker grills. I am on the fence but leaning towards a coin door. I saw a few on ebay that might work great for my needs for around 40 bucks. After I cut the holes for the speakers and the coin door I will be staining the main panels pecan stain with a polyurethan mixture. It is made by minwax and I have used this product several times before and it comes out great. I usually do about 3 coats with some light steel wool pad in between dried coats. The sides where the control panels are I will be staining black to hide the black speaker grills and black buttons I will be using. I am still not 100% sure what layout I am going to do the control panel but I have some time to work on that. Plus I have to look for a monitor that is going to be suited for my needs. It is exciting and I have a ton of plans for it but it takes time and that is one thing I am lacking right now. But I am in no rush.

Brent

www.extendedplayarcade.com

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Mini Stools for Cocktail Arcade Table

My wonderful wife found these great little mini (not real leather) stools for my future Cocktail Arcade table. The tops even come off for storage.



I just mentioned it to her that it would be cool to have a Arcade Cocktail table down the basement but I would need some sort of cool seating. AND WALLA bang two days later she found these college dorm seating chairs at Khols for $17 bucks each.

What a score. I don't know if they are the best height for the cocktail table but nothing a little wood and black paint couldn't fix if you are handy. They seem a tad bit short but I don't even have my arcade cocktail table started yet so I will adjust later if needed.



Brent

www.extendedplayarcade.com

Future Mame Cocktail Table

This is the Future Empty Cabinet for my Gameroom. I can't bring myself to Mame one of my Favorite cabinets (my Golden Tee 99) so I decided to get a nice cocktail table for the basement. I wanted to build it all myself but time just isn't on my side lately plus my wood working skills are in the novice range (I wish I took shop in High School)

I will keep you posted on my day to day project with this cabinet. I already have the stain picked out. It is going to be stained pecan color with black T molding. I am not sure what I am going to do about the top. I have a few options I might do. I might get the lexan printed here at work on the underside with some custom artwork or I might go with the stained top and just have a protectly square of glass around the lcd monitor I am going to use.

Yes I am going to use LCD instead of a CRT. I am just not in the mood to deal with another arcade monitor. I want to set this up easy and not deal with a lot of hassle. I am not sure what front end I am going to use either. I might use hyperspin on this one because then I can use hyperpin too but I also might use Maximus Front end seeing that works awesome too. Who know but it will be one or the other. I can wait to get this nice winter project going.

Brent

www.extendedplayarcade.com

New all time high! -15 Golden Tee

This video is proof that I got 15 under par on Coconut Cove on Golden Tee 99. I eagled the last hole to pull off my best score ever on the Arcade version. This is not a Mame cabinet this is the PCB board. I am pretty stoked and wish I video taped the whole thing but as you can hear in the audio I had my hands full taking care of my girls. Still great stuff

Brent

www.extendedplayarcade.com

-10 on Coconut Cove Golden tee 99

10 under par this past sunday on Coconut Cove Golden Tee 99.

This isn't a mame score this is an actual Golden Tee 99 machine. I have not converted this machine over to a multi gaming arcade machine yet seeing I just can't bring myself to it.

-10 isn't my best score on Coconut Cove but I haven't played this game as much as I use to. My Best Score I think is -12 and my best Score is on Rancho Ranch (i think that is the name) and it is

15 under par. Trackball games are so much fun because there isn't much effort involved. You don't even need to have both hands free for this game. I actually had my one year old daughter in my left arm while playing this game. She really enjoys being held and watching me play.

The newest golden tee machines are so far advance now but I still really like 97, 98 and 99 courses and even 2k. I own two golden tee boards www.goldentee.com and have the Roms for the Original golden tee, 97, 98, 99, and 2k. So it is kind of a pain to switch and swap them out but they all work and being stored safely at this point.

This will be the only way I get on the golf course this year. Good thing it is in my living room.

Brent

http://www.extendedplayarcade.com/

Moving up the ladder in Karate Champ

Working my way up to 100,000. I didn't have such a clean game but I was racking up to the 9th dim ladder but took one too the "censored".

Still working my way up a little each week. I been taking a break because I am noticing that I been getting laxed on my game play in the early stages.

It will be sometime till I get to play again because my Mame Project has been needing some attention.

I got my Arcadevga card all loaded up in my PC and ready to to be connected to my golden Tee arcade Monitor for some Mame action.

Should be fun and I can't wait.

Brent

www.extendedplayarcade.com

P.S. Nick is BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God of War 3-the lead up

Okay, at 2 a.m. this morning, I've caught myself up with the series.

If you're caught up with the story, then you know Kratos is ready to bring war to Olympus.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I just feel sorry for you.

I'm ready for round 3. Check out IGN's review to once again see a great reason why a trip to a Gamestop is a must.

More God of War III News & Previews

Going digital in 2010.

Mark my words, the following phrase is going to be next "it is what it is". It's going to the next phrase that you'll hear people saying ad nauseum, to a point that you'll end up blogging in anger just because you'll hear it over and over again. A little like the Macarena, but with people who are not as well dressed as the two guys from Los Del Rio.

"going digital".

Yup, I'm telling you, it'll be the buzz phrase of this year, if not this decade.

And, when you're wondering who to blame, point your ire in the direction of Apple and Amazon.

This all started with a conversation I was having with my father. Now, my dad was a VHS fiend back in the day. Home videos, videos from his job (he was a mechanical engineer and filmed production of the materials his company made. Yup, literally videos of cups and other things on an assembly line. And, sometimes he'd make me watch it. Ugh, that had to be some form of child abuse right?)

Now, the apple didn't fall far from the tree. In fact, it pretty much fell right next to it and is growing up to be pretty much the exact same tree. While I never actually filmed anything, I built a collection of dvds, vhs tapes, comic books, graphic novels, and regular books that could furnish a wing of a town library.

During the summer, as I did for part of last summer, I move down to North Carolina, where my girlfriend lives. Last year, I packed several books into a box, along with my PS2, and drove it all down to Durham, North Carolina.

So, I began to wonder-wouldn't it be simpler if I could just have one device for all of my books? One device that lets me read everything, listen to my music, and maybe play on the internet?

The opening salvo for all of this began with the Kindle-Amazon's e-reader. The device allowed us all to wonder if we need to stop actually buying books, and just, well, "go digital".

The benefits just started spouting out like a fountain-less paper, less space used up in our homes, less stuff to move one day. Ultimately, less clutter. In a time when people are trying to save money, the idea of actually renting space for storage is quickly heading to the sidelines. Space is at a premium for many of us now, and any way to start saving some of it is a must.

With the Kindle, books and magazines could all be found in one device. No more large bookshelves, and piles of magazines-just one device with a WiFi connection that allows you to access the largest library imaginable-the world's.

So, Amazon was enjoying the extra pub, literary purists started to scowl, and any student started to wonder if this would finally be the end to ten lb. textbooks.

Then, April 3rd happened.

Apple's Ipad basically lets you perform three essential functions:

1. Watch

2. Browse

3. Read

The Ipad serves as a digital reader, which is automatically going to put a dent into Amazon's Kindle profits. On top of that, Amazon's actually anticipating this by providing a Kindle app which will allow an Ipad to access Amazon's large library of eBooks.

With various companies putting out applications to work with the Ipad, such as Netflix, ABC Television (alternative to Hulu for Flash fans), and YouTube, the Ipad can serve as your mobile tv.

And, of course, Apple's web browser, Safari, is available, so email addicts like myself can check messages with the device.

Haters have already labeled this as a bloated Iphone/Ipod Touch. Probably true, but so what?Consider this: no more books, cds, or dvds. One device to rule them....oops. Had a Tolkien moment right there.

While I first started thinking about the Kindle, after playing with the Ipad twice, it's pretty clear Apple's about to make a few more bucks off of me. First it was the Ipod Touch, now this.

The point is, physical media is clutter; it's cumbersome, unwieldy, and a royal pain in the ass to move around.

It has to stop. I want to be able to take my media with me, without having to bring an extra suitcase or a carry-on bag.

2010 is going to be the year I start saying "no mas". No more trips to Barnes and Noble, my comic book shop (sniff, tear), or to Best Buy. My media's going to be digital. My back, arms and shoulders are already giving each other high-fives, and saying "hallelujah". And, my girlfriend will be happy knowing that her apartment isn't going to look like a vagrant drifter who enjoys a few good books is setting up shop.

Now, the next problem is, how to keep my girlfriend from taking my Ipad.

Wow, it's been a while. The place here looks a little different. I imagine there have been new faces visiting. I like what Brent's done.

So, where have I been? Well, changed jobs, now in the middle of a long-distance relationship, and have basically been swept up in working with a lot of technology-just not with video games.

As for my gaming, Madden 10 pretty much owned my time. If my PS3 was on, you could safely bet I was beating somebody's a$$ with my Raiders. Now, if only my Madden success with that franchise would rub off on the real life counterpart....

Recently, though, my gaming tastes have ventured from the virtual gridiron, to Ancient Greece.

Now, a little backstory. Let me be the first to say that I am one of the worst judges of games; I play something for a few minutes, and if it doesn't keep my attention, I think it's trash. I have done that on two occasions:

1. Halo-Xbox

2. God of War-PS2

Yup, I played both-wasn't impressed. Of course, later on, those games end up selling millions, I try them again, and I wonder to my self, "What the heck is wrong with me? This is great!". I don't know-sometimes it takes me a while to get on the bandwagon.

With God of War, I had played the demo for the first, and just didn't get into it. As of April of this year, that changed.

I was playing Madden, and finally decided to retired. Yup, there was a ceremony, some tears, and a good time was had by all. (Okay, I'm lying. I went to a Gamestop, got a few bucks back, and ended up getting God of War III and Final Fantasy XIII. Thanks for the quick tax refund TurboTax!!).

As for God of War III, I was impressed. The gameplay was of course, great, but what was interesting was how immersed I was with the mythology. The guys who developed the story for the series really did a great job with their research. It's as though someone read Edith Hamilton's Mythology, and built the game the book. For me, game play alone won't sell me; if I'm just running around, Grand Theft Auto-style, it won't work. Give me a story, however, that makes me want to progress through the game so I can see how the story concludes-well, you've got me hooked, as evidenced by me playing God of War II until 3 a.m. this morning. I haven't been up that late since college.

If you haven't tried the demo, and you're a fan of action games, I highly recommend it. At the end of the demo, I actually felt disappointed that it was over. I can't say the last time a demo left me feeling like that. It's a feeling that basically says to you, "Go out and get this game. Now".

Of course, as I bought God of War III, I saw that the first two games, originally on PS2, were remastered for HD, and released on a blu-ray PS3 disc. (For skeptics who thought this was just a cheap attempt at a repackaging the games, I can tell you that you're wrong. I've compared God of War I on PS2 and the PS3 redigitized version, and there is definitely a difference. At $30, it's well worth it.)

While III is amazing, because it's apart of a great story, I recommend playing the first two-you'll just enjoy III that much more.

So, now, I'm in trying to finish up 2, so I can start the third and final game in the series.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to figure out how to get into the Temple of the Fates.

I'm going to need caffeine.

Good enough for 5th in the world for Karate Champ

74,400 is Good Enough for 5th in the World for Karate Champ but that just isn't good enough. I can get that score up to at least 105,000 range. I have done it before but never thought to take a photo of it. This was a good practice round though.

I'll have to take some video soon.

Brent

www.extendedplayarcade.com