Studio711.com – Ben Martens

Announcement number 2! It looks like I'm going to be a couple minutes late so this will be posted under Friday's headline. Oh well, you'll just have to deal.

Today a BenQ PB6100 was delivered to my house. After about a month of research I finally settled on this projector. It's the first piece of the home theater project that we're going to start for the new house. Don't worry… we'll have a full geek project page documenting the whole thing. It's going to have everything… inclduing stadium seating!

Ed and Chris hold the title as the first outside people to try out the arcade machine. From their reactions it seems the machine is a resounding success. Here's a short video so you can see it in action. What about the rest of you? Get over here and play it!

Tyler and I beat "1941 Counter Attack" last night. Only 1999 games left to beat on that arcade machine. "Oh man, I died again." "Well hit the coin button and continue." "Oh yeah… this is so sweet."

After a year of talk, the arcade machine has finally come to life. Last night I got the controls wired and installed on the machine. The only tasks left now are just for touch up. All the main functionality is there! Feel free to come by any time to check it out. One of these nights we'll have to have an arcade game tournament instead of Halo.

Where did I eat lunch today? Home Depot! I had to pick up a few more things for the arcade machine and I've got class tonight so I can't do it on the way home. That makes 5 trips to Home Depot and 1 to Lowe's in the last 4 days. I'm predicting a finished arcade machine by this time next week.

The arcade page is up and running. Be sure to check it out often!

The arcade machine is here! Swarna and I made the 200 mile round trip out to Rheems, PA to pick up the arcade cabinet. We were riding in style in our Chevy minivan that I rented from work. I ended up getting an old Asteroids cabinet. So now I have the cabinet, the computer, and the games. All that's left is getting the keyboard emulator here (it's on its way from England) and ordering some more joysticks and buttons. Those things and a few trips to Radio Shack should produce some gaming fun! I'm going to put together a project web page with photos and information so you can keep up to date on the project if you're interested.

Arcade cabinet update! I've located an arcade cabinet for sale out in Rheems, PA. I've rented a minivan and I'm headed out there on Friday. Anybody wanna go on a road trip?

The arcade project is making some more progress. The PC is built and almost ready to be put in the cabinet (whenever I get it.) In the beginning, it will be primarily a Nintendo box, but I'll think about adding more in the future. Now is the time to get your favorite Nintendo game on the machine. Send me a list of games you can't live without and I'll try to get them put on the box.

I'm making the first actual steps in building the arcade machine. Today, Amy graciously donated an old computer (P3 600) to me. I'll be installed all the necessary software on it this weekend. I also have a line on a possible arcade cabinet although getting it to the house is still questionable. After I get the cabinet, the last major step is choosing which way to hook controls to the computer. I'll be sure to keep you updated as I go.