Month: January 2008

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Our Trip to the Fun N Games Arcade

Episode 91 featured our trip to the Fun N Games arcade at Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, NJ, a week before it shut down. In addition to audio, we also recorded video of the arcade.

Although Fun N Games is part of the mall, the entrance is on the outside. There was a table set up with small TVs and people playing Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike for the Sega Dreamcast. There was also:

an air hockey table near the entrance

a basketball free throw game in the back corner

racing games:
Daytona USA 2: Battle on the Edge, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Indy 500, Initial D Ver. 3, Midnight: Maximum Tune 2, etc.

light gun games:
Crisis Zone, The House of the Dead III, Police Trainer 2, Silent Scope EX, Time Crisis 3, Time Crisis 4, etc.

rhythm games:
Dance Dance Revolution Extreme Plus, DrumMania 10th Mix, In the Groove 2, etc.

one-on-one fighting games:
Capcom Vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001, Marvel Vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, Street Fighter Anniversary Edition, etc.

pinball machines:
The Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Simpsons Pinball Party

and other games:
Beach Head 2002, Derby Owners Club: World Edition, The Grid, Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga, Virtua Tennis 2, etc.

икони

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Jerry O’Connell parodies Tom Cruise’s Scientology Video

Jerry O’Connell, or JOC as we Sliders TV show fans call him, did a viral video by SNL alum Jerry Minor. Jerry is spoofing the ridiculously absurd Tom Cruise Scientology video, where Tom babbles the whole time about nonsense, rather than convincing anyone to follow Scientology. Jerry is actually talking about the WGA writer’s strike and goofing on that. Great stuff.

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Replacing the Infamously Blinking Nintendo 72 Pin Connector

If you’ve followed the classic gaming scene at all, or more likely, remember the Famous Nintendo Entertainment System……..Undoubtedly you remember the blinking screen when inserting a game and pressing the power button. Remember the solution back then? Blow onto the cartridge connector, maybe even spit in it! Well, the real solution was some type of cleaning solution and a Q-tip to clean the connectors. Even then, my 20 year old NES has gotten too annoying to use. I can’t play a game without cleaning it first, games which were originally mine and would not be dirty.

Modern Age Solution? The equally infamous 72-Pin Replacement “ZIF” connector. That’s right, just $4 bucks plus shipping, and I’ve got a new connector. To replace it?
Follow these directions: http://www.jandar.net/nes72pin/

Here’s my image via camera phone….

NES 72 Pin Connector change-out

Wasn’t too hard….result? Well, almost all games now work on the first shot, no more blinking. Catch? Of course there is! Paunch curse and all. Try to get the game out of the system! You need Hulk Hogan’s 52 inch pythons, it’s that stuck in there. I think it gets looser with time, I hope. My thumb is in pain.

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Space Tourism in 2009

Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo

Yesterday, January 23, 2008, entrepreneur Richard Branson unveiled a model of the “spaceship” he hopes will take paying passengers on space flights beginning in 2009. His company, Virgin Galactic, is charging $200,000 per two-and-a-half hour flight.

That’s pretty expensive considering the flights won’t actually be going into outer space. Technically, passengers will be taken on a sub-orbital flight 62 miles above sea level. By comparison, the Moon is 240,000 miles above sea level. Passengers will be weightless for about five minutes though. Isn’t five minutes of nausea worth $200,000?

Over 200 people have signed up so far, including actress Victoria Principal and physicist Stephen Hawking. Imagine him in his wheelchair spinning around weightless puking all over everyone.

Also entering the business is Bigelow Aerospace, a company aimed at creating space hotels. Seriously.