Pinball

An arcadian ode to the old arcade

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--There was a time, not all that long ago, when the only way to play a decent (or indeed most any) "computer game" was to seek one out at a local pizza parlor or bowling alley--or, if you were lucky and your neighborhood had been blessed with such an establishment, the local arcade.

In fact, computer games weren't computer games yet. They were video games, or arcade games.

I can remember the excitement my friends and I felt when our neighborhood suddenly witnessed the arrival of a "real" video arcade. Space Invaders had been around for a while by then (how cool was it that the Pretenders had recorded an instrumental in its honor, complete with a sampling of the game's throbbing, threatening sound effects?). But the newly opened Louie's brought us a startling array of bright, beeping, and then-revolutionary games with strange and thrilling names like Pac-Man and Centipede.… Read more

The 404 877: Where you learn a lot about people at the beach (podcast)

Jeff's back in the studio after his vacation week, and any positive vibes floating around in the air are obliterated when he tells us about the things you can learn about people just from spending time at the beach.

Unsurprisingly, none of us plan to see "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," despite its 80-percent "fresh" rating on RottenTomatoes.com. We're also ripping a page from the Obvious News section and talking about TV porn sales going down in recent years, and playing a handful of voicemails carefully chosen by Mr. Bakalar.

The 404 Digest for Episode 877

Big surprise: TV porn doesn't sell like it used to. FBI releases child ID iPhone app.

Episode 877 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Crave 42: Grocery robotics (podcast)

Self-service checkout is for suckers. The future of grocery shopping is a robotic clerk/bagger developed by Willow Garage. Eric and Donald also argue over the best way to spend $500, the best ball-based game machine to alienate you from your loved ones, and the cheapest X-Wing fighter ever made.

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'Tron: Legacy' pinball looks like a quarter quencher

In "Tron: Legacy," we were once again exposed to the madness of a virtual world created by an eccentric programmer. And now the grid has inspired a new game.

Get ready to load your fanny pack full of quarters. Stern Pinball and Disney recently unveiled a full featured "Tron: Legacy" pinball machine perhaps worthy enough for Flynn's Arcade. The playfield features light cycles, deadly discs, and other notable imagery from the film. The audio doesn't slouch either, as the original Daft Punk soundtrack and character sound clips emit during gameplay.

Well-known names in the pinball industry collaborated on the project: John Borg is the playfield architect, artist John Youssi designed the art, and David Thiel engineered the sound.

After pulling back on the plunger, players take on the role of Sam Flynn, who is attempting to fight off villians Clu and Rinsler. According to Stern Pinball, gameplay features are numerous, including the option to "ride the two ramps for Light Cycle battles on different levels of the Grid; defeat the motorized Recognizer target bank to expose Rinsler's spinning Identity Disc; or fire the ball from Rinsler's Disc to simulate a Disc War."

There's even a limited edition "Tron: Legacy" pinball machine (about 400 will be made) that Pinball News has described in greater detail. The LE model features EL wire lighting, chrome trim, enhanced playfield artwork, an extra playfield toy, and other enhancements.

I'm hoping I can play soon. Anything to get closer to Olivia Wilde (Quorra).… Read more

Crave 36: Pinball wizards (podcast)

This week, Donald and Eric explore the idea of hearing with your mouth, seeing in 12 dimensions, and shooting lightening with a wave of your arm. Yes, it's wizard tech week, apparently. To that end, we show off an illuminated staff that can divine the strength of your Wi-Fi signal and a DIY project for all you pinball wizards out there.

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Brookstone iPad pinball accessory goes MIA

Gizmodo and few other blogs have posted images of a rather cool-looking iPad pinball table accessory from Brookstone. Alas, for some reason Brookstone's site says the $80 accessory is no longer offered and no free Pinball Magic iPad app for the iPad is currently available in the Apple App Store.

We're not sure why the accessory has disappeared, but we did see it in the most recent Brookstone paper catalog. On the other hand, if you want New Potato's iPhone/iPod Touch pinball accessory (see video below), that's in stock for $30. While the free Pinball … Read more

Turn your iPhone into a desktop pinball table

It may just be a shell, but it's a pretty darn good rendition of a pinball arcade table, down to the plunger, flipper switches, and LED backlit backbox that displays animation when you play. For pinball junkies who find the idea of tapping on an iPhone screen to flip the ball lame, the Pinball Magic ($39.99) should score a hit.

All that's needed is to dock your iPhone or iPod (running on OS 3.0 and higher) into the 30-pin connector accessory, make sure you download the free pinball app (you'll need an iTunes account), and … Read more

Pinball HD for iPhone, iPad: So realistic you'll be stuffing quarters into your dock connector

If you have vivid memories of heading down to the arcade to get in a few hours of pinball after school before dinner, Pinball HD for iPhone ($1.99) and iPad ($2.99) is your 2010 tech toy equivalent.

The basics for any good iOS game are all there--great graphics, smooth and addicting gameplay, and easy controls. Pinball HD does all three well adding the element of nostalgia to make it a nice addition to your gaming repertoire. The killer feature is the pan and zoom ball-tracking camera in portrait mode, while landscape mode allows you to see the entire … Read more

The 404 541: Where we put Sweden on the map (podcast)

Longtime 404 listener Ammi took some time out of her busy vacation from Sweden to drop by our studios this morning, so we invite her on the show to tell us about her first trip to the United States...and also to help us locate Sweden on the map, because we're geographically hopeless. Ammi's only been here a few days so far, but her observations on the chaos and consumerism of American culture are on point. Like many foreigners that visit our country, she can't help but notice the obesity epidemic that we can easily trace back to the cupcake stores on every block in the city.

To Jeff's delight, Ammi also tells us that hockey gets much more attention in Sweden than it does in the US, although I'm pretty sure Swedish cable subscribers can't watch their games in 3D. On March 24, Cablevision will be broadcasting the New York Rangers vs. New York Islanders game in 3D, the first live 3D sports broadcast to hit the network. Don't worry if you're not one of the 11 people that actually own a 3D TV; Madison Square Garden will also host a viewing party on a big-screen 3D projection TV for 2,500 guests on the night of the big game. Hockey fans that can handle the real dimension can also just buy tickets to the live game.

We're all fans of old-school Pinball games, but we never thought we'd see a Bill Paxton Pinball Machine! Ben Heckendorn just put the finishing touches on a custom Paxton Pinball game that he's been working on since 2005. He even lists out the exact parts you need to make your own in a detailed "making-of" story and demonstration video. Nice work, Ben!

We've also got another story from the book of wacky DIY projects: the "Carpuccino," a converted Volkswagon powered by the carbon in loose coffee grounds. To prove its worth, the team responsible for building the Carpuccino is driving the car from London to Manchester using grounds collected from Costa Coffee. The adventure will take time and plenty of cash--the top speed is 60 miles per hour and costs a ridiculous 25-50 times more than using gasoline. Odds of seeing an official Ford/Honda/Toyota Carpuccino: zero.

Thanks again to Ammi, Samri, Sarah, and the rest of our Swedish listeners for supporting the show from abroad. We gave Ammi plenty of stickers to plaster all over the country, so expect to see some pictures of 404-branded Swedish Fish soon!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

EPISODE 541 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more