It’s not easy maintaining a collection of games – there are always things to repair…. I thought I might take a quick walk through our arcade space and discuss what I usually do after a party and what happens to the machines and what needs to be done to the games to get them working for the next event. Some machines hold up; some break down. Take a walk with me and see what work needs to be done?
Believe it or not, I’ve actually begun learning and playing with video editing. My videos are typically famous for being very “low fi” and un-edited, and I’m not sure I want to change that or else I’ll hardly ever have time to post, but as part of our new arcade/studio project, we are hosting popular artists to perform and recording and videotaping them in the arcade setting and releasing high-quality edited videos of the performance. Here are the first two tracks from our debut show… I hope you enjoy them. Soon I will be posting more repair videos!
Last Wednesday we did our first live show…. The pinball arcade we’ve been building in the New Orleans area isn’t just about pinball. We’ve incorporated a state-of-the-art recording and internet broadcast studio into the space. Using the pinball games as a unique backdrop and the arcade as a very special, interesting place to be.
Check out the actual live cybercast here. We will be releasing a high-quality HD video of this soon.
This week has been so much fun I just had to share it with you all.
My new workshop, the “PinChurch” is becoming pretty popular now. In addition to having the South’s largest collection of vintage pinball, we’ve also built a state-of-the-art studio and performance space, and this has attracted a wide variety of really cool people.
This week the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has been in town and the whole city is rocking with great music and parties. We’ve had people come in from all around the country, and we’ve had some great artists & musicians use our space. Not the least of which is the incomparable Tommy Malone and the Subdudes.
Here are a few camera-phone videos of their rehearsal… hope you enjoy! 🙂
The band does their twist on the Chi-Lites classic:
Later this month we will actually be hosting a live performance in the venue and streaming it online — stay tuned for that… you will have a chance to watch the event live!
I just got back from the Houston Arcade Expo and have posted a video-walk-thru of the event. It’s always a fun time and this year was no exception. Although I actually did not pick up a game this year… I’m determined to finish my existing projects before adding any more. Any way, check it out:
I’m back from Dallas and attending the Texas Pinball Festival. It was another AMAZING, WONDERFUL event, and special thanks to Ken, Marcus, the DFW group and everyone else involved. The venue was huge; the lineup and number of games was incredible. The tournaments lasted until the wee hours of the morning and a good time was had by all.
Here are some pictures:
These were also uploaded to our Facebook group, check them out here:
2013 Texas Pinball Festival photo album
I will be posting some videos very soon.
I’m just getting to the point where I can take some time to write up a description of my trip to Houston for, (I think what is it, the 11-th annual) Houston Arcade Expo.
This was my third year attending the event and as usual, it was a blast.
The array of video games and pinball machines was impressive. The event is seeded by a few world-class collectors in the Texas area who bring both popular as well as extremely rare games. The show features a large array of vendors, IFPA pinball tournaments, classic arcade and console tournaments, seminars, and a crazy music and light show as well as the occasional Darth Vader impersonator. It’s held at the Crowne Plaza in North Houston who does a great job of hosting and providing accommodations for those traveling from outside the area.
Here’s a short video walk-thru of the event:
The swap meet was Saturday morning. Actually, it began with me on Friday as my friend came across a game in a guy’s trailer that was going to be at the swap meet that he sold to me the day before. This was another one of those “no brainer deals” – an almost complete pinball machine for $100. The perfect kind of project we like. A Gottlieb System 80 called “Super Orbit”. This is the forth Sys80 game I’ve picked up and I’m looking forward to doing some specific videos on repairs and restorations on that platform in the near future. I also had good luck last year picking up a swap meet game real cheap that turned out to be really fun to play (Stern “Memory Lane”).
It’s hard to tell if the swap meet was bigger this year than last. It definitely went on longer though and there was a little bit of everything. HAAG seems to have a lot more vintage console gamers coming out and trading this year.
All in all, a great event put on by great people. If you’re in the area, make a point of checking it out.