I wrote this on the Facebook Arcade1up fan page.

I bought the Star Wars Arcade when Walmart had that package deal with the Robot for $350.

I had much more difficulty building this one. My step-dad usually helps me. He is 83 and I am almost 60, so we are not real fast. It usually takes us a while. The problems started when we tried to attach the second side. We couldn't get anything to line up properly, so later I attempted this on my own. I started with the lower front and worked my way around the bottom and up the back and finally the light-up marquee. Often I had to loosen screws that I had already put in to adjust it so that I could get the next screw to line up. Then I had big problems with the marquee getting it to line up.

However, the biggest problem was attaching the display panel to the second side. The holes did not line up at all. It was like the cabinet was slightly too wide. I had to remove the plastic brackets from the display panel, attach them to the side, and then reattach the display panel. The trouble was that the most I could get were 3 of 4 screws in each of the two brackets, which is probably good enough to hold it forever.

I had trouble with the display brackets with the other two arcade1up's I built, but they weren't near this difficult.

My total build time was around five hours. I spent well over an hour trying to get those display panel brackets to line up, and I spent quite a bit of time trying to get all the other holes to line up.

So was it worth it?

This was my all-time favorite arcade game, so I definitely wanted this one. After playing a couple of games, my feeling on the yoke controller is that it might not be as good as the original but close enough to have fun with it. I feel like the buttons take more effort to press, and this is where I started to have a problem. I absolutely loved this game in the 1980s when it was in the arcade, but the last time I would have had an opportunity to play it was around 1990 give or take a couple of years. That was 30 years ago. I was 30 years old then, but now I turn 60 in three weeks. I found my fingers getting sore from all the button mashing on just a couple of games, so I am wondering if the buttons really do take more effort to press compared to the original arcade? I may have to limit how much I play if my fingers bother me too much. However, I also figure that this might be good exercise for my hands.

I am happy to have the Star Wars Arcade. I'm sure that I'll have some fun with it.

Comment

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  Gerardo Follano I had both the sitdown and upright original arcade back in the 90's and the buttons feel very like i remember, but the yoke was smoother less resistance

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  Dusty Potter Where's the robot?

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    John Coffey I put it for sale on Craigslist and Facebook marketplace.

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  Chad Kirstein That cabinets was a bugger to put together. I usually have my son do it but I had to jump in and assist him.

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  Patrick Prevenas This is my favorite cab by miles, but it was a bit harder to assemble. The kickplate had some trouble staying in place while lining up the second side panel, and the control deck screws didn't quite line up with the holes in the mounting boards. Overall I spent between and hour and 1.5 hours to put it together, but I've been loving it ever since.

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    John Coffey On the other arcade1up's, the kickplate just slid in. Not with this one. It is a real pain to get everything to line up.

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    Patrick Prevenas John Coffey Yeah, I think it's because of the orientation and assembly of the control deck. It was kind of frustrating, but once it's done, man, what a great cabinet.

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  John Marx Yeah getting the marquee to line up with the 2nd side panel with everything else was a pain in the ass.

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  Attila Tihanyi Yep. I have 6 and SW was the most stressful built. As you said the wholes for the monitor don't line up. I also had issues with other wholes... the finished product is outstanding tho

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  Mark L Morrissey Glad to see I wasn't the only one who struggled with that part... i just stayed quiet because i didnt want to look dumb...

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  Paul da Silva The buttons on mine are and have always been easy, and the yoke feels like I remember it in the arcades. A few people on here have mentioned that they had stiff yokes that loosened up over time, so perhaps your buttons will do the same. Can you use the triggers instead? And is there any chance that your hands are just sore and over-sensitive from five hours of wringing hand tools? Congratulations on wrenching that monster together! I remember it took me twice as long as usual to assemble mine. I hope the buttons work out and you enjoy the heck out of it.

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  Richard Ortiz I'm 59 have suffer from RA and arthritis. So I'm with you there on the hands not being as fast or as flexible as they used to be. My Star Wars and the 12in1 are my to favorite cabs. Love vector graphics games.

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  RJ Chellman I'm 36 and I had problems with that side too

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  Lucas Singer I had nearly all these problems with building it too. It was by far the hardest out of my 5 cabinets to setup and took me several hours. I really feel like everything wasn't aligned very well or maybe there's just too many variables to make everything …See More

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  Chris Gibson Love mine.

  

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  Neal Giordano Jr. Love it, but SW is the one that gave me the most trouble with assembly. Getting the 2nd side to line up with everything was rough, then I had problems getting the marquee to line up correctly. Took a little over an hour, when all was said and done. Two people would definitely work better than one.

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  Duane Davis Don't feel bad. Twig is 107 & had to hire the Geek Squad to finish his. He tried on his own and it looked like a Picasso painting. 🤣🤣

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  Ron Ailurophile Hall So the consensus is there are assembly issues and we are all getting older! Well done though it looks great!!!

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New Toy. Arcade1up

Robot lawnmower giveaway

https://tinyurl.com/y92b9gc5

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Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Why the majority is always wrong | Paul Rulkens

This is inspirational.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNGFep6rncY

Various Comments from my friend Al

Good call. Keep in mind we're hunkering down to avoid getting sick. In reality, we're waiting for the vaccine. If we can stay healthy we can live long enough to get the vaccine. If there is no vaccine, it's just a matter of time before we're infected. Once infected we'll have to endure the effects of COVID-19 and hope for the best.


It surprises me when I see married couples and boyfriend & girlfriends at the supermarket. If you're married with children, only the Mom or Dad should expose themselves. They should decide who will dodge the bullets (COVID-19). There's no sense in both of them exposing themselves.


You wouldn't believe Fishers. People are wandering around like it's a regular day off. Some in pairs and some in groups of 3 or 4. No social distancing. It's hard to believe they are not watching the same news you and I watch. I guess they're bored to tears.


Ikr? It's hard for me understand people. Obviously, more people stayed home than attended Saturday's protest. So, most people understand the concept of social distancing. Unfortunately, we get reckless close to home. People somehow believe you can't get infected in a Kroger or a Walmart. Lol


How many Klingons does it take to change a light bulb?

Two. One to change the bulb and the other to insult him for being afraid of the dark.


I went to Kroger's today and I was shocked to see how people are letting their guard down. Just because the state has started to open up a little doesn't mean the pandemic is over. My local Kroger's had the largest amount of mouth-breathers I've seen in one spot since viewing The Walking Dead. People really have no regard for the safety of others or any respect for front line workers who are trying to battle COVID-19. I think as states continue to open businesses people will become victims of their own stupid decisions. Some should order a large batch of Darwin Awards this year because there are going to be a lot of deserving to win one. Lol

Best wishes,

John Coffey

The Future of Humanity

Something I wrote last year:

I see a danger to the future existence of the human race, and it is the kind of thing that people should think about and prepare for now. Sometime in the next 50 years, machines will be smarter than people. There are major technical hurdles to overcome, such as the inevitable end of Moore's Law, which probably means that it is not right around the corner or even within the next couple of decades, but it will happen, and easily within this century. And if for some reason it does happen within the next couple of decades then that means the results will be upon us that much sooner.

We can predict what will happen next and follow it to its logical conclusion, which is a future without people.

As machines become smarter, people will become increasingly reliant on technology. We can see that already with smartphones, which only have been with us for barely over a decade. Eventually, machines will do all the heavy mental work, which will make our lives easier, but also make us more dependent.

And since we will be so dependent on the machines, we will start incorporating them into us. This will evolve over time until we are no longer purely human, but human-machine hybrids. Perhaps when your biological brain dies, the machine part of you will be able to continue with all your memories intact. Maybe it would have an artificial body or maybe it will exist in a virtual world. It is likely that some would prefer to live in a virtual world where they can do more things than they could in the real world. Taken to the eventual extreme, our descendants would no longer bother with biological bodies and prefer to exist as machine intelligence either in the real world or in virtual ones.

The evolutionary pressure will be against purely biological people. Having machines incorporated into you will make you more productive, competitive, and increase your quality of life.

The future I describe might be long distant, but if it is not the future we want for the human race then we should start thinking about it now. Maybe we could have a Pure Human movement that would prohibit the merging of machine intelligence with human intelligence? This could be roughly analogous to the current legal ban on human cloning, because we very likely have the technology right now to clone humans, but countries ban it because they are uneasy about the implications of where that might take us.

However, we might not be able to prevent it. Linking machines with human intelligence is likely to happen in such small steps that we will easily adjust to it. It is sort of happening already with our dependence on computers. It could also start as a series of military applications where having the most effective soldiers determines who wins wars. And once the genie is out of the bottle, we will never get it back in.

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Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Mother's Day poem

I usually post this on Facebook around Mother's Day.

Blessings on the hand of women!
Angels guard its strength and grace,
In the palace, cottage, hovel,
Oh, no matter where the place;
Would that never storms assailed it,
Rainbows ever gently curled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

Infancy's the tender fountain,
Power may with beauty flow,
Mother's first to guide the streamlets,
From them souls unresting grow--
Grow on for the good or evil,
Sunshine streamed or evil hurled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

Woman, how divine your mission
Here upon our natal sod!
Keep, oh, keep the young heart open
Always to the breath of God!
All true trophies of the ages
Are from mother-love impearled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

Blessings on the hand of women!
Fathers, sons, and daughters cry,
And the sacred song is mingled
With the worship in the sky--
Mingles where no tempest darkens,
Rainbows evermore are hurled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

- William Ross Wallace

From 4 years ago:

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Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Star Wars Arcade1up

Left Utah 5 years ago

Five years ago Tuesday, I left Utah, traveled through Wyoming, and then spent the night in Nebraska.  I had reserved a hotel room in Nebraska, (Ogallala I think), but I was running so late that I didn't get there until 1 in the morning.

http://thatonemanfollowedhisstar.blogspot.com/2019/07/laramie-wyoming.html

My favorite arcade game. Star Wars Special Deal.

My favorite arcade game was Star Wars The Arcade Game from 1983.  This is a heart-pounding fast action game with great sounds and graphics that were ahead of its time.  It also has a special Yoke controller with 4 fire buttons.

The Arcade1up version is more expensive than most of their other games.  People who have gotten have praised it.   I have been watching the arcade1up Star Wars version for months now.  It lists for $499, but the price is usually $450.  Some wholesale store in Indiana had one for $300, but it was gone by the time I inquired about it.

Walmart still lists it for $450.  However, earlier today when I searched for "arcade1up" on Walmart, the *second* *page* had this listing below.

People on the Facebook group were talking about this.  People were buying it.  I was hoping to get the arcade game for $300, but this Robot itself sells for $90 to $150.  Maybe I can sell it for $50.

I would rather have the arcade1up version of Star Wars than all the other games combined.  People on Facebook encouraged me to pull the trigger, so I did.

(My two previous arcade1up games took about 3 hours for my Step-Dad and me to assemble, not including the riser which took us almost as long.  I told the Arcade1up group on Facebook this, and everybody wondered why it took so long.  They said that it can be done in an hour or less.  One person said his 10 year old daughter can put them together in an hour.)

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Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Fwd: One day, a computer will fit on a desk (1974) | RetroFocus

---------- Forwarded message ---------

From: Albert Nelms 

Obviously, this guy doesn't know what he's talking about. Lol

https://youtu.be/sTdWQAKzESA

The President's Council On Physical Fitness And Sports PSA 1971

Given the current situation, I remembered a commercial from 49 years ago. Although it is not directly related, it sort of applies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJXeSkBDiTo

Three episodes of "The Twilight Zone" with their separate stories, characters, and locations that were each about themes of loneliness.

From top to bottom: "Where is Everybody", "Time Enough at Last", and "The Lonely".

Food and Walmart pickup service

I've been making ham and melted cheddar cheese sandwiches with pickles. This is not something I would eat before the crisis, but I'm taking whatever I can get. I have actually gotten addicted to these, but now I'm out of ham, cheese, and bread. I have scheduled my next Walmart pickup to be 11:00 AM, Sunday because it appears to be harder to schedule the time slots. It is likely that more people are using the pickup service.

I used to be like, "Who would be so lazy that can't do their own shopping?"

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Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com