247 replies to this topic

[Crazy Climber]

Judging by what I have seen, I could say overall financially you are doing rather well or at least better than many. Now, unless you recently had a huge inheritance or won the lottery or something, getting where you are currently was not easy, it took a LOT of hard work, dedication and an overall drive for success that many people lack. That being said, even though it may seem impossible now, you have come too far to have doubts. People like YOU are the reason things like this happen. Your hard work, dedication, attention to detail and overall hunger for acomplishment will make what many of us day dream about a reality. It's more than just money at this point, you could take 100 people and put them in your exact situation and maybe a few, probably only one would make it happen...YOU are that one. Don't let the concrete walls and trees stop you in your tracks...I believe and on behalf of everyone who supports this, we believe you can do it man...stay focused and stay hungry! Lets see the best damn arcade YOU can do!

As the Super fighter team would say.....
NEVER LET DREAMS DIE!!!

[ccatalyst]

Well when i last posted i was bitching - "crap i have another leak", it ended up being a pretty sizeable one, and I got it taken care of, then we were really exited becuase the carpet was going in the next day, but murphy could not leave well enough alone,  as the installers were measuring out the carpet to get it installed, 1 of the rolls had a stain, but no ordinary stain, it was about 6 inches across and ran the entire length of one the rolls, through the entire carpet front to back, the carpet mill was supposed to send us out a professional carpet  cleaner, but of course we could not reach them in order to get the carpet cleaners paid and we ended up having to pay the cleaners out of our pocket and now we will have to fight with the carpet mill in order to get reimbursed.

But the carpet is finally in, and we also got the counter moved and installed today, the monitors are mounted in 1/2 of the rear section, and the rocker chairs also setup and built in the rear, Also we ran across another problem, not enough blacklight, we had to install 3 more overhead fixtures to get it well balanced out, we also installed the front facing video monitors, and the outdoor facing monitor that will be used for competition display, I ended up bringing in mushihimesama futari, in 1 of the blast citys to make sure the cabinet did not glow under the blacklight, i was a bit worried that it might. But all went well, and you can see 1 of the images of my daughter playing Mushihimesama Futari while 2 other helpers, decided to paint their faces with the blacklight paint and are posing along for the picture, very classic star trek looking.  Also you can see a close up the carpet glowing under the blacklight. Some more pics tomorrow.

Rick

PS: thanks for the words of encourgement Crazy Climber, it truly does help boost you up, when you got someone routing for you.

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[ntavio]

ccatalyst, on Sat Nov 26, 2011 12:59 AM, said:

PS: thanks for the words of encourgement Crazy Climber, it truly does help boost you up, when you got someone routing for you.

Make that TWO rooting for you and your success (and I'm sure hundreds more here on AA)

[high voltage]

Not bad console collection, keep going.....

[Master Phruby]

You've done what I've dreamed of having since seeing Flynn's arcade in the movie Tron. There are so few arcades in the country and its great to see a mega one being built. That is an extremely impressive collection. It will make a great museum. I hope your arcade does well and you can expand it to the west coast someday!  :-)

[ccatalyst]

Thank you all for those words of encouragement, believe me they go a long way, especially when everything seems to be going against you. Well we are getting ever closer, machines have started to get moved in, we had to paint the inside windows with a rubberized black paint to keep the light out, i thought the window coverings would do the trick, but when the sun is in front of the mall, it just makes everything inside blue, like if you were staring at it through a blue balloon, so rubberized paint to the rescue, after 5 coats to kill all the sunlight, we finished mounting the monitor that faces out, and have brought in about 2/3 of the games in so far. Fortunetly my other workplace is around the corner so we actually have been walking the games over, you can see my partner and his dad bringing trophy hunter over, everything has been walked over, also our 100mbps internet pipe is up, sort of helps to own a colocation facility, and it helps even more to have said ISP/Colo about 500ft from the arcade.

The games that are in so far

Sega Wave Runner
Xmen 6 player
Dance Maniax 2nd Mix Jap Append
Tsumo Ball simulator with 6 games to select from - this will be coming over this week - not looking forward to it, it weighs a ton.
House of the Dead 2
House of the Dead 3
House of the Dead 4
Trophy Hunting
Midway Multigame
Williams Multigame
Punch Mania
The Act
Melty Blood Actress Again
Mushihimesama Futari Black Label
2 - Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition - Jap Cabs - 1 player per cab
Ikaruga
Metal slug 6
Terminator 2 pinball
Terminator 3 pinball
2 - Spawns linked together - we have 4 kits, but we will start off with 2 and maybe hook up all 4 for tournaments
Arctic Thunder - we are waiting for the ultimate upgrade to arrive.
2 player side by side Planet Harrier
Area 51 & maximum force multi cab
Star Wars
Trouble Witches
KOF XIII - jap edition
6 - prize cranes
crazy taxi
2 - hydro thunders side by side
there are a few others missing, but im drawing a blank right now, after moving several of these over im bushed.

not all the games are in the Arcade yet, we hope to have them moved in by the end of this coming week, but you can see pictures how the build out is turning out, till next time.

Rick

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Edited by ccatalyst, Sun Dec 4, 2011 10:17 PM.

[ccatalyst]

Oh i almost forgot, i finally got my t-shirts and they look great, we paid a bunch for 10 color seperations on the shirts and did not skimp at all on the quality of the print and the shirts, heck , they even glow under the black light, like i said they look great except for 1 small problem , they put the logo in the back, i wanted it in the front, so now i have this black shirt with a great logo in the back and nothing in the front, i was thinking of putting some video game quotes in the front to just add something else, i have 150 shirts, so im going to divide them into groups of 15, i will leave 15 plain, for the purists, and then i will group them into 9 groups of 15, and put 1 saying per each 15 shirts, in a very bright blacklight glowing white font, here are the ones im thinking about

#1 ) Shoryuken!!! - Ken - Street Fighter series
#2 ) Time to kick ass and chew bubble gum... and im all out of gum - Duke Nukem
#3 ) All your base are belong to us - Cats - Zero Wing
#4 ) Thank you, Mario! But our Princess is in another castle! – Toad - Super Mario Bros.
#5 ) I see only what i've come to destroy - Kratos
#6 ) The cake is a lie- GLaDOS - Portal
#7 ) Would you kindly? - Atlas -  Bioshock
#8 ) I'm the grim reaper, Lardass, and you're my next customer. - Manny Calavera - Grim Fandango
#9 ) Finish him!!! - Fatality!!! - Mortal Kombat

I have gotten both good and bad responses to my idea above, remember it is only 1 quote per shirt, Also i came up with a quote myself to put it on all the shirts instead of the ones above that reads

In these hallowed halls of Champions - Respect is not given , it must be earned!!!
Now shut the hell up, put in a token and prove yourself!!!

Not the most classiest of quotes but hey it's something,  could be the arcade slogan, let me know what everyone thinks, i have got 2 days to make a final decision. I will post a pic of the shirts tomorrow.

Good night
Rick

Edited by ccatalyst, Sun Dec 4, 2011 11:43 PM.

[fibrewire]

So... people are just gonna walk in and -TOUCH- your stuff???

Don't forget the CCTV system. It's the only way to prove you're not negligent.

[ccatalyst]

fibrewire, on Mon Dec 5, 2011 5:20 AM, said:

So... people are just gonna walk in and -TOUCH- your stuff???

Don't forget the CCTV system. It's the only way to prove you're not negligent.

Yep, i know it's scary, but  hopefully people wont bang them up too badly. Time will tell, I'll post it in this forum, if i end up throwing people out for being too rough on the machines. And yes again, I got 8 night vision cameras installed and recording.

Rick

[the.golden.ax]

ccatalyst, on Mon Dec 5, 2011 6:02 AM, said:

fibrewire, on Mon Dec 5, 2011 5:20 AM, said:

So... people are just gonna walk in and -TOUCH- your stuff???

Don't forget the CCTV system. It's the only way to prove you're not negligent.

Yep, i know it's scary, but  hopefully people wont bang them up too badly. Time will tell, I'll post it in this forum, if i end up throwing people out for being too rough on the machines. And yes again, I got 8 night vision cameras installed and recording.

Rick

Keep on top of your nightvision cameras infrared LEDs. I had four in my shop and they kept going out a few at a time. Could have been the quality of the products (purchased off eBay from Hong Kong) They actually give a slight glow in the dark and you can see if they have gone out.  Once you loose half those little suckers it's too "dark" on the footage to make much out from your recordings.

AX

[Crazy Climber]

WOW! Your line up so far looks fantastic!! The place is looking great man, let me know when shirts are available, I'll order one

[Master Phruby]

Ever consider selling the t-shirts to forum members here? I'm sure alot of us would love to have one to show our support.

[NightSprinter]

Is it open yet?  Pics seem to show it's ready to start.

[ccatalyst]

Not yet, but we are getting very very close, we need to bring in another 11 games,order snacks, and tweak everything just a bit more to get get it all just right.

Rick

[b bierman ghoul]

Wow, I had a blast reading this thread from start to your last post!

Good look with the arcade, Rick!

James

[ccatalyst]

Hey there fellow gamers, Just catching everyone up on the latest developments,

#1) We got 3 new wells gardner 42" lcd conversion kits for the 50" games screens, among them are Sega Nascar - big yellow one with Roll cage, Pump it up NX in Huge stage, and Sega's wave runner, we put them all in , and had to make some custom front lexan pieces for the pump it up , but it came out great, will post pictures tomorrow.
#2) got in a new 150psi , ultra quiet 70db compressor for the wave runner, it is tiny, 20x24x17 , it fit right inside the cabinet, now that the 50" projection monitor was gutted out of it and a thin lcd was put in it's place, we had plenty of room to put this baby in place.
#3) took some pictures of the t-shirts, both in black light and normal light, this was before i gave them back to my printer to get the wording done. I am waiting to see how the text looks before i begin with that.
#4) the games list has been slightly tweaked and now looks like this

Sega Wave Runner
crazy taxi
Dance Maniax 2nd Mix Jap Append
Tsumo Ball simulator with 6 games to select from
House of the Dead 2
House of the Dead 3
House of the Dead 4
Trophy Hunting
Midway Multigame
Williams Multigame
Punch Mania
The Act
Melty Blood Actress Again
Mushihimesama Futari Black Label
2 - Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition - Jap Cabs - 1 player per cab
Ikaruga
Metal slug 6
Terminator 2 pinball
Terminator 3 pinball
2 - Spawns linked together - we have 4 kits, but we will start off with 2 and maybe hook up all 4 for tournaments
Arctic Thunder - we are waiting for the ultimate upgrade to arrive.
2 player side by side Planet Harrier
Area 51 & maximum force multi cab
Star Wars
Trouble Witches
KOF XIII - jap edition
Xmen 6 player
4 - prize cranes
2 - hydro thunders side by side
virtual on - 2 player side by side
Vapor trx
Pump it up NX - 42" lcd huge cabinet.
Guilty Gear Accent Core
Sega Nascar
Bass Fishing
2 - Air hockey tables with digital overhead scoring

we are trying to get silent scope 2 working, but if we cannot, we will be probably end up putting in a gauntlet dark legacy. Almost everything is in except for 5 games, & the 2 air hockey tables.

Well i have got to work on some more games this weekend to get them ready for opening day, coin mechs, seat adjustment repairs, amp repairs, monitor repairs, t3 pinball repair, speaker repair, etc.  Hopefully we will get most of these completed by sunday, i am hoping to have a soft opening next week, im just not sure when, but i will post it here before any where else, darn it, i just realized i have got to get the jap snacks/ramunes ordered , they take over a week to get here. Oh heck, im bushed, see you all tomorrow with more pics.

Goodnight
Rick

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Edited by ccatalyst, Fri Dec 9, 2011 11:58 PM.

[ccatalyst]

b bierman ghoul, on Thu Dec 8, 2011 2:12 AM, said:

Wow, I had a blast reading this thread from start to your last post!

Good look with the arcade, Rick!

James

Thanks, i'm glad you enjoyed it, and thank you again for the well wishes.

Rick

[the.golden.ax]

Keep livin' the dream man. I hope this takes off and lasts. Places like this are way to few these days.

AX

[ccatalyst]

Thank you Ax,  i really appreciate the kind words.
Here are more pics, we are almost there, missing 4 cranes, 2 air hockey tables, and we are going with gauntlet dark legacy as the final game, we are targeting this weekend to open.

Rick

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Edited by ccatalyst, Sun Dec 11, 2011 11:23 PM.

[Crazy Climber]

OMG!!! This looks so AWESOME! Seriously, a slow tear is rolling down my cheek as I stare at these awesome pics! Way cool man

[NightSprinter]

I got the car, just gotta get the SunPass and I'm there opening day man.

[ccatalyst]

Well it has been a while since i posted anything on the console side, and thanks to Kevin, a fellow collector, i am now the proud owner of the Philips In2IT, it just arrived today,  - Thank you Kev - you will notice in the pics that it is a box within a box, the external box is supposed to be a holder of sorts, i took a picture of the 2 tabs on the inside of the larger box, so you can see what they expected you to do with this. Enjoy the pics.

Rick

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[ccatalyst]

Well just got home, yawn it's late, we had a lot of people come by today, even though we were not open, apparently everyone thought we were going to be open today, but alas still too many things to get finalized, but it was encouraging to see so many people waiting to play, i gladly gave each one of them a personal tour and explained to them about the games and the machines, I can't help it, the game collector in me wins out every time.

the stuff that remains to get finished is pretty minor, but still important, things such as garbage cans, cash register, phones, the drinks and snacks - which wont be here till next friday, 15 coin mechs, 1 ceiling tile, and 3 more games to repair, toys for the cranes, website, business cards, brochures that is pretty much it. As far as the games we are pretty much done you can see the current list above, well it's 2:30am im bushed, im going in tomorrow to try and get the last 3 games done, and test every single game out 1 at a time, from the coin mech to the controls, everything has got to work perfectly, i cannot stand an arcade that has 1/2 of the games broken for several months at a time, if i cannot fix the game in a week or so, then i am going to replace it with something else, i know it sounds petty, but believe me it makes a difference.

Anyhow boys and girls, im off to bed, speak to you soon.

Rikck

[scaramouche]

You are welcome Rik!  Just in case most people in forums know me as Scaramouche and not Kevin    I love to see you have your IN2IT KIDCOM. Man... please keep it turned on i am trying to share some files using the wireless function from here from Uruguay   

Great pictures i uploaded a video today , i think is a great system too advanced for that years. And as long i know we both are the only 2 ones owners of the BIG BOX units that were the released ones (5 released) for a test in Finland. The others are prototypes.

Blessings from Uruguay my friend! And for my is a proud to help a hardcore collector i always admired . ... your collection is just DIABOLIC!!!  

[Gabriel San Roman]

ccatalyst, on Sun Dec 18, 2011 1:33 AM, said:

Anyhow boys and girls, im off to bed, speak to you soon.

Rikck

Good Evening Rick!

This is Gabriel! My small group and I came out to check out your Arcade on Friday afternoon! Don't know if you remember us but we REALLY appreciate the small tour you gave us! The place looks fantastic and I'm DEFINITELY excited on hearing when the opening day will be!! I passed the info of your arcade down to my local group of fighting game friends and we're all excited for the opening especially to play Street Fighter, King Of Fighters, Guilty Gear and VIRTUAL ON!!!!!


OMG VIRTUAL ON!!!!


Question Rick!
What version of Vritual On do you have? THAT GAME IS GOING TO BE SO HYPE!!!!