It's a me.....Jumpman!

I'm definitely a child of the 80's like so many of us that enjoy the OSR. Sometime between when I first picked up the PHB and the time I got to play my 1st game of the Magenta Box, I had discovered the fun that was video games. At first it was seeing a friend of the family having an Atari, and if I was good getting a turn at Missile Command. Then it was the rich kid down the block owning an Intellivision, which I never got to touch.

I also didn't get to really play the Defender arcade game when the local pizza joint got it, because the big kids would hog the machine. I swear one guy could play that thing for an hour straight on one quarter.

Then in sixth grade, which is when I finally got to play in a "proper" D&D game (what I did before was very seat-of-the-pants fumbling around the rules), a small video arcade opened up over by my old school. They had a few pinball games and some iffy video games, BUT they had Donkey Kong, which I enjoyed...well kind of. I have always sucked at Donkey Kong, but it's been a special game for me.

These days I have an Xbox and plenty of cool AAA games, but I still love my old-school, quarter-eating, standup arcade machine. For a couple years now I've been collecting ROMs and I've picked up Launchbox. I've also been picking up joysticks, buttons, and basically everything else I need to create an arcade machine. Now that I have my own place I have the space and (soon) the facilities to create my arcade machine. Have you ever looked at the process for building one of those things? That's a lot of work, and I'm assuming a bunch of money for something that I might not be able to pull off.....

This last week I was screwing around of Facebook and found out about a large video game collection being auctioned off in Tulsa. There were a few non-functioning cabs and I thought maybe I could pick up one that had nothing inside of it, and was in bad shape to begin with, just to take apart and use as a template to cut out my own. Hell, I'd drive 6 hours and pay $50 to get a solid template if it saves me hundreds in wood.....and probably a couple of hours of trying to accurately measure out the plans I have. Basically I know my limitations, and "measure twice & cut once" doesn't always work for me.

Anyway I discovered they had a non-working Pony IV machine and that could save me the entire process of building jack squat. It's a Jamma cab, which is a wiring standard, so all I'd need to do is get a proper connection to my computer and maybe replace the CRT with a LED TV and I'd be good to go. 

Well I did win the auction and Wednesday I drove up to Tulsa to bring back my new cabs. Yes, plural......I managed to also pick up my very own Donkey Kong! There is some damage to the back edge of the sides, probably from loading it in/off of a truck (I'm sure I did some of that) and the back was replaced poorly, but it works, save the coin door. I also have the original (English language) owner's manual, and who we all call Mario is always referred to as "jumpman".

Sans my reflection

I was able to clean it up a bit, properly secure the back and replace the monitor's matting. I also took the effort to install aluminum angle "iron" along the top, bottom, and both sides of the back to cover up the minimal damage and protect it from further damage. I figured this was cheaper than replacing both sides and this way the machine is as close to original as I can reasonably manage.

The machine is hanging out in my kitchen until I get the space I'm going to keep it squared away. The Pony IV is in the garage until I can get to working on it (when the weather gets nicer, most likely).

......BTW, I still totally suck at Donkey Kong, but I have the opportunity to get better.

Finally Got My Hands on Bunkers & Badasses

Back in April I had a post about finding a D&Dish console game that I enjoyed, in part, because it allowed me to to merge a couple of my specific hobbies. Both were gaming, but different types. I don't get to blend gaming types often, but this weekend was another somewhat unexpected "surprise" merging of gaming genres, but this time the other way around.

Now I say "surprised" which is technically not true since I bought this thing maybe a year or a year and a half ago.......but whatever. I was pleasantly surprised by the package on my doorstep.

Now I'm sure at least a few patrons here at the Tavern have a console and undoubtedly a few have played some of the Borderlands games. Remember that Borderlands post from October (well I mentioned the game in the post)? Well in that particular DLC, named Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep, the characters from Borderlands are playing a fictional D&Dish game called Bunkers & Badasses....

...well, it was fictional, until last Friday. My copy of Bunkers & Badasses is what arrived.

Now I need another game system like I need a hole in the head, but I love D&D (I know, we all do here) and I'm a huge Borderlands fan, so the opportunity to combine the two was just too much to pass up. Now I haven't really gotten into the bowels of the game yet, but I did open the big, heavy box up and take a quick peek.

Some of the contents...

The Deluxe version came with an embossed rulebook, a rather heavy-duty two sided map that folds up rather well, a bunch of minis (10 nice PC types and some monster standees and tokens), dice, weapon cards, a stack of PC and DM sheets, and an erasable marker.

With it being a holiday weekend and all, I haven't even looked at the rules yet. I'm dying to see how they pulled off the gun cards and, more importantly, how/if I can add gun cards to the deck from the other games in the series. I'm sure it's possible, but until I dive in who knows.....I just gots to be able to dual-wield a Grog Nozzle and an Unkempt Harold.

Oh...I totally forgot about the DM/GM...or would it be BM? Screen. I clearly haven't played or used it yet, but I can already tell I'm going to love it. I waffle a bit on using a screen or not using a screen, but usually my issue is just the sheer size of the typical GM screen. The Bunkers & Badasses screen is like half-height. The moment I picked it up I was thinking, "Hell yes, this is perfect!" I'm already eye-balling this thing to be a template for my own "regular" OSR screen.

Now I don't expect that I'll get too much table-time with Bunkers & Badasses, but since it's clearly a new game and I don't expect that my normal gaming circle has played either it or the source material before, so it might make for a fun one-off......or for the price a few one-offs!

News - The World Health Organization plans to classify Video Game Addiction as a Disease

I received an email today linking me to the following article: 

https://www.todaysparent.com/kids/kids-health/the-world-health-organization-plans-to-classify-video-game-addiction-as-a-disease/

So, what's the main takeaway?

The WHO has said it will include "gaming disorder" in a June update to its International Classification of Diseases (ICD), defining it as a pattern of behavior "characterized by impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences." 

A CAMH study released in 2016 estimated 13 percent of Ontario students-or almost 123,000 kids-have experienced symptoms of a "video gaming problem," which was up from nine percent in 2007. About one in five boys reported having "problematic symptoms" linked to their video gaming.

I wonder when table-top roleplaying games come into play?

Supreme Court Strikes Down California Violent Video Game Ban

The First Amendment of the US Constitution is an amazing little piece of law.  It now covers (or always covered, but now covers by ruling) video games.  I'd hate have seen Dragon Age or Fallout or even Fable restricted by some NC-17 rating, because in many ways they are just as violent as Call of Duty and GTA.  RPGs, by their roots and nature, are violent little beasts ;)

From the majority opinion:

Like the protected books, plays, and movies that preceded them, video games communicate ideas—and even social messages—through many familiar literary devices (such as characters, dialogue, plot, and music) and through features distinctive to the medium (such as the player’s interaction with the virtual world). That suffices to confer First Amendment protection. Under our Constitution, “esthetic and moral judgments about art and literature . . . are for the individual to make, not for the Government to decree, even with the mandate or approval of a majority.” 

And Here You Thought WotC Was Trying to Milk Their Customers

Well, WotC IS trying to constantly milk their customers by making books obsolete while still trying to claim compatibility.  Heck, they still haven't released their VTT  and I've let my Insider Subscriber status lapse a long time ago.

Still, nothing beats Activision's plans for Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 3.  Lets see, if you want to play on an XBox 360 or a PS3, you have to pay to subscribe to their networks AND Activision wants you to cough up a monthly fee to them too.  I'm not even counting the 60 bucks for the game iteself.

Hey, its a Wall Street Journal Story!