Sunday, November 4, 2007

Chexx Bubble Hockey!



So my friend Jeff found this restored '83 Chexx table on craigslist. We went to see it and immediately fell in love and bought it. Not only is it fully functional but the guy selling it was a true enthusiast who really knew his stuff. The drive home in the pickup while seeing people's reactions was almost as good as firing the machine up when we got it to Jeff's place. Childhood memories were brought back instantly and now it's time to make new ones!


The players move up and down the ice as well as spin around. We're going to get the players custom painted in a Minnesota North Stars vs. Pittsburgh Penguins theme!


The scoreboard displays the score and what period you're in. It also lights the table surface from above. As you can see it also wears the "Electronics by Moog" emblem. From '83-'88 Robert Moog's company (famous for his modular synthsizers) made the electronic components for the game. I was told the ICE company that makes the Chexx table was close to the Moog factory which formed this business relationship. Cool!


The crowd sounds interact with the magnetic puck. When the puck enters the goalie's crease they gasp, when a team scores they cheer, and if you get denied a goal attempt or just want to hear the crowd boo......one would press the "Boo" button!!! Genius!!!

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Team Fortress 2



Well I've been a long time fan of the PC game Half-Life and most of the Mod games that have stemmed from it. So TF2 is no different. I played the hell out of TF Classic so I have much appreciation for the changes and improvments made. Probably the best part is the ability to track your stats. Not having grenades is hard to get used to but the gameplay seems to be much more skill-dependant now. The stylistic cartoon characters and maps are very well done and even adds to the fun factor for me.

If you like first-person shooters and more so the half-life 2 engine, definitely check this game out!