A wonder of the early 80's gets a fresh look inside and out in 2018. How can I be jaded about these mini arcades? They're impossible to play, but just so undeniably cool. Enjoy!
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- Music by Fran Blanche -
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Fran's Science Blog - http://www.frantone.com/designwritings/design_writings.html
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I did get this for Christmas back then! I was fortunate enough to have had a lot of VFD games which were very popular in the early 80s.
Thanks again Fran, I love your channel.
wow I had one of these I was just showing my kids what game I had as a child. Wow memories.
Wow…an uncle bought me that exact Zaxxon back in the day…looking at it brings back memories… although as you mention, it was impossible to play!!
Imagine being a kid wanting Zaxxon for your Colecovision, but, unable to afford a $50 game back in 82/83 and finding that game by chance at a Odd Lots store for $10 in a discount/clearance bin. To say I was freaked out by the price is a understatement, not to mention finding it it to begin with since it was always sold out. That game ended up being the most played game of all my Colecovision games
That thing is sweet. I used to have a Donkey Kong that was like that. My mom gave it away when I was in college.
I was so fortunate to have one, I loved it beyond my bmx. As I watched your lovely beautiful video, thanks you so much for explaining the impression structure. I will buy one and order the best rechargeable samsung batteries for it and display it in my glass cabinet for my sons to have also. Bravo. Brillant Video. Nostalgic.
I got king Kong
why are the displays slanted like that?
Thanks so much for this teardown! When I was a kid in the early '80s, I learned about the Pepper's Ghost effect by asking an attendant at the La Brea Tarpits how they did a caveman sculpture ⇔ skeleton live-morph (followed by some additional library research). I also played the Coleco tabletop Zaxxon back then at least once (didn't own it, though I had Coleco's single-VFD Pac-Man), but I don't think I ever put two and two together to realize that the superimposition of elements indicated the Pepper's Ghost effect was being used here. Now I kinda want one of these again. 😁
I remember the arcade game that had a wire that projected out and from it depended a dune buggy. The road course and obstacles you had to avoid were mounted on a belt, like a belt sander except pretty long inside the big wooden box of the games cabinet. It was pretty fun. What that game was called I can't remember.
Glad to have discovered Fran, your videos turn me on :^)
Had one of these. I was doing VR long before Ocular made billions doing anything but selling their crap to customers.