My Blog - Version 2

Tweet recap - first 2 months of Game On 2.0

Tue, 7 May 2013 15:03:01 -0400

As part of our participation in Game On 2.0, I’ve been tweeting like crazy, and some of the tweets are pure gold (in my opinion of course ;-)

For those who use Twitter often, you know that tweets fly by and are often left to obscurity as the week goes on. Luckily, Twitter allows you to download all of your past tweets (look in Settings), so every 2 months of Game On 2.0, I’ll summarize some of the great tweets for others to read on my blog (Game On 2.0 lasts for 6 months, so expect two more of these posts). Be sure to click on the URL links to see any pictures or videos attached! And anything in red is a retweet from someone else. Enjoy!

Did you know that Electronic Arts (EA) was originally called Amazin' Software? Learn more @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

#AngryBirds is a dangerous game! @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH goo.gl/PKL67 pic.twitter.com/BK2lhCVZAW

@FirstTryTy Life IS like #Galaga.....it gets harder and faster until you die....;-)

Ever wonder why Galaga was shown in "The Avengers"? Find out @OntarioScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH youtu.be/cyvVSamwMrI

Awesome #GranTurismo5 setup @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/8qkDCRROm3

Nothing better than getting perfect on all eight #Galaga bonus levels on the hardest difficulty before going to bed. pic.twitter.com/8sMOpestHc

I bet @Cmdr_Hadfield would be really good at #SpaceInvaders @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/Koc9o20xU4

Great humour outside the virtual reality ball at Game On 2.0@OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/WK77ig7NxT

Game developer Tiffany talking about how gaming can help your problem solving skills! #SciFriTO #GameOnScience pic.twitter.com/7Eugw5a05o

Awesome #pacman t-shirt pic.twitter.com/cSptPGHzGC

Here is my panel talk from #SciFriTO @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH goo.gl/bxV28

#Galaga RT @Say_Vhaat
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#Pacman tattoo from #SciFriTO @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/tkRdYXvyu5

Check out the #GameBoy modded for making chiptune music at #SciFriTO @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/0yGvuf7iPH

This is how they roll at #SciFriTO @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/JN5MNVA10r

Combine Art and Science at #SciFriTO May 3, 6-9p @OntScienceCtr #FREE. Photo: ow.ly/i/1Uccz Web: ow.ly/k7GED

Pac-man Plus is better than Pac-man - Coke cans instead of cherries! @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/7sqwhLZaDg

Tonight is #SciFriTO - I'll be talking about the 8-bit comeback! @OntScienceCtr @triOSCollegeBTH goo.gl/wSNzZ

Ah.....the life of a gamer..... @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/9BuQPC1oqa

Who remembers the handheld Merlin game? @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/6iKkfgB2Vz

The original PC - the IBM 5150 @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/60N0TjZ89O

Nintendo started in 1889 making playing cards, and they still make them today too! @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

Unlike the one on "Chuck" this Missile Command won't disarm a missile @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/8X36sWqQdO

Which Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) game was first to exceed 200 million users? Find out @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

Where else today can you walk around the corner into an 80's arcade? @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/mFFgbT3vp2

What was the highest rated video game of all time? Find out@OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

Which famous actor starred in a commercial for this game? Find out @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/K4QKppLcsO

What was the oldest song ever featured in a dancing video game? Find out@OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

You are never too old to visit Game On 2.0 @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH youtu.be/nawe7F8cZ_U

#Galaga90 playing on a #PCEngine console @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/j7OpGLeUfu

#Tempest2000 is one of the best games ever made IMO @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/UbEdnTH3sI

My daughter likes playing #Centipede at the Game On 2.0 arcade @OntScienceCtr #Gameonscience pic.twitter.com/ih7zrp1zgX

It's on like Donkey Kong! @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/UD5fWdP8AO

After leaving Game On 2.0, you start seeing things differently... @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/oJ2Erfk1CK

This is what it's like @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH domics.me/post/345805946…

Ever played a danmaku (Japanese bullet curtain) game? Try this one @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/me8FsWZcCa

Most people are gamers today! @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/cKjO1wTH6C

#LucasArts may be gone, but their games live on @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/DxHd0dDWqn

Did you know that #Tetris can help correct a lazy #eye? calgaryherald.com/health/Video+g…

How old is the oldest video game world record holder? Find out @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

#Gir would definitely love coming to Game On @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/CiOMcYCdEc

... Everyone wanted to be like him. You were golden if he knew your name. He was the high-scorer on #Galaga. #simpletimes

#PuyoPuyo2 - the biggest thing since #StreetFighter2 in Japan! Play it @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

There is more than just games @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience - e.g. Lara Croft concept sketches! @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/BUQDWWUjah

This is definitely the weirdest video game - play it on an Atari 2600 @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/0tihmdYdtg

Enjoyed Cafe Scientifique immensely - great audience and interactions! @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

The first #Nintendo was a #Pong clone from the 1970s - see it @OntScienceCtr #gameonscience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/bygw3Bajfd

A #Jaguar spotted in the wild at @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/YSTpqIhiFF

Join @triOSCollegeBTH & @OntScienceCtr 4 café scientifique “Are Games More Important than we think? Apr 20. 4-6pm @the Rivoli 334 Queen St.

In 1978, Space Invaders started the Golden Age of Video Games. Play it @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

The world record for the longest Guitar Hero marathon is 72 hours, 17 minutes. Play it @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

An avid gamer, Robin Williams named his daughter Zelda! Play Zelda @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/0FnZX3xWrR

#StreetFighterII is the top selling arcade fighting game ever! Play it @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/uEESCyMDr8

#Sonic is on more video game platforms than any other charachter! @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/2nFO9Y7d6G

#Sonic is pointing the way to the Game On 2.0 entrance @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/nTdWcOXZj2

Here is the #pipetrouble game @OntScienceCtr - this really is a great game! Can't stop playing it. pic.twitter.com/kCIDbSstaS

Ever wanted to play all the games in an arcade for free? Come to @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/WA7QyScQxn

Tron was the first video game themed movie! Play the Tron arcade @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/cWcXaNs0F5

Learn about the development of 6 of the most important video games of recent times. #GameOnScience @OntScienceCtr ow.ly/i/1R7Pz

Awesome 8-bit guitar strap from #couch in California - fits perfectly on the #pianocade @OntScienceCtr pic.twitter.com/jpDxrW2P7g

Somehow, this glowing #minecraft redstone ore is quite soothing as I work. pic.twitter.com/bWys5ZTKHS

Are video games art? @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH jasoneckert.net/blog/Entries/2…

Awesome #Galaga glitches youtube.com/watch?v=MOByoS…

This is what Donkey Kong looks like when it freezes up @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH ow.ly/i/1ROKn

Hangin' with Galaga @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/9DvruFW9bE

Great employer event tonight! @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/inSrPJhGHL

Dragon's Lair concept sketch behind actual art @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/i5xZimKxgn

Did you know that over three quarters of all video games have no violence at all? @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

Heard someone say to their husband "This is the best game ever!" when playing Puyo Puyo 2 @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

I kidnapped Pac-man.... pic.twitter.com/AzEEH9Bhkz

Great way to promote a new game with 8-bit style graphics - make an arcade machine! #SciFriTO @OntScienceCtr pic.twitter.com/4aLWQrhxSF

Cool #SciFriTO tattoo @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience - there were many to choose from but I chose to get a life ;-) pic.twitter.com/GHJr6L2g1O

Great #SciFriTO event @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience pic.twitter.com/EAXPMyfQI5

Know a teen 14 to 19 interested in science and videogames? Let them know about SciFri tomorrow at @OntScienceCtr! ontariosciencecentre.ca/scifri/

What game was used for the first televised video game world championship event? Find out @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

Space Invaders was the first video game to feature animated aliens! Play Space Invaders @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

After the world is destroyed in Missile Command, what does it say on the screen? Find out @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

Which video game has been ported to more platforms than any other game in history? Find out @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

Re-living some childhood addictions at the Video Game exhibit at the @OntScienceCtr @ Ontario Science… instagram.com/p/Xif_hUj8a4/

With #wreckitralph movie and game, plus the @OntScienceCtr's Game On 2.0 exhibit, I'm getting all nostalgic: bit.ly/14AiHOs

In what rounds do the first 3 bonus stages appear in Galaga? Find out on a real Galaga arcade @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

What video game was the first game to sell more than 10 million copies? Find out @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

Dear videogame exhibit at @OntScienceCtr: shut up and take my money! bit.ly/YxIYMv via @CBCArts

What was the first video game to win a Grammy award? Find out @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

What was the best selling best-selling action sports series of all time? Find out @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

Talked to some great educators at the Game On Teacher's event! @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

There are 240 dots on a Pac-man board....count them all @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

Ever wondered how to play the Mario coin sound? @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/myGmnTyodZ

Alpha, Delta and Omega are the names of the three missile bases in Missile Command - play it @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

Totally got everyone at WWITPRO pumped about going to Game On 2.0 tonight @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

Game On Trivia: What classic video game has the same name as a play by William Shakespeare? @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

Let's play Pong @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH youtu.be/cNAdtkSjSps

Did you know that Clint Eastwood has an Asteroids machine in his house? Play Asteroids @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

There is a secret about the Sargent Salvo arcade game @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience - Can you find out what it is? @triOSCollegeBTH

Come see your favorite video game characters @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/dhG3U9n4e1

No quarters required: Play your way through 60 years of video gaming in Game On 2.0. From 8-bit to 3D! ow.ly/i/1JZEs

Super Mario Bros was the first game to sell more than 10 million copies - play it @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

The Sega Dreamcast was the first 128-bit game console - play Soul Calibre on a Dreamcast @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

Galaga made an appearance on "The Avengers" - you can play Galaga @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH youtube.com/watch?v=t4Fy6A…

Where Biology meets Pac-man @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/cKHzeGdaQo

Play Galaga at Game On 2.0 and get the double ships! @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/i0zKeFjk15

Before coming to Game On 2.0 @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/ejmxGKl0KH

What do Donkey Kong, Mario and Zelda have in common? Shigeru Miyamoto! Check all 3 games out @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

@eckmeister hei triOS! Love the interactive booth @OntScienceCtr outside #GameOnScience! :)

Atari was originally called Syzygy - see the "Syzygy engineered" label on Computer Space @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

Atari's Asteroids game (1979) is almost identical to Space War (1962) - check both out @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

After the video game crash of 1982, truckloads of unsold Atari E.T. games were sent to the landfill #GameOnScience pic.twitter.com/ms73P0PKp0

Did you know that the Tron arcade game made more than the movie it was based on? You can play the Tron arcade @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience

Someone pointed at this Samus poster and said "he's cool" even though Samus is a girl @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience pic.twitter.com/G7a8NG2D7v

The main reason why the Atari 2600 was a smash hit in the 70s was that you could play Space Invaders on it! #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

Sketch from the original Donkey Kong #GameOnScience pic.twitter.com/jnaOSlOigh

Check out my crazy high score on Galaga at Game On 2.0 @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience pic.twitter.com/YyjKKgW1uD

Best line @OntScienceCtr from mom to son figuring out arcade game with her help: "now you know how I feel playing xbox" #GameOnScience

It's too sunny out for me - I prefer the comforting dim arcade-style lighting at Game On 2.0 #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

The first Game Boy was released in 1989 on Nintendo's 100th anniversary - check out all of the Game Boys @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience

It would be neat if Game On staff wore striped referee shirts like Walter Day (also seen in Wreck-it Ralph) @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience

Jack Black's first TV appearance was in a 1982 commercial for the "Pitfall!" Atari 2600 video game! #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

Guess who had a huge Galaga addiction in the 1980s? Alec Baldwin. You can play Galaga @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

Did you know that Nintendo is Japanese for "Leave luck to heaven"? #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

Drop in and make a 8 bit character at Game On 2.0 #trioscollege #ontariosciencecenter pic.twitter.com/PeAN8gUNFF

I'm really Enjoying watching a TriOS student developing a game in action. #trioscollegrBTH pic.twitter.com/ZuzRVs0QY4

Check out the evolution of Mario Bros. at the Game On 2.0 exhibition #GameOnScience #OntScienceCtr pic.twitter.com/I2FdIo80n5

Did you know that there is actually a song called "Pac-man Fever" that hit the top 10 list in 1982? #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

Enjoy some Space Invaders education at Game On 2.0 @OntScienceCtr #GameOnScience pic.twitter.com/yXiEqQi8ok

Awesome #CP24 broadcast at #GameOnScience #triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/Aa3xmFHtQx

Did you know that players put 8 billion quarters into Space Invaders in the first 4 years? #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

It must be hard for gamers to travel. So many boss levels. #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH pic.twitter.com/HwZnLwbHfJ

Did you know the arcade version of Super Mario Bros doesn't have 1UP mushrooms? More quarters! #GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

Did you know that Centipede was the first video game made by a girl?#GameOnScience @triOSCollegeBTH

There's an invader in my latte! #GameOnScience yfrog.com/hw7snhfj

8-bit art at the triOS College booth at #GameOnScience.pic.twitter.com/zWhhxXMYfo

#GameOnScience giving our noobs some inspiration! pic.twitter.com/OzLzFbaWPy

If Tetris has taught me anything, it is that errors pile up and accomplishments disappear.

studymagazine.com/2012/12/18/tri… (triOS College Sponsors Game On 2.0, the World’s Biggest Video Game Exhibit | STUDY Magazine)

business.financialpost.com/2013/03/08/tha… (Thanks for the memories: Game On 2.0 show a nostalgic delight | Post Arcade | FP Tech Desk | Financial Post)

thestar.com/life/technolog… (CHCH.com - Science Centre offering video game fun) chch.com/home/item/1189…

chch.com/home/item/1189…

Sci Fri Talk at the Ontario Science Centre

Sat, 4 May 2013 11:14:23 -0400

I was one of the panelists that talked at the Sci Fri event about Games & Art last night at the Ontario Science Centre. I always like to make sure that any information I talk about is available afterwards to those who want it, so I’ve uploaded a YouTube video of my narrated presentation that you can watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjC1gn20TR0&feature=player_embedded (turn the audio up, since I recorded this on a very noisy Alienware laptop ;-)

Sci Fri is a free event that is run each month on a Friday night at the Ontario Science Centre - there are tattoos (like the Pac-man one I got shown here), free food, panelist talks, a Q&A discussion, a battle of the sexes trivia, and a challenge.

The panelist talks were all excellent - Jamie Woo (founder of Gamercamp) did a great opener encouraging the kids to make video games, Felan Parker talked about the defining features of video games as an art form, I did the talk shown above in my YouTube video link, and Tiffany Low Foon (one of our video game students) did a great talk on why video games are art and science.

For the challenge, they had Jeff the World (a prominent Toronto chiptune artist) help people make chiptune music using modded GameBoys and a GameCube as shown to the right (very cool indeed ;-)

Plus, kids got to check out the awesome Game On 2.0 exhibition!

But what happens when you let a bunch of teenagers loose in an exhibition that has some PC-based game kiosks? Well, you can see from the picture below. But don’t worry, the original games were reinstated on those kiosks shortly thereafter. The most important thing is that everyone had fun ;-)

Moving an arcade machine from CRT to LCD

Wed, 1 May 2013 14:51:31 -0400

Arcade machines traditionally used CRTs (cathode ray tubes), which are basically TV tubes.
The only problem is that many of the arcade games from the late 1970s and early 1980s have CRTs that are over 30 years old and starting to die. It may be a slightly distorted image in a part of the screen, or shakiness, or frequent dimming, or images that are just “burnt” to the screen that you can see when the arcade is off (called phosphor burn). Some of these problems can be fixed by replacing all of the capacitors on the back of the CRT (called a “cap kit”), whereas others can’t (e.g. phosphor burn). In those cases, you’d have to look for a replacement CRT, and those are getting very difficult to find nowadays since they haven’t been made for a long time. And if you find one, it may have issues in the near future.

Another alternative is to replace the CRT with an LCD. There are many die-hard arcade fans that wouldn’t replace a CRT with an LCD. For me, I wouldn’t replace a 25” CRT from one of the 16-bit arcades from the late 1980s or early 1990s (e.g. RAIDEN), since the charm of having a CRT 6 inches in front of your face is awesome (but probably not awesome on the eyes ;-). However, what about replacing a Ms. Pac-man or Galaga CRT from the early 1980s that is on the fritz with a nice LCD of the same size? I did that with Ms. Pac-man last year, and it looks stunning - the graphics are clean and crisp! Just check out the picture to the right....

Also keep in mind that those older arcade games didn’t have great graphics anyways (they used low resolution CRTs), so you won’t see any degradation of the game graphics at all. I recently replaced the CRT with an LCD in one of my Galaga arcades, and that’s when I thought I should probably do a post about how it’s done.

So basically, the pros of replacing a CRT with an LCD are:
• It’s easy and relatively inexpensive to do
• The quality of the graphics is better
• LCDs weigh a lot less and last for an incredibly long time (you’ll probably never need to replace it again)

There is only one con I can think of - LCDs aren’t usually as bright as CRTs. However, some of the newer ones, including LED-driven LCD displays are just as bright as CRTs. Plus, each LCD allows you to maximize the brightness with a configuration setting that brings it pretty close to CRT brightness.

Getting from CGA to VGA
Arcade CRTs get a simple CGA (Color Graphics Adapter) video signal from the arcade PCB (printed circuit board) using 5 wires: Red, Blue, Green, Gnd (ground), and Sync.

You can get arcade LCDs that take a CGA input and allow you to connect up those 5 wires directly, but they cost a lot of $$. Alternatively, you can get an LCD panel that takes a standard VGA (Video Graphics Array) input, which is much cheaper and easier to find, and buy a $30 CGA-to-VGA converter card from China on eBay, like the GBS-8220 card shown below. Not only do I prefer the latter for the lower price, I also like that the CGA-to-VGA converter card has a nice configuration interface that allows you to adjust the image position, size, color, brightness, sharpness, and contrast. Better yet, these values are stored permanently so that you don’t need to set them again each time you turn the arcade on.

Simply mount the CGA-to-VGA converter card to the inside of your arcade cabinet using standard PCB mounts, connect the RGBGndSync wires to the CGA inputs, connect the VGA cable from your LCD panel to the VGA output on the card, and connect the two wires for the power (this comes with the card) to the +5VDC and Gnd ports on your arcade power supply.

Here are some other tips I recommend:
• Mount the CGA-to-VGA converter card on the opposite side of the cabinet to where your arcade PCB is (easier to see the wiring).
• Mount the CGA-to-VGA converter card in a spot where it is easy to open the coin door and reach in to press the four buttons on the card to bring up the on-screen menu.
• If your arcade has an older or smaller power supply (say, 11 amps, not the standard 15 amps), use a standard 5VDC adapter instead. The converter card must draw at least 2 amps at all times, so I’d go for an adapter that does 5VDC @ 4 amp (it’s safe to go with a higher amp since the card will only draw what it needs).

Removing the old CRT and mounting the new LCD panel
Make sure you clip any wires and remove the 4 bolts from the CRT mounts - however, be ready to lift the CRT out after the final bolt is removed! If it is a heavy CRT, get someone to help you at that point.

Next, find an LCD panel that is slightly larger than your bezel. For example, to replace a 19” CRT, get a 20” LCD panel that has standard dimensions (not widescreen). Putting the new one in is easy, but you have to make sure that the LCD is lined up so that it fits perfectly under the bezel. I suggest adding plywood if needed and using some 0.5cm thick adhesive rubber sheets under where the LCD touches the plywood to give it a nice “cushion” before securing it with L brackets.

Next, connect your LCD VGA cable to the CGA-to-VGA converter card. Finally, run the power cable from the LCD panel to power. You can either cut the end off the power cable and attach the positive, negative and ground wires directly to the same spots on the arcade power supply, or you could mount a power bar inside the arcade and plug in both the monitor and arcade power supply into it - the power bar cable is now the power cable for the whole arcade!

Next, you can turn it on! Press the buttons on the CGA-to-VGA converter card to get the on-screen menu. Change the language to English (option #4), and adjust the position/size/brightness/contrast/sharpness/saturation/etc of the image to suit your liking. The two settings I like to adjust are the brightness (I take it up to full brightness), and the sharpness (I found the images were too sharp - I take it down a bit to make it look more like images on the old CRT ;-).

Finally, you can replace the bezel and glass and play some games! To see what the quality difference was before and after on my Galaga cabaret (mini cab), check out the pics below (both pictures were taken with the bezel and glass on without a flash):

Cafe Scientifique - Games and Brains

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 18:12:36 -0400

Yesterday I did a very well received talk for Cafe Scientifique at The Rivoli in downtown Toronto. The topic of debate was entitled: Playing Games with our Brains: Are Games more important than we think? Are games necessary for our brains?

The format of the event involved presenting material for about 20 minutes, followed by a break, and then about an hour of questions and discussion related to the material. My favorite part was the question and discussion period afterwards. Much of the audience were educators and/or computer science and IT geeks, and this really shone through during the discussion. Unfortunately, I can’t remember many of the details from the question and discussion period to repeat in this blog post, but I’ll post the parts of my actual presentation that I can remember....enjoy!

As an educator, I’m very interested in how games can make learning faster and more effective. As an IT professional who has published video games, I understand the flexibility and limitless possibilities that the video game medium provides beyond that of traditional games, so I’ll focus on video games in my arguments. More specifically, I’m going to argue that video games are vital to cognitive development and the learning process itself.

My favorite perspective regarding video games and learning comes from James Paul Gee – who teaches linguistics in the U.S. Simply put:

We take it as completely natural that you would be in an Algebra class for 12 weeks, and then I would give you a test on Algebra .... to see if you learned any Algebra. Let’s say a kid plays Halo on Hard .... and finishes Halo. Would you be tempted to give him a Halo test? No. Not at all. You’d say the game already tested him. So let’s think - Why is it that we’re not tempted to give him a Halo test, but we are tempted to give that Algebra test and use that as a judgement? We’ll its because you actually trust the design and learning of Halo better than you trust the design and learning of that Algebra class.

Games are just a series of challenges that you have to overcome to get to the next level, or get some sort of positive reinforcement. They have constant feedback – to get to the next level or win the game, you have to accomplish something, and the mere fact that you did is the test. Some people take longer than others to learn what it takes to complete a challenge, but learning is an important part of every game.

They key is that games involve challenges that people want to engage with. As an educator for the past 15 years, I know that people who are engaged are the best learners – they learn more effectively, and retain far more because there was meaning attached to what they were learning. In other words, they are able to encode material to long term memory because there was meaning attached to the material, as well as retrieve that material using the meaning as a mental cue.

I always tell my students that people generally like to learn, but they don’t like to be educated. Putting the word “educational” on a game lowers its sales – that’s a well-known fact in the video game industry.

Video games essentially have the power to engage learners like no other medium has done in the past – you’re not just reading about something, or watching something unfold on a television screen – you are interacting with it, learning from mistakes, building things, and so on. And, as I mentioned before, engagement is crucial to learning effectively – this makes them important for learning, and vital for education moving forward in the future.

I was never someone who liked history in high school. History involved writing down a plethora of notes from the chalk board as our boring teacher wrote them down. I’m sure there are many high school kids today who are the same. But today, those kids could play Assassin’s Creed - a game that takes place in historically correct time periods such as the Third Crusade, the Renaissance and American Revolution (shown in the game screenshot below) – and there are real historical figures from those times in the game that are woven into the plot. These kids who don’t like history are suddenly finding themselves engaged in it to the point where they want to learn more. It’s getting as much praise today from history teachers as it is from the general gamer community – and teachers are using it all over Canada to engage their students.

Some people have argued that as we have moved towards an industrialized society over the past two centuries, we have lost a sense of gratification that came from learning how to do a job well. For example, if you were a carpenter, you probably learned techniques that made you a better carpenter each day, and took great pride in your work. Today, a cost accountant who hates their cubicle-trapped 9-5 job, may look to video games for mental stimulation and other rewarding experiences. They may be a cost accountant by day, but by night they could be the top wizard in an online world, learning and achieving more and more every day.

It is also important to note that game learning works! By playing a game developed by scientists at the University of Washington called Foldit (http://fold.it), gamers were able to map out a protein that causes AIDS in rhesus monkeys in just 10 days….a problem that stumped scientists for over 10 years!

Why was Foldit successful? Because people weren’t looking for the protein, they were looking to learn the rules of the game that allowed them to build the next part of the protein – they were working together to see if they could accomplish something, while at the same time trying to accomplish it faster than their fellow players. And the game gave them constant feedback along the way to make them feel that they got to “the next level” – it’s this constant feedback that is lacking in James Paul Gee’s example of our traditional assessment-based educational system. Moreover, gamers today are able to tacked huge problems - online games have hundreds of intricate rules, and existing players are very efficient at communicating those rules to new players. As a result, the acclimation of a complex game such as Foldit is far less than you would ever imagine.

The U.S. military spends a billion dollars a year on game-based learning, because it is the most effective way of learning - a simulation where players can experience mistakes is far better than a training course with someone telling you what to expect. The U.S. military even paid Atari to create a custom version of their Battlezone arcade game for use in simulations back in the early 1980s. And let’s not forget the movie War Games (1983), where the army mainframe contained a variety of games used to teach strategy.

I believe that exploration and learning are at the heart of every video game, from the arcade games of the early 1980s to the wide range of different games available today on consoles, PCs, the Web and mobile devices. I also believe that this exploration and learning is why people play games. As humans, we have an appetite for learning - when we learn something through experience, it makes us feel good. And the challenges and feedback structure of engaging games is what drives us to play them and feel good afterwards. It’s also why they are very effective in a learning environment.

If you look at any video game, you see that learning is at the core of the experience. For example, let’s take an early 80s arcade game like Galaga. The goal is to score as many points as you can and kill all of the aliens in order to get to the next harder level – but in order to do that you have to observe common patterns and learn a wide variety of different strategies in order to avoid the waves of enemy fire, as well as gameplay tricks such as how to get captured by an enemy Galaga, shoot your captor and get double ships and double guns. People like games like Galaga because they like to learn strategy, Galaga allows them to build strategic skills almost indefinitely! In Nolan Bushnell’s words, a good game rewards the first quarter, and the hundredth! (Nolan is the founder of Atari and creator of Pong).

The famous Xbox game, Halo, forces the player to explore a world and work together with other players to defeat alien enemies and solve the mystery of the Halo. The game is attractive because you are essentially playing a great story – a novel – and you have to learn plenty of things in order to complete the game, from learning how to thwart enemy intelligence to how to drive an alien vehicle in order to get to the heart of the Halo.

Modern mobile games such as Angry Birds, also involve learning - you must figure out how to shoot projectiles to destroy targets within a realistic world – gravity, friction, force of slingshot, angle of slingshot, different materials collapse different ways, etc. These are mathematical and Newtonian physics principles that we apply in our real world - for example, take a look at the equations that represent the following Angry Birds shot:

One of the most popular games among youth today is Minecraft, which is an open world game where you essentially are rewarded for locating materials with certain properties, and using them to build the things that you like to build. Kids totally love this game today – it’s like modern Lego! And there is plenty of learning within the game. To the right is a block of redstone ore that you can mine and use to create electrical current to power automatic doors, light switches, elevators, automatic farms, or even in-game computers. The player must figure out how to mine and use redstone to create complex redstone circuits to do this, and has the freedom to explore different configurations to accomplish pretty much anything that requires power or automation in the game. Now, of course, redstone ore is a fictional material – but after some kids plays the game and learns how to build circuits with redstone, imagine how easy it will be for them to learn how real electrical circuits work. They’ve essentially learned a new concept in an engaging way that is completely transferable to other situations. And they’re going to remember those concepts because they were engaged when they were learning it. They’ve built their knowledge and mental skillset. They can even take it further and build their own in-game computer using redstone logic gates too (shown below) - they are learning computer engineering without realizing it ;-)

I’ve always been an advocate of lifelong learning, and to do this, you have to continually learn things out of your comfort zone. Twice a year, I immerse myself in something that I know absolutely nothing of with the aim to become close to an expert in the material. It keeps me excited and engaged, and it definitely keeps my mind sharp. In order to tackle something new, however, you have to WANT to do it. Video games are a medium that essentially provides this WANT, and the structure that keeps them learning as they progress to newer levels. Kit Connell is a great example of how video game learning can keep your mind sharp - watch her story here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nawe7F8cZ_U

Marshall McLuhan was right

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 16:07:57 -0400

Everyone understands - to some degree - the impact that technology has on our lives. However, if you are an avid reader of “idea” books (for lack of a better word), then you also know that some people understand it poorly at best.

Take, for example, the book The Shallows by Nicholas Carr. Carr argues that the Internet has reduced our ability to carefully reason through problems and use our imagination. And plenty of people have taken the time to carefully point out the flaws in his views. And you can do it easily - just take a few moments to reflect on what you do to accomplish some of the small tasks you perform today. Now think of those same small tasks 20 years ago, and what you had to do to accomplish them back then - you’ll see a world of difference.

Technology hasn’t made us lazier - it has enabled us to do more with less, and in the process has changed the way that we approach problems. To learn about chemical oxidation today, we just need to Google it and view the web pages and videos available (Wikipedia, Youtube, Khan academy, etc.). We can do this immediately as the desire arises, and our approach to research has adapted as a result. To do the same 20 years ago, you had to write down your research topic(s), go to a library, locate and read books on the topic. There was a lot of incubation time to formulate thoughts as a result, but today we’ve evolved beyond that need for incubation time - in other words, we are allowed to think faster today! And yes, we use the Internet for silly things too, just as we used chestnuts and string for silly things 20 years ago.

The key thing to remember is that technology allows us to perceive things differently, and this ultimately shapes our society. Today, we don't have the early 1990s society plus the Internet, we have a whole new society.....a whole new way of thinking and playing. If you took away the Internet, you’d still have today’s society, but without the technology that shaped it. This is something that Nicholas Carr, and many others, don’t understand. It’s Luddism.

Now, on the flip side, there are people who have always understood this. For example, Marshall McLuhan, argued that a medium (technology) is essentially an extension of ourselves, and that the medium allows us to do things differently. In other words, the medium is the message. McLuhan was one of the first people to get others thinking about how a medium such as print, television, film, and music affects society.

McLuhan died in 1980 - long before the computing, video game, Internet, and mobile revolutions. However, the same principles apply to new media today - such as web pages, apps, video games, mobile devices, etc. Each of these new media allow us to experience information in an entirely new and interactive way, rather than just read about it, or watch it on a television screen. Video games are interactive learning tools beyond anything we could comprehend in 1980. Apps and Internet content such as web pages not only allow us to digest content, they allow us to immediately share our views on that content, as well as modify or expand upon it....globally. With today’s technology, the medium is very clearly the message! I’m sure McLuhan would have loved to see today’s society.....after all, he predicted it ;-)