Brokentoken Classic Arcade and Pinball Podcast

Still shaking off that egg-nogg induced funk from the Holidays? Yeah, so are we…slowly but surely the fog is lifting and 2016 is looking pretty good thus far… The good thing about this past Holiday break is the sheer amount of “fun” we had over the past several weeks. We were fortunate to host quite a few activities and we’ve got some great guests lined up for this month’s show. First up, Victor and Tori Marland (from the Tenpence Arcade podcast) paid us a visit over the break. They were vacationing here in the US and we finally got all the stars lined up for them to come over to Whitney’s house for an evening. We deep-fried turkey, talked shop and had a “grand old time”. We gave them each a microphone and asked them to do their best “American accents” and it was great. You can hear a recap of their trip in episode 52.5 – ‘Merica Trip Next up, we feature Jeremy and Matt Fleitz from the Louisville Arcade Expo as they give us a run-down on this years’ show and what to expect (and what hasn’t been decided on yet) . Billy Mitchell, Walter Day, Joel West and Steve Ritchie are the headline guests (so far) and along with the PAPA circuit stop, tons of arcade, pinball and console games, this year promises to be great fun. We then clear off on the monthly updates, spend a TON of Brent’s money, talk about the newly-announced Spiderman Vault Edition from Stern (way more pics are available on their Facebook Page) and even pull our own version of Siskel & Ebert by discussing our thoughts on Star Wars – The Force Awakens. The talk is FULL of spoilers, so we put it at the very end of the episode, right after the outtakes – that way you don’t have to skip around to find it (or avoid it)! Here’s how the show timings break down: 00:00 - Gameroom, Project, Personal updates & general goings on 01:13 – "Across the Pond" with Victor & Tori Marland 02:18 – Let’s Spend Brent’s Money! 02:51 - Jeremy and Matt Fleitz from the Louisville Arcade Expo 03:34 – News and Feedback 03:56 - Outtakes! 03:57:40 - Let's Talk Star Wars! As always, remember to check our Facebook Page for LOTS of content in-between the episodes, as Brent and I are keep a lively presence on the podcast page and we enjoy lots of great discussion on trending topics. Follow us on Twitter (@BrokenToken) as well and if you want to talk to us directly, give us a shout on the podcast voicemail line –470-2CALLBT (470-222-5528) If you enjoy what you hear, then please consider leaving us a rating on our iTunes page and our Stitcher Radio page. We are also available on the Throwback Network so please consider checking out all the other retro goodness podcasts available there, as well. Ratings help us to promote the show and get it front of more people, so we thank you for any help you can provide! Thanks for listening and GAME ON!

It wouldn’t be proper if we didn’t take reverence for this time of year and reflect a bit on 2015 and look forwards to the new year. This month we fire up the jingle bells, turn up the Christmas lounge music and talk through some personal updates and then get into the Holiday mood and cover off on year-in-review, our goals for next year and talk about those in the hobby who deliver Christmas all year long. We even check-list our ‘give-back’ to keep ourselves honest so we can keep an eye towards the thought of service back to the hobby, as well. Although we tried our best to keep the show within our self-imposed “1 hour Christmas special” you can quickly see that all hope was lost and 3 hours later we put a bow on it and called it eggnog. This episode is guaranteed to make any lump of coal just a little more fun, so stocking-stuffers beware! Merry Christmas everyone!

November 2015 As we roll out of Thanksgiving and officially into the Christmas holiday season, it's a good time of the year to relax, unwind and catch up on happenings in the hobby, in our lives and talk about what we're thankful for this year. As long and varied as that list actually is (and it takes us the entire episode to get through it) we manage to roll though some personal updates, Holiday plans, spending Brent's money and our recent foray into LED lights for both under-cabinet and playfield modifications to our pinball machines. Brent covers off on his Adam's Family and Whitney discusses LED'ing out his AC/DC Pro amongst Thanksgiving turkey cooking tips and the usual side-bar conversations that eventually make sense! It's an all-access pass to what we thought would originally be a "quick one-hour show" (HAHAHA!!! - yeah...right!) so catch that gobbler and get ready for Cyber-Monday BT-style! Happy Thanksgiving!! Here’s how the show timings break down: 00:00 - Gameroom, Project and Personal updates 01:43 – LED'ing pinball machines (undercabinet and playfield inserts/GI) 02:58 – Let’s Spend Brent’s Money! 03:20 - Feedback & News 03:52 – Outtakes! As always, remember to check our Facebook Page for LOTS of content in-between the episodes, as Brent and I are keep a lively presence on the podcast page and we enjoy lots of great discussion on trending topics. Follow us on Twitter (@BrokenToken) as well and if you want to talk to us directly, give us a shout on the podcast voicemail line –470-2CALLBT (470-222-5528) If you enjoy what you hear, then please consider leaving us a rating on our iTunes page and our Stitcher Radio page. We are also available on the Throwback Network so please consider checking out all the other retro goodness podcasts available there, as well. Ratings help us to promote the show and get it front of more people, so we thank you for any help you can provide! Thanks for listening and GAME ON!

Happy Halloween! As we bring October 2015 to a close, it’s time to start looking towards the upcoming holidays, time with family and friends and hopefully some quality game restoration time! We’re definitely looking forward to the same and to help kick off ‘our favorite time of the year’ we have a new episode to help get you through some of that oh-so-quiet garage time applying bondo and huffing magic eraser suds. :) One thing that never ceases to amaze is just how much you can accomplish, even on a short schedule. Both Brent and I were on the road most of the month for work and vacation, yet we still managed to cover off on a lot of topics: * - Brent goes to Disney and gives us the low-down on Disney Quest, he makes some great progress on the Burgertime and gives the Big Guns the boot. * - Whitney gets another Satan’s Hollow, wishes he had worked on the Zoo Keeper, laments starting on the Rally-X and almost drops an R-Type to its death. Add to that we cover off on everything you’d ever want to know about rebuilding a G07, respond to a boat-load of feedback, Brent finally understands why magic marker isn’t OEM on the Burgertime and talk about why you don’t take Whitney fishing. Here’s how the show timings break down: 00:00 - Gameroom, Project and Personal updates 01:38 – What we listen to & Raw Thrills Pac-Man clock review 02:19 – G07 Arcade Monitor Deep Dive 03:10 – Let’s Spend Brent’s Money! 03:27 - Feedback & News 04:11 – Outtakes! As always, remember to check our Facebook Page for LOTS of content in-between the episodes, as Brent and I are keep a lively presence on the podcast page and we enjoy lots of great discussion on trending topics. Follow us on Twitter (@BrokenToken) as well and if you want to talk to us directly, give us a shout on the podcast voicemail line –470-2CALLBT (470-222-5528) If you enjoy what you hear, then please consider leaving us a rating on our iTunes page and our Stitcher Radio page. We are also available on the Throwback Network so please consider checking out all the other retro goodness podcasts available there, as well. Ratings help us to promote the show and get it front of more people, so we thank you for any help you can provide! Thanks for listening and GAME ON!

Fall is in the air and with that comes the upcoming Holidays, family time and (hopefully) some good garage and playing time, as well. Speaking of playing, it’s an interesting point to consider – if you could have any arcade games you wanted, what would make the cut on your top-10 list? Brent and I answer that question this month and dive into the titles that win out over all others. It’s a fun and lively discussion and it’s a segment we’ve been meaning to do for months and we’re happy to slot it in for this episode. Personally - I was glad to see that Brent loves Donkey Kong so much… I knew he’d eventually come around. Once Brent came down off his Donkey Kong high, we were able to get back to business and discuss some game room updates, new reproduction parts for this month, respond to a TON of feedback (thank you!!), do a mini-review of the movie Pixels and we learn a little about Brent’s multi-game cabinet… great story and one that will certainly hit home for anyone who shares the hobby with their family. So grab your favorite Oktoberfest and warm up with a good blankie while episode #33 gives you more insight into our psyche than you probably ever wanted!

Are you ready for another 4.5 hours of "arcade goodness"? Not really?!?! Ready or not, episode 32 is on the airwaves helping us to wrap up August 2015 in the grandest of style. We take to the microphones where Brent talks some pinball and discusses some updates on his High Speed and begins the process of moving the Big Guns on down the line. Whitney does nothing but talk about what he wishes he had done, but does get some play time at the Seattle Pinball Museum and meets up with some fellow listeners during his travels. We also take this month's interview segment and mix it up a bit - instead of talking about games, parts or collecting, we take the chance to give back a bit by delving into philanthropy in gaming and hear about those who use the hobby as a way to improve the lives of others. We discuss the efforts of such great people as David Paul (Life Under Glass) and Joe Newhart (PinballStar Amusements) as well as hear from Dan Spolar (Project Pinball), Pat Young (Hero for the Heart) and Joshua Ahearn (Extra Life) as part of our coverage at the Southern-Fried Gameroom Expo 2015. Last but not least, we cover off on the usual updates, listener mail and even devote way more time than necessary to topics like the crappy WG4500, repair bench monitors, new reproduction parts out this month and meeting Hulk Hogan. Yep - THE HULKSTER! Dig in and thanks for listening!

We *finally* get back in our (studio) groove this month and stretch our legs a bit now that we’ve had the chance to recover from our recent Atlanta trip to the Southern-Fried Gameroom Expo. We recount our experiences at the expo and keep a watch over the next month as we’ll be working on publishing content from that show, as well. For being on the road as much as we have, we still managed to cover off on quite a few updates. Brent works on the Burgertime (remember that, right?!?) and also logs some time against a multi game for friend and burns (just kidding, but not really) a Space Invaders that just seems to love him a little too much. Whitney has some (albeit thin) updates on Project ZK (for everyone), and has been going on what feels like a bona-fide mission on Powdercoating and both lament the many struggles (they are real, I tell you) of T-molding removal and installation on Rally-X and Gaplus. We talk some additional tube-swap topics, have an editorial on the whole ‘Skit-B/Predator pinball drama' and as with every month, Whitney “Spends Brent’s Money” where we talk lots of new parts and reproductions available this month. We cover off on some great listener mail and give a “special” shout-out to Charlie and the gang at Spooky Pinball (listen to the end of the show… I’m about ready to retire Brent straight up, hence the show title). It’s a 4-hour extravaganza (or something of the short… I needed a #20DollarWord for this month, and it fit) this month full of fun, laughs and great information. Enjoy the show!

It’s our big (ok, not really *that* big) 30th episode and we’re in the studio catching up from the last couple of months being on the road! We recap our travels, some listener meet-ups and show shenanigans, even as we prepare for being at the Southern-Fried Gameroom Expo later this month! If you happen to be at the show, be sure to flag Brent and I down as we'd love to chat. We recap our updates and talk about projects, acquisitions, money found and money lost and how we each tend to cost each other cash month in and month out! Brent dives knee-deep into Space Invaders as he clears his way out for the return to the BurgerTime restore while Whitney is all over the map on tools, desoldering setups, ROM burners and restoration parts – and takes a good pile of grief over making absolutely no progress on Project ZK (Zoo Keeper). To top it all off, we even delve into the 6502 processor origins by learning more about Mr. Chuck Peddle! With so much schizophrenia (but in a good way) it’s a wonder the show didn’t end before it began!

This is the fifth and final episode in our coverage of the 2015 Louisville Arcade Expo and we’re excited to be bringing you this very special interview with David Crane. It’s hard to quantify just how excited I (Whitney) was to be able to sit down with David and get his time – uninterrupted – for an hour to ask him the questions that I’ve been wanting to ask for the past 30 years. His insight is incredible and his answers matter-of-fact and immediately genuine. It’s hard – if not impossible – to cram an entire career’s worth of questions into this interview, but we covered as much ground as possible. The interview starts with the cursory background on Activision and the founding of the company and then moves into game development, the personalities involved in creating the “rainbow” titles we all know and love, as well as the fall of the video game industry in the early/mid 80’s and how Activision responded as well as what happened with the people after the fact. There’s a fair amount of technical and artwork discussion as well – we tried to squeeze as much in as we could! We hope you enjoy this as much as we enjoy bringing it to you!

This is the fourth episode in our coverage of the 2015 Louisville Arcade Expo and we are proud to bring you the audio (and video) from the David Crane seminar entitled “The Internal Magic of the Atari 2600”. During the presentation we are treated to a history lesson like no other. David delves into some of the history of Activision and how he and the other founding members left Atari to go into startup mode and build what would become one of the most influential companies in video gaming history. David covers many details behind development of some of the landmark titles Activision released for the platform (like Pitfall, Pitfall II, Kaboom, Freeway, Laser Blast, Dragster and many others) and it becomes apparent that there is FAR more story than could ever hope to fit into an hours’ discussion. The title of the seminar is well-named in that David then takes the conversation into a very technical direction and talks about the process for developing games for the Atari 2600 and speaks to many of the lessons learned and even shows some of the internal coding mechanisms that were afforded by the Atari 2600 hardware to produce such engaging games with so little hardware resources.

April 2015 This is the third of a whopping five special episodes that encompass our live coverage of the 2015 Louisville Arcade Expo! This show’s format is what I’d like to think of as “unplugged” as we camped out in a hotel room with the mics and portable recorders and 12+ people joined in on the fun where some beers were consumed, gaming was the topic and the Expo was the backdrop.  It was a great time and is something we’d definitely like to do more of. You can always refer back to the list below for links to the shows in the podcast feed for all of our LAX2015 coverage. Up next in the release cycle is the highly-anticipated David Crane seminar audio/video feeds and the special 1:1 interview as well! * Episode 24 – Friday Night Live from the 2015 Louisville Arcade Expo * Episode 26 – Saturday Night Live from the 2015 Louisville Arcade Expo * Episode 27 – It’s Happy Hour (and then some)! – BT Happy Hour Show – Saturday Night, April 7th 2015 * David Crane seminar – “The Internal Magic of the Atari 2600” (audio feed); (video to be posted on YouTube) * David Crane 1:1 interview Grab your favorite barley-based beverage (or in my case, two or three), find a game to work on while you listen and join in on the fun!  My only problem is that I was too busy talking and forgot to do a late check-in on Untappd… dangit. As always, remember to check our Facebook Page for LOTS of content in-between the episodes, as Brent and I are keep a lively presence on the podcast page and we enjoy lots of great discussion on trending topics. Follow us on Twitter @BrokenToken and if you want to talk to us directly, give us a shout on the podcast voicemail line – 470-2CALLBT (470-222-5528) If you enjoy what you hear, then please consider leaving us a rating on our iTunes page and our Stitcher Radio page. Ratings help us to promote the show and get it front of more people, so we thank you for any help you can provide! We are also available on the Throwback Network so please consider checking out all the other retro goodness podcasts available there, as well. Thanks for listening and GAME ON!

April 2015 This is the second of a whopping five special episodes that encompass our live coverage of the 2015 Louisville Arcade Expo! This show was recorded on Saturday night, March 7th, 2015 and includes coverage from the expo floor and several sit-in guest interviews from friends of the show (Shawn & Sharon O’Shea, Steve Ridge, Patrick Wall (sons Andrew & Davis) from GameroomJunkies, David Paul (sons Ben & Jason ) from LifeUnderGlass) that were in attendance, as well as Whitney’s daughter Grace and Michael Ridge! As we continue to post the other episodes over the next couple of weeks, refer back to the list below for links to the shows in the podcast feed as they go live! * Episode 24 – Friday Night Live from the 2015 Louisville Arcade Expo * Episode 26 – Saturday Night Live from the 2015 Louisville Arcade Expo * BT Happy Hour – Saturday, March 7th, 2015 * David Crane seminar – “The Internal Magic of the Atari 2600” (audio feed); (video recording on YouTube) * David Crane 1:1 interview Join in on the fun and relive the action of the expo as we bring you as much from the show floor as we can squeeze into a modest-sized MP3 file.

April 1st is a day of jokes, gags and fun so Brent and I decided it would be the perfect opportunity to poke some fun at ourselves and compile a collection of outtakes from previous episodes, as well as some bloopers from some of our past live shows! It takes a lot of mistakes to make up a show episode (trust us, we generate tons of them every month) but we picked some of the best for everyone to enjoy and thought it neat to put out a mini-show between regular episodes. We trust you’ll get a few laughs at our expense (as it should be) and enjoy the show. We’re holding a few more back (hey, we wanna put together a 2x show for next year!) so rest assured there’s more then enough tomfoolery (#20dollarword) to go around! As always, remember to check our Facebook Page for LOTS of content in-between the episodes, as Brent and I are keep a lively presence on the podcast page and we enjoy lots of great discussion on trending topics. Follow us on Twitter (@BrokenToken) as well and if you want to talk to us directly, give us a shout on the podcast voicemail line –470-2CALLBT (470-222-5528) If you enjoy what you hear, then please consider leaving us a rating on our iTunes page and our Stitcher Radio page. We are also available on the Throwback Network so please consider checking out all the other retro goodness podcasts available there, as well. Ratings help us to promote the show and get it front of more people, so we thank you for any help you can provide! Thanks for listening and GAME ON!