When it was released back in 1986, SEGA’s OutRun had some of the most cutting edge features in an arcade game, including a moving cabinet, force-feedback steering wheel and your choice of soundtracks. And while Gustavo’s analogue version isn’t quite as elaborate, it looks like it’s packing just as much technology as the original.
Built over a month in his spare time, this faithful analogue recreation of the arcade machine is powered by an Arduino controlling servos, sensors and a segmented LCD display. Like the original OutRun, this version is controlled with a steering wheel, pedals and a toggle switch for shifting gears. The gameplay is basically the same too. Players try and complete a lap as quickly as possible without hitting the other vehicles on the road, with collisions being detected by a magnetic sensor. But it’s almost worth crashing since Gustavo has even incorporated vibration feedback into the game’s tiny steering wheel. You just cover all those controls in a layer of sticky New Coke residue and playing this version of OutRun will be exactly like the original. [YouTube via Make]
CrowdedTrousers
Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 4:05 PMback in the eighties, i had two hand held games that were entirely mechanical. one of them was a racing game that closely resembled this idea. you wound them up and reset timers with little switches then let it go. cars would descend from the top and you had to switch lanes…fail to do it and you’d ‘crash’ and have to reset. i can’t exactly recall the details, but i think the cars came faster the longer you played, and each ‘lane’ was individual and i think somewhat random in how the cars appeared!!
i wish i still had it…i took it for granted then, but now i’d love to take it apart to see how it worked!!