PrintCade / PrintCade: Invaders

An 1980s Arcade Game Built with Recycled Electronics

Description

“PrintCade: Invaders” is a physical interface for the classic arcade game, “Space Invaders”. Built with recycled components such as printers, computer fans, joysticks with arcade buttons, and LED light arrays, the installation creates a physical connection between players and the virtual game system by generating analog sounds created by recycled electronic components acting as outputs. Players blast aliens projected on the wall above the piece while simultaneously creating physical feedback through the control interface that mimics the original 1980s arcade aesthetic. The end result is an aesthetically rich journey into the world of analog interfaces and virtual classic game output.

Credits
Jonah Brucker-Cohen
Michael Ang

Contact: jonah at coin-operated.com

Exhibitions

NYC Media Lab Annual Summit Demo Showcase
CUNY & NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY, September 26, 2019

Creative Tech Week 2019, New York Institute of Technology Auditorium on Broadway, New York, NY, May 8-19, 2019.

World Maker Faire, New York Hall of Science, Queens, New York, September 22 & 23, 2018.

Art Hack Day Transmediale 2014, Berlin, Germany, January 29 to Feb 3, 2014

Video of the Project – 2014-2019.

Video of PrintCade: Invaders – 2019

PrintCade: Invaders @ Creative Tech Week, 5.8-11.2019

Interview with Jonah Brucker-Cohen from NYC Media Lab, 2019.

PrintCade: Invaders @ NYC Media Lab Annual Summit, 9.26.2019

PrintCade:Invaders, Video taken by @JustinHendrix at the NYC Media Lab Annual Summit, 9.26.2019

Photos of the Project

Details

The project emphasizes how recycled objects can retain life reincarnated as new interfaces that maintain their kinetic edge and drive. The system simulates the classic game of space invaders from a physical perspective with lights, and physical sound effects created by a spinning internal compute fan that knocks against the main panel of the project.