Got a blog tip? Contact us

« Take A Look at the Smartest Breasts in Town | Main | The High Cost of Free Parking »

I made a really big joystick.

So about a month ago, the curator of the i am 8 bit art show, Jon Gibson, commissoned me to make a giant, working, Atari 2600 joystick. I said yes, but, honestly, I wasn't 100% certain I could do it. But, I did! For once, this is not a post about what a big failure I am! I made the joystick 15x the size of the actual one, worked with a skilled cabinetmaker named Dan Fill to make those nice big round holes, wired it all up, and it works. Last night we unveiled it at the opening of the show, hooked up to an Atari projected on the outside wall of the gallery. And boy, did it get the crap beat out of it. Hundreds of happy, drunk, art-and-old videogame lovers were there to hop on, stomp the button and yank that stick around. That's why I made it, so I can't complain, but oh man was it hard seeing scrapes and footprints all over the finish I was fussing over like an effete furniture restorer not three hours before. Still, it's a great, fun show and I'm excited to just be a part of it. There's a writeup here and a bunch of pictures of all the amazing art here. Oh, and I later found out that there's an even bigger Atari joystick made by a Mary Flanagan. I think it's in the UK. So I really made the most Secondest Biggest Atari 2600 Joystick.