Fifth Avenue Frogger

April 21, 2012 8:03 PM

Tyler DeAngelo and some of his friends have hacked a classic 1980's Frogger arcade game - with real cars.
posted by pjern (20 comments total)

We hacked a 1980's Frogger Arcade so the cars you dodge are really driving down 5th Ave while you play.

I thought the causal relationship there was the other way around, and briefly imagined that the Improv Everywhere people had somehow commandeered a few thousand vehicles and taken over control of the Manhattan traffic control system.
posted by mhoye at 8:11 PM on April 21, 2012 [9 favorites]

I was thinking the same thing, except in my mind it was also a drunk prank and some guy was dressed in a frog costume. Needless to say, the actual result is not quite as enthralling, but it's still pretty damn cool.
posted by thetoken at 8:23 PM on April 21, 2012

Implementation by metafilter's own me, if you have any questions :)
posted by moonmilk at 8:37 PM on April 21, 2012 [15 favorites]

moonmilk, how about an Asteroids game using real asteroids?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:40 PM on April 21, 2012

Or pacman with real ghosts!
posted by moonmilk at 8:45 PM on April 21, 2012 [12 favorites]

Neat! I also had weird backwards visions of the execution before viewing but I found it fun none-the-less.
posted by safetyfork at 9:20 PM on April 21, 2012

That's awesome. I tip my hat to you, moonmilk.
posted by drezdn at 9:35 PM on April 21, 2012

Is that a real frog talking?
posted by Brocktoon at 10:05 PM on April 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

I was thinking the same thing, except in my mind it was also a drunk prank and some guy was dressed in a frog costume. Needless to say, the actual result is not quite as enthralling

Like this? (This appears to be an intersection a few miles from my parents' house.)
posted by Condroidulations! at 10:06 PM on April 21, 2012

Clever idea!

I gotta say, though, I found the choice of a British accent for the frog to be jarring given that I remember the game music including 'Yankee Doodle" as part of its infinite loop. Or was that just in the c64 version? I played that one a lot more than the arcade game.
posted by egypturnash at 10:50 PM on April 21, 2012

Frogger was released in the U.S. by Sega/Gremlin (before they became just "Sega," and while they were still a Western company -- Sega has a weird history), but was developed by Konami. The game has distinctive 8-bit music, a Konami trademark of the time (check out Amidar, Roc N Rope, and Pooyan for more). I seem to remember the Japanese version having different music.
posted by JHarris at 1:58 AM on April 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

Really cool! Is the machine still there, or will it be showing up at regular times? I'd like to play!
posted by painquale at 2:01 AM on April 22, 2012

Or pacman with real ghosts!

Or Wizard of Wor with real wizards.
posted by Wolfdog at 2:51 AM on April 22, 2012

Maybe I'm missing everything, but I'm getting one link to a personal website, one to wikipedia, and one to a blog that says it did something, with no content.
posted by efalk at 4:08 AM on April 22, 2012

I saw the video and had a hard time spotting similarities in type, color and even the number of cars between the webcam source and the game. The idea described by the frog voice is really neat but the actual cam/game shots in the video somehow didn't seem to depict that idea. At no time did I have the feeling that there was any synching going on. What am I missing?
posted by patrick54 at 4:47 AM on April 22, 2012

Previously.
posted by scalefree at 5:12 AM on April 22, 2012

~how about an Asteroids game using real asteroids?

~Or pacman with real ghosts!

~Or Wizard of Wor with real wizards.

Or Missile Command with real...er...no...nevermind...
posted by Thorzdad at 6:32 AM on April 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'm not sure I want to be nearby when they adapt the Cho Aniki series.
posted by delfin at 7:04 AM on April 22, 2012

I wonder if I am the only person who kept clicking around the site for a chance to play.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 10:28 AM on April 22, 2012

Is that a real frog talking?

Oh come on. It's obviously a normal frog that they animated, and then dubbed in the voice of a talking horse. It's pretty clear in the accent.
posted by FatherDagon at 1:56 PM on April 23, 2012 [1 favorite]