Laserdiscs were pressed in a very similar fashion to how modern CD/DVD/BluRay discs are made. Hot melted PVC plastic was injection molded in a press with a stamper that imbedded the disc with billions of tiny indentations. These clear discs were then sent to have a very thin coating of aluminum vapor-coated over top of the pitted surface. Laserdiscs were pressed as two seperate halves then glued together, forming a completed disc. Discs like Space Ace and Dragon's Lair had a heavy aluminum die-cut bottom half glued on, the thinking was to assist the balance of the disc (All it did actually was put strain on the laserdisc player motor and spindle). Unfortunately most discs of this era had issues with the adhesive bonding the halves together, in one way or another would eventually start to oxidize the aluminum coating on the pits, rendering the disc unplayable, yet look like there was nothing wrong at all on the disc. So finding good discs, while not impossible, is getting harder and harder.

Laserdiscs were injection moulded in cleanrooms, with a stamper. They were then put in this device that sprayed a super thin layer of aluminum onto the pits that were embedded on the underside, then coated with a thin laquer to protect the surface, before finally having adhesive applied and then fastened to the opposite side of another half disc, or in Dragon's lair/Space Ace's case an aluminum disc.

Just came across your page for I am inspired to resurrect my old Space Ace/Dragon's Lair cabinet. It has not worked since the guy repairing it ghosted on my family 20 years ago taking the laserdisc player with him. At the time that was the part that was broken. Since then it sat in my folks house in Skaneateles, NY until they hauled it down to me in Atlanta (they where about to take it to the dump). It lived in my office at my former job and then was moved it into my house, where it has sat as a decretive item of envy to some friends, not working. Now I need to get this working. I still have both discs and the eProms. And from what I remember they are all in good condition. Though I know some of the tines on the eProms are bent, but not broken. I need to get a new LD player, and the Merlin you mentioned will be my other purchase. Funny enough, I have the same spectator monitor you have. A salvage from my old job. Any guidance would be appreciated.

One of the easy ways to detect LASER ROT is to hold laser disc to a light source with foil side (label side) facing the light source. As you rotate laser disc, you can observe pin holes of light penetrating through. That's DISC ROT

Excellent trip down memory lane in viewer mail section, I too had almost the same path as yours in online MP Gaming, bought back some cool memories. Glad your new Laseerdisc works.

Viewer mail would be great, you should do it. It will provide people that are not interested in the mail section an easy way to filter it out. But I find the mail questions great and informative. You are a huge inspiration John and you have motivated me to start restoring cabinets in the not too distant future.

Great to see your Cinematronic collection is growing John; now all you need to find is a Dragon's Lair 2 laserdisc and your truly set ^_^; I'm suprised no truly hardcore Cinematronic fan has ever found a way of building a multidisc cabinet mod, then you could play both Dragon's Lair and Space Ace without changing disc out (and without electronically storing them). Great as always!

Yes to viewer- mail videos. I think they ad so much and it´s fun to have info about games I never heard of. Also gives reminder of some cool games I forgot.

I love your cave man! I have only 1 arcade, but Im happy with it! Keep the good work restoring this pieces of art. Cheers!

Great video John! You are about as good as I am at Space Ace. I hope you get a Cliff Hanger at some point. It is an awesome LS game with really cool cabinet.

I would have liked to see what your lawn looked like the week after you got pong. Like patches of long grass in random clumps all around the yard LOL Thanks john keep up the great videos.

One of my favorite games from the 80s. So glad that I can play it on my PS4.

Great Video as usual John and thanks for answering my question (Had a feeling it might grab your attention). I love the Zelda series, I've been hooking since watching my dad beat both of the NES versions when I was very little. I never managed to finish one myself until Ocarina of Time but have loved them all ever since. I remember playing a ton of Goldeneye myself, I'd get three friends together and play multiplayer, my favorite level was the facility, we'd set it up for proximity mines only and just line rooms with them and wait for an unsuspecting player and laugh like hell at each others bad luck. Played a good amount of blast corps as well. The N64 was pivotal for me as I was about 12 when it came out. Also played alot of mario 64 into the wee hours of the morning to get 120 stars and yoshi. Don't get me wrong, I loved ATARI, NES, SNES but honestly I wasn't really able to complete many games until the PSONE and N64 days. Just thought that'd be a fun and different topic for a change. :-)

17:53 I always thought you had an evil laugh and this just confirms it.

Congratulations for acquiring one of the best laserdisc games ever made! Now you're a true laserdisc guy ;)

When Ace gets hit by the Infanto Ray, he looks a lot like your buddy Adam.

"Blew your mind" I know how you feel, I remember the first time I ever saw it, think it was like 83 or 84 in an arcade(Space World) when I was visting my old home town for Christmas, I was like Whoooow", never saw anything like it in my life.

Syd Bolton operates a computer museum in Brantford, didn't know he made that book. Its about 1.5 hours from where I live. The Don Bluth team contacted Syd because they needed a Dragons Lair art to scan which he had a good copy of.

Thanks for another great video John!

I played Dragon's Lair at the Pinball Hall of Fame in Vegas a couple years ago, yeah I totally sucked at it, lol! (I do believe it was one of those Anniversary machines with the PC inside it) But something like that might be cool to own! Digging the videos as always, and definitely looking forward to the return to Jump Bug! (another fun one I've played around with in MAME here and there!!)

Hey John Very nice and Fun Video,These are some PHAT Discs man ! i certainly understand why this was hard as a kid I had the same trouble,but now you are all grown up :) plus got Dragons lair and all so that are similar, it is just a matter of Timing and ofc practice there to get good at it,i hope you will release another Video with Gameplay on this when u can get through more of the game :)

I love all those console games you mentioned, except for Mario Sunshine,lol. Its the one Mario title I never finished because the whole water spray gun mechanicwas kind of tedious and felt more like work than fun. Although, now that you reminded me of it, I'll give it another shot and try to complete it ;)

I had the mach 3 laser disk around somewhere. Still have the laser out on the machine too

I was already thinking.. whoops something went wrong :-). Nice sniff though in the end nof the other video LOL

I remember the Space Ace Arcade...every game I tried to play there...was over after a very short time...this game was so hard to play and a game cost 2 D-Mark in Germany in the 80s, that was back then a lot of money for those few seconds you could stand there at the Machine.😮😢🎉

Space Ace looked so amazing, I used to play Brain Dead 13 on Panasonic and Goldstar 3DO. I think it would be amazing to have at Least 1 of the 3 arcades :)

Just found your channel and I love it!

Such an awesome game I love it!

I like your viewer mail idea :)

There is games today that don't look this good! Great pick up

Having Dragons Lair I & II, Space Ace collection on DVD is epic. However playing Dragons Lair for the first time on a Sega CD keeps me going back to that version. I would only dream of owning a cabinet. Psycho-Nics Oscar, my close second most remembered Arcade cabinet. T-Mek, Daytona, Lucky & Wild for sit downs.

The difficulty levels in space ace actually add more content (higher difficulty adds more scenes or makes some scenes longer). I don't think the difficulty increases in any other way. You must move in the right direction, but also with the right timing. Some of your deaths were actually from moving too early. There is nearly always a cue (yellow flash) to help you see what to do.

Atari Europe was based in Ireland. The Arcade cab Factory & HQ was located in Tipperary.... I remember you asking someone in another video, what made it an Irish Centipede

A short video once a month of just reading the emails would probably give more people a chance to participate so, my vote is yes

nice! johns arcade on my birthday!

I finished it when I was a kid and now I want one

Space Ace and Dragon's Lair are great but my favorite game was Cobra Command. It played like these but you piloted a helicopter watching an anime.

Yeah some wind waker love! Did you play the HD remake? Loved it. So beautiful to look at.

Space Ace & Dragons Lair are awesome ;)

My only concern about a viewer mail once a month would be going through them too fast, possibly running out of them to use at the end of shows. Its a nice way to wrap up the show/video. Guess you're the only one who really knows the answer to that question, though, depends on how much mail you're getting.

I remember this game from back in the days and how I tried it once and went like; WHAT THE..?!!! A game in Sweden cost 5 kronor at that time and that was a fair amount for a broke little dude like me. I guess today I consider the game a technical landmark but back then I thought it was a total ripoff. Anyway, great video like always John!

Awesome get, man. Though I'm fine with my PC CD versions of Dragons Lair 1, 2 and Space ace. :P A lot cheaper, and a space saver. lol Video quality takes a hit, but actually not too bad.

John they had some other laser disc arcade cabinets. CLIFF HANGER and Don Quixote. And some other. Be cool if those could all play on the Dragon's Lair arcade cabinet?

I hope you read these. See about getting a Dexter board, that eliminates the most troublesome part of the equation, the laserdisc player and the laserdisc, those players are doing nothing but getting older, as well as the discs, and a disc that plays fine one week, could unfortunately start rotting out the next. Futureproofing is essential to keep these games preserved.

laser rot is when the glue goes bad inside the laserdisk

Hey, you should look at moving this to the rom where Pole Position is so you can get round the back easier.

Good idea on the viewer mail.

I only tried Space Ace once in the arcade. I loved Dragon's Lair, but I never got into Space Ace.

Yes I would love to see a video with only viewer mail as well as everyone who is a fan of your videos also speaking of viewer mail if you got mine yet mine is very interesting and your help would be a huge plus to starting my own arcade ttyl buddy bye for now

In your intro, how can the disc be in the sleeve, if it is clearly in the machine playing behind you? ;)

Yessss! Mario sunshine all day boy!!!

Dragon lair and space ace where the last games I play back in the 80s before I left gaming :( 50 cents and I would die very quickly. Came back in the 90s after school and bought Donkey Kong standup. Gaming ever since.

Ok, two things: 1) Please, never ever, ever, ever, ever call me when you need to move and need help. 2) How the hell much is electrical bill each month .... I assume you do not need to run a furnace in your home for heating. Wow, a true "Man Cave" !!

I am looking for a RC pro am arcade system. I think thats the one with a few wheels. My friends best game growing up and I want to surprise him with the real arcade game

Hmm, what about those laser discs that is a two disc changer.. You could put both discs in there but you some how would need to access the player to switch discs..

LaserDiscs work essentially the same way vinyl records do, just faster and with a laser

Since you ask what we think about viewer mail mid-week specials. Well id say no. I always look forward to that pat of your show. It woulld shorten your normal show too wouldnt it? Anyway - a whole show just for viewer mail is just too much.

You'll should definitly try out the Dragon's Lair Trilogy on the Nintendo Wii

One problem is how do you choose your difficulty level in this cabinet? The space ace cabinet had 3 buttons for difficulty. Space Ace, just like Dragon's lair 2 was so fluid and fast compared to the broken up play of Dragon's lair that it made it very hard.

Frikkin' laaaaazers

you laugh the same as the blue guy👍🏻

Hi, FYI. The reason you are getting the "H" on the Score Board is because Space Ace also had an Annunciator Board that is connected between the Score Board and the Logic. This Annunciator Board was hooked up the the 3 LED Buttons for the Level Sections on the Space Ace Control Panel. The Game is still sending the LED Signal to the Annunciator Board that is not present in your Game, and instead the Signal is being misread by the Score Board, which causes the "H" to show up on the Score Board. This is normal, so there is nothing wrong with your Game or Score Board. The New Merlin-8000 3.x Newest Firmware not only has the Menu driven Level Selections for Space Ace, but Shaun Wood has also made a Menu where you can Select 3 of the Difficulty Selections on the Dragon's Lair F2 Rom Set as Level Selections, as well. This way you can play Dragon's Lair on the Easiest Setting and when you get Good Enough and/or are feeling a bit more Daring, you can Select the Harder Difficulty without needing to Flip any DIP Switches. Definitely a must have for a Dragon's Lair Arcade Game Owner that also has an Original Dragon's Lair and/or Dragon's Lair 2002 Special Edition Laser Disc and Space Ace Laser Disc. Yours Truly,, Tony M Victorino

Can you tell me what coin door you used to replace the one in your Donkey Kong Cab? Those original nintendo coin returns suck ass and i would like to get normal ones like what you have on your Donkey Kong.

Please let me know how you managed to obtain your; Dragon's Lair and Space Ace LD's games John. And how much they're are now; either separate or both? As i have a LD player and i'd like to get a hold of these; Don Bluth classics myself!

Hopefully Sean sends you the newest firmware!

have you checked out Thegeekarcade as they were advertising arcade machines on craigslist back in 2015

You need to Livestream yourself playing Dragon's Lair!

Ever run into Cliff Hanger?

Hey John nice video. I play a lot of Battlefield to in my clan. what is your battlelog name by the way B-)

Ahhh yesss the "Directors cut" with the Deleted Scenes! I always prefer to watch it as the Director intended. that Studio version released yesterday was too short and took the soul out of the video. Thanks John!

John please come back 😢

are you going too get your hands on a dragons lair 2 LaserDisc?

I wouldn't say dragon's lair enhanced is a fan made one. It seems more like the Home CD ports.

GET ME OUTA HEEEEEEEEEEEEREEEEEEE!!!!

How much for game?

Could you put the game in the middle to make it easier for you to get to the back? I thought you did pretty good : )

Only played Space Ace a couple of times when I was a Kid. Pretty sure I died in the same way you did first go. I gave up after that cause I ran out of pocket money.

The graphis was so amazing at the time i could just stare at it for hours. Now, it wasnt very playable. You had to learn the moves and that was it. No variation ofcourse. Fun to watch though.

I can do a perfect run on Steam. No life losses.

yeah you really cant tell what disc will have rot i have a few laser movies and even a sealed never opened tmnt movie disc was unwatchable

I've got Space Ace downloaded to the PS3. One advantage to doing that is a complete viewing mode to see how the game plays. Ugh. It's such a twitch festival. Some scenes are so quick that it's inhuman to react. I swear, one has to ignore the flash and do a count in their head to know when to press what. Not for me. Never for me. It's a beauty of a cartoon, though.

Laser discs are pressed i believe.

big space ace hint. you don't have to EVER energize and becoma ace. you can spend the entire game as the little guy. in fact it's easier if you never energize.

Long term you should consider a Dexter board. It will work fine with your Merlin board and you wouldn't have to move your cabinet to swap between Space Ace and Dragon's Lair. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rbKlgtxzrdXDoJ8.html

Just my opinion but I always thought Dragon's Lair and Space Ace were rubbish as actual games. Impressive graphically at first but when you get down to them, they're little more than a simple reaction test and were super expensive to play back in the day.

Cost .50 to play.

Viewer mail is fine, but I rather see more gameplay, on the road and repairs vids. personally, I probably wouldn't watch a whole video of just viewer mail.

great... Space ace is my all time fave game. that and Splinter Cell as a kid.. Hey your doing well.. i spent a whole holidays worth of money in 2 weeks to lean it it. eventually you will know all commands, up. left. down. right. up fire. and such. and basicly thats how its done. learn every command. O yea i went to bowlers computer fair in manchester england. and they where selling boxes of both games. brand new. never opened. he had 2 full boxes of each. with say 50 disks in each box. i never got one coz well i never had a lazer disk player. i hear the DVD ver is just as good now. the ps2 ver of DL was crap. store.steampowered.com/app/240340/

Space Ace > Dragon's Lair

Hey John, why don't you do videos dedicated to just viewer mail, so those of us that have zero interest, don't have to watch them, and than you can dedicate the other videos to just video games, Thank you, Peace

John, this game is very simple. It's because you don't know how to play it.