Finally, a new menace to civilization can be introduced to the public! I’ve been back and forth on this project for months. After many false starts and a lot of indecisiveness, I can call this image done. Sort of….
This project started out as a simple, a b-movie poster influenced by the Gorig machinery I used to work on. But it turned into a tough project to wrap my head around and it did not turn out as expected. The illustration has it’s charms, but it didn’t turn out as I originally planned. I did find a great use for the art, a video game cabinet! That’s where the ‘sort of’ factors in. I want to build this into a cabinet to house my MAME machine. There is definately a lot more work to do if that’s going to happen.
A long time ago, in a town not so far away…. I spent 12 hours a day, 6-7 days a week serving the needs of my blue, metal masters: the Gorig machines. No lie, these machines were truly evil, vile concoctions (and blue!). Their main purpose in life was to attach a plastic strap to Surf laundry detergent boxes. Sounds so simple. But the execution of that simple idea was hideously disfigured. It involved cams, arms, suckers, vacuum, rivets, air cylinders, sensors and a 4 person crew to work on one set of machines. Unfortunately digital cameras were not common place while these things were in operation, so no videos exist ( I would love a video of one in action! ) and I really think all Gorig machines are probably scrap at this point. When was the last time you bought a cardboard box of laundry detergent with a handle riveted to it?
In case you get the impression I loved working on these machines, let me just say, I still have nightmares about working in that box factory. It’s been nearly 20 years since I punched a time card at Container Corporation of America (the evil box factory) and I still have nightmares about being trapped at that job. At least it inspired me to create something.
Anyway, check out the mock-ups I’ve posted. I think this would make for a spectacular theme for an arcade cabinet. Don’t you? It needs a bit more work, control panel and bezel art, but it would look fantastic. And, since I have not had any luck generating a theme for my current POS cab, this fits the bill. I’ve even been thinking of creating a Flash animation of a Gorig game attract screen. That would look sweet when it boots up or goes into screen saver mode.
Aaron Roshong, Blog 