Sega Hologram Time Traveler, anybody knows more ?

[Level42]

This machine is up for sale here in Holland.

http://koopjes.marktplaats.nl/automaten/videokasten/7283872.html

Little too expensive for my taste, but does anybody know a little more about it ?
KLOV doesn't come any further then that it operates with a Laser Disc.
Looks like an interesting machine...

[ChadTower]

What do you want to know?  I love that game.

[DarkKobold]

Then this ought to right piss you off.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6210803818&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

[Minwah]

It is a very interesting machine.  Especially when you're a kid, I remember it vividly.

I also remember the game had a limited appear gameplay-wise, but it was certainly interesting to have a go.

[clanggedin]

There is a Holosseum for sale here in Utah, but unfortunately the when they are converted from Time Travelers to Holosseums they remove the laser disc player and install a funky board.

They are selling it for $800. A little too rich for me if it is not a Time Traveler. I'd pay $1000 for a nice Time Traveler.

[Level42]

What do you want to know?  I love that game.

Well, I don't seem to spot the monitor anywhere, guess that has something to do with the Holo thing, so was the picture projected, was it 3-D, what was the goal of the game and the game-play (I saw some screenshots with a couple of cow-boys in some virtual surroundings)...I'd like to know some of those things

[ChadTower]

You could look all that up on klov.

It was projected onto a parabolic mirror to produce a hologram effect.  It looked cool, but played like Dragon's Lair.

[clanggedin]

** I was typing this while Chad was answering so it basically reiterates what Chad says**

If you look at the ebay auction you will see a Holosseum opened up and you'll see a TV. As far as I know they didn't use arcade monitors, they used TVs instead to project the image onto a special mirror that made the image look like it was floating in air.

It is somewhat like Dragons lair where depending on the direction you move the joystick will result in showing either the next scene on the laser disc or the death scene. You could use reversal cubes which would rewind the scene and allow you to try it again.

Apparently the big reason why they were converted to Holosseums is that the laser disc player in these were really faulty, so ops converted them over so they would have to maintain the game so much.

A Time Traveler is my Holy Grail...

[ChadTower]

I would love to have one too.

[RayB]

To add to what's already been said... Nothing is "projected" in the sense that that word usually conjures up. There's a big curved mirror, and it reflects the image of the monitor. Because the image is mostly bright objects on a black background, you only see those parts and due to the curved mirror they appear to "float" above the screen area where you are looking. It's an optical illusion. No fancy holography here. You can see this effect demonstrated at most science museums.

The game itself is boring. Like most laser disc games. No interactivity = watching TV. Speaking of... I played Dragon's Lair on Saturday. Once. That's all I could stand. Also played Solar Fox, Joust, Zookeeper, Elevator Action, Gyruss, and Asteroids Deluxe.

[Level42]

You could look all that up on klov.

READ my initial message: I DID check out KLOV (I always do) before, and all the info it has is: The game is called Sega's Hologram Time Traveler. It works with a laser disk.

Wow, now I know all about this game....

Anyway, thanks for al the other info...and I did check out Holoseum too, that has a little more info on KLOV.

So if anyone wants to pay a huge amount of money AND another huge amount of money to ship it over the atlantic. I can't afford it, even if I had the space.
O, seller indicates it is complete and in good working shape. He will trade for a modern pinball too....haha little chance I guess

[DarkKobold]

Actually played Dragons Lair a few times at CAX. I wouldn't say boring... I'd say frustrating. I also watched a group of guys play DL2 for hours (I went and came back) They would stay in each level forEVER!

Ugh. Anyway, they make great showcase pieces.

[Level42]

Well, I dug up this:

http://www.dragons-lair-project.com/games/pages/tt.asp

So actualy, this game was designed by the same guy as Dragons Lair

Also $18 Million gross, not bad !

[Level42]

And if you ever get the chance to play one try this:

True - Time Traveler has an interesting Easter Egg where you can see both Rick Dyer and his son dancing around.  To access this, you must press and hold down both player 1 and player 2 buttons while pulling down on the joystick.  If you press both player 1 and player 2 buttons while pushing up on the joystick, you will see the game's designers.

[romperwomb]

I also have fond memory's of this one.  It always cracks me up when people say "that game was just a gimmick!", while forgetting that every arcade game is a gimmick trying to lure you into dropping quarters in...or dollars in this case. 

[RandyT]

To add to what's already been said... Nothing is "projected" in the sense that that word usually conjures up. There's a big curved mirror, and it reflects the image of the monitor. Because the image is mostly bright objects on a black background, you only see those parts and due to the curved mirror they appear to "float" above the screen area where you are looking. It's an optical illusion. No fancy holography here. You can see this effect demonstrated at most science museums.

Holography is a much overused term.  Its been associated with just about every 3D technology primarily due to the fact that people recognize and can draw a parallel with the concept. 

A "Real-Image Display" is the proper name for this system.  It is almost certainly a spherical, rather than a parabolic mirror and it does indeed "project" light.   If you take a piece of translucent material and place it where the images are, you will see them come to focus on the material at the exact point where your brain tells you they are.  You think that they exist there because the light being projected from the system strikes the receptors in your eyeballs at the same angle and position as light reflecting off of or being generated by a real object in that location.

The reason the on-screen objects appear to be on the surface of the table is that the optic actually collects the light and brings it to focus at that point.  It's still a 2D image, but it appears to be pasted on a plane in 3D space.  And, as you stated, black is the absence of light, so it can't be projected.  Therefore it disappears.

You may have seen me write that I have my name on a few patents through the "day job".  Coincidentally, they revolve around this type of technology

RandyT

[DarkKobold]

Somehow, RandyT posting in this forum about his inventions goads me into making wild speculations on how it will and won't work. Not that any of us will ever see the results of his "day job" thus encouraging me to make more wild speculations.

OMG, its going to create real imagined dinosaurs! They are going to eat us! Way to not think of my safety, Randy!