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Building an Opera Widget Arcade

Published January 18th, 2008 1:46 PM EST By Daniel Goldman

The Desktop team developers at Opera are working on a fun and interesting little project.

They’re recreating the original arcade cabinet used by Midway Games for their famous Galaga video game and are building a modern entertainment platform running Opera Widgets in it.

The arcade itself will have a modern computer running the Opera browser with a ton of Opera Widgets.

You could follow their progress over at their newly created Opera Widget Arcade blog. In addition, they’ve also posted many photos too.

galaga.jpg
(The original Galaga arcade)

opera-widget-arcade5.jpg

opera-widget-arcade-1.jpg

opera-widget-arcade6.jpg

opera-widget-arcade4.jpg

opera-widget-arcade2.jpg

opera-widget-arcade3.jpg

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7 Comments

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  1. 1 Investor Jan 18th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.50 on Windows Windows XP

    Talented people :up:

  2. 2 WildEnte Jan 18th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.24 on Windows Windows XP

    why is noone making happy faces /c:=

  3. 3 TiKoZ Jan 19th, 2008 at 12:01 am
    using Opera Opera 9.25 on Windows Windows XP

    “Talented people”? i’m thinkin more like “wasted time and energy..”

  4. 4 IceArdor Jan 19th, 2008 at 3:11 am
    using Opera Opera 9.50 on Windows Windows XP

    Totally awesome! At my work, I make cool, fun little projects that don’t really have a financial purpose, but shows the personality of the company. This project isn’t a waste of time. It’s showing how creative Opera’s employees are, that they’re humorous and like to have fun, and it shows that Opera has a lot of personality–despite those who think Opera is run by a bunch of server monkeys. This is what distinguishes Opera from “the other guys”.

    Cheers. :beer: :P

  5. 5 yeahyeah Jan 19th, 2008 at 4:02 am
    using Opera Opera 9.25 on Windows Windows XP

    TiKoZ:

    Yeah, who needs a hobby, eh? All we need to do is eat, sleep and work. No fun needed. Ever! Nosiree! Anything recreational is automatically “wasted time and energy”.

    Completely agree there.

    So why the heck are you wasting your time and energy posting stuff here?! :D

  6. 6 Øyvind Ø Jan 19th, 2008 at 10:49 am
    using Opera Opera 9.50 on Debian GNU/Linux Debian GNU/Linux

    What a great idea. That’s what I call hacking. I could not have thought of a better way to ease stress away when release deadlines are breathing you in the neck and you constantly blame null pointer exceptions when forgetting something, and end you text messages with “svn commit”.

    Good luck on your project, and remember too keep the box cool enough if you are using a modern computer in there. And while I am at it. There was a fun to read article in Linux Journal August 2007 about making your own arcade. Although it probably won’t help much on your quite different project, I guess it can’t hurt to pick it up while taking a time out.

    - ØØ -

  7. 7 Guti Jan 20th, 2008 at 6:45 am
    using Opera Opera 9.50 on Windows Windows Vista

    Excelent tech/fun project.

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Opera Watch, an Opera browser blog, is run by Daniel Goldman, who used to work for Opera Software as a Technical Evangelist.

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About Opera


Q: What is Opera?
A: Opera is one of the most powerful Web browsers around. A Web browser is the program that allows you to view Web pages. Opera is well known for innovation for PC browsers and bringing the full web to mobile phones and devices.

Q: Is Opera free?
A: Absolutely free.

Q: Why should I download a browser? Doesn't my computer already come with one for free?
A: It's about getting more out of the time you spend on the internet. Opera is designed to be much faster than these browsers and gives you powerful features that the default browser lacks. Default browsers like Internet Explorer are also more likely to be subjected to dangerous software such as viruses and spyware.

Q: Will Opera keep me safe from fraudulent websites and malicious hackers?
A: According to Secunia, a respected firm that tracks security in browsers, Opera has the best reputation and track record when it comes to browser security. Keeping our users safe from security vulnerabilities, fraudulent websites, and malicious hackers is a top priority for Opera. Opera is maintained by hundreds of engineers, developers and security experts who are constantly looking to make the browser even safer.

Q: Doesn't Opera copy all of their features from other browsers?
A: Absolutely not. In fact, many of the features that are popular in other browsers today were invented and pioneered by Opera a long time ago. Opera invented the precursor to tabs (in 1994), Page Zoom (1994), was the first browser to block pop-up ads (2000), first to add a Search field in the browser toolbar (2000), Sessions (1996), deleting private data (2000), Mouse Gestures (2000), User JavaScript (2005), BitTorrent support (2005), Widgets (2006), Speed Dial (2007), and much more.

Q: Does Opera support extensions, such as those found in Firefox?
A: Much of the functionality provided through Firefox extensions is already built directly into Opera, so you don't have to download additional extensions in Opera. In addition, Opera is highly customizable and supports all standard plug-ins.

Q: Can I also use Opera on my mobile phone?
A: Yes. And your Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS or almost any connected device and mobile phones. Opera Mobile oftens comes preinstalled from the manufacturers, but if it doesn't you can install Opera Mini which runs on nearly all phones.

Q: This all sounds great, so how do I download Opera?
A: -- Opera on your computer
-- Opera Mini on your phone
-- Opera Mobile on your phone
-- or learn more about Opera at www.opera.com