Mini Arcade Alert!

[Tanooki]

Glen I had thought about that. As much as I'd like to think I could mod one of those myself when it came down to it I probably could if I got a new soldering iron with a better tip as mine is shot. The problem would be the case mod. I have nothing to do better than a disgustingly sloppy hack job to get a switch on the exterior. If i did it though I probably would chop up a Galaxian as it's a bit more stand out than the others. Realistically I'd try and find a way to bundle the lot of them. I've still got the 4 Walmart specials of the NOAC(and Asteroids LCD) bridge direct systems on my desk here and it wouldn't be hard to add 4 little minis perfectly sized to 80s actual figure proportions as well.

 

Do they save the high score?

[+thanatos]

Got 3 out of 4 at Cracker Barrel today. They didn't have Galaxian. But these things are sweet!

[RodLightning]

Found a full selection of Tiny Arcade games at my local Cracker Barrel. They had 2-3 of each version front and center. I found some Pac-Man models hidden at the back of the display and bought one.

 

I was expecting to have lunch there also today but a tour bus full of seniors had the place packed. With less than an hour left for lunch, I was forced to go to McDonald's. Bleach...

 

The quality is much better than I expected. It seems to be using sampled sound, as it cuts out a bit early and has to loop at times. First intermission was there and arcade accurate.

 

The tiny control does make playing somewhat difficult! Also, having 20/20 vision is a plus with that tiny screen.

[Tanooki]

There are easy mod videos up on youtube for it now. 4 point dispswitch. Run a ground off one side to a point like one of the speaker spots on the board, then one wire a piece to the 4 marked locations on the board for each title and you're set. Carve a spot on the back of the unit somewhere and slot the dipswitch box into that, little bit of glue or whatever to hold it, and good to go.

[RodLightning]

Interesting tidbit on the Super Impulse Tiny Arcade Pac-man, at least one pattern I could remember "donut dazzler" appears to work. The joystick makes execution on patterns very difficult.

I was able to play up to the first melon (pear?) board with a modest score of 30160. In answer to a previous question about high score save, yes if you leave the power switch on and let the game go into sleep mode.

 

Turning off the power switch on the back clears the high score. I've no idea how long the three AAA batteries will last with the game asleep, but probably a good while.

 

Game play is much better than we should have any reason to expect. I'm thinking about how a gadget this faithful to original would have blown our minds back in the day.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Turning off the power switch on the back clears the high score. I've no idea how long the three AAA batteries will last with the game asleep, but probably a good while.

As if in 20017 they can't afford a 20¢ flash chip...

[+thanatos]

Turning off the power switch on the back clears the high score. I've no idea how long the three AAA batteries will last with the game asleep, but probably a good while.

 

 

My coworker got the high score with the Space Invaders, and I turned it off and back on and it had saved it. Maybe it's a per game thing.

[Tanooki]

So this should be interesting once we figure it out because the boards themselves are identical other than the 0ohm jumper to decide what game boots. Hi score save in sleep or power down mode, two differing stories so far. It it doesn't I agree, pretty cheap not throwing that feature in there.

[NE146]

I mean the hacking is fine and all, but lets face it that the little cabs with artwork is half the appeal of these things.

[JBerel]

Got 3 out of 4 at Cracker Barrel today. They didn't have Galaxian. But these things are sweet!

Pics with GI Joe, or it didn't happen.

 

I mean the hacking is fine and all, but lets face it that the little cabs with artwork is half the appeal of these things.

These things are the quality of them Hallmark ornaments, but they actually work. Hallmark gets $20+ for the hollow plastic ones with a light and maybe a sound sample.

I'm supporting these guys, just cuz it's neat. I doubt it will matter that folks can play all four games with a hack. The appeal is the design.

Edited October 13, 2017 by JBerel

[RodLightning]

I mean the hacking is fine and all, but lets face it that the little cabs with artwork is half the appeal of these things.

These things are the quality of them Hallmark ornaments, but they actually work. Hallmark gets $20+ for the hollow plastic ones with a light and maybe a sound sample.

I'm supporting these guys, just cuz it's neat. I doubt it will matter that folks can play all four games with a hack. The appeal is the design.

I do like the design and art work but wish they were just slightly larger (I know, unreasonable). I may end up getting Galaxian, but have mixed feelings about dropping $80 USD on a set.

At the risk of sounding like a cheap skate, I hope these are mass produced and end up on Walmart's clearance isle at a discount!

 

I do plan to mod Pacman to play the other three games. We need to find a nice rotary selector switch, maybe PCB mount size. DIP switch block works, but a tiny rotary style would be ideal.

[JBerel]

If you must give it a go.....

 

 

https://www.adafruit.com/product/2925?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1f7h65ju1gIVTn69Ch2eoQkEEAkYCyABEgJIUPD_BwE

 

https://www.alliedelec.com/nkk-switches-mrk206-a/70192063/?mkwid=sP37gJSoq&pcrid=224900168813&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIh6TZv5ju1gIVhANpCh2oygLwEAQYASABEgJRfPD_BwE

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-Position-Panel-Switch-Latching/dp/B01N11OG51

 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-16mm-Rotary-Switch-1-Pole-6-Position15mm-Length-Knurled-Shaft-/111930241178

 

Edited October 13, 2017 by JBerel

[+thanatos]

 

Pics with GI Joe, or it didn't happen.

 

 

I'll try to work on that tonight.

 

The only major issue I have is these things are pretty loud with no mute button. The UFO noise in Space Invaders almost hurts my ears.

[+save2600]

Nothing as "cool" as a Cantina diorama, but here's a couple of mine. I know I have Grand Moff Tarkin around here somewhere... oh, he's still in his original packaging.

 

[+thanatos]

Is there enough nerd cred with this one?

I wanted to use Serpentor and Zartan, but I opened the wrong box.

 

 

[ComputerSpaceFan]

Yet another cool mini-arcade thing I'd love to buy that will probably never come to Canada

 

[JBerel]

I expect these will be available at major retailers (with web sales) in just a few weeks. They're an impulse buy, so I'd anticipate good stock on them.

[JBerel]

BTW, I'm thinking about their asteroids test game, and wondering how well vector type games would work on these. With their tiny screen resolution, there's no room for fine lines. Sure, they can go the solid raster route like the 2600, but I bet some stuff just would not translate well.

[Tanooki]

I bet they end up that way too because the size alone screams cheapo stocking stuffer for Christmas.

[JBerel]

Seems somebody else thought a larger mini arcade would be desirable. Given the price point, kickstarter horsesh#t, Atari involvement, and other factors, color me unimpressed.

 

https://www.polygon.com/2017/10/17/16488594/atari-replicades-arcade-cabinet-collectors-replica-centipede

 

Edited October 17, 2017 by JBerel

[+save2600]

No thanks, I'll stick with the $20 Tiny Arcades.

[Tanooki]

Same here and with a $160 price tag I hope that fails but given how funded it is so far it's not hard to imagine them hitting their 50K goal with 31 banked already with a month to go.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Same here and with a $160 price tag I hope that fails but given how funded it is so far it's not hard to imagine them hitting their 50K goal with 31 banked already with a month to go.

With the quality that goes into these, the controls need to be usable size and not scale replicas. The control panel needs to be extended outward from the cabinet and use at minimum a 1.5" trackball and 24mm fire buttons. Then take a little off the bottom and raise the top to create a proper bartop form factor, with minor adjustments to the cabinet art. Namco seems to have done their bartops right. As is an exact 1:6 scale replica will make a poor fit for 1:1 scale humans, and the control panel sits too high for bartop use.

[JBerel]

Yet another cool mini-arcade thing I'd love to buy that will probably never come to Canada

 

The entire set of minis are on sale at the Sharper Image now, but with their typical 20% markup.

[Tanooki]

With the quality that goes into these, the controls need to be usable size and not scale replicas. The control panel needs to be extended outward from the cabinet and use at minimum a 1.5" trackball and 24mm fire buttons. Then take a little off the bottom and raise the top to create a proper bartop form factor, with minor adjustments to the cabinet art. Namco seems to have done their bartops right. As is an exact 1:6 scale replica will make a poor fit for 1:1 scale humans, and the control panel sits too high for bartop use.

I'd agree with that. I've seen the typical go to barcade style build size and while smaller than a full arcade setup it's comfortable without sacrificing the ability to play as well. Sure they cost notably more than the $160 this thing does, but the parts in there as does the comfort better justifies the price it asks. This is just dinky, too small, a barely useful to the original arcade code within trackball is just a bad setup and I don't see it being comfortable except in the hands and lap of a kindergartner.