Budget Atari and Capcom arcade cabinets to see release this fall!

[+GoldenWheels]

 

On the contrary, I don't see how $300 is NOT a good deal for these things. They have authentic art/design, licensed games, arcade-like controls (that are standard and easy to swap out for different arcade-like parts should you be so moved), and a dedicated monitor (i.e., not just a TV). That seems like a perfectly reasonable value proposition to me.

 

If they did a driving cab, I doubt it would be heavy duty. It would no doubt be just like these, with a "light duty" wheel and pedals. I'd still very much be down for that at $300, at least with the right mix of games (and assuming no stop points on the wheel itself).

 

In terms of a light gun cab, I don't think I'd want one with a small monitor like these have. I prefer light gun games on a much larger screen and think those are easy enough to enjoy and have a fantatic experience on a regular giant living room TV. In other words, I don't really think a home light gun arcade cabinet makes much sense, at least for me.

 

They have nice big stickers on the side and panel. Yes they do. They have licensed games, most of which you could play much cheaper a million other legit and licensed ways, forgetting the NON legit ways. It has 'arcade-like' controls which means of course that they AREN'T actually arcade controls, they're more likely shit copies with a short shelf life under rough play (a guess on my part, to be sure, but likely the case). And they do have a 'dedicated screen' (hardly an expensive proposition nowadays) that you apparently can't run anything else into? (not a plus in my eyes if true). Oh, and you get to assemble it all yourself!

 

If that's worth $300 to you, enjoy it Bill, and I say that with NO condescension or salt implied. I appreciate that you understand the supply side costs of these things and how hard it is to cobble together a profit margin on such a project. But I think your business knowledge in these kinds of deal is impressing you simply with what they've pulled off, perhaps overshadowing your opinion as a fan. But then, there's others not in the business here who clearly think $300 is fair. Capitalism in a free society is a wonderful thing!

 

Again, I don't like crapping on how people spend their money and I have not done so for however long this thread is at this point. I said what I said to make the point that offering a special control scheme (as the trackball/spinner cab does) is the only way I feel these toys offer any actual value. In said case, a spinner/trackball, or a wheel with pedals, or a dual light gun set up, gives you a feel from the arcade that really can't be replicated at home at a similar price point if done well. Give me the special controls and I'm thinking $300 is ok again!

[John Stamos Mullet]

 

After the very early reports, I've kept my opinions largely to myself, as I don't like to crap on what people like. Frankly I AM surprised people are actually considering $300 a good deal for what these (apparently) are. These look like overpriced fiberboard toys with (likely) shit controls and nice stickers to me, which doesn't equal $300. Not MY $300 anyway.

 

OTOH.......A driving cab with a heavy duty wheel and pedals and a bunch of good driving games? As the internet says, "Shut up and take my money"

 

(for that matter....how about a quality 2 player light gun cab?)

This is kind of where I'm at right now also. I like the idea of these things, but the price is bananas when you only get 2, 3, or maybe 4 games.

 

My other issue lately is that following their social media and watching people asking legitimate questions - their answers are sarcastic, snarky bullshit - and they mock people who have legit concerns like their product is the best thing ever. I'm kind of tempted to make my own cab with better controls, larger screen, and full size cab with hundreds of games just to show people how much this is a rip off.

[BillLoguidice]

 

If that's worth $300 to you, enjoy it Bill, and I say that with NO condescension or salt implied. I appreciate that you understand the supply side costs of these things and how hard it is to cobble together a profit margin on such a project. But I think your business knowledge in these kinds of deal is impressing you simply with what they've pulled off, perhaps overshadowing your opinion as a fan. But then, there's others not in the business here who clearly think $300 is fair. Capitalism in a free society is a wonderful thing!

 

I AM impressed that they're able to both release these at $300 and get a huge amount of inventory into major retailers. However, that's completely separate from my personal impression of these. Perhaps my tolerance for spending $300 here or there is higher than for some other people, but it's the gamer in me that likes what's on offer here, not the person who happens to work in the industry (and you can bet the person who works in the industry is also interested in doing one better than these, but again, that's a different thing entirely).

 

I also freely admit that I have a greater fondness for the non-joystick cabinets. I feel like I can be just as happy playing joystick-based games any other way. On the contrary, I like the idea of playing trackball- and spinner-based games using real controls. That's why I'd be onboard with a steering wheel-based machine. In fact, I'd be onboard with that even though I already have a very nice steering wheel setup that works on modern consoles. There's something "different" about playing on a dedicated machine, even one that's not quite the right size (and the small size and the fact that I can move it around easily is a big plus -- I sold off a very expensive dedicated MAME arcade machine with almost every type of arcade control and Wells Gardner 27" monitor--it was just too large and too time consuming to configure exactly right). [And I also have an X-Arcade dual stick still - I don't use it much because it's kind of a pain to setup--that's another thing nice about something like this, i.e., it's always ready to go!).

 

Of course, with all of the above in mind, I do acknowledge this Arcade1Up stuff has some serious downsides, not the least of which is too many different options (which will only get worse), with it obviously being very difficult for the average person to accommodate more than one or two of these. I still think it's worth the money.

[NE146]

I said what I said to make the point that offering a special control scheme (as the trackball/spinner cab does) is the only way I feel these toys offer any actual value.

 

Exactly what I've been trying to say repeatedly since my first comment in this thread.. except you said it better and a more succinctly.

 

The draw for me to these is not the exactly the artwork, form-factor, license, etc. (which are all nice) but rather it's ALL about the special controls (trackball, spinner, etc.) which are more of a pain to do yourself in the average emulator/multi-cab with standard street fighter joystick & button layout. That's what makes these stand out to me.

[BillLoguidice]

I'm kind of tempted to make my own cab with better controls, larger screen, and full size cab with hundreds of games just to show people how much this is a rip off.

 

If you have the woodworking and handyman skills, and plenty of free time, no doubt you could do something that both looks nice and is feature-packed for a hundred (or two) bucks more than what these sell at. That would still be completely different from what's on offer here and certainly wouldn't prove that these are a rip off in any way, just that you can have something with more features for more effort and money.

 

Look, I get it, you and others don't like it. That's perfectly understandable and makes sense considering the obvious downsides of these products. But to keep running the "rip off" line is rather silly. There have literally been no products like these in this price range ever (which we've been over in this very thread). Certainly someone or some company CAN do better in many of the areas, but it will no doubt cost a bit more. So kindly show how it's a rip off by providing links to something similar for less money. The one empty cabinet that somebody pointed to was both incomplete and more costly, so that one is out. Hacking a used cabinet might work, but I doubt it would be pretty without considerable work, and it certainly wouldn't be all that cheap once you got the parts together, and it certainly wouldn't be plug and play (we can of course ignore the fact that none of the games would be legally licensed either).

[John Stamos Mullet]

 

Exactly what I've been trying to say repeatedly since my first comment in this thread.. except you said it better and a more succinctly.

 

The draw for me to these is not the exactly the artwork, form-factor, license, etc. (which are all nice) but rather it's ALL about the special controls (trackball, spinner, etc.) which are more of a pain to do yourself in the average emulator/multi-cab with standard street fighter joystick & button layout. That's what makes these stand out to me.

The Trackball isn't really that hard. If you don't want to buy a dedicated one from an arcade controls company - you can always hack an Atari 2600 trak-ball into a MS Mouse using the guts of an old Serial ball mouse.

[negative1]

 

Exactly what I've been trying to say repeatedly since my first comment in this thread.. except you said it better and a more succinctly.

 

The draw for me to these is not the exactly the artwork, form-factor, license, etc. (which are all nice) but rather it's ALL about the special controls (trackball, spinner, etc.) which are more of a pain to do yourself in the average emulator/multi-cab with standard street fighter joystick & button layout. That's what makes these stand out to me.

 

to me, trackballs and spinners, are quite easy to get and use,

i'm not sure why they're so hard for other people. there are

plenty of normal USB ones out there that work fine.

 

i've been usng a logitech marble trackball forever with MAME, and a few years

ago, got a USB spinner thats converted from a mouse controller, that also works fine.

 

later

-1

[Bill Loguidice]

The Trackball isn't really that hard. If you don't want to buy a dedicated one from an arcade controls company - you can always hack an Atari 2600 trak-ball into a MS Mouse using the guts of an old Serial ball mouse.

 

(sorry for switching between accounts, but sometimes that old one gets logged into)

 

That's ALSO my point. You can buy a USB arcade trackball or you can hack together your own. That's still a lot of work and you still may not end up with something nice in the end. This is the same as the people who piss on the NES Mini by saying "but a Pi does it for less!". These things are in no way equivalent to a turnkey mass market product. A certain group will ALWAYS be happier with hacking together their own "better" solutions, and a larger group will always be happy with the minimum effort, reasonably priced solution that may be limited to some, but perfectly functional as sold and for their specific needs (do we REALLY need hundreds or thousands of games versus a handful of really good games? Sometimes the answer is "not really". There's something to be said for focus.).

[John Stamos Mullet]

 

If you have the woodworking and handyman skills, and plenty of free time, no doubt you could do something that both looks nice and is feature-packed for a hundred (or two) bucks more than what these sell at. That would still be completely different from what's on offer here and certainly wouldn't prove that these are a rip off in any way, just that you can have something with more features for more effort and money.

 

Look, I get it, you and others don't like it. That's perfectly understandable and makes sense considering the obvious downsides of these products. But to keep running the "rip off" line is rather silly. There have literally been no products like these in this price range ever (which we've been over in this very thread). Certainly someone or some company CAN do better in many of the areas, but it will no doubt cost a bit more. So kindly show how it's a rip off by providing links to something similar for less money. The one empty cabinet that somebody pointed to was both incomplete and more costly, so that one is out. Hacking a used cabinet might work, but I doubt it would be pretty without considerable work, and it certainly wouldn't be all that cheap once you got the parts together, and it certainly wouldn't be plug and play (we can of course ignore the fact that none of the games would be legally licensed either).

The thing is - when you compare the price range of these to other contemporary gaming products which offer far deeper gaming options - that's where the price veers toward ripoff. The big downside of these is they are one-offs. No option to upgrade, or add games, of any kind. You get 4 games, and nothing else. They are the equivalent of the $15-$30 Ms. Pac-Man on a stick plug & play devices, except they come in a midget sized fiberboard cabinet with a dated, small, 4x3 17" LCD panel. No lighted Marquee. Sound is mono. Doesn't even have a proper volume knob/slider. No ability to adjust game dip switches or difficulty settings. Quite literally - it has NONE of the arcade experience, and really nothing more than a plug&play TV emulator with a cardboard box and a crappy, small screen.

 

Arcades don't exist anymore because home consoles essentially put them out of business, in terms of cost, and upgrade/software library options. With these, you're not paying for quality. You're paying for novelty. Without the ability to add games, or tweak the existing ones - that novelty is going to wear off pretty fast.

[NE146]

No one says a trackball & spinner are difficult. They're just a pain in the ass You have to tweak them for each game of course.. which is doable. But the real deal is we want to avoid the Frankenstein control panels we all laugh at

 

 

I'm fine with a standard Street Fighter 2 layout for "MOST" games on my emulation cab. I'm attracted to these machines for the dedicated trackball/spinner.. and whatever else they might come up with.

[John Stamos Mullet]

 

( (do we REALLY need hundreds or thousands of games versus a handful of really good games? Sometimes the answer is "not really". There's something to be said for focus.).

Yes, for $300, I expect more than 4 games, never mind 2 of which are variations on the other 2.

[Bill Loguidice]

There's a certain beauty to replicating the classic limitations of the arcade experience, including a minimal selection of games per machine (I can do the thousands of games things in plenty of other ways, including the recent Dreamcade Replay I received). Of course you can buy a versatile and far more powerful console for the same price, but it's again, not the same thing. I have every modern console and handheld, as well as a powerful gaming PC, and I still want this. It's different and has a different value proposition for me (and others).

[F34R]

is it me, or does this spinner look kind of big on the deluxe version...

 

 

later

-1

That's a prototype machine they had. That is not going to be sold.

[Mulletino]

Anyone else thinking that the only reason they made Rampage the headliner on that cab is because of that awful movie that came out this year?

 

Yeah that's what I though.

 

Would have been better had they supplied interchangeable artwork (or overlays) so you could choose your favourite.

[+GoldenWheels]

 

Look, I get it, you and others don't like it. That's perfectly understandable and makes sense considering the obvious downsides of these products. But to keep running the "rip off" line is rather silly. There have literally been no products like these in this price range ever (which we've been over in this very thread). Certainly someone or some company CAN do better in many of the areas, but it will no doubt cost a bit more. So kindly show how it's a rip off by providing links to something similar for less money.

 

I wouldn't use a word like rip-off for these. My point is I also wouldn't use a word like bargain.

 

Now, the fact that a company hit a new pricepoint for something which has been widely considered a rip off in the past (I'm thinking of those Midway 12 game cabs from a few years back which were very expensive for what they were, and I think most agreed on that) doesn't mean what they made now is actually a deal. It just means they hit a new pricepoint. OK. People can still think it's overpriced or even a rip off. Again you sound more impressed by the business side of this thing (think of the parts! the licenses!) than the user side to me.

 

I do agree with you on handfuls of games and focus. Thousands of games is POINTLESS as most people just get choice paralysis with that many options. Give me 20-40 greats.

[PlaysWithWolves]

It's a bargain when compared to forking out thousands for a real arcade. The bargain is even greater when it comes with multiple games, as opposed to buying multiple full size cabs. You may care that it's not got the ultimate in parts at a budget price but I doubt most of the unwashed masses care. As long as it gets close-enough and doesn't fall apart minutes after putting it together, it's all good.

 

It's not a bargain when compared to RPi or consoles. But then, I don't think that's even in the realm of what Tastemakers/Arcade1up is targeting. I think most of their customers want to own an arcade cabinet without the huge price, space, and weight. Yes, everyone knows it's not a full-size cabinet. It's also not $2000 and takes a team of mules to carry.

 

I wonder if Mr. Ford heard similar arguments when he introduced the budget-friendly Model T? "This thing will be crap because it's made on an assembly line." "It's just a rip-off of Oldsmobile." "It only comes in black."

 

 

That's a prototype machine they had. That is not going to be sold.

 

They've been saying for a while that this deluxe version will be only sold at Frys and Best Buy. Did that change?

A better look at the controls (via Frys):

 

[Azathoth]

It's a bargain when compared to forking out thousands for a real arcade.

Let me add a little perspective from someone who owns multiple arcade cabs.

 

I've managed to accumulate over a half dozen cabinets over the past few years. Ones that required work (dead monitors) were less than $100 and included PCBs. Those that had no monitor/PCB were either free or less than the cost of the wood, coin mechs, and power supply the included. The only one above $100 was a little less than $300 and included a newish 25 inch monitor and a 2 slot MVS board with carts. This is all when living in a tiny rural area with no active (or defunct) arcades and no amusement distributors.

 

None have super fancy side artwork or trackball/spinner controls, and don't look like the just came off the showroom floor. I'm cool with that.

 

If you're interested in playing standard joystick input games and don't require a meticulously restored machine to play on, chances are you can find one at or under the $300 price, and definitely under the $400 price when including a riser and replacement controls.

[negative1]

That's a prototype machine they had. That is not going to be sold.

 

Could be, but that picture is from someone that built it and is selling them on ebay.

 

It's not a mock up or render. Still, the smaller area of the control panel does make things look bigger.

 

later

-1

[negative1]

looks like pac man, and pac man plus are coming as an exclusive to wal-mart.

 

 

ms pac man is rumored to come out later on.

 

later

-1

[PlaysWithWolves]

Let me add a little perspective from someone who owns multiple arcade cabs.

 

I've managed to accumulate over a half dozen cabinets over the past few years. Ones that required work (dead monitors) were less than $100 and included PCBs. Those that had no monitor/PCB were either free or less than the cost of the wood, coin mechs, and power supply the included. The only one above $100 was a little less than $300 and included a newish 25 inch monitor and a 2 slot MVS board with carts. This is all when living in a tiny rural area with no active (or defunct) arcades and no amusement distributors.

 

None have super fancy side artwork or trackball/spinner controls, and don't look like the just came off the showroom floor. I'm cool with that.

 

If you're interested in playing standard joystick input games and don't require a meticulously restored machine to play on, chances are you can find one at or under the $300 price, and definitely under the $400 price when including a riser and replacement controls.

 

Well, I confess my research into prices wasn't very in-depth and resulted in $2000+ units. I think my points still stand. Average Joe isn't going to want to get three Street Fighter units that he has to repair in any way. Unless it's included for free or he has a truck, shipping costs money whereas a car's back seat is enough for A1Up. And it's still a $300 three-game unit as opposed to getting three $200-300 single game cabinets. These 3/4 cabs aren't for purists, as I believe this thread has shown time and time-again.

 

Thanks for the input, though. I presumed arcade cabinets skyrocketed in price just like so much nostalgia-related in the video game realm.

[+GoldenWheels]

Yeah, nobody should be paying $2000 for an arcade cab. Wow. That's crazy talk.

 

IMO the biggest impediment to getting a real cab is having a buddy with a strong back and a reliable truck. For a lot of people, yes, this is a serious impediment, moving the thing is no joke. But you'd also have a real cab (many of which can play multiple games via multiple methods).

 

I agree this isn't marketed to purists. I don't even think it's really for "gamers" as the market knows them now. This is for the everyday guy who remembers the games fondly, or wants to show his kids. It's a nostalgia piece. Be a great Xmas present next to the tree and I imagine lots of these will be presents. And eventually, lots of them will be tag sale items.

[John Stamos Mullet]

Yeah, nobody should be paying $2000 for an arcade cab. Wow. That's crazy talk.

 

IMO the biggest impediment to getting a real cab is having a buddy with a strong back and a reliable truck. For a lot of people, yes, this is a serious impediment, moving the thing is no joke. But you'd also have a real cab (many of which can play multiple games via multiple methods).

 

I agree this isn't marketed to purists. I don't even think it's really for "gamers" as the market knows them now. This is for the everyday guy who remembers the games fondly, or wants to show his kids. It's a nostalgia piece. Be a great Xmas present next to the tree and I imagine lots of these will be presents. And eventually, lots of them will be tag sale items.

This is what I'm thinking. Scoop one up in January or February from Bed, Bath & Beyond when they put the leftovers on their typical post-Christmas overstock "we gotta get these off the floor" discount, while using one of their weekly 20% off one item coupons.

[Bill Loguidice]

Here is a guy who's a booster for the value (although it obviously costs more and requires more effort) of the Xtension Alpha-Cade versus the Arcade1Up stuff:

 

 

I have to admit, I really don't like how that monitor looks in there and the aspect ratio is no good, but the control panel does look nice. I also agree with his comment that if you want aesthetics, this isn't it, particularly in comparison to how the Arcade1Up stuff looks and is designed (although I still hate the way that riser looks, but I already have the perfect adjustable stool, so no big deal for me).

[slab0meat]

Sad to see that NFL Blitz got so few votes. That was a huge game amongst friends, with a lot of competitive juices flowing.

 

I can't imagine they'd still have the old NFL names, though... not that it matters.

[128Kgames]

They've been saying for a while that this deluxe version will be only sold at Frys and Best Buy. Did that change?

 

As far as I know, nothing has changed. Arcade1Up confirmed Fry's and Best Buy as carrying this model on Facebook, which I posted earlier in this thread. I believe the Atari model along with the Galaga cab were advertised before they were supposed to be, as it appears Arcade1Up planned to make the announcement. Now, I don't know if the Atari cab is the mysterious second "secret" cab (Galaga was the first) but I'm sure we'll know soon enough.

 

Ah, I see now that Pac-Man may be the second secret cab, but who knows? Maybe one of them is a "double secret" cabinet...