WANTED: Jungle King and Sinistar as a "JakksTV" Style Plug in

[Electric T V]

Is this too much to ask for?

 

I loved this JakksTVgames, I loved the fact these are the original arcade classics. I loved the remote control joystick:

 

 

I also saw an arcade style, stand up game with about 200 original games programmed in it last year at COSTCO for about 1 or 2 grand...(I figure a lot of that goes to pay for the unnecessary stand up particle wood box and the unnecessary television screen). That had a lot of my favorite old arcade classics, Arkanoid and Jungle Hunt (or King). Including the great soundtracks for the Jungle King and all original games.

 

What I'm wanting now is a game similar to this Jakks TV Games seen above with Ms Pac Man, Galaga etc... but with all the games from that game at the COSCO.

 

It would be nice if the 200 games would include Arkanoid, Joust, Crystal Castles, Jungle King, Sinistar... and lots of other good games.

 

It would also be nice if the system was small, not much bigger than the above system, and the control was remote. It could even be a sort of bad controller like the one above as long as all the games were there in their original arcade form.

 

So who's got the ability to make something like this? Is there even a chance of getting this? How much do you think all those programs would cost in a small plug in device for the TV? I would buy one of these for about 100 bucks if I could.

Edited April 5, 2008 by Electric T V

[TwinChargers]

I'd say that this is a pretty legit question/request. How many games could be put into a plug-n-play? Those cabinets he speaks of are cool, but unfortunately out of some of our price ranges. A plug-n-play with maybe an option to download actual arcade games would be a nice option to have. You'd think a company like Midway would be all over this.

[ZylonBane]

I also saw an arcade style, stand up game with about 200 original games programmed in it last year at COSCO for about 1 or 2 grand... What I'm wanting now is a game similar to this Jakks TV Games seen above with Ms Pac Man, Galaga etc... but with all the games from that game at the COSCO.

I'm pretty sure the China Ocean Shipping Company doesn't sell what you're looking for.

[+DamonicFury]

My dream retro-arcade product would have an item similar to this at it's core... a plug-and-play joystick that can be expandable with flash memory to accept new game packs. There would also be options to expand on this product with extra controllers (a second joystick, trackball, spinner, etc.). And for those who want a fuller experience, an arcade cabinet could be sold to house the device (sold in two pieces, perhaps, a bartop cabinet, and a pedestal to put it on.)

 

Basically, everyone interested in classic arcade games could buy the core unit, and depending on your level of interest, expand on it to whatever level you wish. This would be more desirable to many people than the Costco cabinets, as the initial investment wouldn't be so high, and you wouldn't need to have a large cabinet if you didn't want one.

 

The thing is, thanks to MAME, many of us who really love classic games have already built devices that meet our needs in this area. And for those with game consoles, there are numerous arcade collections that will allow you to play classic games, including Jungle Hunt (Taito Legends) and Sinistar (Midway Treasures). I'm afraid there probably just isn't enough of a market left for someone to succesfully manufacture the kind of product line that I imagine. I'd sure love to be proven wrong, though.

[PacManPlus]

Something like this can be done: http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=119079

 

It's a pain in the a$$, and vert tight inside, but it can be done.

Bob

[Merrick Bill]

The trouble with those costco units was that they weren't full size. They're shorter than actual arcade cabinets. It's hard to tell in the store because it's always displayed on a platform.

 

Bill

[Flojomojo]

It seems that the plug-n-play TV game fad has run its course -- I only see a few closeout units for sale nowadays. If you want to play these games on your TV, here's what you need, and it won't cost much more than what you said you would pay. Plus no MAME or emulation needed, everything is straight-up legit!

 

1. Sony Playstation 2 ~$80 for a used one, or hunt around for a 60GB PS3

2. Midway Arcade Treasures disc (the first one) with Joust, Defender, Sinistar, etc on it for ~$10

3. Taito Legends disc with Jungle Hunt (sorry, Tarzan's folks shut down Jungle King), Space Invaders, and more for ~$10

4. (optional) Nice arcade-style joystick (X-Play or Tekken stick would work fine) ~$30

 

Easy, eh? You could do the same thing with an old XBOX, too! <-- or convert it and run MAME natively ....

[TwinChargers]

It seems that the plug-n-play TV game fad has run its course

 

Unfortunately that seems to be the case. I think the main reason was the fact that they didn't offer much variety. How many joysticks did we really need with Rally-X and Ms.Pac-Man? Had they actually put out more sticks with different games out on them and not so many of the same repeats, (can't forget Bosconian and Mappy), they would have been much more successful. Also, if Jakks would have went through with those keys that would give your joysticks more games or bonus levels, that would have helped out the market as well.

 

Hopefully the next fad will be portables though, where you can have arcade goodness in a nice to go package like the VG Pockets. The only downside with the VG Pocket in my opinion was that a majority of the games were hacks. If done correctly with the consent of companies like Midway, Namco and other arcade companies, it would give a pleasant alternative to the expensive PSP's and DS's of the world.

[mos6507]

My dream retro-arcade product would have an item similar to this at it's core... a plug-and-play joystick that can be expandable with flash memory to accept new game packs. There would also be options to expand on this product with extra controllers (a second joystick, trackball, spinner, etc.). And for those who want a fuller experience, an arcade cabinet could be sold to house the device (sold in two pieces, perhaps, a bartop cabinet, and a pedestal to put it on.)

 

So you're asking for a GP2X with no LCD screen and a better control scheme.

[NE146]

So you're asking for a GP2X with no LCD screen and a better control scheme.

 

Or an Xbox

 

Electric T V.. Maybe you outta check into getting an xbox, modding it and have someone put on MameOX on it. It won't be small, but it's basically what you're looking for... which I assume is "Playing arcade games on the tv set. Preferably with a joystick"?

 

[onmode-ky]

It seems that the plug-n-play TV game fad has run its course

 

You could say that, or you could say what the company bigwigs say: "The market has matured." It's not dead, but it's become like most other toy types, where there's very little new activity until the winter holiday season, when there's suddenly a flurry of new releases. That's the pattern I saw last year. While this year's former half has had fewer new releases than the corresponding period last year (due to the "maturation"), I still expect most of the year's new stuff to come out during the last 2-3 months.

 

If you're curious about what's in the pipeline, Jakks Pacific has not announced anything new we would be interested in, but they will be expanding their TV Games line with "motion games," i.e., Wii-like games, including some Disney licenses and also a multi-sports game. Also, their EyeClops line falls under the TV Games brand, I believe, and while it doesn't actually have anything to do with video games, I do think the upcoming night vision goggles sound very cool, and the portable microscope (with its own LCD screen) sounds like something that would be really good as an educational tool.

 

Unfortunately that seems to be the case. I think the main reason was the fact that they didn't offer much variety. How many joysticks did we really need with Rally-X and Ms.Pac-Man? Had they actually put out more sticks with different games out on them and not so many of the same repeats, (can't forget Bosconian and Mappy), they would have been much more successful. Also, if Jakks would have went through with those keys that would give your joysticks more games or bonus levels, that would have helped out the market as well.

 

I disagree with you on the reason for the decline. Variety has nothing to do with it. In fact, the Namco TV Games have been some of Jakks Pacific's best sellers. However, Jakks' market research found that their audience for plug-and-play games was not adult video gamers, but a) children and b) people who watch game shows on TV. Adult retro gamers interested in plug-and-play games are, I guess, too few to support the market; consider that the Mortal Kombat unit was a sales bomb, despite several glowing reviews from hardcore MK fans, and that the EA Sports unit and the Capcom unit both also sold poorly (well, the former is true for sure, but I'm extrapolating the Capcom failure based on the fact that it was the final non-Namco retro TV Game, indicating it didn't sell well enough to revive interest). Jakks actually has (had?) licenses to make TV Games units for SNK/Playmore and Tecmo properties, and in the case of the latter, I even have an image of a prototype (retrieved from EntertainmentEarth.com back when they had it up for preorder), but they never went through with them because of the poor sales of the ones they did release. The Namco units have thrived because parents buy them for their kids, because, you know, kids like the character of Pac-Man. The kids could care less about how the TV Games port of Xevious actually keeps the secrets intact. The Namco units sell because of Pac-Man, and that's why the most recent Namco TV Game used a Pac-Man motif in the physical design, rather than the previous retro-games motif.

 

By the way, there was only one stick with Ms. Pac-Man, unless you count the wireless version of that stick as being a separate stick. You express disappointment at repeated games, but only 1 Jakks product has really repeated games (the Namco 4 stick, which combined the titles on Namco 1 and Namco 3). Aside from that one, the only games that were repeated were the original Pac-Man, which appeared on both Namco 1 and Namco 3 (although it should be noted that the Namco 3 version was the improved revamp, not the same version as Namco 1's), and [New] Rally-X and Bosconian, which both appeared on the Namco 1 and the wireless Namco 2 (the second appearance, though, was either "New" (Rally-X) or redone more accurately (Bosconian)). You could argue that the GameKey versions of the Namco 1 games were repeats, but considering how few people bought GameKeys, I think they can be disregarded. Speaking of which, you said that if Jakks had gone through with making them, that would have helped. The last time I asked their Customer Support about GameKeys (a couple of years ago), they said that they were trying to get them released, but the retailers were not interested in buying them. And why would that be? Because the initial GameKeys didn't sell well enough.

 

So, to conclude, we have no new retro plug-and-play games because too many of the ones that did get released didn't sell well. The consumer spoke, and the producer responded. Admittedly, my arguments here only really apply to Jakks Pacific. The other companies which have played a part in this industry have not said anything, to my knowledge, regarding why they stopped making new retro plug-and-play units. However, maybe the reason they would give would be: "The market leader, Jakks, left the market, so we took that as a sign that the cash-in days were over."

 

onmode-ky

[Flojomojo]

So, to conclude, we have no new retro plug-and-play games because too many of the ones that did get released didn't sell well.

The market for these items, as designed, is self-limiting. I think they're very cool, but a casual person will only buy one, and an "enthusiast" like me might want to get more, but unless you're into hardcore collecting and displaying toys, it quickly becomes a tangle of wires and batteries. Which reminds me: I should probably pull the AAs from my plug-n-plays before they leak all over the place. :-(

[webmonkees]

The cheapest way I can get an arcade emu going short of using a donated PC (which reduces cost) is a Xbox 1 with a softmod and xMAME.

Not quite what you want, but the game in the JakksTV is really a nintendo on a chip running a program, so you couldn't use say, MAME code.

$59+Splinter Cell (original) $2-$10, then go from there. I think you could get it to boot straight to xMAME.

Then get a wireless controller cheap from the gamestop or equivalent and there's your wireless Jungle Hunt/Sinistar for $80

 

If they were out there, I'd get a programmable controller too, but I'd say someone will figure this out and make one like you.. and I want.

 

Jakks is based on nintendo hardware. Someone rewrite MAME to run on an NES, using only ROM files to make it run, and a flash drive and you're set.

Problem being, I thnk it's be tricky to get a 8 bit system to emulate other 8-bit systems.. maybe a SNES on a chip, I'm sure the bootleggers are working on that for next xmas season.

 

I ran my Galaga Jakss game parallel to a real one, and the patterns are identical, so.. somewhere in all that, there is enough original code that in theory you could put another game in there. More coding geekness than I'm capable of rendering, though. All the games are NAMCO based, so it would have to be a pretty close match to that hardware, which

does cover quite a few classics..

 

Nearest you'll get on the Jungle King, though, is Jungle Hunt. The Tarzan folks sued Taito and forced the game changes, and probably wouldn't license a re-release..

So MAME is the only way to get that screaming yodel, short of the actual arcade board..

 

Sinistar.. possible. I have old emulating programs they came out with a few years back.. came in little Williams cabinet cardboard boxes.

Just a matter of who can license what and how. There's a 'multi-williams' board for arcade cabinets that would almost work, but still not quite handheld.

 

 

Is this too much to ask for?

 

I loved this JakksTVgames, I loved the fact these are the original arcade classics. I loved the remote control joystick:

 

..

So who's got the ability to make something like this? Is there even a chance of getting this? How much do you think all those programs would cost in a small plug in device for the TV? I would buy one of these for about 100 bucks if I could.