Doxcade.com Custom Centipede Themed 60-in-1 Bartop Arcade Machine Review

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Hey there everyone!

Those of you who have been following my posts in the Arcade and Pinball section of the AtariAge.com forums may have noticed that since last July I have been on a bit of a quest to find a custom arcade cabinet maker willing to build my "dream machine". What I was looking for was a bartop sized recreation of a Centipede arcade cabinet, with an LCD monitor, iCade 60-in-1 board installed, backlit marquee, authentic looking bezel art, and joystick + trackball controls. What followed was several months of shopping around online, contacting various websites that specialized in making scratch-built bartop arcade machines. I must have contacted nearly a dozen different sites, and all of them quoted me prices of anywhere from $800 to $1,200 before shipping costs. All but one that is.

 

When I contacted http://doxcade.com and told them what I was looking for, the price I was quoted was an astonishingly affordable $440 + $35 shipping to Minnesota. Being a disabled person living on a fixed income all the other prices I was quoted were way out of my price range, but with a little careful budgeting this was one that I could definitely swing. While DoxCade didn't have any renown in the arcade machine community, and I couldn't find a single review of their products anywhere online, I decided to roll the dice on them anyway since if worst came worst the purchase would be covered under PayPal's buyer protection policy.

 

Approximately one month later, and after no small amount of picky feedback and change requests regarding the color choices for the base, controls, and marquee on my part (I really was probably the pickiest and most detail obsessed buyer that this poor craftsman had ever had to deal with, to the point that he actually ended up selling the Centipede machine he built for me on eBay and made me a second entirely new one built to my exact specifications free of charge. What a saint!), this arrived on my doorstep:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So how did this budget priced custom arcade machine turn out? Was it worth the money? To find out I'm going to be evaluating on five different factors: Appearance, Build Quality, Controls, Games, and Overall Value. That said, let's get started!

 

 

Appearance

As you can see from the pictures above, it's a lovely looking bartop that is strikingly similar in aesthetics to the original Centipede cabinet. There hasn't been a single person I've shown it to so far who didn't instantly recognize it as a Centipede arcade machine after one look at the side art, and a good number of those people definitely were not people that anyone would consider a "gamer". When your grandma could tell what arcade cabinet it's styled after just by glancing at it that's always a good indicator of authenticity. Bigger fans of arcade games will notice some inaccuracy in the control panel layout, particularly in the location of the trackball, but that was just the price of trying to squeeze a trackball into the control panel of a 23" tall bartop. You can't tell from the outside, but the trackball mounting plate underneath the control panel artwork takes up the entire panel to the right of the three fire buttons.

 

Speaking of artwork, all the artwork used for the sides, marquee, bezel, and control panel looks fantastic. It's all very high resolution, extremely authentic looking, and printed on some seriously thick and heavy duty vinyl. The marquee is well lit by a strip of white LED lights behind it, and in low light the whole thing just lights up like a Christmas tree. The picture above that was taken in the dark really doesn't do justice, as it looks much brighter and more vibrant in real life. The back of the cabinet is also very aesthetically pleasing, with a neat little Pac-Man style cutout and dots for ventilation, and the black paint covering every part of the cabinet that doesn't have vinyl artwork on it was spread very evenly, with no detectable brush strokes, missed spots, or pooling. All in all I'm really pleased with this cabinet in the Appearance category. No complaints whatsoever.

 

 

Build Quality

Weighing in at 35 lbs. and constructed entirely from 1/2" MDF, this thing feels rock solid! There are four heavy duty rubber feet on the bottom of the cabinet that prevent it from moving even a millimeter no matter how aggressive you get with the joystick, and when your hands are resting on the control panel it really does feel like an honest to goodness arcade machine. I have no concerns whatsoever about how well this machine is going to hold up to the long years of daily use ahead of it, and I really like how the whole cabinet was designed to be user serviceable in the event that any of the electronic components ever need replacing.

 

Accessing the joystick and button microswitches is as simple as unscrewing the two phillips head screws on the top of the control panel and lifting a panel up, and getting at the LCD monitor, JAMMA board, power supply, and other electronic components can be done by removing the two screws on each side of the cabinet then sliding the entire back panel of the cabinet out. The mono speaker and LED strip backlighting the marquee can be accessed by unscrewing the three screws on top of the cabinet, lifting off the marquee retaining bracket, then sliding out the acrylic marquee. The whole cabinet seems to have been designed with easy long term maintenance in mind, which is a very good thing in my book.

 

The only fault I could really find with the build quality is that there could have been a little more attention to detail in certain areas when the cabinet was assembled. When it first arrived in the mail the LCD monitor was about 1/4" off center and the marquee was aligned crookedly, but fortunately both of those were very quick and easy fixes using nothing more than a phillips head screwdriver. All it took was loosening a few screws, straightening out the marquee and monitor by hand, then tightening the screws back down. The only alignment issue I found that couldn't be fixed was that the front black baseboard of the cabinet seems to have not been cut to quite right height, since there a slightly uneven 1/8" gap between the top of the baseboard and the bottom of the control panel. It's not a major aesthetic issue to me, and it doesn't affect the function of the cabinet at all, but it is something that I do think could have been avoided with a little more attention to detail. Another detail that's off by about 1/8" is the centering of the vinyl artwork on the control panel. It's not very noticeable unless you look at the positioning of the 1 Player and 2 Player Start button graphics or the locations of the two screws securing the control panel to the cabinet base, but a keen eye will notice that the vinyl was applied about 1/8" left of center. Close examination also reveals a slightly uneven cut on the edges of the side art vinyls that is a little jagged in a couple spots, and a very small chunk broken out of one of the corners of the marquee retaining bracket on top of the cabinet.

 

In spite of the small handful of cosmetic flaws, I do think the overall Build Quality of the cabinet is very solid and well thought out. I have no doubt that it will last a lifetime of use.

 

 

Controls

Second only to the games themselves, one of the most important aspects (for me at least) of playing an arcade game is the quality of the joystick, buttons, and—in this case—the trackball that I'm playing them with. Trying to play a game like Ms. Pac-Man, which was designed for a 4-way joystick, with a ultra sensitive 8-way Japanese joystick designed for fighting games can be the worst kind of exercise in frustration; and the light weight button microswitches popular among fighting game enthusiasts these days just don't have the same feel as the stiffer, more heavy duty microswitches that anyone who has played the original 1980's arcade games that this cabinet runs might remember. With that in mind, I am pleased to report that DoxCade selected some really fantastic and period-appropriate hardware for the controls of this cabinet!

 

The joystick is a Holland Computer brand bat top joystick that features a pleasantly stiff tensioning spring, which makes it feel more like one of the classic 1908's Wico brand leaf spring joysticks than any modern microswitch equipped joystick. It is an 8-way microswitch joystick, but the heavy spring inside combined with the square shape of the actuator makes it very difficult to accidentally activate the diagonals when playing a 4-way game like Ms. Pac-Man or Frogger. I think this joystick was a perfect choice for the cabinet, giving it 8-way functionality with a distinctly 4-way feel in the games that demand it. The three fire buttons also feature some very robust springs and microswitches in them, which may put a little wear and tear on your finger muscles in games like Xevious and 1942 that require constant rapid button pressing, but they do give the system the kind of heavy duty 1980's arcade machine feel that I personally find very enjoyable.

 

Lastly, the trackball works magnificently! It is a 1.75" trackball, so those accustomed to the 2.25" trackballs that most arcade machines will notice it's little smaller than usual, but it does fit the cabinet nicely, is beautifully flush mounted on the control panel, and is very precise and comfortable to use. Once I got used to playing Centipede and Millipede with this trackball I consistently started nearly doubling my previous high scores, and after a few weeks with it don't think I could ever go back to playing those games with a joystick again. I'd also like to add that the trackball works extremely well in place of a spinner for Arkanoid and Super Breakout, providing the kind of analog control sensitivity that those games really need to be played well. I did have an issue with the ring securing the trackball on top of the control panel rubbing against the ball and preventing it from spinning freely when I first received the cabinet, but the ring was easily removed with a little clockwise twist and all I had to do from there was take a small round hobby file and shave off a millimeter or so of material around the inside lip of the ring to prevent it from rubbing against the ball. After that the ball spun smooth as silk, and has been completely problem free ever since.

 

All things considered I have been very pleased with the controls! The joystick and buttons chosen feel just perfect to me, the trackball has been an absolute joy to use after doing that little alteration to the retaining ring, and they're all spaced out very nicely on the control on the control panel and comfortable to use for any length of time.

 

 

Games

And now we come to the most important thing of all: The games! All the aesthetics, build quality, and control choices in the world don't matter one bit of the games in the cabinet aren't good, and I can happily say that all but a handful of the games on the iCade 60-in-1 JAMMA board inside this machine look, sound, and play flawlessly. To make things even better, the 17" vertical LCD monitor in the cabinet displays them beautifully and gives every game the kind of sharp, clean appearance that these classics deserve to truly do them justice.

 

All the big vertical screen arcade classics are here, including Centipede, Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior, Frogger, Space Invaders, Galaga, and many many more. If you'd like to see everything included on it, you can find the full list of games included on the board in the spoiler tag below:

 

 

• 1942
• 1943
• Amidar
• Arkanoid
• Bomb Jack
• Burger Time
• Centipede
• Crush Roller
• Dig Dug
• Dig Dug 2
• Donkey Kong
• Donkey Kong 3
• Donkey Kong Junior
• Frogger
• Galaga
• Galaga 3
• Galaxian
• Gyruss
• Hustler
• Jr. Pac-Man
• Juno First
• King & Balloon
• Ladybug
• Mappy
• Millipede
• Moon Cresta
• Mr Do's Castle
• Mr. Do!
• Ms. Pac-Man
• New Rally X
• Pac-Man
• Pac-Man Plus
• Pengo
• Phoenix
• Pinball Action
• Qix
• Scramble
• Shao-Lin's Road
• Space Invaders
• Space Panic
• Super Breakout
• Super Cobra
• Super Pacman
• Tank Battalion
• Time Pilot
• Van-Van Car
• Xevious
• Zaxxon
• Pooyan
• Pleiads
• Gunsmoke
• 1943 Kai
• Congo Bongo
• Jumping Jack
• Ms. Pac-Man (Speed-up version)
• Galaga (Speed-up version)
• Pac-Man (Speed-up version)
• Jr. Pac-Man (Speed-up version)
• Pac-Man Plus (Speed-up version)

 

 

 

While I haven't played every single game on the board, I have played the vast majority and almost all of them—including all of my personal favorites—are perfectly accurate to the arcade originals. The only games I have found thus far that had any issues with them were Millipede, Gyruss, Gun Smoke, Super Cobra, Scramble, 1943, and 1943 Kai. In all of those games the graphics and gameplay are perfect, but the sound is overly loud and distorted to varying degrees depending on the game. Some of the games like Millipede and 1943 are only slightly too loud and distorted just a little in the sound department, making them still very playable without irritation, while others like Gun Smoke and Scramble have their sound so loud and distorted that you'll be hard pressed to play them for more than 30 seconds without getting an earache. This hasn't really been an issue for me, since all the games I really like to play are perfect, but it could be an issue for someone who is a huge fan of one of the few games on the board affected by audio problems.

 

I'd also like to mention that I really enjoy the clean, bright, and easy to navigate menu system for selecting games. It's extremely intuitive to use, requires no setup at all, is very aesthetically pleasing, and I like how the board cycles through demos of all the games when not in use. If you do want to tweak and tune the dip switch settings for any of the games on the board all you have to do is power off the cabinet then power it back on while holding down the black button on the back of the cabinet closest to the power switch to start the board up in test mode, then cycle through the games and dip switch settings to configure them however you like. By default the board comes with all the dip switches turned off, but even as someone who has never configured anything like this before it was very easy for me to look up the dip switch settings for every included game online and set them to their original factory defaults.

 

The last point worth mentioning about the board is that it even when the machine is turned off it does save your high scores in every game I've played on it. The only catch is that if you entered your initials for the score those will not be saved. This isn't a big deal to me since the only people who are going to be using this machine are myself and my wife, and we both keep physical pen and paper copies of our high score lists, but it could be an issue for someone who plans on having several different people using their machine and turning the power off regularly.

 

Factoring all of these points together, I can safely say that I'm very happy with the iCade 60-in-1 board. It plays all the games that I personally enjoy absolutely perfectly, has an aesthetically pleasing and easy to use interface, and it's a tremendously affordable solution for someone who doesn't want to invest in a MAME computer setup or deal with the all the hassles inherent to configuring MAME and it's various front end options just to play some classic 80's arcade games with a clean and attractive user interface. Which brings me to…

 

 

Overall Value

When I sit back and consider everything about my custom commissioned Centipede cabinet from http://doxcade.com, I can't help but feel like I got an incredibly good deal for my money. For half the price or less of what every other custom arcade machine builder out there was quoting me I got a machine that is a beautiful bartop sized recreation of an original Centipede cabinet, built like a tank, and just an absolute joy to play all the arcade games that I like the most on. There were a few niggling details with it when it first arrived that needed some minor tweaking to sort out, but the very user serviceable nature of the cabinet's design made those fixes simple and easy to perform. Once those were taken care of I was very happy with it and would absolutely recommend DoxCade.com for anyone looking to add a bartop sized arcade cabinet to their home gaming center without having to spend a small fortune in the process. You may notice a few minor cosmetic imperfections here and there, but keeping in mind the price and the fact that these are handmade cabinets being built one at a time from scratch and not factory production units I think a couple tiny cosmetic flaws are perfectly acceptable, and the machine as a whole is sure to provide you with many long years of retro gaming enjoyment.

Edited October 5, 2015 by Jin

[Gray Defender]

Congratulations. It looks awesome. I've been wanting to purchase something like this for a long time.

[Bill Loguidice]

On the site it states that you can't continue games. What does that mean?

[racerx]

On the site it states that you can't continue games. What does that mean?

 

Most of those classics don't feature continues anyway, but the 60-1s don't have any way of adding credits. Game over kicks you back to the menu.

[Cynicaster]

That thing looks pretty slick. At $440 I bet tire-kicker types would complain, but having built two MAME projects myself from scratch, I can attest that you burn through $440 in a big old hurry. And that doesn't even account for the few hundred hours of time a first-time builder would spend on getting a good project completed.

 

Does that tiny trackball have enough inertia to spin for a few seconds after a "swipe"?

[Skippy B. Coyote]

On the site it states that you can't continue games. What does that mean?

 

As Racerx mentioned, it just means that if you're on the 5th level of Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, or most of the other games on the board and you run out of lives you can't just hit the Player 1 button for another credit and keep playing; it just kicks you back to the game selection menu when you run out of lives on your one credit. There are a few games on the board that can be continued though, including 1942, 1943, 1943 Kai, and Arkanoid. There may be others that I haven't discovered yet, but those are the ones that I know you can continue from the level you left off on.

 

 

That thing looks pretty slick. At $440 I bet tire-kicker types would complain, but having built two MAME projects myself from scratch, I can attest that you burn through $440 in a big old hurry. And that doesn't even account for the few hundred hours of time a first-time builder would spend on getting a good project completed.

 

Does that tiny trackball have enough inertia to spin for a few seconds after a "swipe"?

 

Thanks Cynicaster! When the misses and I were thinking about ordering this machine I tried pricing out what it would cost me to build it myself, and not including the cost of the all the tools I don't own and would have needed to buy for the job I still don't think I could have done it for $440. It's a hefty sum of money, but I think it was well worth it to have the luxury of being able to play the real arcade versions of so many of my favorite 80's video games in the comfort of my own home on what feels like a real arcade machine.

 

As far as the trackball goes, I'd say I get about one second of free spinning time out of it after a good swipe. It is much less than I get from the Wico trackball that I like using with my Atari 2600, but when you unscrew the trackball retaining ring and take a peek inside it quickly becomes evident why the spin time is so short.

 

 

 

The trackball rollers and bearings are the epitome of "tiny", with the rollers measuring right about 1/8" in diameter and the bearings not being much larger. Fortunately they do seem to be made of good steel though, since I've been giving them a pretty heavy workout playing Centipede, Millipede, and Arkanoid on a daily basis for the last month and they haven't bent one bit. As it stands it takes two good swipes to get from one side of the screen to the other in Centipede, though the movement is very fluid and making small micro-motions feels just as precise with this little guy as it does on a full size trackball. I might make a run down to the hardware store to pick up some 3-in-1 oil and give the bearings a little squirt of it next week, just to see if that makes the ball spin a touch faster, but I'm not in any rush on that since think it does work quite well as is.

Edited October 14, 2015 by Jin

[Skippy B. Coyote]

I just wanted to update this thread to offer a warning about Doxcade.com. My initial arcade machine order from them went fine, but when I placed another order a month or so later they ripped me off and stole my money. The full story is as follows...

 

After owning and using my custom machine for a few weeks it quickly became apparent that while it worked just fine for me it was very difficult for my wife (who has some physical mobility limitations) to reach the buttons while operating the joystick. I sent an email to the owner of Doxcade about it and they said that they could make us a new control panel for the machine with the buttons moved down a couple inches lower to accommodate my wife's disability. They gave me a price quote on it, I sent the payment promptly, they replied once to confirm that they had received the payment and would get to work on it soon, and that's the last I ever heard from them.

 

That was last November and I must have sent them at least a dozen different emails since then, politely requesting that they please build and ship the replacement control panel that I paid for or issue me a refund, but I never got a reply to any of my emails. By the time I decided to give up and file a PayPal claim to get my money back the buyer protection period had expired so it was too late to get a refund through PayPal, and as far as I can tell Doxcade has no intention of ever making the replacement control panel that I paid for or issuing me a refund.

 

Additionally, since I got the machine last October quite a bit of the printed artwork on the control panel has flaked off, the side artwork is starting to peel up, and all but a couple of the LEDs in the strip that backlights the marquee have burned out. Due to their shoddy workmanship and dishonest business practices I would now recommend avoiding ordering anything from Doxcade.com and would suggest looking elsewhere if you're in the market for a bartop sized multicade.

[Keatah]

Whoah.. that's a 180 for sure.. please keep us updated on what happens so that we may or may not buy from them in the future.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Whoah.. that's a 180 for sure.. please keep us updated on what happens so that we may or may not buy from them in the future.

Will do. I waited a long time to post about this because my initial ordering experience went so well and I wanted to give Doxcade time to make things right, figuring that they were probably just swamped with orders, but after 9 months and no reply to any of the dozen emails I've sent to them I figured it was time to give up and let you guys/gals know what happened. Also, Doxcade has had their eBay account suspended since May. Gee, I wonder why.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Really sorry to hear of that Jin. Though I really enjoyed my Porta Pi Bartop, I questioned how it was possible for you to get something larger and completely custom made for only slightly more $$$ compared to what I put into mine. Of course I babied mine, staining the wood and everything, installing upgraded arcade components in the control panel as well compared to what came stock.

 

I haven't played mine much lately as I need to upgrade the CPU to a Pi3, but it's tank built for sure.

 

That you got a custom design for so little, I wondered how the builder had not cut corners somewhere. Apparently he had.

 

FYI, if you plan to start over from scratch, the guy from retrobuiltgames.com who makes the Porta Pi arcade also offers a pre built option for additional $$$. He even designed a new trackball control panel which may be right up your alley.

There's also a two-player cab in development. Also the fact he offers pre built kits as an option may be good for you and your wifey in case you are unable or unwilling to assemble your own kits. Software configuration is still on the end user, but at least I can PM you with the MAME ROMs if you need them.

[ProperRogue]

Will do. I waited a long time to post about this because my initial ordering experience went so well and I wanted to give Doxcade time to make things right, figuring that they were probably just swamped with orders, but after 9 months and no reply to any of the dozen emails I've sent to them I figured it was time to give up and let you guys/gals know what happened. Also, Doxcade has had their eBay account suspended since May. Gee, I wonder why.

 

Maybe there are other avenues to pursue in hopes of seeking satisfaction.

 

Rick Irvine

810 Indiana Ave.

Richmond, Indiana 47374

(765) 962-9366

[Keatah]

I didn't wanna go all gloom and doom on ya' when I first read the post. I couldn't figure out what the deal was, so cheap at $440? Mainstream pricing.. Mass production.. That's gotta be it! Wow!

 

Shit..Man.. When I'm commissioned to build either an emulation PC or Bartop, it costs $1600 and $1100 respectively. I only build for friends and acquaintances and that means they're getting a big break on labor and time. Not forgetting the free odds and ends type parts like fittings, screws, sheetmetal and brackets. Shit that got swept up off the garage floor, you know? Otherwise the price would go even more higher.

Edited July 23, 2016 by Keatah

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Maybe there are other avenues to pursue in hopes of seeking satisfaction.

 

Rick Irvine

810 Indiana Ave.

Richmond, Indiana 47374

(765) 962-9366

You know, there's some kind of bizarre irony in the fact that you just doxed Doxcade.

 

But in all seriousness, as upset as I am over being ripped off I wouldn't go doing anything malicious over it. Thank you though, having that information will make it easier to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

[ProperRogue]

You know, there's some kind of bizarre irony in the fact that you just doxed Doxcade.

 

But in all seriousness, as upset as I am over being ripped off I wouldn't go doing anything malicious over it. Thank you though, having that information will make it easier to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

 

Considering the 2nd paragraph in post #1, in addition to the 2nd paragraph in post #7, it's my opinion that he deserves everything he has coming to him. Guy seems like a real piece of garbage!

 

In all honesty, it's unlikely the BBB would do anything at all. You need to hit him harder than that by leaving negative reviews and poor customer experiences on places like the KLOV forums and BYOAC. That'll get'em where it hurts the most!!

[Andromeda Stardust]

I didn't wanna go all gloom and doom on ya' when I first read the post. I couldn't figure out what the deal was, so cheap at $440? Mainstream pricing.. Mass production.. That's gotta be it! Wow!

 

Shit..Man.. When I'm commissioned to build either an emulation PC or Bartop, it costs $1600 and $1100 respectively. I only build for friends and acquaintances and that means they're getting a big break on labor and time. Not forgetting the free odds and ends type parts like fittings, screws, sheetmetal and brackets. Shit that got swept up off the garage floor, you know? Otherwise the price would go even more higher.

Keatah brings a good point. Custom hardware costs a lot, and even if going the DIY route, power tools and materials are not cheap. Sometimes you can salvage materials, ie retrofit an old 1280x1024 LCD monitor you picked up at Goodwill or Salvation Army and adjust the dimensions of the enclosure to fit. But if you are doing custom builds for people you will need a supply chain for new OEM items. Between tool cost and materials, it is easy to spend $500 or more on a project. When I ordered my Porta Pie bartop kit, I cross referenced all the parts and BOM (bill of materials) and determined if I ordered all the parts in the kit separately, it would cost as much paying retail for the whole, plus multiple shipping charges. The 10.1" screen was over $100 alone, for instance.

 

Then I talleyed the money I spent on additional tools, wood stain, upgraded arcade parts, the Pi2 board itself, I had sunk $500 into the project. Then countless hours configuring Retro Pie, Rasbian, and MAME. It was worth it though in the end! I still need to upgrade the OS and hardware to Pi3. Been putting it off.

 

So when Jin told me how little he paid comparatively for the Doxcade, including labor, I was a bit surprised. Boutique homemade arcade cabs are works of art as well as functional electronics. There is also the issue of customer support and troubleshooting, for instance if something goes wrong, it may be an easy fix to the system builder, but diagnosing issues over the phone/email with a non-tech savvy customer would be difficult. For me the software aspect was more difficult than the mechanical and electrical aspects of assembling it.