What do you think of the Polycade?

[Keatah]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/783911081/the-polycade-retro-arcade-of-the-future/comments

 

It's got a nice formfactor and interesting name, but still runs on a weakling Raspberry Pi. I don't know if the widescreen monitor is appropriate for all games, and it doesn't play Tempest or Lunar Lander.

 

They got funding in two days. Maybe it has something to do with Nolan Bushnell. Unfortunately the Starforce Pi doesn't seem to be going anyplace at this time.

 

I also thought roms and emulators weren't (in generla) supposed to be sold. Yet project after project is popping up on KS.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1836573872/pixel-vision-the-handmade-portable-game-system

 

[BillyHW]

Meh. Neither of them look too impressive honestly. And the MAME people won't be too happy about it I'm sure. At least that portable unit places the buttons on the right diagonal. Never understood the retarded gameboy setup.

[bretthorror]

I have a Visual Pinball/MAME cabinet hybrid, so it looks like a pinball machine, but the "backglass" plays MAME/emulators. With the Raspberry Pi Zero being so cheap, I've thought of making a slim arcade cab and the screen is what is holding me back. On one hand, some of the games I like the most should have the screen flipped lengthwise. On the other hand, doing that severely limits the games I can play on it. In theory I'd like to have the pinball machine running and an emulation machine running to go back and forth. But I can say I can be at the back of my pinball machine and play Donkey Kong on my 32" TV, only slightly larger than the Polycade's and see everything fine. It's just definitely not as cool as with the proper screen. So I guess I should just stick with my iCade so I can flip my tablet back and forth for proper ratio and I've already paid for the damn thing like a sane person instead of building a Pi cab with the same problems. It's just so hard to argue with the Pi Zero's price.

[VectorGamer]

Ugh...it looks horrible, mounts on a wall and costs more than if I did it myself.

[Osgeld]

16:9 screen looks like a plywood box painted with a brush

[Keatah]

I'm surprised many say it's ugly. I find it rather futuristic, neither attractive or un-attractive..

 

I should replace one of the wife's 17th century bookcases from her drawing room with a polycade. I probably wouldn't live long after that.

[Osgeld]

I didnt say it was ugly I said it had the wrong screen aspect ratio (and god if you have to have a widescreen turn it sideways for scroller shooters, but I digress) and that the build quality looked low

 

at least on the polycade, the other one looks like every other laser cut "wood" project ever made, beyond that if I am going to have a portable why not use my phone or psp

Edited December 1, 2015 by Osgeld

[TPA5]

The machine itself looks kind of neat, but the weird 4-way stick setup they have in the middle looks stupid. For the kind of cash they're asking, they should have simply chosen sticks that were 4/8-way switchable. Despite what many say, the RPi2 is gutsy enough to run most of the older games without trouble.

 

That being said, I'm still not sure why one would want to mount it on the wall. While the makers claim it saves space, what is something realistically going to be able to put under that cab? A tiny shelf, a little storage, ultimately not much. Why not then just make the cab a free-standing cab and people won't have to futz with mounting it on the wall. It is shaped attractively, it has that "Ikea" look to it (which is a compliment), so if you like that style it will appeal. What aggravates me is that the control panel looks very ugly with the stick in the middle.

 

Ultimately the price is the biggest sticking point in my mind (and the point that pisses me off the most). $1250 (early-bird backer price) for this is not worth it, not in a million years. Especially since post-Kickstarter they're expecting to command $2000 blessed dollars a unit. That's in "holy shit" territory. If I would guess at a rough cost breakdown (And I might be off-base with some of these, so bear with me):

 

• Wood: $60 (This is based on Canadian prices, so they may get better deals)
• Paint: $15
• Fasteners: $10
• Controls: $50 (I bet they'll get better pricing than that, especially since it appears to be inexpensive sticks)
• RPi2: $40 (They might get volume discount on this)
• Wiring: $10
• Screen: $140 (I've even seen them for less, plus possible volume discounts again)

 

So for raw-materials you're looking at (roughly of course) about $325. I know the cost of labor and production is in there, but there is not a chance it costs them anywhere near the almost $1700 they stand to make on each unit. Since these will be CnC'd (I assume) and slapped together in short order I cannot fathom production costing very much. That they expect to charge $2k for these at standard retail is insulting. If you took that 2 grand and built cabs you could make freaking several full-size units if you were budget-conscious, or simply make one unbelievable full-size cab.

 

These projects just strike me as predatory and greedy, as opposed to a passion-project from a team who genuinely cares about arcade games.

[+5-11under]

I think the screen is too close.

Also, you'd be standing too close to a wall for comfort (unless it dispenses money or is made of porcelain).

[Keatah]

..That they expect to charge $2k for these at standard retail is insulting. If you took that 2 grand and built cabs you could make freaking several full-size units if you were budget-conscious, or simply make one unbelievable full-size cab.

 

These projects just strike me as predatory and greedy, as opposed to a passion-project from a team who genuinely cares about arcade games.

 

Well, they are a family of business people and profit maximization is a goal..

 

IDK.. I'm still not sure what to make of some of these Kickstarter pre-made cabs, standup-big or tabletop-small. None of them really support a lot of the older games I play. But I like to see what formfactors are being experimented with, yet I fall back on the traditional Mini-ITX in STB, coupled with mouse/keyboard and whatever controller or controller array matches the game.

[Osgeld]

Well, they are a family of business people and profit maximization is a goal..

 

 

If that were truly the case they would have come up with an idea that was not an overpriced niche, they would have invented self cleaning toilet paper

[TPA5]

 

If that were truly the case they would have come up with an idea that was not an overpriced niche, they would have invented self cleaning toilet paper

 

[omegadot]

The Polycade makes me think of sort of 60's era Star Trek minus the beeps and lights. I think it looks neat but no way I'd hang it up anywhere. Also agree, way too shallow on the controls.