Mini Arcade Alert!

[Jess Ragan]

Looks like the Famicom version specifically. It's a little different than the NES version... slightly more arcade accurate. Note the platforms; they were redrawn in the NES version, I think.

[Tanooki]

Joust I can guarantee you is the Famicom release. The hidden game on there Defender is also a Famicom (only, US got D2 aka Stargate) release.

 

What they primarily did was slap an all new prettier title/splash screen on there removing the old copyright/owner data too, and then minor text/number display tweaks and that's about it. The only true major hack job is Rampage. They added in the werewolf the NES lacks.

 

As much as they piss me off at this rate and I put the games up for sale on ebay, I would if I ever found it cheap enough, buy Rampage as it's a fantastic game. Other than that I'm on board for the My Arcade Namco stuff now, that's it. I want my Galaga mini fix.

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

I believe it's a modified NES ROM. I could be wrong there, but it's not the 7800 version.

Yeah there's no commercially available 7800 on a chip. Plenty if nes ones with varying degrees of incompatibilities or audio bugs. It's crapshoot lottery which chip revision you get though.

[Tanooki]

Centipede in their hardware is the 7800 version. The original atari flashback device (jakks) had a NOAC on it and they took 7800 games and hacked them to work on a NOAC. That hacked rom sits in that one mini arcade. The others are all licensed original or licensed homebrew (froggy as Frogger) on the others.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Centipede in their hardware is the 7800 version. The original atari flashback device (jakks) had a NOAC on it and they took 7800 games and hacked them to work on a NOAC. That hacked rom sits in that one mini arcade. The others are all licensed original or licensed homebrew (froggy as Frogger) on the others.

Someone who dumped it somewhere online was selling Centipede NES repros a while back.

 

And technically that makes it an NES port since it was ported to run on an NOAC. The existence of NES repro is proof.

[King_Salamon]

Just thought I would freshen up this topic.. in addition to My Arcade coming out with the Namco games in May/June... Basic Fun (formerly The Bridge Direct) did show off a terrible Joust for the non-Wal Mart stores and there was a picture of Tetris and Ms Pac Man in the bubble packed versions. No gameplay was shown of those two but I can only hope that the NES version for the WalMart release of Tetris has the Tengen version of Tetris. That would be awesome!

 

One other thing... if anyone here has a PacMan #1 boxed version for sale, please PM me... I want that one. I did post the request in the Wanted Forum but thought it wouldn't hurt to add it here.

[Tanooki]

I bet you anything if they did a walmart edition it would have to be whatever the tetris company would allow. I'm not sure if they could get away with the Atari Tengen one over the lawsuit of the past, but it would almost make the most sense with other atari games present. The 1st party is a no go from Nintendo and the other BPS one would be likely impossible as well so it would fall to some other homebrewer mess or perhaps some DOS version sort of like Oregon Trail.

 

I don't trust Bridge Direct anymore after that crap with Rampage and sold the cabs of theirs I had over it so I'm done with dealing with their arcade games probably for good if they can't start showing some good faith and better shipping solution to the problems. My Arcade though that Namco stuff greatly interests me far more than anything Atari put out so far with them. Desktop Galaga would be awesome. That all said though I will keep an eye out for that Tetris thing though as I still care for the game so I'd want to know where they go with it.

[Skeeter]

My Arcade is coming out with some good ones. I'm really looking forward to the larger versions they're working on, I believe they're 10" models. I've held off on their Burger Time for that reason. I got an email the other day and they're now taking pre-orders for Caveman Ninja and Heavy Barrel if anyone is so inclined. Like Tanooki, I'm waiting on the Namco goodies and of course those bigger ones.

[Tanooki]

They said that the 10" Namco would have a multi like they promised originally with the DE titles that still has not occurred so I have to just sit and wonder. I'd grab that first even if it cost a bit more, but if not I could settle on just a favorite or two as I'm no collectard who has to catch em all like little pokemon. A nice Galaga and a Pac Man or Ms Pac Man would be all I'd need for much repeated use.

[King_Salamon]

I bet you anything if they did a walmart edition it would have to be whatever the tetris company would allow. I'm not sure if they could get away with the Atari Tengen one over the lawsuit of the past, but it would almost make the most sense with other atari games present. The 1st party is a no go from Nintendo and the other BPS one would be likely impossible as well so it would fall to some other homebrewer mess or perhaps some DOS version sort of like Oregon Trail.

 

I don't trust Bridge Direct anymore after that crap with Rampage and sold the cabs of theirs I had over it so I'm done with dealing with their arcade games probably for good if they can't start showing some good faith and better shipping solution to the problems. My Arcade though that Namco stuff greatly interests me far more than anything Atari put out so far with them. Desktop Galaga would be awesome. That all said though I will keep an eye out for that Tetris thing though as I still care for the game so I'd want to know where they go with it.

 

Agreed... we won't be seeing the Nintendo Tetris version but the Tengen Tetris would be a blast. The alternative to those could be like the PacMan and Space Invaders where we get some monochrome version as Basic Fun has been known to do. I find those units the most disappointing but a Tetris one may not be that bad. My wife would still want one... I'll likely have to buy her one for her own and she can take it to work or something. lol

 

Not sure what issues you had with Bridge Direct (Basic Fun) but I live in Canada so the boxed versions of the games are only in US WalMarts... so it's a hassle to get them. But I feel they are worth it.

 

Now My Arcade... I like their stuff... I like the art work of the cabs etc and the games are NES so it's like I went back in time and bought some playable NES carts. Great fun for me personally! I don't know about the 10" Namco machine but I've heard that the Data East multi cab is supposed to have the arcade roms on it! (Per the company's twitter feed) The Galaga 6" mini will have a version of the NES Galaga which I remember liking when I played it years ago.

 

I enjoy the Bridge Direct (Basic Fun) games... but I really like the My Arcade offerings so far!

[King_Salamon]

My Arcade is coming out with some good ones. I'm really looking forward to the larger versions they're working on, I believe they're 10" models. I've held off on their Burger Time for that reason. I got an email the other day and they're now taking pre-orders for Caveman Ninja and Heavy Barrel if anyone is so inclined. Like Tanooki, I'm waiting on the Namco goodies and of course those bigger ones.

 

Lol.. I saw the email for the pre-order... I'll do the pre-order. I really like the cabinet art for Caveman Ninja. So I would 'so inclined'... lol.

[King_Salamon]

They said that the 10" Namco would have a multi like they promised originally with the DE titles that still has not occurred so I have to just sit and wonder. I'd grab that first even if it cost a bit more, but if not I could settle on just a favorite or two as I'm no collectard who has to catch em all like little pokemon. A nice Galaga and a Pac Man or Ms Pac Man would be all I'd need for much repeated use.

 

I'm a collector of these things... I used to collect comics and action figures but I got out of the business with those as they took up space and didn't offer much in return as they would sit on a shelf... these arcade units let me have a little arcade and the space they take up is next to none. Unlike the old collecting days, I buy these to play them. I may need doubles of some of these as the more popular games might get worn out... lol just like a 1980's arcade! lol

 

Ok, I admit it... I'm hooked on these things! lol A collectard? Sure why not... I have money to foolishly throw around on these things so why not? lol I'm thinking of reviewing each unit and creating a fanzine of some sort for these... or maybe a website... but I am not much of a web designer. lol

[Tanooki]

Well you're not collecting them just to get them which is what that term more fits, actual active use it another as that makes you a player more than some shelf queen. If you're that into them as I was, actively using the devices more power to you as they're fairly well made. I don't much have the room either, but I do have some, which is why I decided I'd get an entire arcade inside a cabinet with a Neo Geo. As I see it I'm not using up 30 cabinets worth of space, but a cabinet with 30 options to use within it. Same can be said with the multicade cocktail I got free recently as it has 60 titles in that using the room of 1 cocktail machine.

[King_Salamon]

Nice! I bought a Chicago Gaming Arcade Legends 2 from someone locally... the thing was like new too. So I have all those games to enjoy and I want to get a cocktail multi-cade of some sort... likely something that has Tetris (for the wife). But I don't want many more of the behemoth cabinets. I like the cabinets from the arcade days so having these playable minis makes them a perfect collectible for me.

 

I found a couple websites that do high scores for these games and I currently have the Bad Dudes high score... lol. So I am enjoying them but also want to preserve them as they are a form of art. My kind of art! lol

[MrBeefy]

What was wrong with the Rampage one? I got a Frogger Wal-Mart version and like it!

[Tanooki]

Many people could never buy Rampage or Joust because they were really shoddy and lazy about shipping them out so wide areas of the country got no shipments at all and still haven't. So because this was common knowledge those areas that did got pushed into a good bit by scalpers who took the systems online to charge double or more ($40+) to get one from them instead. I tried for months but my area never and still have never got either. I got tired of the companies handling of their games with Walmart so I sold the 4 I had off and wrote them off. I'm not against owning Rampage still as it's a great upgrade of the NES release adding Ralph, but I will just hope it pops up locally somehow at a flea market or garage sale for under retail before I ever consider it.

[MrBeefy]

Many people could never buy Rampage or Joust because they were really shoddy and lazy about shipping them out so wide areas of the country got no shipments at all and still haven't. So because this was common knowledge those areas that did got pushed into a good bit by scalpers who took the systems online to charge double or more ($40+) to get one from them instead. I tried for months but my area never and still have never got either. I got tired of the companies handling of their games with Walmart so I sold the 4 I had off and wrote them off. I'm not against owning Rampage still as it's a great upgrade of the NES release adding Ralph, but I will just hope it pops up locally somehow at a flea market or garage sale for under retail before I ever consider it.

So you are saying I should go to my Wal-Mart and buy both the Joust and Rampage there?

[Andromeda Stardust]

Just thought I would freshen up this topic.. in addition to My Arcade coming out with the Namco games in May/June... Basic Fun (formerly The Bridge Direct) did show off a terrible Joust for the non-Wal Mart stores and there was a picture of Tetris and Ms Pac Man in the bubble packed versions. No gameplay was shown of those two but I can only hope that the NES version for the WalMart release of Tetris has the Tengen version of Tetris. That would be awesome!

I can assure you it's the Namco release. I saw a ms pacman plug n play at bed, bath, and beyond. It had screenshots from the namco nes game on the back. Yes, 1 nes game on a noac pnp clone for $20. Namco used to release some excellent multiple arcade units like the older mspacman / pole position and the pacman 30th anniversary. Now they are just licensing out cheap junk.

 

Also I don't think tetris ever got licensed out. Tengen didn't have the rights to start with and Nes tetris is in copyright limbo due to nintendo being the publisher and owner of the code, and the tetris company (formerly elorg) owning the name. It's possible but not probable someone could license the tengen port from tetris company. Then there's bps tetris (famicom) which imo is unplayable for me due to many years of muscle memory versus it's assed backwards control scheme.

 

Possible too is someone many have just gotten permission to use the names only (or not) and slapped a bunch of unlicensed roms on it.

[Tanooki]

So you are saying I should go to my Wal-Mart and buy both the Joust and Rampage there?

 

If yours carries them I would get one of each if you can, and if you feel the need to make some money, get any extras as that's the normal if you check ebay. Look up Mini Arcade Rampage (or Joust) and you'll see what I mean. Walmart is the ONLY store that sells them. Walmart overall is the only store that sells the NOAC style game on a chip using an LCD panel. The other stores get lame 80s style Tiger/Tomy style VFD/LCD clones for the same price.

[thetick1]

I just picked up the Qbert at Walmart. It is just awesome and the gameplay is not bad. I was also thinking about Joust and Rampage both which looked pretty good also but the gameplay was a little more difficult. And well I'm supposed to be getting it for my son. If I was single I would have bought all of them just to have a mini arcade though the Pac-Man and the Asteroids are absolutely terrible and should have the color matrix screen like the others. The Frogger was also really cool but it looked exactly like the Atari Flashback Portable Frogger which I already have so I passed on that one.

Edited March 11, 2018 by thetick1

[Tanooki]

My kid bought me the original #1 black and white pac-man yesterday for my birthday at toys r us. Sadly it seems to maybe be defective? When you get the power pellet the ghosts flicker and almost fade out to being invisible which makes them very hard to catch. It is a nice little thing though for what it is. I'm going to try and call TRU tomorrow and see if they'd even swap it since they're going out of business, and if they would hopefully they still have another.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Man, rip TRU. Maybe I should stock up on Amiibos if the price is good. Hey hey hey...

[Tanooki]

I tried, they woudln't take it back. I went around town looking to replace it and they're just gone so I went into a Walmart and got the #10 version to replace it for her as the gift.

 

I sicken myself, sitting right next to it touching the damn thing was JOUST and on that one RAMPAGE 4 of each of them. I bought Rampage. :\ Had they not put Ralph back into that NES conversion I'd have left it.

[simbalion]

Well, I want to warn users here to watch out if they are ordering the My Arcade games online. My mom just got me a Burger Time off of an Amazon seller store, but instead of Burger Time on the game, it has Karate Champ! It was factory sealed in the Burger Time package and it's all labeled as a Burger Time on the game itself. To say the least, she is NOT happy and I admit to being a bit disappointed myself. I'd send it back, but the hassle of sending an already opened item back to Amazon just isn't worth it for an item that even the seller didn't know was faulty.

[Skeeter]

Man, that sucks simbalion. Burger Time is one I've been really tempted by but I keep putting it off in hopes of a 10" version. I would try contacting My Arcade directly, maybe they'll make things right for you.