The Classic arcades of the 80s and 90s are dead or I am massively jaded?

[The Classic arcades of the 80s and 90s are dead or I am massively jaded?]

IMHO superhero stuff has been overdone in the movies, and it's likely the last thing I'd wanna be playing in an arcade. But that's just me. Give me the abstract creative material from the golden era.

 

I don't know people that grew up with Fox Kids with the X-Men and Spiderman shows plus all of the newer generations with the MCU and X-Men movies would find it as a nice surprise. People like seeing familiar characters in games that and unlike the home consoles most of the Arcade properties with super heroes were actually pretty good. I personally love the X-Men game specifically the huge 6 player version due to the unique huge setup and double screen. That being said they are Genre games and like anything that fits in a Genre there are tropes and conventions at the expense of creativity. This is also the case as well for books, TV and movies so arcades are not special. I have a cultural theory also that Japanese developers tend to work within genres and are very good at refining a given genre, where as many Western devs were open to far more experimentation. In the end though it may have been too much to their detriment as people like a genre for a reason and it is a crapshoot on whether a new idea or concept will click with the audience. That and by making predictable games you can standardize controls and you have things like the JAMMA standard which leads to cheaper and generic products and easier to maintain cabinets. It is simply less risky and easier to buy a property and conform it to a genre and ship it than to blow money on custom parts and risk things on an unproven concept.

[2600 / 7800 fans: future controller ideas? Input welcome.]

How did you set up the switch for the joystick / paddle controller? Can you show the wiring?

[Arcade conversion Rom Hacks?]

 

So, an Atari version of the NES Playchoice-10 system.

 

Some of the demo kiosks provide for time-limited play, so I would suggest starting with that hardware, and then adding a coin mech (presumably tied to the Game Reset switch).

 

Do you expect that a 2600-based game system will actually generate meaningful revenue?

 

You may also want to think about licensing issues. IP holders may not take kindly to using their games (homebrew or commercial releases) for this purpose.

I was thinking at the very least have the coin mech tied to the reset button which is tied to a killscreen in most games. Since most games are abandonware this shouldn't be an issue. If you have the actual carts inside the actual arcade cab I personally don't see any problems.

[Arcade conversion Rom Hacks?]

I'm curious if you own any Atari machines at all?

 

I know you hate me, but I have a four switch 2600 that I have to switch out the controller port and I have my main 7800 that I use now.

[Arcade conversion Rom Hacks?]

So the Atari VCS has had a tone of Arcade ports to the system and has tones of games that could have been arcade games in their own right(Yars Revenge, Keystone Kapers). What I am wondering is are there any arcade rom hacks that can turn a 2600 into a home arcade and if someone wired up a coin mech would accept coin credits? I had the idea that home consoles can be arcades in their own right given arcade sticks a cabinet and monitor and given flash carts you can cycle between games without having to switch out any cartridges. Given flash carts can run hacks and modded games has anyone tried this? Is this a dumb idea to begin with? If you had a 2600 arcade cabinet what games would you think would you most like to see modded?

[Centipede is returning to arcades, but...]

Interesting they are using joysticks in a modern arcade game that is recreating a game that didn't use joysticks. That is rich. Oh well at this point I will take what I can get it is worth a play or two if I ever find it.

[Who owns the Cursed Berzerk from Friar Tuck's, associated with 2 Deaths?]

I only own an accursed Frenzy cabinet (Well actually I have 2 Frenzys!!)...I always figured Frenzy was more Heart Attack Inducing than Berzerk anyway! and.. If I die while playing it,..I go out Happy!

 

 

Looks good, how hard is it to maintain?

[Who owns the Cursed Berzerk from Friar Tuck's, associated with 2 Deaths?]

Well, okay, if you want to get technical...

 

But I wasn't referring to the stabbing. There is an urban legend that won't go away that two people died from natural causes while playing Berzerk. There was only one. I remember doing some research (and using the benefits of my Tribune subscription, searched for back issues) on the second person who died while playing Berzerk and found nothing. Searched for the guy's name: nobody with that name died anywhere around the time it allegedly happened. The first Friar Tuck's heart attack was true; the next one was a false rumor.

 

 

Two people died just not directly playing the game. The owner admits to a person dying while playing the game. So at least one person died playing the game, apparently due to heart issues then you have the stabbing incident now you have two deaths associated with the cabinet. But yes the second heart related death is a myth. The myth goes it was the first person's friend trying to beat his high score. A fun myth but a myth none the less. But the facts do remain there are two deaths tied to the game one heart condition the second was a stabbing over stolen quarters from the game.

[Who owns the Cursed Berzerk from Friar Tuck's, associated with 2 Deaths?]

The other death was an urban legend.

It happened here is the report from the Chicago Tribune if that is evidence enough.

 

 

As for the first one Even the owner admits someone died while playing Berzerk.

 

The only myth is that two people died while playing the game it was just one and the second kill was initiated at that cabinet then finished in the alleyway. It happened and that cab is a very historic and infamous Arcade cabinet, are you the least bit interested in where it is located?

[The Classic arcades of the 80s and 90s are dead or I am massively jaded?]

Here's one example of what I was talking about above. Granted, not many bother to play act the games, but when you're this good, there's no better place to show it off than at the arcade

 

With ceilings that high it looks more like a setup in a convention center rather than a permanent arcade. Either way point taken.

[Games that should be redone]

 

I don't think the world could handle that game today...

 

The online click-bait magazines would catch wind that somebody was remaking it, and the next thing you know this site gets shut down by an angry mob.

 

Let them try, they will hoot and holler then get distracted to holler at the next outrage. If you remain steadfast and silent things will blow over. If you engage or comment you keep it in view.

[What is your thoughts on FPGA arcade board replacements?]

I love FPGA. I've got a JROK in my Defender. But I also have the original boardset in there too. I can't tell the difference in gameplay. The Jrok is reliable and I'm happy with it.

 

I have a 60-in-1 (not fpga) in a Super Pacman cabinet. When playing most of the classic games I can't tell the difference either. But there are some games it can't fully handle. For example the sound in Gyruss. Still, there are many older classics it plays just fine like Pacman.

 

Arcadeshop has a number of different fpga boards :

• Berzerk/Frenzy/BZF Multigame JAMMA PCB
• BitKit FPGA Multigame JAMMA PCB
• Williams/wSYSFPGA Multigame JAMMA PCB
• Mylstar/MSF Multigame JAMMA PCB
• Taito/ZooQ Multigame JAMMA PCB

As original hardware fades from the world FPGA and emulation will be there to keep things going.

 

The real extinction seems to be the Arcade CRT Monitors. By the way, anyone have a G07 (or similar) monitor for sale?

 

 

The Jamma standard makes this nice. The Jrok and 60-in-1 are both drop-in replacements for original hardware as are the other boards I listed above. Makes me want to make some new arcade cabinets ... if only I could get some monitors!

 

Monitors are a problem however with a worse case scenario FPGAs can be adapted to output lag free digital output on modern displays and can even have built in scan-line generators. This is of-course the nuclear option but having a digital display is better than no display.

[Games that should be redone]

I think Custer's revenge could be better and needs a remake. It would be nice to have AtariVox support with some sweet one liners. It also could benefit from some extra stages and more modes.

[What is your thoughts on FPGA arcade board replacements?]

Ah didn't know that an fpga device magically fixes display lag

 

lets get one very basic thing down, FPGA is NOT real hardware (yes its hardware but its not THE hardware) it is a large array of logic gates programmed to emulate or simulate real hardware, which can vary drastically depending on who did it

 

it has its pro's and con's, its just another choice

 

It fixes some sort of lag since you can have a pure digital signal with no need to translate to analog you save on some time and having the same speed clocks you can poll the input the same exact way without having to do USB translations. It won't fix the lag from the input to the displaying on the actual screen but it fixes all of the other hardware lag. Yes you can have a very inaccurate FPGA implementation but you also can have a very accurate one as well. A skilled person could test the input and out put of the device and ensure it meets the same specifications and test for it. I never said it magically gets programmed to be perfect I said it can be close to a perfect implementation if done right which is the case. But if you have an open ecosystem you can share some blocks like the 6502 or other common processors so the important bits can be mature by the time someone wants to work on the dedicated or less common chips needed for a board. I see it as the option going forward shy of actually making systems on a chip for every board which is an even higher threshold. Emulation is an option but is limited far more than a skilled FPGA implementation. When you are talking about drop in replacements for an arcade cabinet, a FPGA just seems like the better solution.

[What is your thoughts on FPGA arcade board replacements?]

FPGA is treated like a holy grail among fan's (for some reason) but at the end its all down to execution, good emulation will be good, bad emulation will be bad.

 

In reality we are well past the point of a computer having too much to do that it can't properly emulate anything an FPGA could and its just another choice ... do you pay 225 dollars for 40$ worth of parts with 5 pirate games cause its magical special FPGA, or do you get a 50$ (or less) computer that runs robotron just as well, but have to deal with an OS and a bigger box

It's not really pirate if you have the broken board and the Cabinet. The williams and Berzerk boards are designed to literally replace the broken board. They also may have a license, I don't know. It isn't anything like throw 1000 MAME roms on a device. They also can run more accurately running at the same clock speed having the same slowdowns and same hardware bugs. They also have zero input lag and don't have to do any software translations. FPGA like it or not may be the best thing going forward. How many parts or fixes can we expect in 100 years? At least FPGA can adjust to newer displays and account for dwindling supplies of chips. The raspberry pi is all well and good for what it is but MAME can't do things the same way real hardware can proof of that is how it loads objects which is how they knocked the DonkeyKong record down. Furthermore input and display lag will also be problems with MAME compared to hardware.

[What is your thoughts on FPGA arcade board replacements?]

What is your thoughts on FPGA arcade board replacements? For those who don't know a FPGA is a special chip that can be programed to actually become other chips so it can emulate hardware in hardware which can come close to a perfect re-implementation or replacement if done right. Unlike MAME you can make the chip run at the same speed and act and load the ROM in the same way and have the same exact bugs and you can update the outputs to more modern outputs like Displayport, HDMI or just regular VGA. There are current projects that have re-implemented some games and there are even replacement boards on the market. I know there is a Williams multi FPGA board and a Berzerk FPGA. There also is the MiST FPGA project that is implementing arcade chipsets with some that are Works In Progress. What are your thoughts on this? Is this okay to preserve faulty boards like Berzerk that may not survive much longer. Which boards or games do you think are in need of an FPGA implementation? What are your thoughts on this in general?

[Arcade game made me snarf my drink]

Only when I used to read these.....

 

 

 

Where is that from, my brother's dog is named snarf and it would be funny to show that to him.

[Three year-old son seems to like E.T. for the Atari 2600...]

I don't know if this is child abuse or how long a person could pull this off but what if you gave your kids the old tech and Atari 2600 and pretended like it was the latest and greatest video game system? You then later give them a 7800 or NES claiming it just came out until later they get a Sega Genesis again claiming it is new. Then the PlayStation and so on and so forth. If you manage to shield them enough the Ruse will go on far enough. They will get to experience the games the way you did with the same sense of progression. You can try to get others in on the Ruse to not show any cell phone games, and to pretend that that the system they are playing is new. At some point like Santa Clause they will probably catch on but by that time they should be caught up and the mission would be accomplished.

 

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think a person could pull this off and do you think lying about things is immoral if so how would this be any different from the Tooth Fairy, or Santa Clause ruse?

[Label variant fight: Which one is your preferred label variant and why?]

I love the original Atari cover artwork, so picture for me. The later red ones I don't like that much, though.

 

Imagic: Text.

 

Absolutely lovely: all Parker Bros labels.

 

Imagic text is no more worse than Atari text in some cases. But yes the picture version are better. As for Parker Brothers they had far more consistency just you have to look for versions without the top part ripped off.

[Help needed for finding schematics of a Soviet DIY Arcade Machine]

You might have better luck on Russian Social networks. However that looks like a lower resolution black and white atari steeple chase. Have you tried searching for the author's name in Cyrillic?

[With Pokey Chips in short supply should a lock on cart be used instead?]

So Given that there are a limited supply of pokey chips and that they mostly have to be taken from existing carts. There will be a time where they either get too cost prohibitive or push games like ballblazer to be rare. Given that wouldn't it make more sense to cannibalize one an create a pokey lock on cart like a game genie / Sonic and Knuckles. And carts that use the Pokey just lock on to the cart and gain the extra capabilities. Then the homebrew games don't need to worry about sourcing pokeys and all the other troubles and people that want the pokey can just use that one cart to boost the sound quality. What are your thoughts? Is this a dumb idea, do you think it is technically infeasible?

[The Classic arcades of the 80s and 90s are dead or I am massively jaded?]

 

There are companies that have remade the cabinets to a variety of classic games, everything from Pac-Man to Major Havoc. But when you talk about the game hardware itself and the controls, it becomes more difficult. Eventually those boards will stop working and we'll have to hope for a non-MAME solution if you want to play it in a cabinet that doesn't look like it was dipped in a Ninja Turtles mutagen ooze.

 

There are FPGA replacement boards you should look into, I know there is a Williams multi FPGA board and a Berzerk FPGA. There also is the MiST FPGA project that is implementing arcade chipsets with some that are Works In Progress. In-case you don't know FPGA is a chip that can physically rearrange it's internals to become a new chip or emulate other chips in hardware. So a good FPGA will run the Arcade ROM just like the actual hardware but can be updated to allow for new monitor outputs like VGA, displayport or hdmi. There also are Repro Vinyl you could apply to fix damage artwork. Don't get me wrong it is a lot of work and it seems like you are constantly trying to fill a bucket with a hole in it but it is possible.

[The Classic arcades of the 80s and 90s are dead or I am massively jaded?]

For years now, my local arcade has been reduced to fruit machines and redemption games. They still have a load of old cabs, but they are all switched off and shoved to one end of the room. And they have more in storage. The owner refuses to sell any off. Pretty sad sight to see.

 

Fruit Machines? Do you mean slot machines? There was a small arcade similar that just had redemption games and limited cabs it closed around the same time Dave & Busters opened in that same mall. It is a shame the owner isn't doing anything with them what does he / she say when you question them?

[New desktop arcade controllers]

Regarding the paddle...

 

The way the 7800 uses fire buttons is an odd affair.

 

The on/off switch keeps that quirky design from interfering with paddle usage but yes, the cavaet is, if you peg the paddle all the way you max out the resistance and the 7800 thinks youre firing one of the buttons.

 

 

How do you deal with the paddle and the joystick at the same time. is the power switch on the VCC pin? or is it for the whole paddle mechanism as a whole?

[The Classic arcades of the 80s and 90s are dead or I am massively jaded?]

 

I'll explain the history about it depending, they thank me and usually add "it's so awesome that you have that!" then...they walk out and I don't see them again. No buying a token to check it out for old times sake or whatever. They're content just knowing it exists, but don't want to spoil their memory, I suppose (as most don't perceive that if they have fond memories of a game, it's from when they were a few feet shorter).

 

There are variations to this - sometimes, someone will play the game a few times, but that's it. Or I won't have their beloved game, so they tell me if I did have it they eould "be here every day!" I tried that a couple of times (as I liked the game they mentioned), but funny enough I never saw them again.

 

Once in a blue moon, a dad will bring his kids in to try and convince them to enjoy the same memories, but often the kids will gravitate towards the new stuff. Even my own kids don't really give most games I have a chance

 

That sucks with those people that just walk in and out, I am assuming it would cost only 25 cents to a a dollar to play for a little bit and that seems like it is worth it to support it and keep it there. It is far better to play a game and get something out of it than to give it to a panhandler. Now seeing that the games I liked are disappearing and are few and far between I play them when I find them. I found your youtube channel and it seems like you have most of my favorites.

 

On the business side of things that are the margins large enough that making the move to the bigger area was financially easy or did it take more investment? Either way / it great to see an arcade not only merely exist but to expand.