Mini Arcade Alert!

[Tanooki]

Hey just caught this on facebook pasting it here.

 

New ebay listing, the 34 game 10" Data East Cabinet is listed for 55.66 shipped. TODAY UNTIL 7PM PST ebay has an ALL items 20% off ticket on any order over $50. It drops the price to roughly $45. Go now if you want it at barely over 1/2 off brand new in the box. https://www.ebay.com/itm/My-Arcade-Data-East-Classics-Retro-Arcade-Mini-Player-Brand-New/263738900755

 

PICKDADSGIFT is the 20% off code that expires in around 7 hours from now at 7PM PST/10EST.

 

Not worth $100 to me, was worth around $45 so I grabbed one. Sellers rating is 99.9% so they're not clowns.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I wouldn't bother taking apart your Burgertime unit unless you're just wanting practice. I checked mine out and unless I just overlooked 'em there's no type of solder connections leading to the NOAC like the Namco ones.

 

If you're just wanting to take the back off you only have to remove 2 side screws. The laminate stickers on the side are pretty tough and will come off cleanly once you get them started.

Cool thanks for the info. So if I understand you correctly, the Namcos have jumper pads but not the Data East?

 

I also want to put tape on the pcb under the Dpads raising them slightly to tighten them and make them less likely to hit accidental diagonals. Pacman, Dig Dug, and Burgertime could be helped immensely by this.

 

There are a few subtle differences in the contruction of the Data East cabs. I noticed My Burgertime has a different type of rubber anti-skid pads on the bottom. Also The Namcos have slightly different cab styles. Galaga and PAcman are shaped slightly different to Dig Dug for instance, which has a different shape to Burgertime. It is subtle though. Is there any info posted about the range of games unlockable on the minis? The one Facebook post I looked at said "six games" but he did not specify. 3 jumpers would have 8 different possible combinations. I gotta order some crap anyway from online part suppliers, so I'll throw in a tube of 4-pole DIP switches and a spool or two of magnet wrapping wire.

 

In other news, the Coleco mini arcade kickstarter has ended. I think the My Arcade stuff is way better value than that crap anyway. Perhaps Bob can reskin his game to remove the Rainbow Brite theme and release it as a homebrew? It sounds like a solid adventure title.

[Azathoth]

Cool thanks for the info. So if I understand you correctly, the Namcos have jumper pads but not the Data East?

Correct. The Data East ones have a slightly different PCB.

 

The IOB points are actually just 3 points and a ground, not 6 separate points.

 

Rolling Thunder - no connections

Pac-Man - IOB 1

Mappy - IOB 2

Galaga - IOB 3

Dig Dug - IOB 1 & 2

Galaxian - IOB 1 & 3

[Andromeda Stardust]

Correct. The Data East ones have a slightly different PCB.

 

The IOB points are actually just 3 points and a ground, not 6 separate points.

 

Rolling Thunder - no connections

Pac-Man - IOB 1

Mappy - IOB 2

Galaga - IOB 3

Dig Dug - IOB 1 & 2

Galaxian - IOB 1 & 3

Thanks for that info. So the Namco units are all released so far except Mappy and Galaxian which we saw during the Toy Fair video. Add Rolling thunder to that unreleased list. Does Mappy require both buttons or just one?

 

I could easily swap between Galaxian and Galaga on the Galaga arcade then. Dose connecting 2+3 or 1+2+3 reveal anything? There are total of 2^3 or 8 possible combinations with three jumpers.

[Azathoth]

2+3 is Mappy again, didn't try grounding all 3 points though.

 

The control pins are also plainly marked, including a select button, although that probably has no practical use in any of these games.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Hey just caught this on facebook pasting it here.

 

New ebay listing, the 34 game 10" Data East Cabinet is listed for 55.66 shipped. TODAY UNTIL 7PM PST ebay has an ALL items 20% off ticket on any order over $50. It drops the price to roughly $45. Go now if you want it at barely over 1/2 off brand new in the box. https://www.ebay.com/itm/My-Arcade-Data-East-Classics-Retro-Arcade-Mini-Player-Brand-New/263738900755

 

PICKDADSGIFT is the 20% off code that expires in around 7 hours from now at 7PM PST/10EST.

 

Not worth $100 to me, was worth around $45 so I grabbed one. Sellers rating is 99.9% so they're not clowns.

Thanks for the heads up. I just purchased one. I missed the 20% sale but $55 is still a steal on this!

[Andromeda Stardust]

2+3 is Mappy again, didn't try grounding all 3 points though.

The control pins are also plainly marked, including a select button, although that probably has no practical use in any of these games.

Thanks for the info. 1+2+3 might well be another repeat. I plan on adding a four pole DIP switch to my Dig Dug cabinet. I may also add the hidden select button to the unused fourth switch just to see if the 2 player modes are still allowed by the ROM. I suspect they only changed the display text on the title screen. Without select, the two player option is cleverly hidden, even if it simply means waiting for p2 to die. Assuming player 2 data0 and clock are not accessible anywhere on the pcb (without digging under the glop top), then it will neither be possible to add a player two controller port nor dual player controls for pass and play use.

[Daj]

Not worth $100 to me, was worth around $45 so I grabbed one. Sellers rating is 99.9% so they're not clowns.

 

Good for everyone but me... my $75 DE mini arcade arrived today. To add insult to injury, for every platformer on this thing: the jump button is on the left, and the attack button is on the right... exact opposite of an NES controller, or most arcade cabs, or pretty much anything. Nothing quite says "designed by people who have never played a video game before" like that control setup, usually only found in a few very old games or terrible ports. Guess I should've read the fine print?

[Andromeda Stardust]

Good for everyone but me... my $75 DE mini arcade arrived today. To add insult to injury, for every platformer on this thing: the jump button is on the left, and the attack button is on the right... exact opposite of an NES controller, or most arcade cabs, or pretty much anything. Nothing quite says "designed by people who have never played a video game before" like that control setup, usually only found in a few very old games or terrible ports. Guess I should've read the fine print?

Why???

 

Thanks for the heads up. I just purchased one. I missed the 20% sale but $55 is still a steal on this!

If you'd posted this last night, I would have read this and not ordered the eBay link.

 

I should have known something was up when I saw their previous game boy thingies in retail with the buttons swapped. A on the left is a clear indication somebody doesn't know what the hell they are doing...

[Daj]

Why???

 

To be as charitable as I can...

 

1) Some of the actual cabs may (?) have been laid out like that? I see some pics of Joe & Mac cabs where the buttons seem to be oriented vertically, which is even weirder

2) It's not nearly as distracting to play with that config using my index and middle fingers on an arcade controller (mini or otherwise), as opposed to using my thumb on a gamepad. Speaking only for myself here.

 

It doesn't ruin it (for me). But it's annoying because it would cost them nothing to get this right -- no expensive hardware or licensing issues, just a line in a config file.

 

Other impressions: the 16:9 aspect ratio doesn't bother me as much as I expected, and the screen is nice and bright. Speakers can get pretty loud (volume is adjustable). Buttons are "good enough", and the stick that screws into a pad that everybody likes to take jabs at is actually a good idea imo (stick looks more arcade-y but a pad is more practical at that size).

 

The most interesting thing to me is, surprisingly, the game selection, which has a lot of stuff that's pretty obscure (no wikipedia articles for some) but after some brief test driving, looks pretty interesting. It seems weird that I've never heard of e.g. Nitroball or Wizard Fire before, they seem pretty cool. ~Four Xevious clones, if you like that sort of thing (pass). Three beat em ups with no z-axis, which you don't see too often. Pretty heavy on overhead shooters. Would've been nice to have Chelnov or Night Slashers (if the hardware could hack it). Not bothering with Heavy Barrel or Midnight Resistance with this controller.

Edited June 8, 2018 by Daj

[Tanooki]

I'll have mine tomorrow when UPS losers pass it off to the USPS today for surepost delivery. I recall quite a few games in the day not having that more Nintendo style of action and jump in that order you prefer, but the arcade was a total in the weeds experience and stuff was setup however both the developer wanted, but also repurposed/reshopped cabs got even further creative too with stuff. It shouldn't be a problem unless one allows it to be since these are the arcade games, not NES versions.

 

16:9 I prefer so I was on board with that all along, I loathe the wasted space of pillarboxing stuff. I've got 2 FPGA consoles and I set them to fill the space.

 

I have to admit I do hate that Karnov is missing but it is what it is. I used to have access to that arcade game back in the day somewhere so it got some good quarters out of me. Not sure I ever finished it, probably though, but not on a quarter or two like some others.

 

 

As far as the jumper game on those Namco cabs, it would be nice to get someone to rig up just one of them to get access to all the games even if they are NES releases. Other than my general cold feeling towards Dig Dug, the others are some of my favorites from Namco and the NES releases were pretty entertaining, even Rolling Thunder which was far more advanced than the others.

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

As far as the jumper game on those Namco cabs, it would be nice to get someone to rig up just one of them to get access to all the games even if they are NES releases. Other than my general cold feeling towards Dig Dug, the others are some of my favorites from Namco and the NES releases were pretty entertaining, even Rolling Thunder which was far more advanced than the others.

I just ordered a pile of 4-pole DIP switches during lunch. When they arrive, I'll use my own cabs as a test. If successful, I'm going to Walmart and buying some Galagas and Dig Dugs to mod and sell in the forums. Pity Gauntlet won't be fully playable with only one action button but it is what it is.

 

I might wire Select up to the otherwise unused 4th switch so people can access the hidden menus if they want. Only caveat is without a player 2 hookup, it won't allow player 2 to do much of anything except wait to die.

[Daj]

I recall quite a few games in the day not having that more Nintendo style of action and jump in that order you prefer, but the arcade was a total in the weeds experience and stuff was setup however both the developer wanted, but also repurposed/reshopped cabs got even further creative too with stuff. It shouldn't be a problem unless one allows it to be since these are the arcade games, not NES versions.

 

Not untrue, but I suspect 99 people out of 100 would prefer it the NES way given the choice. Anyway, on further testing, Tumble Pop doesn't "swap" the buttons, possibly to match the onscreen tutorial when you start the game. I think that's the only one.

[Tanooki]

Kosmic sounds like a solid plan, love to see what you come up with. Maybe I'll mail out my Galaxian.

 

And daj true enough but they are arcade games not the NOAC one offs, so perhaps it just only will bother some but not a lot of others. Either way if they play fine and you can get used to it, it's just set to quarter feed anyone I'm sure. I'd be surprised if they limited it like to 9 credits before failure which would encourage better play but truly suck too.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I think I'm done with Tiny Arcade. I picked up a Tiny Arcade Galaxian and Mattel Football today at Walmart. Galaxian is pissing me off with cheap shots. I can forgive the inaccuracies of Pac / Ms Pac, but Galaxian has some annoying game breaking bugs. For starters, you cannot move while holding the fire button, or any other button (including up/down). This means if you are evading enemies while shooting, that shot could delay your ship enough to cause a collision. Worse, when you die, the next ship spawns immediately and the game engine does not wait for the enemies to return to their starting formation. I have lost two lives at once because a dive bombing enemy struck my ship immediately as it respawned with no oppurtunity to react. Finally, your ship cannot move between the time when you destroy the last enemy and the next round starts. Earlier tonight, I finally cleared round 2 and was about to advance to round 3. The last remaining enemy shot a bullet in my direction as I destroyed it. My ship froze as the round clear music played, tilting the joystick to no avail. The bullet hit my sitting duck ship, and I was greeted with a GAME OVER message as the new formation appeared. Sorry but that's just cheap. If the upcoming Galaga exhibits the same behavior, I am done with the series. I wonder if the micro running the Tiny Arcade ports can even handle multiple simultaneous inputs. Otherwise, there's not much else that will be playable without issues, except Pacman / Mrs Pac because they only need a 4-way stick only.

 

Edit: I can confirm the Tiny Arcade Pacman and Ms Pacman suffer from the same issue as Galaxian: Holding down the Fire button causes the joystick not to respond in both games. And likely Space Invaders and the upcoming Galaga port as well. The microcontroller running the game cannot process multiple inputs at once!

 

Let me repeat that for you: THE MICROCONTROLLER RUNNING THE TINY ARCADES CANNOT PROCESS MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS INPUTS AT ONCE!!!

[Tanooki]

Well the Data East 10" came today. I'm surprised how nice the build quality of it is. The joystick is small but it's not uncomfortable nor are the buttons. If I have 2 annoyances, no battery so it's tethered, and the other would be no dip switch settings as some of these games are brutal on difficulty standard level like Joe & Mac of all things. I got stomped in that one for a couple dollars worth into 3 stages or so, but got most of the way through stage 3 on Bad Dudges with 1 quarter which was nice. I don't think I've ever played Bloody Wolf before but it's pretty solid. I'm not disappointed in it at all, worth what I paid, would have been worth the walmart $65 too, but 100 feels a bit excessive.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Hi. I am making some progress doing some modwork on the mini arcades. I'll be creating a separate thread dedicated to modding mini arcades shortly.

 

Edit: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/279605-mini-arcade-modding/?p=4045539

 

No updates yet.

[Noah98]

After I complained, My Arcade decided to send me another Bad Dudes. I just have to send the old one back when I get it. Since they have been reasonable about my two defective units, I decided to give them another chance and picked up Galaga today. Other than the sound of the shots, it really is a cool machine. I like the way it looks and plays the best out of all of them so far. The sound really isn't that big of a deal, considering the price and how good it looks. So, now I have Burgertime, Bad Dudes, and Galaga. I'm tempted to pick up Dig Dug and Heavy Barrel too. On the fence about Pac Man, and not interested in Karate Champ at all.

[Azathoth]

Their Namco Museum 10 inch was shown at E3. I'm assuming it'll be another Android based deal running some stolen/unlicensed emulators since it covers multiple systems.

 

I find it fascinating how Dreamgear has generated so much interest in their recent line of releases. After many, many years of pumping out pure, unadulterated garbage and counterfeit products they actually produce something mildly successful that even looks like a legitimate product. I think it speaks to how little Namco and G-Mode (?) care about their retro IP's that they would even entertain the concept of partnering with them.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Their Namco Museum 10 inch was shown at E3. I'm assuming it'll be another Android based deal running some stolen/unlicensed emulators since it covers multiple systems.

Awesome. I imagine the Namco cab will be even more awesome than the Data East cab. Makes me feel good about supporting the Data East cab. Even if they are running a walled off version of MAME.

[zenmechanic]

Awesome. I imagine the Namco cab will be even more awesome than the Data East cab. Makes me feel good about supporting the Data East cab. Even if they are running a walled off version of MAME.

 

It's not really a walled off version of MAME, it's a hacked version of MAME4DROID. If you read my post a few pages back it links to the facebook group where I posted the information on how to access and add games to the unit. Via the internal USB header you can gain ROOT shell access to android 4.4.2 that's on the system itself and push different apks or roms to the unit. The default android launcher is the Data East hacked M4D, but this can be changed to something like NOVA launcher. You can then uninstall the DE software and install the legit MAME4DROID apk and have access to all the existing ROMS that were installed on the unit as well as an assortment of bios files. Currently I'm working on a base image that can be reflashed to the unit with the DE launcher stripped out and should launch directly to MAME4DROID or retroarch or whatever you'd want.

[Andromeda Stardust]

It's not really a walled off version of MAME, it's a hacked version of MAME4DROID. If you read my post a few pages back it links to the facebook group where I posted the information on how to access and add games to the unit. Via the internal USB header you can gain ROOT shell access to android 4.4.2 that's on the system itself and push different apks or roms to the unit. The default android launcher is the Data East hacked M4D, but this can be changed to something like NOVA launcher. You can then uninstall the DE software and install the legit MAME4DROID apk and have access to all the existing ROMS that were installed on the unit as well as an assortment of bios files. Currently I'm working on a base image that can be reflashed to the unit with the DE launcher stripped out and should launch directly to MAME4DROID or retroarch or whatever you'd want.

Sounds like the configuration of the thing is a pita and easy to brick if you don't know what you are doing. I'd love to hear what you come up with though. The Namco Museum cab will be worth it's weight in quarters if it is built anything like the Data East unit.

 

Ever find it ironic that modern Namco seem to pretend Ms Pacman doesn't exist when it comes to compilations?

[Glen's Retro Show]

Soon on Glen's Retro Show on YouTube.

How to hack your MyArcade 10" to play..well..just about anything ?

[atarilovesyou]

I saw those little Lego-like kits at Walmart. Had to pick uo the Asteroids one. Six bucks, I think? You have to wonder who they are marketing these towards other than us old farts. Other than the rare gamer kids who know what these are/were, who else is there? Hipsters?

 

I really want to get all the Tiny Arcades, especially now a Galaga is coming out...but the fact each has the same shell, the stickers alone are not enough to make an interesting display. The gameplay certainly isn't a selling feature. And it's almost insulting how much they want for those Bad Dudes stand-alone boxes. Again, not sure who these are for but impulse buys usually need to be cheap enough for me to warrant it..or great gameplay.

 

I wonder how that mini Centipede arcade machine that was on Kickstarter not too long ago is doing?

[Daj]

Ever find it ironic that modern Namco seem to pretend Ms Pacman doesn't exist when it comes to compilations?

 

I actually emailed MyArcade requesting Splatterhouse about a month ago, and what do you know? I especially never, ever would have expected Splatterhouse 2 to make it onto one of these things. They seemed to have memory-holed that franchise after the PS3 game had such a shaky dev history and reception. I guess I should've asked for a Ms Pacman mini cab while I was at it, but I thought it would go without saying. Could be saving it for Volume 2 or something?

 

I wonder how that mini Centipede arcade machine that was on Kickstarter not too long ago is doing?

 

It's listed on Amazon, and the Tempest machine is actually available for pre-order (supposedly due to ship in September). The guys behind it don't seem to be giving a lot of concrete info on the whens and how muches so far, and it's Kickstarter, so I'll refrain from getting my hopes up and assume that it will either come out in five years or quietly disappear, and be pleasantly surprised otherwise.