Mini Arcade Alert!

[Flojomojo]

That WindowsCentral article is inaccurate, GameStop has them at the $299 price too.

[negative1]

If you want a proper Pac-Man mini-arcade, this will give you want you seek : http://www.jrcadebuilds.com/ However, be prepared to spend $350.00 for it.

 

or for $200 an official 1/4 sized version:

 

http://www.numskull.co.uk/pac-man-quarter-size-arcade-cabinet/

 

 

 

 

 

later

-1

Edited August 8, 2018 by negative1

[Tanooki]

jrarcadebuilds.com if I remember right is just an illegal operation self made cabinets loaded with with unlicensed games and that $350 can go up or down depending on what you want done and what you want in it to play. That thing is pi based I believe so anyone who want it isn't going to care about gray area anyway.

 

That other thing for $200 though, that's legit and if anyone should be concerned are those dudes doing those replicade devices. if I didn't feel it was a bit over my head price wise for a one off, I'd be all over that Galaga.

[NE146]

So I was at Walmart tonight and broke down and got the Joust (NES version w/Defender buried in it)) and Burgertime.

 

Joust was because someone said earlier it'd potentially be harder to find and Burgertime since it has 2 buttons for any potential future NES'ng.

[ComputerSpaceFan]

Yeah yeah yeah yeah where are the driving / spinner games dammit!?!?!?!?

[Great Hierophant]

jrarcadebuilds.com if I remember right is just an illegal operation self made cabinets loaded with with unlicensed games and that $350 can go up or down depending on what you want done and what you want in it to play. That thing is pi based I believe so anyone who want it isn't going to care about gray area anyway.

 

That other thing for $200 though, that's legit and if anyone should be concerned are those dudes doing those replicade devices. if I didn't feel it was a bit over my head price wise for a one off, I'd be all over that Galaga.

 

The jrarcadebuilds.com site is down, can't say I'll shed any tears for a bootlegger.

 

The $200 Pac-Man looks cool, but it's a tad too rich for my blood.

[Tanooki]

That's basically how I feel about it. I've been in spaces on other gaming forums where jrarcade there was a member and he's pretty happy with himself and gives out all sorts of advice to a point in doing it yourself or setting this or that up. He really doesn't care and is fine with the piracy end even helping set that stuff up or handing it out, so if he finally got burned good. It's one thing to make a nice shell, it's another to supply 100s or 1000s of instances of IP theft and coaching others in doing it too.

 

Those $200 devices I can't justify either, but it is nice, and if Glen or others in those mini arcade communities can find a way to do something more with it, perhaps if you find a common 2 button version of such a size beast it could be made very interesting if you have the ability for those interested.

[RodLightning]

Saw these yesterday at a local Walmart. I hadn't seen My Arcade DigDug or the pocket Pacman before.

 

[TwinChargers]

IMO, The Pocket Pac-man is way too highly priced. I know that it contains 3 games (Pac-Man, Pac-Panic and Pac-Mania) but for this to be more of an impulse buy, I think taking $5-$7 would make a person probably feel more comfortable picking this up.

 

Edit-

My apologies, it appears that the item was incorrectly stocked (surprise, surprise). It is actually retailing at for $27.84 at Walmart and $39.99 at Best Buy!! That's outrageously priced!

Edited August 14, 2018 by TwinChargers

[Tanooki]

Yup that's the crazy price for it I've seen too. $5-7 is fantasy if you think there'd be profit in that though. $15 would be acceptable, but I think the problem here isn't MyArcade but Namco and charging for their arcade licenses and IP art to be used. That Namco Arcade 10" cabinet they have coming later in the year (like their Data East one) has just 20 games for $100 while the DE has around 30-35 games for the same price. They're supposedly the same internally, just the plastic body was made different, so it has to have come down to what Namco is demanding to get their games and they value them much higher than Data East does I guess.

[TwinChargers]

Yup that's the crazy price for it I've seen too. $5-7 is fantasy if you think there'd be profit in that though. $15 would be acceptable, but I think the problem here isn't MyArcade but Namco and charging for their arcade licenses and IP art to be used. That Namco Arcade 10" cabinet they have coming later in the year (like their Data East one) has just 20 games for $100 while the DE has around 30-35 games for the same price. They're supposedly the same internally, just the plastic body was made different, so it has to have come down to what Namco is demanding to get their games and they value them much higher than Data East does I guess.

 

My apologies, I meant $5-$7 off of that price that was shown. I too agree that $15 is a decent price for this.

 

With all these things though, I think they are going to be a bit of a tough sell. It seems like they are charging a bit much on all of it. Sure, there are some of us die hards picking this up at full price, but I'd assume there are others seeing them not exactly flying off the shelf, hoping to vulture in on a deal when these inevitably go on clearance. I just don't see a bunch of non-gamers picking this stuff up though once you get over that $20 price point.

[negative1]

IMO, The Pocket Pac-man is way too highly priced. I know that it contains 3 games (Pac-Man, Pac-Panic and Pac-Mania) but for this to be more of an impulse buy, I think taking $5-$7 would make a person probably feel more comfortable picking this up.

 

Edit-

My apologies, it appears that the item was incorrectly stocked (surprise, surprise). It is actually retailing at for $27.84 at Walmart and $39.99 at Best Buy!! That's outrageously priced!

 

i have no problem with that price. although considering they are the nes versions, and playing with a dpad is not workable for me.

 

anyways, i doubt there's a large number of units out there, so selling them shouldn't be a problem.

 

later

-1

[Tanooki]

 

My apologies, I meant $5-$7 off of that price that was shown. I too agree that $15 is a decent price for this.

 

With all these things though, I think they are going to be a bit of a tough sell. It seems like they are charging a bit much on all of it. Sure, there are some of us die hards picking this up at full price, but I'd assume there are others seeing them not exactly flying off the shelf, hoping to vulture in on a deal when these inevitably go on clearance. I just don't see a bunch of non-gamers picking this stuff up though once you get over that $20 price point.

Oh ok we're in the same place then on price and I agree, and they have. I monitor a few facebook groups and at least one of them has people buying them while grumbling about the price, and of those a couple are tearing them open looking to see if more can be done like you do with the mini arcades. If someone could tweak the thing to do other stuff, that could be pretty handy, but if not, it's just like 40% more than it should for me be priced (I think it's $25 normally though best buy is on crack wanting $40.) As it stands now I have multiple GB, GBC GBA versions of it I can play along with the one on Neo Geo Pocket Color. No need to buy that at that price for something just as off as the others.

[negative1]

here is my review of the pac-man myarcade micro player

-------------------------------------------------------

background - there have been tons of mini pac-man machines

through the decades from the 80's, starting with the led

versions from coleco and more..

i had the entex 2 player head to head pac-man, which was

very cool at the time.

over the years, many more lcd versions came out, and

then with portable handhelds, came the inevitable

gameboy, color variants, etc.. pac-man was a hidden

game on pac man adventures for the genesis, so you

could technically play it on the nomad, etc.

of course, there were many variants on the home

consoles also, but the pertinent one here is the NES,

because that is the port used here. more on that later.

most home versions are just refreshed variations on pac-man,

only the latter windows phone/ios/android versions use

emulation to be arcade accurate, but without physical controls

(usually touch). the prior cellphone versions which were

java based are just rewrites of the games with scaled

in and out graphics.

there was a neo geo pocket color which

had the arcade version ported over, with zoomed in and out

versions, but the color screen had poor contrast and

was very hard to see even in a lit room (i have one).

the switch versions, and other nintendo portables had

the namco arcade versions, which although some look

arcade perfect, are NOT ports of the arcade version

with different timing, etc. [actually the switch might

be arcade perfect]..

for super hardcore pac-man fans, there are 1/10

and 1/4 scale arcade replica's that will run you

from $200-$300 for the ultimate versions.

finally for the latest affordable versions, the micro arcade

keychain version is just another port, with miniscule

but working controls and graphics at a low framerate.

the myarcade mini standalone player is the same NES

version of the game, but with a larger screen and bigger controls.

(optional joystick screws into the dpad).

eventually, the myplayer multi-namco version will be

out with arcade roms for the versions. will review

that also when it comes out.

now onto this mini player version.

box and packaging

------------------

i don't usually care about this, but it's actually quite,

nice and minimal. the box has a lot of nice artwork on it.

and a lid on the front that opens up to show screenshots

of the 3 included games. a couple of clear plastic stickers

hold the side flaps closed. inside are 2 pieces of clear

plastic holding the unit, along with a multipage multilanguage

instruction manual. nothing is hard to remove or separate,

an no scissors are needed.

there is a peel off sticker on the screen to protect

it, with a shot of gameplay screen from pac-man.

THERE ARE NO BATTERIES OR CABLES INCLUDED

hardware

----------

the unit is a nice attractive yellow, with a red dpad

and 2 clear buttons for a/b, along with smaller yellow

start and reset buttons on the front of the unit.

the top has red power button on/off, with a micro-usb

port in the middle, and a black rocker +- for the volume.

there are 4 steps for the volume. from off to loud.

the bottom of the unit has a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.

the back has 2 raised textured diagonal striped battery compartments

on the left and right, used for handgrips. these hold 2 aaa batteries

on each side, for a total of 4 altogether.

the side bottom left, is where the hand strap is attached for

carrying.

the front left lower portion has a small grill for the speaker.

power options

-------------

i have no plans on ever using batteries, so i can't tell you how

long they would last, or what happens why have both batteries

and the micro usb cable plugged in.

currently i have a micro usb cable plugged into a wall to play it,

but i could use a power pack if i really wanted to make it portable

or plug it into a tablet/laptop etc.

i don't know if there is a sleep mode or not, but i do have

pac-man running constantly in demo mode to see what happens.

display

--------

screen, the lcd screen is very vibrant, with no contrast or brightness

options, it's pretty bright, even in daylight, just as a cellphone

screen or tablet would be. of course, not so much in direct light,

but its visible. it looks great in the dark.

its a square aspect ratio, so that pac-man and pac-panic are

letterboxed, pac-mania is fullscreen.

games

------

only pac-mania has a 2 player alternating mode.

1 pac-man - the standard nes pac-man game, there is no 9th key pattern,

you get to the 10th key, and it keeps repeating forever, the ghosts

never stop blinking [will test it out to see if this holds here]

2 pac-mania - the standard nes version, with options for turbo, and

difficulty easy, normal, hard, crazy, along with 2 players, also

music and sound effects can be toggled off

3 pac-panic, also known as pac-attack, might be the genesis version,

or gameboy color version, not sure.

has normal mode -> level easy, normal, hard, hyper,

and puzzle mode -> start, password, cancel

so we have standard maze, isometric maze, and a tetris like game

with pac-man elements in it. not much variety.

controls

----------

turning machine on, shows myplayer splash screen

then yellow screen with blue text, red arrow ->

pac-man, pac-mania, pac-panic options

the menu option can be invoked at any time by pressing 'select'

'start' button deposits credit for pac-man, and starts the

other games

the a/b buttons are small smooth, and responsive for pac-mania

(jump) and options, and for rotate piece in pac-panic/attack

it's not used for pac-man

i HATE dpads, so i probably won't do too well playing pac-man

or pac-mania, but i'll give it a shot. i did notice it's a

very smooth, responsive pad, that doesn't need much force to

activate directional changes.

also the dpad is on the left, which is awkward for me,

i prefer it on the right if i had a choice.

pros

-------------

very lightweight

has micro-usb powering option

good NES ports of pac-man and pac-mania

excellent version of pac-panic/attack

cons

--------------

ports of 2 games are not arcade versions

needs aaa batteries, would have preferred aa

controls are d-pad and on the left side of console

overall

==============================

prices range from $20-$40 currently.

i went to one walmart and it was sold out, the other had 5 units, and i got one

of them. i expect most places will have it well stocked. not sure what other

retail outlets will get it.

i would rate this unit as B-/C+, or maybe 3 1/2 stars out of 5

overall. it's a good portable, temporary toy aimed at pac-man

fans directly. if you want more games, or different styles, than

this machine isn't for you. the controls just aren't good enough

for serious gameplay, and the battery life might be decent

for short trips or playing every so often.

get it if you like the NES pac-man or pac-mania, pac-panic/attack is an excellent

game, but an acquired taste...

if you want arcade perfection, there are other choices for

varying price ranges from $150-$300 for portable 1/10 - 1/4 scale versions.

or just get the switch or nintendo portables for multigame options.

later

-1

Edited August 15, 2018 by negative1

[negative1]

update to my prior review of pac-man mini arcade from myplay:

====================================================

 

ok, now that i've played it for a few hours, i have some updated comments

to make.

 

 

games

--------------

pac-man -> THIS IS NOT THE NES VERSION

it's actually a different port, with different sound effects, and unfortunately it plays the intro music

before EVERY level

 

so i'm not sure where this hybrid version came from, its probably another port, because it

doesn't follow the arcade rules

 

the only NES thing about it, is the screen layout, score, and level display.

 

- pac mania has options to have turbo speed always on, or press a button to activate

 

screen

------------

the refresh rate is very good, and the frame rates are very good.

 

however on pac-mania has some shimmering of the backgrounds

 

gameplay and controls

-------------------------------

the dpad is very comfortable for pac-mania and pac-panic/attack

 

for pac-man i can do ok, but when i rotate the whole case 90 degrees

i can play it much better with my right hand.

 

so far, no cramping or weird finger problems yet.

 

i will continue to play pac-man to now see if it does emulate

some of the arcade.

 

knowing this, i wonder now about all the other versions

of galaga, dig dug, and galaxian, maybe they are ports

also.

 

later

-1

Edited August 15, 2018 by negative1

[Tanooki]

I was going to say something about opinions and such but it's great to see revised notes on the review as it shows some real appreciation for both taking your time to do it right, and seeing how the maker put it together from what can be gathered. I want that device, hell I hope they do a Galaga/Galaxian/Gaplus one as I'd be all over that, but the price stops me so I'll wait to get it as a gift (not likely), used, or some price drop that takes it under $20. I do question their cheapness on the AAAs because other MyArcade devices came with batteries, as do others like the 2 AAAs inside each TinyArcade. So that there is yet another added annoyance and expense.

 

I used to be fairly good, but never really good or excellent where few can get into the over 100K club or the far fewer who can break the machine or learn every single pattern. I just go until I get taken out, always have, always will, so I wouldn't notice or care much about ghost nuances, but the other more obvious stuff I'd either get by on or get annoyed by.

[negative1]

I was going to say something about opinions and such but it's great to see revised notes on the review as it shows some real appreciation for both taking your time to do it right, and seeing how the maker put it together from what can be gathered. I want that device, hell I hope they do a Galaga/Galaxian/Gaplus one as I'd be all over that, but the price stops me so I'll wait to get it as a gift (not likely), used, or some price drop that takes it under $20. I do question their cheapness on the AAAs because other MyArcade devices came with batteries, as do others like the 2 AAAs inside each TinyArcade. So that there is yet another added annoyance and expense.

 

I used to be fairly good, but never really good or excellent where few can get into the over 100K club or the far fewer who can break the machine or learn every single pattern. I just go until I get taken out, always have, always will, so I wouldn't notice or care much about ghost nuances, but the other more obvious stuff I'd either get by on or get annoyed by.

 

a galaga machine would be cool, also a dig dug 1/2 unit.

 

yeah, it's weird, i went back and checked footage of all the larger myarcade units,

and those are the NES versions.

 

so why did they change this version on this handheld version, not sure.

and also putting an NES version of pacmania, and possibly the genesis

or SNES version of pac-attack is very curious.

 

i ended up trying to play pac-man with two hands, using my left thumb, and

right forefinger, and have better luck playing it that way.

 

still haven't gotten any patterns down yet. i can play the arcade one into the millions

(got over 2 on the latest xbox one version, and have 7 million on the 360 version

where they've fixed the killscreens).

 

later

-1

[Tanooki]

There's little logic with MyArcade. They started with dumpy random games, took the NOAC and did their Arcade Classics knockoff mini cabs, then stepped up to the big leagues using a reshelled chinese android old tablet setup for the 10" arcade cabinets that retail for $100, and then there's this weirdo handheld pac-man using some verison of something for all three of the games.

 

If anything they're inconsistent.

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

or for $200 an official 1/4 sized version:

 

http://www.numskull.co.uk/pac-man-quarter-size-arcade-cabinet/

 

 

 

 

 

later

-1

That is way too pricey for a mini cab, as nice as it looks. IT would do better in a low profile bartop form factor with a larger screen and arcade parts, rather than a scaled replica of the original.

[negative1]

That is way too pricey for a mini cab, as nice as it looks. IT would do better in a low profile bartop form factor with a larger screen and arcade parts, rather than a scaled replica of the original.

 

for what you're getting, it's underpriced. i've paid more for pac man watches, etc.

 

the point is, if people want a bartop or whatever, you have to pay $300-500 anyways, and that's not what this is about.

 

this is for people that want an authentic official playable version that's mini cabinet size.

 

there's plenty of other options out there at different pricepoints depending on what you prefer.

 

later

-1

[+save2600]

Saw the original 4 Tiny Arcades in the video game section at a Walmart today. Same Walmart sells the other mini arcade handhelds at the end of a toy aisle. Weird they're separated like that, but since I only care about the Tiny Arcade games, guess I know where to look now.

 

Still waiting on word (besides "summer 2018") when Dig Dig, Frogger and Joust will be available...

[Akito01]

I was going to ask what Bridge Direct is up to these days, but apparently there is a Tetris mini arcade due out or already out. It's pretty rare for them to put out a singular cab (unless they're giving up on the numbered Arcade Classics designations), so I'm curious what, if any, the other game might be (curious if my prediction of Breakout turns out to be correct)

[dmbjunky]

The Tiny Arcade website says September for the 3 new releases.

[Noah98]

I was going to ask what Bridge Direct is up to these days, but apparently there is a Tetris mini arcade due out or already out. It's pretty rare for them to put out a singular cab (unless they're giving up on the numbered Arcade Classics designations), so I'm curious what, if any, the other game might be (curious if my prediction of Breakout turns out to be correct)

On their Facebook page I saw pictures leaked of the following: Ms. Pacman, Space Invaders, and Fix it Felix

[Akito01]

I'm glad their taking a second stab at Space Invaders! I was always bummed that they didn't do a full sized* cab for Wal-Mart like they did for all the others, because I really like the cabinet art and that's the primary reason I got the ones I have so far (Centipede and Asteroids)

 

[full sized just meaning the bigger more authentic in shape, not literally full sized!]

Edited August 18, 2018 by Akito01