Mini Arcade Alert!

[+-^CrossBow^-]

On 11/10/2020 at 2:17 PM, Bill Loguidice said:

I posted my thoughts on the Dragon's Lair Replicable here: https://armchairarcade.com/perspectives/2020/11/06/dragons-lair-replicade-great-but-not-on-a-tv/

 

Bottom line is that I absolutely love it as a tabletop unit, but it's not so great when used on a TV. USB controller compatibility leaves a lot to be desired, the video output is low quality, and there are some audio quirks. Again, though, for its intended purpose as a tabletop unit, it's damned near perfect in my opinion.

So for any that might be curious, the capture device I use in my game room captures video at the native resolution of the input source. In the case of this DL replicade, it captured it as 720p. Since the capture footage had the correct aspect ration for the actual game that means one thing. The video of the game we are viewing is likely around 640x480 or so. My guess is that the video used in this mini cab is actually a rip from the original LD format and not from the newer remasters. Is this a problem? I don't think it is because after having played many of the home releases of this game, I'm very happy that they used original LD rips where the scenes don't all have flashing indicators telling you exactly what to do as we would see on home and later releases of this game. Not sure what resolution your modern TV does there Bill but on my 50" Sony 1080p I use in my game room it looked really good! Now the opening title screens for startup are very pixelated but the actual gameplay video itself looks really good. I even like the subtle horizonal noise lines that you can see from the rip they used as it gives the overall image a very analog look to it as it was originally.

 

The audio on the HDMI out is... interesting. On my actual AV receiver when I was recording the opening intro, it seems like all the narrator voice was coming from the right along with the music while all the actual sound from the video game play and Dirk's yelps etc. was coming from the left. In other words it was all hard panned to right or left on different parts of the audio tracks. That is how it was in the game room while recording. But when I actually loaded up the captured video into Vegas studio, the audio was actually mono?! So I'm not sure if NWT did something odd with the audio stream perhaps on purpose that causes this or what. The audio sounded good, but again was hard panned left and right on different parts of it while playing and listening but was apparently mono in actuality. Now I do have a 5.1 surround in the game room but I have it set to 5 speaker stereo for the retro stuff so perhaps Bill and I were getting oddness from our actual AV setups due to something in the audio stream from the HDMI confusing our receivers audio decoders?

 

Anyway, with the exception of my mini LD disc itself having a bad air bubble ridge line on it from the laminate sticker not being applied well on mine the rest of it is easily the best of these that New Wave Toys has released.

[Bill Loguidice]

13 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

So for any that might be curious, the capture device I use in my game room captures video at the native resolution of the input source. In the case of this DL replicade, it captured it as 720p. Since the capture footage had the correct aspect ration for the actual game that means one thing. The video of the game we are viewing is likely around 640x480 or so. My guess is that the video used in this mini cab is actually a rip from the original LD format and not from the newer remasters. Is this a problem? I don't think it is because after having played many of the home releases of this game, I'm very happy that they used original LD rips where the scenes don't all have flashing indicators telling you exactly what to do as we would see on home and later releases of this game. Not sure what resolution your modern TV does there Bill but on my 50" Sony 1080p I use in my game room it looked really good! Now the opening title screens for startup are very pixelated but the actual gameplay video itself looks really good. I even like the subtle horizonal noise lines that you can see from the rip they used as it gives the overall image a very analog look to it as it was originally.

 

The 70" TV that's there is 4K, but it obviously has no problems with standard HD signals and upscaling. Again, the text is very low resolution and jaggy, but once you're in the actual game, it's not too bad. I would prefer not to mess with my surround sound settings just for that, but certainly that could be a help to restrict it to front-firing stereo. Regardless, it's nice to have the option, but not something I'll ever plan on using as there are plenty of other ways for me to play Dragon's Lair on a big screen.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

I wasn't suggesting that your TV wasn't handing it properly. But it is only a 720p resolution coming from the mini cab so a larger screen display and especially a 4k, will show more in the up-scaling vs my lower end display I'm using. And again, I wasn't suggesting you change your AV receiving settings. I was only stating that I noticed oddness with the audio output as what my capture device got was basically a mono audio signal, whereas through my headphones at the same time I was getting hard left and right panning of sounds and voices that was more distracting to be honest. 

 

I also had no issues playing the game using a spare PS4 controller plugged into it. The X button was the action, d-pad was the directions, Share button on the upper left was coin up, Option/Pause in the upper right was player 1 start. And the central PS button on the controller calls up the cabinet options to change settings with the share button exiting back out. My guess is that the game will map a second controller so that the option/pause in the case of the PS4 controller would act as both player starts for player 1 or 2 depending on which controller was likely used. I had the controller plugged into the left side USB port as you look at the back of the cab.

 

Haven't tried to use a PS3 controller or anything else but I've got them on hand and might do that over the weekend. But all in all, for me, I'm very happy with it and happy with it.

 

[negative1]

On 11/12/2020 at 11:29 PM, Tanooki said:

If you feel that a 2ft drop onto fuzzy carpet with a thick pad is me being abusive enough to break it, you're crazy.  It's not like I threw it down.  There's no excuse for the screen to drop into the system from that height.  It's a sign of being poorly built using a couple cheap thin strips of double faced tape to hold that in there.  The USB cable, they're cheap anywhere, that's understandable.  Like it or not, that's a sign of poor workmanship, so I don't know why you're getting all offended by that.  The cheapo little keychains and bridge direct mini arcade stuff is a mix of being tabbed and small screws to keep things in place.

i'm not offended.  i don't blame other people or things for my own mistakes either.

 

(then again, i don't drop things that are electronic items 2 feet onto the ground.)

 

any electronic item this expensive ($70 and up), is not some cheap toy, that can survive that.

would you treat a replicade that way, or a quarter scale arcade game that way.

 

yeah accidents happen, but its still your fault.

 

so open it up, and fix it. its not that complicated like some of other machines out there.

 

anyways, i've never had an issue with mine, maybe yours was defective.

 

later

-1

[Tanooki]

I think it was defective, and yes actually it or a replicade I would have expected to take a short drop like that onto a soft surface.  Had it hit the tile or hardwood here though, I'd count myself lucky if it hadn't cracked.  It's gone, I couldn't get it open and I saw no reason to destroy the side art ripping it to pieces to get in there to repair the screen and anything else that may have knocked loose.

[negative1]

 

On 11/10/2020 at 1:04 PM, Zoyous said:

Control-wise, as previously reported, the Tempest spinner is not a true weighted rotary controller; it is a stepped encoder which only offers a passable playing experience. The steps correspond to the "lanes" on each Tempest wave, but when entering your initials it takes three steps to advance for each letter... kind of annoying. At this point I haven't heard of any rumblings of anyone creating an improved spinner to mod these cabinets... I guess the demand isn't really there. So, after the impressive precision of the Centipede trackball, this is a letdown. Expert players will be understandably disappointed, although they might not be interested to begin with since it's not ergonomically comfortable. For most people looking for a 5 or 10-minute play session every once in a while, it's not going to be a dealbreaker... but for someone with a casual interest, would they spend this much? Ultimately it's cool as an object to look at, and maybe that's enough for people who admire the design of the cabinet.

 

i got the replicade tempest on monday. due to work and other things. i have had 2 full hours to play it, including another hour today.

 

there's nothing to note about the cabinet or the game, that hasn't been said already, by pretty much everyone:

1) quality - excellent   2) artwork - excellent 3) sound - very good   4)  price - expensive  5) weight - light for its size 6) spinner - two sizes, incremental

 

2 things to note: i think default out of the box, is the initial version 

a) apparently there is lag

b) apparently there is some inertia effect

 

I didn't notice either one. not sure which version you had, but you never mentioned a firmware upgrade

 

if you go through these steps : https://newwavetoys.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/43000490770-tempest-firmware-update-to-address-gameplay-lag

it 'fixes the issues'

 

i did NOT do this.

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

ergonomics - terrible, this is a toy, meant to be put on a shelf and looked at and not played seriously

 

start buttons - miniscule

 

fire button - miniscule

 

super zapper - miniscule

 

small spinner - tiny

larger spinner - still too small

 

spacing - is scale to arcade, but here, feels very cramped, and for an adult trying to use the 'spinner'

is futile, because your hand will rub against the right side.

 

(for comparison my arcade has the reverse problem with your hand hitting the left side panel,

to use a joystick)

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

gameplay thoughts after 2 hours of playing.

 

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

i had to pretty much put my right arm, and elbow vertically upwards to use the spinner in some way.

 

day 1 - hour 1

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

the first several games i played (starting at level 7) lasted a few waves. after about a half hour, i got

to level 16, the last of the blue waves, and scored about 110k, most games lasted about 10-15 minutes.

 

some games i restarted from 7, others i continued from higher levels to keep going on.

 

day 2 - hour 2 (today)

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

after kind of getting used to the spinner, it took about 20 minutes to get up to the red levels (level 17),

and the rest of the half hour, played the game until about level 20 before calling it quits to write this

review, and take a screenshot of scoreboard.

 

Got to 134k :

 

 

 

Verdict : you can play games that range from 5 min-30 min easily, if you start from the beginning, i think my highest game

i played for about 20 minutes to get the high score.

 

Spinner (slightly larger one) - i had NO ISSUES with it all, in fact it worked excellently, because you never need to spin it or move

it fast. the PROPER way to play the game is move from one lane to another as little as possible. most levels you can sit in one

spot, and time your firing shots without even having to move

 

ISSUES - THE BUTTONS ARE THE WEAKEST PART OF THE MACHINE, THEY CONSTANTLY FAIL, and DO NOT RESPOND WELL AT ALL.

 

Thats whats holding me back right now. When you get to the Red/Yellow/Light Blue levels, you have to tap the buttons to fire,

you can't just hold it down, or you will die quickly.

 

Now, I will keep playing it for another week or two. I expect to get into the yellow levels, and if i can figure out how to film some 

gameplay, i might.

 

But right now, i'm holding it in my lap, and tilting it back awkwardly to play it to make room for my elbows. so it's not possible

to film it at all.

 

Final thoughts:

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

NOTHING WRONG WITH THE DIAL/SPINNER in playing it to upper levels (although i have to get to yellow to really be sure)

 

THE BUTTONS ARE TERRIBLE and make the game unplayable for experts, unless i can figure out how to time using them.

 

is it worth the money to play. NO WAY, not for $100-$120, but for a 'TOY' to put on a shelf, maybe $50-$75.

 

Ok, i'll hunt down the centipede unless someone wants to lend me one, to report on that also.

 

 

later

-1

Edited November 18, 2020 by negative1

[ComputerSpaceFan]

I played the Tempest at PRGE last year and I was surprised how playable it was. Yes the spinner is not authentic but I did find it playable.

Ordered one when I saw they were running out of stock so I might try that firmware update if I need to. Good to know it exists, thanks negative1

[negative1]

tempest replicade : day 3, 

 

spent 2 more hours with it, played several games, 1 game took about 45 minutes or so,

and got up to the yellow levels, with some continues in the reds...

 

score : 273k   round : 34

 

 

 

So at this point, i probably won't get much further, because it will take weeks to get better,

and get to the light blue levels, the invisible levels, and the green levels. (which i've never gotten

to without savestates).

 

anyways, the dial is fine on it, and the buttons are the real issue, so forget about ever trying to master it.

 

will keep an eye out for centipede, and eventually dig dug, if it ever comes out.

 

later

-1

 

 

 

[Zoyous]

12 hours ago, negative1 said:

anyways, the dial is fine on it, and the buttons are the real issue, so forget about ever trying to master it.

 

will keep an eye out for centipede, and eventually dig dug, if it ever comes out.

Interesting, so it's the buttons that are more of an issue than the spinner. If that's the case, I wonder how you'd fare with Centipede. Because I don't think there's any issue with precision when it comes to that trackball. Personally I hold down the button most of the time in Centipede, but I'm not a high level player at it.

 

Next up is Asteroids, which is all buttons. Unfortunately judging by their silhouette previews of upcoming cabinets, it doesn't look like they have any plans to do Asteroids Deluxe. That's too bad because that would be visually stunning with the mirrored background/screen.

[ComputerSpaceFan]

10 hours ago, Zoyous said:

judging by their silhouette previews of upcoming cabinets

I've been looking at those silhouettes .... anyone hazard a guess at to what titles they are?

[negative1]

50 minutes ago, ComputerSpaceFan said:

I've been looking at those silhouettes .... anyone hazard a guess at to what titles they are?

centipede, tempest, street fighter 2, dragons lair, asteroids, 1942, missile command, ?, ?, ?

 

later

-1

[negative1]

if anyone has a centipede replicade for sale or trade:

 

 

later

-1

[negative1]

On 10/22/2020 at 4:29 PM, Zoyous said:

Oh, okay. Do you ever use a mousewheel? Or do you need a giant wheel to scroll? ? I'm telling you man, the trackball is incredibly accurate. Anyway, I can't deny these are mostly to look at. But they are playable.

 

Quote

Interesting, so it's the buttons that are more of an issue than the spinner. If that's the case, I wonder how you'd fare with Centipede. Because I don't think there's any issue with precision when it comes to that trackball. Personally I hold down the button most of the time in Centipede, but I'm not a high level player at it.

 

 

getting the centipede replicade soon. once it gets here, i will definitely be testing it to see exactly

how good it is.

 

if i can last more than a few minutes. then maybe it would have been worth it.

 

later

-1

Edited November 30, 2020 by negative1

[Zoyous]

1 hour ago, negative1 said:

getting the centipede replicade soon. once it gets here, i will definitely be testing it to see exactly

how good it is.

 

if i can last more than a few minutes. then maybe it would have been worth it.

 

later

-1

Cool! Hey, at least you'll be able to sell it for some decent money if you don't like it. To me it's the best of the three I have.

[negative1]

9 hours ago, Zoyous said:

Cool! Hey, at least you'll be able to sell it for some decent money if you don't like it. To me it's the best of the three I have.

I don't sell off things i get.

 

At worst, it will just sit on the shelf after 5 minutes. At best I might play it few more times.

 

I have at least 10 other ways of playing centipede.

 

I just wanted to see if the trackball is as good as some people claim it is. I doubt it, because no one seems to actually

play games on these things (besides pac-man).

 

later

-1

[NE146]

On another note, looks like Numskull's Space Invaders, which was scheduled to be released around now, has been pushed out to next year. Pity.. was looking forward to checking it out.

 

http://www.numskull.com/space-invaders-quarter-scale-arcade-cabinet/

 

[Tanooki]

Well I don't know about everyone just buying to use a few and not really play, but I'm not thrilled I missed out on SF2 and seeing the scalping garbage people online trying to sell them makes it all the most stinging.  I refuse to pony up that absurd amount for some new item from a grifter which is a damn shame as it looks great.  Oddly, they still see the replacement detachable 2P USB joystick modules on their site.  I bet those probably would work on a PC or mobile device with a USB jack.

[imstarryeyed]

1 hour ago, Tanooki said:

Well I don't know about everyone just buying to use a few and not really play, but I'm not thrilled I missed out on SF2 and seeing the scalping garbage people online trying to sell them makes it all the most stinging.  I refuse to pony up that absurd amount for some new item from a grifter which is a damn shame as it looks great.  Oddly, they still see the replacement detachable 2P USB joystick modules on their site.  I bet those probably would work on a PC or mobile device with a USB jack.

Those detachable controllers are great. I bought the SFII cabinet when it was announced that they were running out. I originally did not want it, as I am not a big SF fan but liked it enough to get it before it was too late.  I really am glad, it plays great and has both SF II Champ and Super SFII Turbo fighting in the cab, very cool to see Cammy on the tiny screen.  If they would have included SF Alpha II or SF Alpha 3 it would have been a perfect machine to play.

 

The controllers are just simple wired USB controllers that you connect an included USB cable to it and plug it into the unit.  The unit comes with one in the back for 2 players, but I liked them so much I bought 2 more when they went on sale a few days ago for 10 bucks a piece. I plan to give one away to my SF friend as one of his Xmas gifts and keep the other one for 2 player SF on the unit so one person does not have to use the built in controls and block the screen.

 

The little joysticks feel very high quality and look amazing and work really well.  If you are thinking of buying one I would say so, I hear they work on anything with USB.

 

 

[Tanooki]

2 hours ago, imstarryeyed said:

Those detachable controllers are great. I bought the SFII cabinet when it was announced that they were running out. I originally did not want it, as I am not a big SF fan but liked it enough to get it before it was too late. 

 

The little joysticks feel very high quality and look amazing and work really well.  If you are thinking of buying one I would say so, I hear they work on anything with USB.

Yeah that's my problem, the price I wasn't a fan of but it wasn't unreasonable.  I kept seeing coming soon, then sold out, somehow I missed it, and now I've seen a-holes hoping to net a moron wanting like upwards of $700 for the thing new.  NEVER happening.  If I knew for sure the stick worked on USB for Windows, I'd buy it as a mini arcade stick for some classic games I have, including theirs like Capcom Belt Action through Steam.

[negative1]

10 hours ago, NE146 said:

On another note, looks like Numskull's Space Invaders, which was scheduled to be released around now, has been pushed out to next year. Pity.. was looking forward to checking it out.

 

http://www.numskull.com/space-invaders-quarter-scale-arcade-cabinet/

 

I can't find any information on dig dug, which might come out last month (november), but is now pushed to next february maybe.

 

no thanks to their terrible lack of updates.

 

i preordered dig dug, but cancelled the order because they won't confirm a release date.

 

later

-1

[Zoyous]

16 hours ago, negative1 said:

I can't find any information on dig dug, which might come out last month (november), but is now pushed to next february maybe.

 

no thanks to their terrible lack of updates.

 

i preordered dig dug, but cancelled the order because they won't confirm a release date.

 

later

-1

The one thing all of these companies seem to have in common is very poor communication.

 

I did get an answer to a question I sent to New Wave Toys regarding Replicades... can you reset the high scores? Outside of flashing the firmware, no you can't.

[negative1]

6 hours ago, Zoyous said:

The one thing all of these companies seem to have in common is very poor communication.

 

I did get an answer to a question I sent to New Wave Toys regarding Replicades... can you reset the high scores? Outside of flashing the firmware, no you can't.

well numbskull had time to put this ghostbusters incense burner promo out:

 

sheesh.

 

later

-1

 

[Balloon_Jouster]

Anyone know when the Dragon's Lair Replicade is getting a restock? Thinking about getting it as a gift for a friend.

[Zoyous]

8 hours ago, Balloon_Jouster said:

Anyone know when the Dragon's Lair Replicade is getting a restock? Thinking about getting it as a gift for a friend.

Yesterday they said it will be the week of the 13th.

[negative1]

On 12/5/2020 at 12:15 AM, Balloon_Jouster said:

Anyone know when the Dragon's Lair Replicade is getting a restock? Thinking about getting it as a gift for a friend.

 

If you want to take a chance, theres on ebay at $200 so far:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NO-RESERVE-New-Wave-Toys-Dragons-Lair-RepliCade-Dragons-Arcade-Machine-12/254800147270?hash=item3b5345b346:g:KpIAAOSwIwpfzSGy

 

later

-1