Zoyous Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 Looks cool! What's the button to the right of the joystick for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
negative1 Posted July 22, 2020 Author Share Posted July 22, 2020 1 hour ago, Zoyous said: Looks cool! What's the button to the right of the joystick for? I forgot to put it has super pac-man on it also. If you watch the video. later -1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toaddio Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 (edited) That’s a good deal for Ms. Pac-Man. Edited July 22, 2020 by Toaddio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
negative1 Posted July 22, 2020 Author Share Posted July 22, 2020 thanks cooltoy: later -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
negative1 Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 Detailed look: later -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
negative1 Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 wallcade installation: later -1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_me Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 Super pacman and dig dug / pacman wallcade should have a button on the left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
negative1 Posted August 3, 2020 Author Share Posted August 3, 2020 Maybe these will come to the US: Pac-Man 40th anniversary 4-1 countercade: http://powermove.com.au/arcade1up-counter-cade-4-in-1-pac-man-40th-edt-fro-c-08182-xx-8121/ FEATURES: Four Classic Games: Pac-Man, Pac &Pal, Galaga & Dig Dug 8" color LCD screen provides sharp images. Vintage-style joystick offers more control and new ways to play and interact with games. Tabletop design with commercial-grade construction compact enough to fit in a small area. Original artwork it's a perfect stylish addition to your home, dorm room, or office. Frogger / Time Pilot http://powermove.com.au/arcade1up-counter-cade-frogger-8128/ FEATURES: Two Classic Games: Include Frogger & Time Pilot 8" color LCD screen provides sharp images. Vintage-style joystick offers more control and new ways to play and interact with games. Tabletop design with commercial-grade construction compact enough to fit in a small area. Original artwork - it's a perfect stylish addition to your home, dorm room, or office. later -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
negative1 Posted August 6, 2020 Author Share Posted August 6, 2020 Best buy has pre-orders for ms pac-man and pac-man countercades for $149, but these come with 4 games (not sure about what for pac-man): https://www.bestbuy.com/site/arcade1up-ms-pacman-countercade/6416406.p?skuId=6416406 https://www.bestbuy.com/site/arcade1up-pacman-countercade/6416408.p?skuId=6416408 later -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
negative1 Posted August 7, 2020 Author Share Posted August 7, 2020 Here are the arcade 1up information for those new countercades: And when you’re in the mood to switch it up, you’ve got three other classics: PAC & PAL™, GALAGA™, and DIG DUG™ at your fingertips…yes, all included! https://arcade1up.com/collections/counter-cade/products/pac-man™-40th-counter-cade You’ve also got the classics PAC-MAN™PLUS, GALAGA™, and DIG DUG™ll https://arcade1up.com/collections/counter-cade/products/ms-pac-man™-counter-cade later -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoyous Posted August 7, 2020 Share Posted August 7, 2020 These are cool, but I thought in January they said the new line of Countercades was gonna be more like $99. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted August 7, 2020 Share Posted August 7, 2020 4 minutes ago, Zoyous said: These are cool, but I thought in January they said the new line of Countercades was gonna be more like $99. They technically hit that price point at QVC. If you want the extra two games, it looks it's the extra $50 at Walmart (and less nice looking trim in my opinion). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
negative1 Posted August 7, 2020 Author Share Posted August 7, 2020 1 hour ago, Bill Loguidice said: They technically hit that price point at QVC. If you want the extra two games, it looks it's the extra $50 at Walmart (and less nice looking trim in my opinion). Both of them are wrong looking (pink and yellow), the original ms pac-man had no colored trim, it was just black. later -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 On 8/7/2020 at 2:18 PM, negative1 said: Both of them are wrong looking (pink and yellow), the original ms pac-man had no colored trim, it was just black. later -1 Sure, but I was just making the point that I think the pink trim is much better looking in this case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
negative1 Posted August 12, 2020 Author Share Posted August 12, 2020 4-1 Ms. Pac-Man countercade review: later -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
negative1 Posted August 20, 2020 Author Share Posted August 20, 2020 comparison of the new countercades size on the left, compared to the original cabinet (not screen) on the right: later -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 I've had the Walmart version of the Ms. Pac-Man with the four games instead of two for about a week now. I had a heck of a time getting the dust out from between the plexiglass and the LCD screen, but fortunately it's easy enough to take apart. There are also some minor white marks under the control deck protector. Even though they're a bit distracting, it's more important not to have any marks on the plexiglass/screen. The joystick is excellent, although I do find myself hitting the P1/P2 buttons occasionally because of the cramped control panel. I'm less enthused with the action buttons, particularly the A button. It's mushy instead of clicky like the joystick, so I find it slower to respond in a game like Galaga. That may be something I'll want to replace at some point. Straight on, the screen looks OK, but any time you go off to the side, it washes out. The visuals seem a bit soft overall - it needs to be sharper - and I'm not too thrilled about the whites. Emulation performance seems OK, and I really didn't notice the audio issues others have pointed out. This is NOT worth the $150 in my opinion. It might be a stretch at the $99 for the 4 game version (that's a little less than the 2 game version price at the moment), but I think that might be more inline with the value. It's a very nice looking cabinet and I appreciate the screen orientation being correct for all of the built-in games, but I'm let down again by the overall screen quality, the overall look of the games, and the performance of the action buttons. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoyous Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 (edited) 8 hours ago, Bill Loguidice said: This is NOT worth the $150 in my opinion. It might be a stretch at the $99 for the 4 game version (that's a little less than the 2 game version price at the moment), but I think that might be more inline with the value. It's a very nice looking cabinet and I appreciate the screen orientation being correct for all of the built-in games, but I'm let down again by the overall screen quality, the overall look of the games, and the performance of the action buttons. That's a bit disappointing! The other thing I don't like about these cabs (all Arcade1up cabs AFAIK) is the volume switch. How much more can it really cost to put in a dial or fader? I think it would be well worth it for an improved user experience. Edited August 20, 2020 by Zoyous Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
negative1 Posted August 21, 2020 Author Share Posted August 21, 2020 (edited) 19 hours ago, Zoyous said: That's a bit disappointing! The other thing I don't like about these cabs (all Arcade1up cabs AFAIK) is the volume switch. How much more can it really cost to put in a dial or fader? I think it would be well worth it for an improved user experience. The volume is variable. Didn't say it wasn't. Watch the reviews 2:20 of the cooltoy one. And every detroit love video. The controls are better than the earlier versions. My review for the QVC version will be up later today. It's well worth it for the $86 of the cost. later -1 Edited August 21, 2020 by negative1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted August 21, 2020 Share Posted August 21, 2020 19 hours ago, Zoyous said: That's a bit disappointing! The other thing I don't like about these cabs (all Arcade1up cabs AFAIK) is the volume switch. How much more can it really cost to put in a dial or fader? I think it would be well worth it for an improved user experience. Unlike the past models, this one at least controls the volume in a proper way, so I'd say that's not one of the concerns with the product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoyous Posted August 21, 2020 Share Posted August 21, 2020 8 minutes ago, negative1 said: The volume is variable. Didn't say it wasn't. Watch the reviews 2:20 of the cooltoy one. 1 minute ago, Bill Loguidice said: Unlike the past models, this one at least controls the volume in a proper way, so I'd say that's not one of the concerns with the product. Oh, it is a fader? Okay, that is a good improvement. Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
negative1 Posted August 22, 2020 Author Share Posted August 22, 2020 Ms. Pac-Man arcade 1up countercade (QVC version) review: --------------------------------------------------------------------- ok people, sit back and relax. here's the review for new ms pac man countercade. (QVC 2 game version) there are a few reviews on youtube so far, cooltoy and detroit love have both covered it. ms pac man is an interesting choice for Arcade 1up. It is part of the 3rd wave of titles, and is one of the initial titles of the revised countercades. there is a walmart/best buy version of this that has different coloring, and a total of 4 games, which is also more expensive. background on countercades ==================================== arcade 1up came up with releasing countercades for the bigger titles. gen 1 pac-man, galaga, and centipede. gen 2 dig dug, space invaders gen 3 ms pac man (QVC, HSN), pac-man, pac-man 40th, frogger gen 1 and 2 started out at $199, but after several months dropped to $149 and $99 clearance. they had large bezels, and were much wider and heavier. gen 3 are targeted for $99 for 2 games, and $149 for 4 games gen 3 have much smaller bezels, are lighter, and slimmer too. they also have variable sound switch, which allows for more control over the volume. i'm not going to bother going over the pro's and con's or the basic information about the games, sounds, lists, etc. as they are sometimes personal opinions, or have already been gone over many times already. these are my opinions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- the long review follows: i am going to go into gameplay details, response times, and control mechanics for the games i know. ================================================================================ background - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- i have been playing videogames from the days of pong, breakout and space invaders i stopped playing them in the late 90's, and 00's when deluxe units were the norm. i do know most of the atari, williams, namco, and capcom library inside and out. i am NOT an expert at every game, but have played all of them either extensively in the arcade when they originally came out, at home in MAME, and in pretty much every port on PC, console, and remake that has come out. hardware control experience ---------------------------- i have used arcade controls, buttons, trackballs and spinners since they came out. i have home versions of those controls, and actually don't use dpads or analog stick on any console unless i'm forced to. my preference is always dedicated controls for arcade games arcade gaming habits ----------------------- i play arcade games, or ports pretty much every day, through the 80's, i stopped in the 90's, and then picked up mame, and played it every day for a few years. stopped again, until the 2nd year of the xbox 360. got gameroom, and pretty much every arcade game, and port on those systems. i have continued this when ports started showing up on the xbox one. i have played them on the playstation also, but only the original and PS2, and now the PSP 2000. lately, over the last couple of years, i have been playing arcade ports and games everyday for a least a few hours. i usually place in the top 1-10 place on games that i'm an expert in, and below that on other games. as far as ms pac man is concerned, i have yet to master the game, and get to the killscreen (142 boards). the home versions ports have all been patched to get to level 256, and then restarts at level 1 but still with no energizers working, and slow movement. i have gotten about 340,000 which is several boards into the 'slow' no blink levels. as far super pac-man goes, i've gotten about the same score with 300,000 plus, but have not memorized all the patterns for the higher levels. back when it was originally in the arcades, i used to play ms pac man quite a bit, but usually got about to 100,000 and the junior levels and died. maybe 200,000 in super pac-man, and died also after getting a few extra men. i do remember the turbo version of ms pac man coming out, and since it was much easier, after a few months, i could get to the killscreen pretty easily, after a few hours. i didn't know it was a bootleg mod though. ------------------------- i've recently gotten back into ms pac man over the last few years, and since all the official versions are the normal speed ms pac man, it seemed much harder. after learning how to group after a few years, i can finally play a lot better, and got used to the speed, so it doesn't seem as slow as i remember it being. ====================================== now with that out of the way, lets get to the actual countercade time spent playing ========================================================================== i have spent a few hours playing ms pac man, since i'm more familiar with that game, and probably an hour or two playing super pacman. ms pac man - countercade (bartop) ========================================================================== condition - after the numerous complaints about the first series of machines that came out, arcade 1up has made a few fixes that have trickled down to these countercades. these machines are pre-assembled, all you have to do is plug them in. the control panel does come with a clear acrylic protector over it, so the artwork won't wear out. its held in with 2 screws, 1 on each side. the joysticks and buttons (clicky) are again a slight improvement over the previous generation stock ones. they're not arcade quality, but do the job for now. they matched the arcade ones with using white for the player credit buttons, the player starts, the volume and on off switches. they also added a button for speed up in super pac-man. durability - the unit is constructed fairly well, it has significant weight for its size. it doesn't wobble, and doesn't move unless you jostle it with a lot of strength when playing. if you put it on carpet, or a non-slip surface on a table, you should be fine. perhaps not on a floor, or just plain wood though, as it would possibly slide. the control panel is solid, and supports both hands easily, with no flexing or bending. the side panels are thick and supportive. the marquee is also solid. the top panel, and back, are thinner, and allow for easy removal. the screws holding all the panels fit well, and are tight, so there is no movement. ergonomics - one of my major complaints about the stand up cabinets is that the control panel were not placed at an angle, they were flat. fortunately for these units, they are placed at a slight upward angle, making it much easier on the wrists when playing. especially for long periods of time. visuals - the artwork is printed in decent quality, scaled and cropped to fit, and same with everything else on the control panel. it looks well done, and mine didn't have any scratches or marks on it. for this version they applied a pink trim around the edges, whereas the arcade version was a plain black. screen - the screen is an 8 inch LCD screen that is of average quality. not great on the viewing angles, but with the distance that you will be sitting to play this, it is actually decent in size, and clarity. the colors are a little oversaturated than expected. gameplay - ms pac man ====================================================================================== ms pac man is a very basic game. you control your player with 1 four directional joystick. you traverse the maze eating dots and avoiding the ghosts. the fruit is not stationary like in pac-man, and travels around the maze (two per screen). there are 4 total mazes to go through, and 3 intermission screens. the last 2 mazes have 2 color schemes (orange, dark blue, pink, brown), that repeat until the killscreen. i played several games and noted the following: ----------------------------------------------- 1) namco revision of the game - standard version, has all 4 mazes, and sounds right, grouping works just like the arcade version. 2) default settings - 3 men start, 1 extra at 10k 3) difficulty - there are no difficulty settings, just a default, same as the arcade 4) highscores are saved when machine is unplugged 5) new loading font, new arcade 1up menu screens and sounds when selecting game i played until 212k (the first set of pink chase boards), and will post a video of gameplay of higher scores. as far as emulation goes, i did not detect any noticeable lag in the gameplay. the sound was mostly accurate, and at a decent level. there is some odd pixel scaling since it is not at 7:9. THE MYTH OF 'SLOW' VERSION ================================================================== Here is the information taken from the pac-man dossier: https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3938/the_pacman_dossier.php?print=1 Pac-Man Speed Ghost Speed LEVEL NORM NORM DOTS FRIGHT FRIGHT DOTS NORM FRIGHT TUNNEL ----------------------------------------------- ------------------------- 1 80% 71% 90% 79% 75% 50% 40% ----------------------------------------------- -------------------------- 2 - 4 90% 79% 95% 83% 85% 55% 45% ----------------------------------------------- -------------------------- 5 - 20 100% 87% 100% 87% 95% 60% 50% ----------------------------------------------- -------------------------- 21+ 90% 79% - - 95% - 50% ----------------------------------------------- -------------------------- NOTE : ======================================================================= Although this data is for pac-man, ms pac-man inherits this information and so it applies to this game also. Board 17 in ms pac man is like the 5th key in pac-man, and the first time the ghosts don't blink when you eat the energizers. Boards 19,20 are like the 6th, and 7th keys where they don't blink either. Board 21, is like the 9th key in pac-man, where the pac-man slows down, and the ghosts don't blink for the rest of the game. As it turns out, most people just aren't very good at ms pac-man. If you are able to get screen 5 (apple), you are going at full speed which is pretty fast, and the ghosts are going at 95% speed. The problem is most people can't get past the first 2 or 3 boards, so they think the game is slow. When the turbo version came out, ms pac man would go at 110-150% or 200% or more depending on what version you played. Some versions had a button which sped up everything. To me, at first, turbo was fun, because you could always outrun the ghosts. So you would last much longer. After a few months, I could hit the killscreen on level 142, after about 3-4 hours. Then it became boring and i quit. About 5 years ago, I started playing the original again for real, and started learning the strategies for higher scores. All the masters use 'grouping' to keep the ghosts together and get perfect scores on the energizer boards. After that come the slow boards on 21 and up. Where you go 90% and the the ghosts go 95%. So you have to be really patient for those until the killscreen. I don't think ms pac man is 'slow', in fact you move too fast, up until board 20. You can always outrace the ghosts on every turn, and then lead them to the tunnels to slow them down even more. You can look on youtube or read about the strategies, and your gameplay will get much better, and you can last longer. You have to be very patient when playing, since there's no time limit on the levels. You just have to learn about the spacing, and timing, and you will be able to get through a lot more boards. ======================================================================================= super pacman ============ controls for the arcade - 1 4 way joystick to move, and 1 button for speed up on the right. unfortunately that means for right handed players you will have to cross your hands to play properly with the turbo button. ---------- most people don't know this game, but it's a very fun game, and improves on the pac-man basics, with getting keys to unlock doors to areas. this time, there are no dots, you are eating fruits and other prizes on each level. there is also a bonus prize near the middle you can get also. from "KLOV": The maze layout is identical for each board, but the maze walls do change color from board to board. The "side door escape route" works just like Pac-Man you can lose the ghosts easily. There are energizers that function like Pac-Man energizers, but there are also two "super" energizers that increase your size and give you a super speed option accessed from the control panel. While at super size, pressing the super speed button will make you approximately twice as fast. Pac-Man can safely pass through ghosts when he is big. The ghosts will become longer and thinner when the super energizer is eaten. This is to give the effect of Super Pac-Man "flying" over the ghosts. If the ghosts are blue before the super energizer is eaten, they will remain regular size, and Pac-Man can eat them as a normally-energized Pac-Man would. In the middle of the maze, there is a flashing star between two boxes that display the bonus fruits or prizes: one box displays the current fruit or prize and the other displays a rotating selection of them. Pac-Man can eat the star to score points and if he eats the star when they match, there will be a large bonus score. Occasionally, there will be a bonus stage where Pac-Man will automatically be "Super" and will have to eat everything in the maze before time runs out. During this stage, there are no ghosts to pursue him. The familiar cartoon sequences also appear in this game and are perhaps some of the best of the Pac-Man series. i have played this game many times, but not to the point of mastery. the game has infinite levels, and no ending (16 levels repeat), but the score maxes out at 10,000,000. i can hit about 300k and get through several rounds, but haven't learned all the strategies yet. things noted --------------- 1 there was an old and new ROM revision for this, i'm not sure which one this is 2 default is 3 men start extra at 100k, and every 100k after 3 difficulty is r8, which is slightly higher than medium difficulty 4 no continues 5 high score is saved, and you can input 3 letter initials. super pac-man is a very fun and challenging game, with many patterns and strategies to learn. the super energizers add an importan element to the gameplay as does the slowdowns and different ghost AI. as far as emulation goes, i did not detect any noticeable lag in the gameplay. the sound was mostly accurate, and at a decent level. there is some odd pixel scaling since it is not at 7:9. unfortunately, unlike the arcade, they did NOT put a speed button on the left side for right hand players, so it's hard to play unless you cross your hands. tldr version: ============================== controls are not arcade accurate - but actually, and surprisingly do the job for average players, they are subpar for intermediate and expert players games play near arcade accuracy - framerate, and response is decent, graphics are blocky and pixelly of course due to an incorrect scaling option used, instead of 7:9 [most likely the monitor is 3:4] sound - decent, loud enough but not overdone screen angles are shallow - but are pretty vibrant enough in most cases - color is ok, but over saturated =================================================================================== Final thoughts ---------------- A valiant, and in the end decent experience, if you're going for nostalgia, and love ms pac man, and are ok with the compromises for that and super pac-man. overall, i would give 1up countercade a grade of C for effort. B for quality and longevity, B for emulation, C for graphics. So an average of B- overall grading, or 3.5/5 stars for the price. --------- Take into account the games you like, how much you will play them, and how rough these things will be handled. If you don't play often, these things will last and look good. If you do play often, they WILL wear out, the buttons, the controls, etc, eventually. Modding the buttons and joysticks, will do some good perhaps, but in the end, you will have to decide how much you want to upgrade. --------- I have this upgrade planned - new arcade quality joystick --- The price was not a factor to me, and is at the low end of bartop kit models. every other prebuilt or configured one is several hundred dollars more, and usually unlicensed. the official namco multigame bartop goes for $2k, so that's for the rich. i don't recommend these bartops to anyone looking for accurate gameplay, arcade quality controls, or bargains. they are mostly for collectors, and fans of the game. other options will suit your needs much better than these. but like the stand up units, are excellent bases to begin making mods on, to make them much more useful and enjoyable. this smaller form factor will make it harder to put more components into it though. later -1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
negative1 Posted August 22, 2020 Author Share Posted August 22, 2020 (edited) 2nd game of Ms. Pac-Man countercade - 272k - level 18 Got 1 level past 17, which is the first level energizers don't work. Died on pretzel, and twice on last set of junior boards. Colors are shifted due to shooting from side, and sorry its low resolution. Camera shot 1 hour of video, so i had to join clips, will use camcorder next time: later -1 Edited August 22, 2020 by negative1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah98 Posted August 22, 2020 Share Posted August 22, 2020 17 hours ago, negative1 said: The volume is variable. Didn't say it wasn't. Watch the reviews 2:20 of the cooltoy one. And every detroit love video. The controls are better than the earlier versions. My review for the QVC version will be up later today. It's well worth it for the $86 of the cost. later -1 It looks like QVC raised the price to $112.50 + $12.50 shipping. Definitely not worth it when you can spend a little more to get the 4 game version. So much for $99... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoyous Posted August 22, 2020 Share Posted August 22, 2020 19 hours ago, negative1 said: i do know most of the atari, williams, namco, and capcom library inside and out. Out of curiosity, have you tried Pac-Man Championship Edition [2007], and if so, what do you think of it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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