New Arcade Systems for $300

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ActRaiser
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New Arcade Systems for $300

Postby ActRaiser » August 3rd, 2018, 12:42 pm

Have you guys seen this?

https://www.polygon.com/2018/8/2/176440 ... price-drop

https://www.arcade1up.com/

You can pre-order arcade cabinets for $300. Each system will come with 3-4 games with actual arcade controls.

The downside or plus depending on how you look at it is that they are only 4 feet tall. aka you can fit a lot more into your house! They offer a separate stand to place under them or you can sit on a stool to play.

They are available for pre-order from Walmart and Gamestop. It looks like Walmart has an exclusive with Galaga and Galaxian which is cool.

Games

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They ship flat and you build it yourself. The sides all look awesome.

The Centipede one is pretty slick with its trackball. Of course, it would be hard to go wrong with a dedicated Street Fighter II machine.

My wife would kill me if I bought these now. However, after we finish our basement in our new house... :)

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VideoGameCritic
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Re: New Arcade Systems for $300

Postby VideoGameCritic » August 3rd, 2018, 4:14 pm

I love the concept but they could at least make them full size. 4 feet? Are you supposed to kneel down??

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ActRaiser
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Re: New Arcade Systems for $300

Postby ActRaiser » August 3rd, 2018, 4:47 pm

Without the riser you play them sitting down. They offer a stool or you can use your own. With a riser they go up to the height that one would see on a full size arcade machine.

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The only downside I can think of is you can't add your own games. It's a closed system. Which frankly makes sense if you want to sell as many as you can.

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Gentlegamer
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Re: New Arcade Systems for $300

Postby Gentlegamer » August 3rd, 2018, 6:09 pm

The only arcade machine I want in my house is a cocktail.

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ActRaiser
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Re: New Arcade Systems for $300

Postby ActRaiser » August 3rd, 2018, 6:41 pm

I think one of the best parts about the systems is that they tried to group games together with similar custom controls. Asteroids has the spin dial for example along with Tempest. I love that. The same goes with the Centipede and Missile Command system.

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VideoGameCritic
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Re: New Arcade Systems for $300

Postby VideoGameCritic » August 3rd, 2018, 7:00 pm

Asteroids didn't have a spin dial in the arcade - just buttons for turn right or left.

I wonder if the top parts (with the names) light up.

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ActRaiser
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Re: New Arcade Systems for $300

Postby ActRaiser » August 3rd, 2018, 7:08 pm

VideoGameCritic wrote:Asteroids didn't have a spin dial in the arcade - just buttons for turn right or left.

I wonder if the top parts (with the names) light up.


Ahhh, good to know. The marquees up top do not light up. On their FAQ they state that to keep the price down they don't light up but will offer a kit in 2019 as an add on so that you can enhance them.

newmodelarmy
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Re: New Arcade Systems for $300

Postby newmodelarmy » August 3rd, 2018, 8:00 pm

I think these area really cool and affordable. My guess is you can probably mod them at some point as well. I was in an arcade today with my daughter and they had some old school arcade games like Scramble and Dig Dug. They had little signs on them that they were for sale for $900 each. Yikes! That seems high to me although the Dig Dug machine was in near perfect shape, it looked very cool. Anyways....I am really tempted to pick up one of these machines. I am torn between the Galaga and Rampage machine. Maybe I should get both! Definitely will need to invest in the stands to make them full size. Anyway, which machine most interests you folks????

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Retro STrife
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Re: New Arcade Systems for $300

Postby Retro STrife » August 3rd, 2018, 8:36 pm

Some companies made machines like this about 10 years ago. They sold for like $400, small size like these, but with like 10-15 games each. Here's an example of a Konami one:

http://www.aceamusements.us/konami-12-i ... icade.html

It sounded cool then too, but once I saw them in person, they were pretty depressing. If these new ones are anything like those (and my guess is they are..and maybe worse), then I'd strongly advise against them. The things will be flimsy. The $300 price tag tells you everything you need to know about how crappy the materials and craftsmanship will be. And the small size really hurts their aesthetic appeal. Plus, after a couple weeks, no one will ever play the thing.

If you just want to play the games in arcade form, then I feel you're better off buying a real 60-in-1 multicade machine (might run you about $600-$1000). Or, if you want to go all out, buy an original arcade machine for a game you like (some of which sell for under $500). Then you're buying art - it looks cool and plays arcade-perfect. If you can't do those, then the compromise is to play them on PC or console with an arcade stick - the compromise shouldn't be to spend $300 on a subpar machine.

I don't mean to bash the idea -- just wanting to give perspective. Again, I just don't see a purpose for these once you consider the alternative options.

newmodelarmy
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Re: New Arcade Systems for $300

Postby newmodelarmy » August 4th, 2018, 11:11 am

Retro STrife wrote:Some companies made machines like this about 10 years ago. They sold for like $400, small size like these, but with like 10-15 games each. Here's an example of a Konami one:

http://www.aceamusements.us/konami-12-i ... icade.html

It sounded cool then too, but once I saw them in person, they were pretty depressing. If these new ones are anything like those (and my guess is they are..and maybe worse), then I'd strongly advise against them. The things will be flimsy. The $300 price tag tells you everything you need to know about how crappy the materials and craftsmanship will be. And the small size really hurts their aesthetic appeal. Plus, after a couple weeks, no one will ever play the thing.

If you just want to play the games in arcade form, then I feel you're better off buying a real 60-in-1 multicade machine (might run you about $600-$1000). Or, if you want to go all out, buy an original arcade machine for a game you like (some of which sell for under $500). Then you're buying art - it looks cool and plays arcade-perfect. If you can't do those, then the compromise is to play them on PC or console with an arcade stick - the compromise shouldn't be to spend $300 on a subpar machine.

I don't mean to bash the idea -- just wanting to give perspective. Again, I just don't see a purpose for these once you consider the alternative options.


Some excellent points. I think I will wait to see the reviews before I put my money down.


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