Arcadeshop boards selling cheap.. copies/knockoffs?

[Phetishboy]

Rest assured, its a knock off.


Steven Gregory
arcadeshop.com

Hey Steve, any word on the metal Multi Williams Control Panels? Last time I called you (4-5 months ago), you said you had switched fabricators and were looking into it. They've been sold out for quite a while and I really need one.

 

[Deadly]

+1 - Thanks for bumping this Phet

 

[prOk]

I'm less concerned with pricing here and more concerned that someone's property is being basically stolen and pimped. Like arcadeshop's prices or don't, but unless i'm mistaken steve paid for that board to be designed and built and paid for the menu system to be written now someone else is essentially stealing it for profit. I hated it when people did something similar with flybacks and I hate it now. Don't steal from each other folks.

BOO

 

[FrizzleFried]

I'm less concerned with pricing here and more concerned that someone's property is being basically stolen and pimped. Like arcadeshop's prices or don't, but unless i'm mistaken steve paid for that board to be designed and built and paid for the menu system to be written now someone else is essentially stealing it for profit. I hated it when people did something similar with flybacks and I hate it now. Don't steal from each other folks.

BOO

I have to be honest with you. I am tore. This should be a black and white straight up no-brainer, and ultimately it IS... but I am having to fight back the urge actually.

It's not right. Plain and simply. It's not. There is, as stated above, no difference between this and the flyback situation. As much as I want it to be different, it isn't different. Perhaps it's the price that Steve charges that makes me wish it was different. Perhaps it's the way DKII is held hostage? I don't know... but I do know I want it to be different... but ultimately, it's not.

Damn. ...Pr0k is 100% on the money here. As much as it sucks.

That doesn't mean I can't hope for an eventual way to add/update my own ROMS to my legitimate board...right?

Damn you Pr0k and your morals...or at least for mentioning it.

 

[ChompingQuarters]

I have to be honest with you. I am tore. This should be a black and white straight up no-brainer, and ultimately it IS... but I am having to fight back the urge actually.

It's not right. Plain and simply. It's not. There is, as stated above, no difference between this and the flyback situation. As much as I want it to be different, it isn't different. Perhaps it's the price that Steve charges that makes me wish it was different. Perhaps it's the way DKII is held hostage? I don't know... but I do know I want it to be different... but ultimately, it's not.

Damn. ...Pr0k is 100% on the money here. As much as it sucks.

That doesn't mean I can't hope for an eventual way to add/update my own ROMS to my legitimate board...right?

Damn you Pr0k and your morals...or at least for mentioning it.

DAMN YOU Pr0k!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

+1.5

 

[shilmover]

I'm less concerned with pricing here and more concerned that someone's property is being basically stolen and pimped. Like arcadeshop's prices or don't, but unless i'm mistaken steve paid for that board to be designed and built and paid for the menu system to be written now someone else is essentially stealing it for profit. I hated it when people did something similar with flybacks and I hate it now. Don't steal from each other folks.

BOO

I agree, but would go even further... Its one thing to have a knock off. But it takes a totally different type of person to sell these knock offs as the real thing! That really sucks!

 

[VectorJunkie]

Is Arcadeshop licensing all of the titles that work on their board?

 

[shilmover]

Is Arcadeshop licensing all of the titles that work on their board?

Now that's a whole new can of worms...

 

[prOk]

Is Arcadeshop licensing all of the titles that work on their board?

Nope, which is why they don't come with any roms.. It's YOU that has that responsibility

 

[retroACTIVE]

I'm less concerned with pricing here and more concerned that someone's property is being basically stolen and pimped. Like arcadeshop's prices or don't, but unless i'm mistaken steve paid for that board to be designed and built and paid for the menu system to be written now someone else is essentially stealing it for profit. I hated it when people did something similar with flybacks and I hate it now. Don't steal from each other folks.

BOO

Exactly... and to compound the issue, being that Arcadeshop IS the official distributor of these boards, who do you think would pay for adding more games???? I can't imagine it happens on its own. Whether we like the cost or frequency of updates is really not the issue... if Arcadeshop looses revenue here, so down the tubes goes new game development.

 

[FrizzleFried]

When I thought these were identical boards I was OK with the situation... I figured someone got a hold of Clay or some other channel and got some boards to sell...decided to make less of a profit margin than Steve and priced accordingly.

Things change when it becomes apparent someone copied the board...

 

[oldskoolcoin]

Fact of the matter is they are cheaper so people will buy it. Everyone loses out in the long run, but at least you saved some money! Same reason there are no manufacturing jobs in the US anymore, but on a smaller scale. Buy a cheaply made Chinese item, quality sucks, lasts half as long, works like poop, but hey it was cheap! People need to start thinking about the big picture. I own neither board by the way.

 

[savit4l8r]

Things change when it becomes apparent someone copied the board...

What is the difference between a (copied) arcadeshop board and a 48 in 1, aside from the fact that arcadeshop is actively selling theirs and the 48 in 1 OEMs are not? Are they not essentially the same thing? I do agree that pirating a board (arcadeshop's) is wrong. I own a 48 in 1. These positions are at odds, no? (Note: all this is a serious question)

 

[FrizzleFried]

What is the difference between a (copied) arcadeshop board and a 48 in 1, aside from the fact that arcadeshop is actively selling theirs and the 48 in 1 OEMs are not? Are they not essentially the same thing? I do agree that pirating a board (arcadeshop's) is wrong. I own a 48 in 1. These positions are at odds, no? (Note: all this is a serious question)

Lots of gray. But you to touch on a reason... there is no original manufacturer of the 48-in-1...well, I guess that would be the (A) version vs the (B) version... but we seem to little care to whether a Chinese company is copying a Taiwanese company... but when it hits home ...

 

[oldskoolcoin]

but we seem to little care to whether a Chinese company is copying a Taiwanese company... but when it hits home ...

As it should be.

 

[mattosborn]

When I thought these were identical boards I was OK with the situation... I figured someone got a hold of Clay or some other channel and got some boards to sell...decided to make less of a profit margin than Steve and priced accordingly.

Things change when it becomes apparent someone copied the board...

Take a look at who has been selling these boards... peddlers of Chinese junk. Did anyone seriously think they were buying a legit board?
The people selling these bootlegs probably have a higher profit margin than Steve, as they paid nothing for the development.

 

[retroACTIVE]

What is the difference between a (copied) arcadeshop board and a 48 in 1, aside from the fact that arcadeshop is actively selling theirs and the 48 in 1 OEMs are not? Are they not essentially the same thing? I do agree that pirating a board (arcadeshop's) is wrong. I own a 48 in 1. These positions are at odds, no? (Note: all this is a serious question)

Personally I think they are separate issues all together. Its kind of like two different types of machinery designed to play music right? You have two different formats of media but essentially they do the same thing.... now whether you choose to seal your records / tapes is your issue but ultimately its not the device's responsibility to police you (although there are certainly examples of where the device is actually policing copyrighted material today).

Personally I think the 48 in 1 is a bit worse than the AS platform... it already has content on it which is not theirs to begin with and they are copied and being sold that way. The AS board is simply a "player" if you will, content (although its unclear whether or not you can make the argument "my Ms. Pac PCB is broken therefore I can put the ROMS on this board") is your responsibility.

Just thoughts...

 

[RedWolfJC]

When I thought these were identical boards I was OK with the situation... I figured someone got a hold of Clay or some other channel and got some boards to sell...decided to make less of a profit margin than Steve and priced accordingly.

Things change when it becomes apparent someone copied the board...

I'm torn on this one, as clearly the AS board is a mechanism to profit on other peoples IP anyway. Unless I'm mistaken there are no licensed games or "public domain" games that can be used on the board, and even if there was just ask Napster if creating something that can be used for both legal and illegal purposes helped them at all...
That being said, it still sucks and is bad for the community when someone has their work cloned, and ultimately does stifle innovation. I wonder if Jrok's multiwilliams board will eventually suffer the same fate (though the low cost and limited availability may slow that down)
Last, if the OP was sold an "Authentic Arcadeshop Board" or something similar, then yeah, that's bad, deceptive, whatever, it would be like if someone threw in a 48-1 in a Pac Man and turned off all of the other games and said there was a PacMan board inside... That being said, if someone (one of the multiboard sellers) has a list of boards in the FS forum, and they include the 48-1, 60-1, 100-1 Neo, etc and they have the Arcadeshop board listed too, I would think it's pretty clear where they're getting them from, but maybe that's just me.
Just my opinion, not trying to piss anyone off or anything...

Edit: apparently I'm not the only one who feels this way and I need to type faster

 

[Lindsey]

Take a look at who has been selling these boards... peddlers of Chinese junk. Did anyone seriously think they were buying a legit board?
The people selling these bootlegs probably have a higher profit margin than Steve, as they paid nothing for the development.

What makes you think the AS boards are not made in China?

 

[oldskoolcoin]

What makes you think the AS boards are not made in China?

Everythings made in China. That's the problem.