Level42
New member
Not mine, but we saved this from a warehouse and I think it's a very rare cab (especially in the Bertolino version). Just wanted to share some pics.
The fun thing is that the new owner plugged it in, and it was working great right away, with an excellent picture
The cab is in fabulous condition condidering it's age. The sides are almost in perfect shape still. The only bad thing is that there is stuff scratched into the bezel and also some cigarette damage. I hope Rob can get it out with the Micro-Mesh set I suggested to him.
So, how special is this one. Well more special then you may think. First, this game was designed by Toru Iwatani, and then of course all you guys know that he was the man who would (a couple of years later) design Puckman
Now, of course I cannot be sure about this, but I have a feeling that Namco designed Gee Bee after they'd been sued by Atari, after Namco had illegally built Break-Out cabinets.
(see http://www.rotheblog.com/2009/11/arcade/rare-namco-breakout-flyer-hits-arcadeflyers-com/)
The big difference is that Gee Bee actually uses a microprocessor. The PCB already looks a bit like a Pac Man PCB (forgot to take a pic though)...
This game was licensed to Gremlin in the US AND to Bertolino in Europe.
Here's the Japanese cab:
Note the orange CP and the typical (and highly sought-after) Japanese P1 and P2 buttons.
The Bertolino looks actually very much like an Atari Breakout when you compare them. Since Bertolino also built Atari cabs in license maybe they "borrowed" the P1 and P2 start buttons from them....
The Bertolino logo is on the Marquee and on the CP. P1,P2 buttons ans serve button are clearly Atari style. The turning knob is much bigger than the original. Of course the "usual" shiny Euro coin door, but I haven't seen a single-mech one like this before..
The blue in the marquee looks a bit darker. I love it they still have the Japanese characters in there (at least, I think so !):
The fun thing is that the new owner plugged it in, and it was working great right away, with an excellent picture
The cab is in fabulous condition condidering it's age. The sides are almost in perfect shape still. The only bad thing is that there is stuff scratched into the bezel and also some cigarette damage. I hope Rob can get it out with the Micro-Mesh set I suggested to him.
So, how special is this one. Well more special then you may think. First, this game was designed by Toru Iwatani, and then of course all you guys know that he was the man who would (a couple of years later) design Puckman
Now, of course I cannot be sure about this, but I have a feeling that Namco designed Gee Bee after they'd been sued by Atari, after Namco had illegally built Break-Out cabinets.
(see http://www.rotheblog.com/2009/11/arcade/rare-namco-breakout-flyer-hits-arcadeflyers-com/)
The big difference is that Gee Bee actually uses a microprocessor. The PCB already looks a bit like a Pac Man PCB (forgot to take a pic though)...
This game was licensed to Gremlin in the US AND to Bertolino in Europe.
Here's the Japanese cab:
Note the orange CP and the typical (and highly sought-after) Japanese P1 and P2 buttons.
The Bertolino looks actually very much like an Atari Breakout when you compare them. Since Bertolino also built Atari cabs in license maybe they "borrowed" the P1 and P2 start buttons from them....
The Bertolino logo is on the Marquee and on the CP. P1,P2 buttons ans serve button are clearly Atari style. The turning knob is much bigger than the original. Of course the "usual" shiny Euro coin door, but I haven't seen a single-mech one like this before..
The blue in the marquee looks a bit darker. I love it they still have the Japanese characters in there (at least, I think so !):