NEW Help! First vector game what should I get?

Buynsell

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I've been collecting games for about seven years now and am hooked! I have about 20 games in my collection and rotate them in and out frequently to keep it fresh. I would like to add a vector game to the arcade but I am torn between two very different games,any help or input would be great!

Star Wars: this game is for sale locally and I have been talking to the guy for a while. I remember playing when I was a kid but didn't play too often. Now that I'm older it looks like something I would really get into. What are your thoughts?

Tempest: this game is also for sale locally. I don't remember ever playing it when I was young, but have played it as an adult and again can see myself really getting into the game. What are your thoughts?

Both of these games are fully working and look decent from the pictures. I plan on looking in person this weekend. Initially I was going right for the Tempest, but the Star Wars came up and my son loves Star Wars, so now I'm torn...

I would love to get both, but simply don't have the money. Anyone out there have both games in their collection? Which one do you like or play more? Please let me know any input would be great thanks!
 
Tempest for the fun factor. (First color vector; add multigame kit to make it better)

Star Wars ... because it's Star Wars. (Maintains value; add ESB multigame kit to make it perfect)

I would buy both. Find the $$$ to make it so. :)
If I had to pick one, I'd pick Tempest.
If these are local, then since Tempest is more common, I'd pick the SW. (As a Tempest "might" come available again before a SW).

Oh, decisions .... decisions .... decisions.
Don't hesitate too long, as you might not get either.
 
Star Wars is always fun. Disney will push that theme beyond our kids' kids' kids' so it'll always be curious to visitors.

Tempest is just cool. It is fun for all ages for a few waves, the sounds are awesome and it looks great in an arcade.
 
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Both, because c'mon, you're going to have both in your collection at some point! Lay off the beer and cigars for a month to afford it. :)

Star Wars (with ESB kit!) is approachable by anyone if you have lots of visitors in your game room. It's also a railed game, it may get boring to you after a while. It would also be the bigger hit with the kids and their friends I'm sure.

Tempest is just iconic as it gets and it's addicting. Has more replay potential long-term if you connect with it. Not entirely easy for people to pick up right away, and may turn off some folks just looking at it. From what I hear, Tempest also needs more upkeep effort.
 
Star Wars, as you'll run into a tempest again. It's darn impossible to emulate Star Wars on a multicade without a yoke stick. If you were to say, I'm only going to get one, and never the other...get Tempest for replay factor. If you ultimately plan to get both, get the Star Wars now. They are going up in price faster, and I see 4-5 Tempests for sale a month.
 
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Star Wars, as you'll run into a tempest again. It's darn impossible to emulate Star Wars on a multicade.

For sure on that. Star Wars even with a real yoke is bleh on MAME.
Although, Tempest and Major Havoc play really well in MAME.
 
I was a big Star wars kid growing up and I have to say I find the actual arcade game lacking.

Sort of like Tron I guess.. Its awesome looking but for home use I dont know that it would get much play (at least by me).

It always amazed me that noone ever managed to do a great game or pin with a star wars theme.. people always seem to fuck it up. Even the new games like the Battlezones suck.
 
If you can get a good condition Star Wars cheap, snap it up. It's an investment... any collectible has peaks and valleys but if there's one arcade game that will probably never go down in value, it's that one. You will probably always be able to sell that game and get your money back, as long as you don't way overspend on it today. Plus, it's a legitimately fun game and as others have said, even people who aren't into arcade games are going to be excited to see that game in your house and will walk up and play it. Its replay value isn't outstanding but that's really the only negative I can think of (beside its price!).

Tempest is a bit more of a gamer's game, it's fun and colorful too but unlike SW it's a game you can play for years and years and it keeps challenging you. It has a reputation as a difficult game to keep running right... all vectors have that reputation and it's not always deserved, but Tempest is one of the worst of the bunch.

If you really have both of them as an option and can only afford one, get Star Wars, because you may not see an affordable one again for some time. They made about twice as many Tempests as they did Star Wars, and even though a higher percentage of SW probably survived there's still a lot more Tempests out there. It will pop up again.

Star Wars, as you'll run into a tempest again. It's darn impossible to emulate Star Wars on a multicade.

I have a multicade MAME setup that plays Star Wars, it's probably the most-played game in my collection. Built it into a Lock On cabinet and used a CRT computer monitor, so the vectors are drawn as accurately as they can be without an actual vector monitor. It also has ESB, ROTJ, Paperboy, STUN Runner, Red Baron, Tailgunner, and a few other yoke/flight stick type games.

Tempest for the fun factor. (First color vector; add multigame kit to make it better)

The first color vector released was actually Space Fury.
 
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They're both cool, but Tempest is a far better value IMO.

SW is a neat cab, and has the historic/coolness factor, but for my quarter it gets old quick.

If you want a true classic game, which is simple yet deep, and will grow with you as you progress in skill for a long time to come, then go with Tempest. I've been playing seriously (and repairing them) for a few years, and I only recently got to the point where I could beat level 81. And the game still never gets old for me, as it has that addictive 'one more quarter' aspect to it, which for me, SW doesn't.
 
I have both as well. Wishing I had a Star Wars cockpit with 25" Amplifone... but I'll have to settle for my 19" upright with "red is alive" HVT :).

As for which to get, as you can see from different perspectives that is a very difficult decision, and very much an individual one. If you have not played either and you have a local arcade/barcade or two around (or an open fellow KLOVer), see if you can try both games. That should at least tell you up front which one you are more interested in playing.

As for reliability.... I think they both have their issues, and from the monitor perspective, the star wars probably has a Wells Gardner display in it (pulled from a different vector game), as the Amplifone ones tended to have their HVT die (High Voltage Transformer), and by the time that was happening, there were other Atari vectors that were not pulling in money any more, so the monitors would get robbed out of those others and put into Star Wars.

I think the Tempest game board might be a little less reliable, but one thing that doesn't help Tempest is that inter-board connection cable. Cold solder joints form around the pins (as they do in monitors, Williams games of the era, etc) to create havoc. Star wars replaced that idea with a little "backplane" with edge connectors which improved inter-board connection reliability.

As the vector monitors get harder and harder to find, the value of both games will rise, as a working vector monitor is > $500 on its own these days (may depend on you local area some too). The Star Wars one, because it is "Star Wars" though, will appreciate in value simply due to it being "Star Wars". It may appreciate faster in value.... so if you think you'll want both at a point, you might want to start with the Star Wars if you can only get one right now.

Vector games are a lot of fun. There is something about the fast motion and crispness of them that rasters of the same era just didn't generally have. My own collection is probably around 1/3rd vector games.

Good luck with your decision. Bear in mind that if the prices on those games is very good and others know about them, they won't last long. Your decision could be made for you.
 
They are both great for different reasons.

Tempest is a simpler game, but I don't mean that in a negative way. In fact I think a lot of the classics are classics because they are simple: the designers had to focus on gameplay rather than flashy graphics or soundtrack. It's the balance between being easily accessible for beginners with easy to understand rules versus the rate at which the difficulty increases and new wrinkles come into play that affect strategy. It inspires that feeling of "I could get a little further if I play one more game." Add the excellent color vector graphics and deep sound (the cabinet makes an excellent speaker enclosure as well as a place for the game parts to live... make sure you have the back door installed) and Tempest rules. As VC said, adding Clay Cowgill's multigame kit improves it, getting you a couple of variations (Tempest Tubes has different shaped levels, some of which really do require different gameplay) but farther afield is Vector Breakout and perhaps untold new games in the next revision.

Star Wars is more complex: more advanced from a technical standpoint (3D space, pseudo stereo, speech, etc) and of course the three different waves. Add the ESB kit and you have even more variety and more of the Star Wars story represented. The flight control yoke is unique and perfectly suited for the game. Whereas the spinner and pair of buttons in Tempest are all that are needed to play the game, the control scheme in Star Wars often results in me using my whole body... actually ducking to squeeze under a catwalk and leaning back and forth as if that would help avoid an impending collision. It gets pretty immersive. If you find an upright with the Amplifone monitor you will have a sharper and less flickery picture (vs. the WG6100 that was retrofitted into many), or if you're talking about a cockpit then you're in for a real treat.

Both of them come in uniquely shaped cabs with beautiful artwork and even have cool attract modes (Star Wars can even be set to have audio in attract).
 
I know Op asked about Tempest vs. Star Wars and I would say Tempest due to availability, price and game play are all better than Star Wars for first vector.

However, I would also offer that getting an Asteroids for your first Vector makes even more sense. Super common, less expensive (especially not working) and way less trouble keeping them running over any color vector. Bonus you can easily add Ast Dlx and Lunar Lander via multi-kit and have 3 games.
 
I know Op asked about Tempest vs. Star Wars and I would say Tempest due to availability, price and game play are all better than Star Wars for first vector.

However, I would also offer that getting an Asteroids for your first Vector makes even more sense. Super common, less expensive (especially not working) and way less trouble keeping them running over any color vector. Bonus you can easily add Ast Dlx and Lunar Lander via multi-kit and have 3 games.



Funny I was thinking exactly this when I saw the thread title. From a repair perspective, a b/w is much simpler and approachable, and Ast/AD's are a lot cheaper to purchase and maintain.

Also, I know Asteroids purists love Asteroids, but I'm partial to AD, and it's seriously one of my favorite games of all time. (And you can have all 3, Ast/AD/LL in either cab now, with the multi kit.) And though I love them both, if I had to pick only one, I'd take AD over Tempest for gameplay, though you can't beat the color vector look of Tempest.
 
Ditto, I was also going to suggest the OP get a "simpler" vector game (such as Atari Asteroids; and not one by Cine nor Sega). But he states the two color vectors are available, so the recommendations are based on those ... BECAUSE ... we all know that after he buys his FIRST VECTOR, then he'll be on the hunt to buy more ... :)
 
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