POLL How much would you pay for a new MULTI-VECTOR ARCADE CABINET

Forget the jig, just put a lcd touch screen on the control panel that allows you to move the buttons to where you want them. this way every game you switch to can change the control panel digitally.

The only problem with that is you won't have real buttons, just pictures of buttons which would suuuuuuuuck.

So you'd have to do the exact same thing, but with some sort of real buttons that can stick to it, so you'd need some sort of something to hold them in the right place.
 
Yeh, the marquee could be programmed to:

- display standard marquee image for selected game
- display animated marquee image for selected game
- display either static or animated marquee name - MULTI-VECTOR (or whatever user wants) when no game is selected
- pay tribute to the BATTLEZONE MYSTERY HOLES and the marquee would act as a second display repeating the action on the main vector monitor :)

Lots of options ... LOL

-Slide show cycling through all the vector marquees (synced with matching attract mode running on the main screen)
-High score display

Where to source the custom-sized LCD panel? Or build a LED-based one? The ColorDMD pinball guys had the same problem but pins have room to hide the unused parts of a standard 4:3 LCD panel.

Also, make sure the cab is deep enough for a 19" CRT, and wide enough to upgrade to a 25".

Make the control panel mounting compatible with the Atari panels.
 
I actually have a fully functioning Multi-Vector, using a 25" Amplifone Vector Monitor (all original HV/ Fly Back, Yoke, and Amplifone deflection board) housed inside a professional looking X-Arcade Cabinet. I have replaced the original glass with custom smoke glass to give it that cool dark glass vector look).

I have been working on this for 3 years (luckily, having tremendous help from a great friend who is much more tech savvy than me).

The control panel has been meticulously planned on the X-Arcade Tankstick, so it can play (most) every vector game effortlessly, and still looks great (it's not a Mame Frankenpanel!).

The only changes to the original X-Arcade Tankstick are: a) The Joysticks were replaced with sticks that have a fire button on the top, and b) an Ultimarc Spinner (with a heavy counter-weight) has been added to the panel.

I did not attempt to mount a Star Wars yoke or Major Havoc roller onto the panel (as I happen to own those two original cabinets). I also did not mount a steering wheel for Speed Freak. However, technically, a second (or third) X-Arcade Tankstick panel could be swapped in with those devices mounted if somebody was sick enough to do that :)

There were MANY set-backs and challenges along the way. This project has been a labor of love, and has taken a VERY long time. But now the PC, running the ZVG card, has been painstakingly tweaked, and configured and re-configured to the point where it's finally dialed-in beautifully! All drivers, the sound card, the spinner (which ended up being the most difficult aspect) now responds beautifully to each vector game.

Currently, a different friend (who is a programmer adept with DOS) is working on compiling and updating the Vector Mame in Dos so we can use more accurate ROMS for certain vector games that have some minor issues (no sound in Boxing Bugs, volumes in Star Trek are inconsistent, Speed Freak is incomplete, Tomcat vector game doesn't work in current VectorDos, etc etc).

By the end of the year we'll have a NEW version of VectorDos and that means we'll be able to play vector games that have never been available to play (at home) on an actual vector monitor. It's very exciting.

I have to say, this fully functioning Multi-Vector Cabinet played on a 25" Amplifone monitor is the coolest thing I have ever played and by far the coolest thing in my modest home arcade. If you love Vector Games, like I do, it's truly "Vector Heaven".

Of course, AnimesuperJ, who owns just about EVERY vector game ever made, can play all vector games on their original cabinets.... and yes, that WOULD be better! :) But Jason won't let me go over to his house every day (plus, I don't have $100,000 and the space it would take to try and own every original game) so I guess having a fully functioning Multi-Vector cabinet is the next best thing :)

I've been considering going to to smaller ZVG Multi-Vector cabinet using a 19" Amplifone lately rather than the large 25" Amp because I have such limited space in my home arcade.

To answer the poll question, I wouldn't sell my Multi-Vector (with the 25" Amplifone setup) for under $5,000. I've got about $3K in parts alone (ZVG Cards are over $700 these days and I don't even want to tell you how much time and money it took me to acquire a fully working 25" Amplifone monitor), not to mention the years of work it's taken to get this baby tweaked and the man-hours required (by a "team" of tech guys).

But if you think about it, $5K for 35+ Vector Games, all in one cabinet on a beautiful vector monitor, all ready to go, comes to under $150 per game. It's really a steal at $5,000 when you look at it that way. Guys are paying twice that amount for a single pinball table these days. I'd rather have 35+ Vector Games at my fingertips any day.
 
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$0


Because vector is not sustainable.

In another 15 years it will be worthless as the repair techs will be dead.

It's the next EM pinball.

You will not be able to give it away.


Like neon signs.... Its dying now with the advent of 5mm el wire rope.
 
That's ridiculous. There are so many passionate and talented guys out there (Believe me, I have been talking and working with them for several years) that Vector Games on actual Vector Monitors will be working just fine 30+ years from now, just as they have for the last 30 years.

There's always a work-around, and fix for any technical problem you can think of.

ArcadeJason has shown us how yokes can be wound and applied to CRT's (there are MILLIONS and MILLIONS of CRT's), there are guys who produce new X-Y kits (I just bought one myself last month).

Where there's a will there's always a way, especially when it comes to talented, motivate hobbyists. You should know that.

PS. EM Pinball machines are perfectly repairable today. And classic video games (like Vector Games) are SO MUCH more popular today, even with people who did not grow up in the day. Look at all the retro related themes in modern pop-culture that are video game related. EM Pinball never got to that status. I just watched Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and there's a hilarious scene were a character turns into a gigantic Pac-Man. You would never have seen a reference to an EM Pinball game... but you certainly see them all over the place with respect to Retro Video games. It's a totally unfair comparison to equate EM Pinball to Classic Arcade Video Games.

Many of the tech guys who are totally into classic video games are much younger than I am. They didn't even grow up in the Golden Age of video games, yet they still love the hobby. Why is that?

It's because Classic Video Games are permanently ingrained into American Culture, the way movies of the past (Like Wizard of Oz or Ghostbusters) are. Do you think families won't be watching Wizard of Oz 15 or 20 years from now? Of course they will. And that movie will be 100 years old in 20 years! Certain very special forms of pop-culture entertainment are timeless. Classic Video Games are like that. Every generation to follow us will love and enjoy classic video games to some extent (the way Monopoly is still played, and movies that will be 100 years old are watched).

EM Pinball Machines and Neon signs never achieved that kind of popularity or status in the culture. That's why it's a bad comparison, in my opinion.
 
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That's ridiculous. There are so many passionate and talented guys out there (Believe me, I have been talking and working with them for several years) that Vector Games on actual Vector Monitors will be working just fine 30+ years from now, just as they have for the last 30 years.

There's always a work-around, and fix for any technical problem you can think of.

ArcadeJason has shown us how yokes can be wound and applied to CRT's (there are MILLIONS and MILLIONS of CRT's), there are guys who produce new X-Y kits (I just bought one myself last month).

Where there's a will there's always a way, especially when it comes to talented, motivate hobbyists. You should know that.

PS. EM Pinball machines are perfectly repairable today. And classic video games (like Vector Games) are SO MUCH more popular today, even with people who did not grow up in the day. Look at all the retro related themes in modern pop-culture that are video game related. EM Pinball never got to that status. I just watched Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and there's a hilarious scene were a character turns into a gigantic Pac-Man. You would never have seen a reference to an EM Pinball game... but you certainly see them all over the place with respect to Retro Video games. It's a totally unfair comparison to equate EM Pinball to Classic Arcade Video Games.

Many of the tech guys who are totally into classic video games are much younger than I am. They didn't even grow up in the Golden Age of video games, yet they still love the hobby. Why is that?

It's because Classic Video Games are permanently ingrained into American Culture, the way movies of the past (Like Wizard of Oz or Ghostbusters) are. Do you think families won't be watching Wizard of Oz 15 or 20 years from now? Of course they will. And that movie will be 100 years old in 20 years! Certain very special forms of pop-culture entertainment are timeless. Classic Video Games are like that. Every generation to follow us will love and enjoy classic video games to some extent (the way Monopoly is still played, and movies that will be 100 years old are watched).

EM Pinball Machines and Neon signs never achieved that kind of popularity or status in the culture. That's why it's a bad comparison, in my opinion.



I equated vector games to EM pinball machines.

Not classic games. Vector was short lived, and is outrageously prices now.

I bought my south park pin for less than what a color vector monitor goes for.


We live in a throwaway society, those millions of crts.... Will be shipped to china for disposal soon enough.


My point is this.


You buy a vector, few are willing to put the time and money to get it into the hands of a collector, if the original owner dies or loses posession of it.

It is sad, but it is the truth, klov is not well known outside of the community. And there are PLENTY of flippers and gutters on here as well. 20 superpac boards or 30 mspac boards are not nos... They are from dead, scrapped, flipped or multi'd cabs.

So the chances of games remaining intact and working.... Depreciates year after year.


What do you think will happen once people like buffet, adam, Ian, and andrew are gone?

More stuff getting junked.

Plus Natural disasters.....



Vector costs too much, when it becomes custom jobs instead of off the shelf components.... People lose interest.

That's the thought process I am trying to convey.
 
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I hear you,

There's no doubt the Vector games are more specialized. Hell, I've been dedicated to getting my Vector Mame working properly for 3 years now, and I've needed the help of other people.

Believe me. I get it.

I'm just saying that the overall popularity of Classic Video games, as a genre, is WAY more popular than EM Pinball or neon signs ever was. And I think that popularity will carry-over into all forms of classic video game interest.... even vector games.

There is something very unique about a Vector game on a vector monitor. That's never going to change. The technology behind it will always be found, even if it means creating a new board or modifying old screens.

And in the end, there are still plenty of us collectors and enthusiasts who love Vector games, even if you're right and after we are long gone nobody will know or care about Vector Games.
 
....vector is such a small group, compared to raster classic games.

Yes they were mimicked like defender and stargate... It has a vector feel....


But vector guys are a small group... Like vectrex or whats it called.


I personally would not put my money towards games that parts are only skyrocketing.

Hell tempest may be the next big thing as most likely a ton are being parted to build all of these major havok reproductions

Which still are not worth what you guys are putting into them.


I mean come on... 4k no more no less...
 
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$2.50, but thats my final offer.

Srsly, tho, I'd pay for this! The tricky bit would be a control panel that isn't just a rats nest of input devices and schemes. :/
 
I would pony up for one of these but I still say multiple control panels would be required to optimize the game play without having a cluttered , uncomfortable mess .
 
Lol! I know, I know. The KLOV guys don't like Mame cabinets.

But honestly, the X-Arcade cabinets are very nice. And the dark smoke glass that I added over the top looks cool.

About the control panel, the X Arcade Tankstick has a nice look to it. It's not overly cluttered by any means. The only thing I changed was that I added a spinner, and swapped the original joysticks with ones that have a fire button on top.

So you can play almost every Vector Game on that one, non-cluttered looking panel.

Games like Red Baron or Battlezone that have fire buttons work just fine. Or a dual joystick game like Black Widow works great on that same panel. The spinner is there when you need it too. And the trackball is there for Quantum and QB3.

If somebody really wanted, they could have a 2nd panel with a Major Havoc Roller and Star Wars yoke, but you can certainly play Major Havoc with the spinner too. Star Wars is the one game that you really kind of need the original cabinet to do it justice.
 
....vector is such a small group, compared to raster classic games.

Yes they were mimicked like defender and stargate... It has a vector feel....


But vector guys are a small group... Like vectrex or whats it called.


I personally would not put my money towards games that parts are only skyrocketing.

Hell tempest may be the next big thing as most likely a ton are being parted to build all of these major havok reproductions

Which still are not worth what you guys are putting into them.


I mean come on... 4k no more no less...

What you've been saying is true, there is a lack of repair technicians for vector monitors. The fact is that people who have the knowledge are leaving this world, but I still think there are people (like myself) who are young and want to help preserve the early age of arcade machines.

I'm only in my early 20s late Teens and I am trying to learn as much as I can about Vector and Raster monitors now, so when the people who do have the knowledge leave I know I can be there to keep these machines working for another 60+ years.

Being able to share knowledge on these forums will help the community keep these machines working, and thats what really matters. Just because the old repair techs are leaving, it doesn't mean that these machines will become "outmoded". They can spread their knowledge and help people like myself who want to learn how to fix these machines so that new techs (albeit less in numbers) can take over their places.
 
Quick point - there is a limited number of people who have the time/energy/knowledge to offer their repair services to *others*, to repair their stuff.

There are still a LOT of people out there (and on KLOV) who are perfectly capable in repairing stuff - PCB's, monitors, EM pinballs, etc - they just don't advertise it, as they're not interested in repairing other people's stuff for the most part, or not professionally/full time at least. I've repaired my own monitors, many video game PCB's, pinball PCB's, and EM pinballs/gun games - but only occasionally work on stuff for others as my time is limited and valued.

I think $5k would be a fair price for such a product. Swappable control panels (ala Atari System 1) would be the way to go. Perhaps you buy a base cabinet that played a few games, and additional control panels could be purchased separately.

There is still interest in building new vector hardware - for example.

VectorVGA is out there, and they just announced a new run.

I don't see support for vector going away any time soon. Sure - 30 years from now you may be forced to play on a flat panel screen instead of a tube, but better that than not at all...
 
I'm pretty sure I'm going to post my ZVG Vector Mame cabinet for sale in the next couple of weeks (I've decided to go with a 19" version in a smaller cabinet instead of my current 25" Amplifone setup in the larger cabinet).

If any of you hard-core Vector enthusiasts are reading this and want to contact me before I post an "official" for sale thread, feel free and we can talk about it.

Dan
cell/text: 414-587-0376
 
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