My rant...multi-bootlegs

NERDtendo

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I don't usually make posts just to complain about something but I will make an exception for this.

I love arcade games. To me, there is nothing better than playing any dedicated, all original arcade game. It doesn't matter the game. I'll play anything once..even sports games (something I cannot say about my console games). If I had the means, I would buy all of my favorite classic games for my game room and then have a storage facility made so I can buy every copy of those games so people cannot get to them and ruin them.

I am talking about those damn 60-in-1 games. If you pull out the working, original wiring, pcb, and monitor from an original Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Frogger, Space Invaders, etc. and replace it with a jammatized, bootleg, LCD wearing, modern piece of crap I want to come over to your house and slap the nostalgia back into you.

I understand that people want as many games in as little space as possible but I think people lose track of the fun and are too focused on the money.

I don't think that if you have a fully restored and repainted dedicated cab that you can justify the blasphemies you are committing to the arcade community. The cab that BurgerTime came in wasn't meant to be painstakingly restored just to be all fake on the inside.

If you have to make a multi-boot, use something that won't be missed. There are so many generic, cookie-cutter cabs out there that can be used and you can put whatever graphics on it that you want.

Sorry if anyone here is offended by my statements as there are a lot of multi-boots for sale here. This is just my opinion.
 
While I still keep my pitchfork right next to the front door for such occasions, you have to realize that this is KLOV, the Killing and Looting Of Video games. You probably won't get a lot of supporthere , not even from the host who claims to be working on an arcade museum.

But I do agree with you and would love to go around ripping the multi-boards out of classics and the trackballs off of every Pacman cabinet I see. When do we leave. I will start packing.
 
What are your opinions on cabs that were completely gutted? Or perhaps cabs that were Jammatized by an operator then converted to multicade? Just curious. I do agree that gutting a working nice or restorable game for a multi or mame pretty much sucks and the people should be slapped...... - Barry
 
I don't do full, ground up restores. I can't due to my disability. When I restore my games, it's to revive it to "available for public use" condition. I don't mind a few scratches and scrapes...it gives the game character.

I have parted many games where the cab was too damaged for me to fix. I first give people a chance to rescue the game. If there is no love, then I will part it out for the people who need parts to revive their games. If you don't kill the terminally-ill games then there are no parts for the recoverable ones.
 
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What are your opinions on cabs that were completely gutted? Or perhaps cabs that were Jammatized by an operator then converted to multicade? Just curious. I do agree that gutting a working nice or restorable game for a multi or mame pretty much sucks and the people should be slapped...... - Barry

I agree with you. If you are doing this to fixable games it is a crime. But, if you are doing it to game that are converted beyond original. I think it is ok.
 
What are your opinions on cabs that were completely gutted?

If it is a classic and in great shape, then it deserves to come back. If it is crappy, I personally would prefer the game to only play the game that the art on the side is for. You can turn off the BurgerTime and have just the Pac-Man playing in the Pac-Man cab.

Or perhaps cabs that were Jammatized by an operator then converted to multicade?

We have no control over the actions of past operators. I can't hate on someone for something they didn't do. I can harbor ill-feelings for the previous operators though.
 
I have parted many games where the cab was too damaged for me to fix. I first give people a chance to rescue the game. If there is no love, then I will part it out for the people who need parts to revive there games. If you don't kill the terminally-ill games then there are no parts for the recoverable ones.

And I think you'll find that this opinion is probably the majority opinion here.

Some people may rip the guts out of a perfectly good cabinet, and some people may painstakingly bring a waterlogged shell of a cabinet back to its original glory, but both are the exception and not the rule.
 
I know this should be obvious, but maybe to some n00bs it may not be... so I'm posting it anyway :D

If you MUST have that Pac/Galaga style cab for your 48-1\60-1 game, there are ways to do it without destroying a classic, and at the same time help your fellow hobbyists/enthusiasts, and help more people bring new reproduction items into the community.
DPTwiz builds replacement cabs from scratch, including Pac/Ms Pac/Galaga... Reasonably priced too. Arcadeshop sells custom replacement control panels, as well as Multicade artwork. You can buy the Jamma harnesses and power supply, etc. from Bob Roberts.
Throw a little paint on the bad boy, slap it together, and you got yourself a brand new multi- worthy of admiration, all without harming a single classic.
 
What are your opinions on cabs that were completely gutted? Or perhaps cabs that were Jammatized by an operator then converted to multicade? Just curious. I do agree that gutting a working nice or restorable game for a multi or mame pretty much sucks and the people should be slapped...... - Barry

Even on a cab that has been completely gutted, there may be someone out there who has the "guts" to put in it, to bring it back to it's glory...
But yeah, I don't think anyone even Arc would criticize someone for scrapping a game where the cab is a lost cause. Of course people's opinions on what constitutes a "lost cause" will be all over the place as well...I even have some cabs in my gameroom that I know others would consider a lost cause.
 
Scramble UR at the bro rate. $100
48 in 1 board. $100
Jamma to Konami adapter. $40
Being able to play all those games and still switch back to a completely unhacked Scramble in <2 minutes. Priceless
 
I wouldn't kill a dedicated game myself, but your post seems a bit misguided.

In your rant, you listed some of the most common arcade games in history,
hundreds of which have already been painstakingly restored to like new condition,
yet somehow feel as though the existence of multiboards will wipe them all out.

The games that you mentioned have already been preserved, hundreds of times over.
It seems like you see danger where there is none.

The way I see it, there's probably more of a danger of hard to find and irreplaceable
components dying and a feeling of apathy regarding the preservation and restoration
of the most rare games, or games that are generally disliked than there is that you
will never be able to find a playable Pacman, Galaga, or Frogger.
 
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One component to the arcade business that is commonly overlooked as a hobby is that these games were created to make money. If you have tons of cash for this hobby, that's great but others like myself are on a budget. If the hobby starts to become more expensive than one can bear or the wifey starts to complain; machines need to be sold so that others may survive.
The sad reality that I have personally discovered is that multicades tend to sell for more and much quicker than most original games.
And if you think you will get the same for a muticade in a jamma POS cabinet as you will in a minty Galaga, you are living in your own little world. While it's not PC to gut a Galaga and make it a multicade, I would never get my money back if I restored it as original. Again, not every cabinet survives, some must be sold so others can be kept...
If you like to restore cabs and show them off here, that's awesome. Multicades are just a fact of this hobby and in some cases, they can help a collector sell a cabinet they can't/won't restore.
 
I've probably killed more classics than most people here. My job is working for a retail/repair shop, and I'm often given the job to take a nice Ms. Pac or Galaga or whatever and turn it into a 60-in-1. When I do, I leave all the original wiring and power supply (I do keep the board for myself for keeps or for selling later) and just install the JAMMA harness inside with a switcher. I modify the control panel as minimally as possible, and it wouldn't take a whole lot to turn it back into the original.

Now, before anyone gets all high and mighty - these cabs do NOT belong to me. Most of the time the customer comes to us with a broken game, and my boss talks them into doing the conversion. As 99% of these people barely care about arcade games, and are only getting the game fixed because it's been sitting unplayed and broken for 5 years and they have a party "this weekend", they usually go with the conversion.

I have had others here ask me why I don't refuse to do it or just buy the cab outright. Well, to the first, I can either do it or not eat, pay rent, buy gas, etc. If you think the job market is so wonderful that you can quit your job over something that isn't affecting YOU personally, then by all means quit. As to buying them, I have neither the money nor the space to do so.

Now, on occasion my boss will come into possession of a cabinet that he wants to convert and sell. I have often traded a generic or badly converted cab in order to save something. That is how I got my Space Invaders, Peter Packrat, Gyruss, etc. we had a very nice Xevious come in (working) and I knew a buddy was looking for one, so I called him and he brought over another generic cab (with working monitor) and traded for it. My boss only cares about monitors and cab conversion capability. If he still has a cab and monitor, then he doesn't mind me saving what I can.

Unfortunately, I don't get that option when dealing with cabs brought to us by customers. My boss is only thinking about the dollar. Just be glad there isn't a crappy conversion for pinballs, or he'd be pushing that, too...
 
I understand the rant against Muitl game systems but consider this..

I bought a NBA Jam 4 player.
Things this unit will need.
- new 25" CGA monitor ( Old one is flat line and the crt has a scratch on the face).
- New CP becuase when it was in service someone craved on it
-new side art.
- New Joysticks and buttons.
- cabinet repaint repair new t molding
- etc etc

And what is the value of this machine 300 to 400 according to the price guide.
The sad thing is that most will look at this game and say Hey I can put XYX Mutil game into the case and will never consider the time or effort to attempt to put this back into it's orginal shape laughs.

Sometime when you love a certain arcade machine. You just love it alone.
 
i agree with not hacking classics...of coarse if someone brings it to you to do it then thats their gig i guess...
if i do a 60/1 its already a jamma conversion of something non classic i buy games and they are really crappy conversions so they have already been raped.
i have a heart attack and start to sand down a bad top gunner conversion to find it was a make trax and the art was in prestine shape before it was covered with brown lamanate crap.as i rip it off it destroys the art on the cab...lame!!!
i have an original
frogger ct,dig dug ct,donkey kong,super pac,phoenix,zaxxon,galaxian,
i would never hack any of these for a 60/1!
 
Here is my view on parting out/converting games.

If you plan to buy a game (that is in relatively decent shape) just to part out, then leave it for another person. Of course, for games that are rotting and falling apart/converted, parting them out is not an issue. In fact, it should be done; those parts could help resurrect another game from the dead.

Multiboards don't bother me too much, as long as they have been installed in very common cabinets and all the original artwork is still present. (This does not apply to already-converted machines.)

Of course, I've never done this. :D I'm actually working on deconverting one of my machines from Time Soldiers to Super Zaxxon. Score 1 for me!

 
Here is my view on parting out/converting games.

If you plan to buy a game (that is in relatively decent shape) just to part out, then leave it for another person. Of course, for games that are rotting and falling apart/converted, parting them out is not an issue. In fact, it should be done; those parts could help resurrect another game from the dead.

Multiboards don't bother me too much, as long as they have been installed in very common cabinets and all the original artwork is still present. (This does not apply to already-converted machines.)

Of course, I've never done this. :D I'm actually working on deconverting one of my machines from Time Soldiers to Super Zaxxon. Score 1 for me!


Way to go Hyde!

I agree with your evaluation of the multicadin' too.
 
There was a time where multi-boards were looked down on big time. Times have changed.

The Neo Geo multi-carts I have a weird distaste for, besides the menu being filled with mostly hack versions of the games. It might be kind of nerdy, but there is something touchy-feely to the MVS system that is lost when I only have to use one slot for every game or I can't alter the line up. I dunno if any other Neo Geo related guys feel the same. Ranting. :p

As for all original parts, there are limits. In some cases, there should be limits. I can't imagine wanting to run some of these older games without the slightly improved power supplies that came out after their release.

As for parting out games...sometimes things are just too far gone. You gotta put it out of its misery so another might live again.
 
If it is a classic and in great shape, then it deserves to come back. If it is crappy, I personally would prefer the game to only play the game that the art on the side is for. You can turn off the BurgerTime and have just the Pac-Man playing in the Pac-Man cab.

We have no control over the actions of past operators. I can't hate on someone for something they didn't do. I can harbor ill-feelings for the previous operators though.

while i agree with your sentiments in part, people have the right to do what they want with their own property. many classics like ms pac man are hardly in danger of becoming extinct anytime soon, and if theyre already gutted then it doesnt hurt anything to drop in a multi board or mame, someone could easily convert it back to original in the future if they want to. the fact is, the time, work and cost to convert a gutted cab back to original is way more than its actual value. often these cabs might end up in the garbage or burn pit if they werent able to be put back on route with a multi board. if you personally feel that all the other games should be disabled, then yeah, buy them all and do that, because most rational people would probably disagree with you. shoot, i dont even mind people gutting a relatively common classic as long as they dont damage the parts or the cab so it can be converted back someday if anyone chose to do so.
 
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