Need education on multicades

Dewey68

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I have posted a few times in the pinball forum, but never in the video game sections. My wife has said she wouldn't mind having an old video game to complement our pinball machines. I have seen the multicades, and have some questions about them.

1) Are the 60 in 1 games all bootleg knockoffs of the original roms?
2) What's a fair price for a multicade machine?
3) What kind of price range and time investment would I be looking at to assemble my own?

I'm a noob when it comes to this stuff, but I've had some electronics experience in my background, and I work IT for a living, so I'm not afraid to get to the internals of a machine and swap parts, etc. Board level repair I'd have to have advice on or would send it out.

Thanks for advice on a broad-ranging post.
 
don't spend a lot.
you can get an old squarish LCD monitor online for 30-50.
then find a kit like this one for under 160.

those guys asking lots are just sharks for people that don't understand the simplicity of it.

the pcb is so cheap that it should be considered expendible. this will be something you throw away and replace with a different card in future.
good thing. the jamma setup is universal so you'll be able to play other real pcb's in the future if you desire, using the jamma converter connectors.

http://www.hollandcomputers.com/productcart/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=2511
 
I spend around $300 to make a really nice one with trackball setup and fresh art. That same $300 in usually translates to an $850 sale within two weeks.
 
Do you make your own cabs, or put new artwork on an old cab?

Old cabs. 95% of the time they are jammatized, empty non-working games. Most I get from my buddy or else he just burns them. Occasionally I'll buy one on CL if it meets certain criteria that I look for. I never pay more than $25 for an empty shit-fest.

Then I bondo, sand, and paint it.
Add new t-molding
Add new CPO and Marquee
cut new plexi glass for marquee, bezel, control panel
200 watt power supply
17"-19" 4:3 Aspect ration LCD on CL
New harness
New controls

I sold a multi a couple weeks ago on CL for about $500 profit in 24 hours. If I don't make atleast $200 in my pocket, I won't attempt it. So, given that the cost of all the listed parts above are usually controlled, I have to ensure that I get the cabinet for cheap. If I were to build it from scratch, I would lose my ass.
 
I'm sure there are, but you would spend way more money and time to build one. And in the long run, it probably (not knocking you or you're abilities) won't turn out as nice as the real deal.
Do a local CL search looking for non-working cabinets. Sometimes they're free.
 
i've taken to space conservation so i'm getting rid of full sized games and making my own little cabaret sized cabinets. and it isn't cheap with cost of plywood right now. sheet of 3/4 ply is around $25. but still it isn't bad since empty cabinets aren't available in the area I'm located.
 
60n1s are illegal emulator boards running an old version of MAME. If that's what you want, do it right, build a PC to run current MAME on, and stick it in an old generic cab.
 
60-in-1 has massive latency. Feels just awful to me. Just because it is the original roms doesn't mean that the games are emulated with the same timing.
 
feels fine to me, none of my friends have ever had a problem with one. sounds are off on a couple games but for simplicity and price the 60 in 1 is well worth it. however, if you have the time and know a bit about computers, a custom MAME rig is the way to go. thousands of games and its the same price or cheaper, just more time consuming but the end result is much more satisfying.
 
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