New Arcade Game Buyer

GoBucks

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The FAQ for the New Buyer/Seller is down, so..

I've got some older gaming systems, I'll list just as an FYI, but I'm thinking of getting into a few Arcade Cabinets.

Consoles:
JVC Xeye (Genesis/CD all in One)
32x
Atari Jaguar + CD (CD needs repaired)
Xbox (original)
Xbox (Soft Mod with new HDD and XBMC) Needs to be repaired

I'd like to get some real arcade cabinets of my favorite games, but not MAME emulations.

Asteroids or Deluxe

Pac-Man or Ms Pac-Man

Space Invaders or Deluxe

Tempest

Defender

Space Fury

Donkey Kong

Missle Command

Centipede or Millipede

Gauntlet Legends

I've seen the 60 in 1 Pac-Man mod for sale, it sounds nice, some extra games to play. If I got the 8-way joystick and a roller controller it could be nice. However, are these games authentic, or similar to MAME emulations?

What about the other games, are there any that are easy to make a multi-machine and still have an authentic gameplay?

I love the sound of walking into the arcade, like in Tron: Legacy, when he walks in the old arcade and powers them all up! Awesome!

Pros & Cons, Original CRT vs new LCD/LED monitor with IPS? I was recently at Pints & Pixels in Huntsville, the Tempest game, Asteroids and Space Invaders seemed to be sharper than I recall. Just wondering which screen they had on them.

How much repair work is involved after a machine has been fixed up? (For home use, not powered on all the time.)

Any tips in advance?

Thanks,
Sam
 
Hey, Sam.

All of the games you mentioned are readily available for reasonable prices with the exception of Space Fury. That's a rarer game. You can find the others for sale here in the for sale section or start looking on Craigslist.

About the 60-in-1 games. Those are original roms being run using some flavor of MAME, i.e. it's emulation.

There are ways to make multi-games using original hardware but it's pretty specific to that hardware, i.e. you can run 8 flavors of Pac Man on a Pac Man or 5 Sega Vector games (including Space Fury) on modified original Sega hardware. Some of these conversions are as simple as pulling a couple chips and installing a daughter board. Others are a bit more complicated. But all of the info is here.

Since you mentioned the sounds of an arcade, sound turns out to be one of the hardest things to emulate properly. Often what suffers on those 60-in-1 emulation boards is the accurate sound of the original game.

I have one piece of advice...Avoid the LCD question. It's a sore subject here as it is a forum for restorers and preservers of original games. Many of the people here get a bit irate at people who take original games and turn them into 60-in-1 machines with LCD screens.

That aside, this is a great hobby full of awesome people who have lots of expertise in restoring and repairing these games. If you like a hobby that drains your wallet but teaches you a lot and leaves you with a smile and a working piece of history, this is a great place.
 
About LCD screens... Yeah they are cheaper... and they are lighter... but they will never look anywhere near as good as a freshly capped CRT.

As a console guy, you should already know that playing classic consoles on a CRT is a no-brainer. Same with arcade games.

Part of owning an arcade machine is the fact that it's this archaic hunk of wood and metal and plastic and glass. Updating it with fancy new screens and joysticks and stuff just ruins it. Classic car collectors aren't taking their vintage 50's and 60's cars and sticking big LCD screens on the inside... at least, not anyone with an inkling of respect for the hobby. Same with arcade collectors.

Anyway, with that said... good luck with the search.

And we recently have a thread going about prices dropping and I literally mentioned that we'll be seeing console collector's making the leap over to arcade collecting....

CALLED IT! :D

edit: also I read "older gaming systems" and then saw jaguar and xbox... jesus christ when did I become old? I was thinking Atari 2600 and sega master system or something. THAT'S old. :p
 
The FAQ for the New Buyer/Seller is down, so..

I've got some older gaming systems, I'll list just as an FYI, but I'm thinking of getting into a few Arcade Cabinets.

Consoles:
JVC Xeye (Genesis/CD all in One)
32x
Atari Jaguar + CD (CD needs repaired)
Xbox (original)
Xbox (Soft Mod with new HDD and XBMC) Needs to be repaired

I'd like to get some real arcade cabinets of my favorite games, but not MAME emulations.

Asteroids or Deluxe

Pac-Man or Ms Pac-Man

Space Invaders or Deluxe

Tempest

Defender

Space Fury

Donkey Kong

Missle Command

Centipede or Millipede

Gauntlet Legends

I've seen the 60 in 1 Pac-Man mod for sale, it sounds nice, some extra games to play. If I got the 8-way joystick and a roller controller it could be nice. However, are these games authentic, or similar to MAME emulations?

What about the other games, are there any that are easy to make a multi-machine and still have an authentic gameplay?

I love the sound of walking into the arcade, like in Tron: Legacy, when he walks in the old arcade and powers them all up! Awesome!

Pros & Cons, Original CRT vs new LCD/LED monitor with IPS? I was recently at Pints & Pixels in Huntsville, the Tempest game, Asteroids and Space Invaders seemed to be sharper than I recall. Just wondering which screen they had on them.

How much repair work is involved after a machine has been fixed up? (For home use, not powered on all the time.)

Any tips in advance?

Thanks,
Sam

Okay..... first off, Gauntlet Legends sucks.

Kidding. I've never played it, but I do prefer the original Gauntlet games. :D

Honest advice: Be PATIENT. Search, but also, research. Check down in the "Price Checks" area to get a feel for what each machine will/should cost. Condition is key. A "nice but non-working" machine will be cheaper. It depends on how much time and effort you're willing to invest. There IS a learning curve to repairing these beasts..... BUT, the upside is that there are many technical gurus here who are willing to help you along.

Steer clear of anything with an LCD in it.

I picked up a cheap non-working Dig Dug cocktail($125)... fiddled with it for a bit, and found a cabinet screw had been shorting out the PCB. I tightened it down, and it fired right up. Ended up having to do some other things to it later on(research Atari cabinets.... especially if you plan on getting one), but it was a learning experience.

Get the necessary tools. A few things you may not even think of: Pin Extractor, IC Extractor, Crimping tool, multi-head "security" set(for those odd shaped screw heads), and the right tool to discharge a monitor(this is IMPORTANT!).

Welcome to the hobby. Your back is going to hate you for it. :p

jesus christ when did I become old?

"You're childhood was over the moment you knew you were going to die." -Captain Howdy
 
Son.... Of... A... BITCH!!! I don't think I've bought a game yet that I didn't manage to hurt my back moving.

Lift with your legs you crazy Texan!

No but seriously... also multiple people moving a cab helps a lot. Though I've moved most of mine by myself. Just a bit of patience and planning can go a long way.
 
Lift with your legs you crazy Texan!

No but seriously... also multiple people moving a cab helps a lot. Though I've moved most of mine by myself. Just a bit of patience and planning can go a long way.

I throw my back out putting my shoes on, so...
 
Hey, Sam.

All of the games you mentioned are readily available for reasonable prices with the exception of Space Fury. That's a rarer game. You can find the others for sale here in the for sale section or start looking on Craigslist.

About the 60-in-1 games. Those are original roms being run using some flavor of MAME, i.e. it's emulation.

There are ways to make multi-games using original hardware but it's pretty specific to that hardware, i.e. you can run 8 flavors of Pac Man on a Pac Man or 5 Sega Vector games (including Space Fury) on modified original Sega hardware. Some of these conversions are as simple as pulling a couple chips and installing a daughter board. Others are a bit more complicated. But all of the info is here.

Since you mentioned the sounds of an arcade, sound turns out to be one of the hardest things to emulate properly. Often what suffers on those 60-in-1 emulation boards is the accurate sound of the original game.

I have one piece of advice...Avoid the LCD question. It's a sore subject here as it is a forum for restorers and preservers of original games. Many of the people here get a bit irate at people who take original games and turn them into 60-in-1 machines with LCD screens.

That aside, this is a great hobby full of awesome people who have lots of expertise in restoring and repairing these games. If you like a hobby that drains your wallet but teaches you a lot and leaves you with a smile and a working piece of history, this is a great place.

It's not so much the controversy here of putting LCD monitors in games that originally had CRTs; it's just that they look like ass when you're done. That and you've destroyed the resale value of the game.

It's a bit like dropping a 350 into a Mustang and then frequenting Mustang collector's forums while discussing your '67 Mustang with the 350 engine. You'll be bet mostly with, "Why did you do that?"

OP, the 60-1 is software emulation and poor emulation at that. People that have never seen or played the originals won't know any better but with many of those games if you were to play the original and then the version on the 60-1 game, you'd be pretty disappointed. The games play differently, the sounds are different, etc.
 
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You guys haven't moved a real heavy arcade game!!!! None of you have seen heavy until you have moved an Ex Zeus game. its over 1800 pounds!!! OH but you can split it into two pieces (one about 1100 and the other almost 800). My son and i hauled it out of a storage unit and lifted it into my trailer all by hand. i will say i almost left it but when i got home i called Catch84 on here and sold it to him and it stayed on my trailer until he picked it up....;)

Damn was that heavy.
 
OP, the 60-1 is software emulation and poor emulation at that. People that have never seen or played the originals won't know any better but with many of those games if you were to play the original and then the version on the 60-1 game, you'd be pretty disappointed. The games play differently, the sounds are different, etc.

This!

Even people who have never played the original games said "this sounds/plays weird" about one or the other game. And of course you have to find a new controlpanel to add some buttons for other games....or destroy the original one which IMHO would be a sin.
 
You guys haven't moved a real heavy arcade game!!!! None of you have seen heavy until you have moved an Ex Zeus game. its over 1800 pounds!!! OH but you can split it into two pieces (one about 1100 and the other almost 800). My son and i hauled it out of a storage unit and lifted it into my trailer all by hand. i will say i almost left it but when i got home i called Catch84 on here and sold it to him and it stayed on my trailer until he picked it up....;)

Damn was that heavy.

One time I loaded a dual Time Crisis 2 into the back of my F250 all by myself

My ding ding still hurts...
 
Son.... Of... A... BITCH!!! I don't think I've bought a game yet that I didn't manage to hurt my back moving.

Weight is actually what's making me appreciate cocktail games. At only 225 pounds.... they are light by comparison to a 350 pound Atari cab.

Lift with your legs you crazy Texan!

No but seriously... also multiple people moving a cab helps a lot. Though I've moved most of mine by myself. Just a bit of patience and planning can go a long way.

Lift with your legs..... he says..... like I want to shoot my knee caps halfway across the state.

These days, I have to get other people to move the cabs. I don't stand a chance of doing anything but maybe sliding them across the floor a little at a time, and even that leaves me in massive pain. It's gonna be a bitch when we finally move again. I've told my wife that she better be damned sure we're going to be staying in that house for a long fuckin' time.

Hopefully, I can at least get two of the poker machines converted, and sell them. The third will be a "keeper" multi, for the wife's use.

I've already made a deal with Buffett about Paddle Battle. I figure it'll be too much for me to attempt to fix, as parts are hard to come by. I hate to let it go.... but I'd rather it be in the hands of someone who CAN get it fully operational, than just sitting here collecting dust.
 
Welcome to this crazy hobby.

Advise: Find friends that will help move games. :D

Do not buy a Spy Hunter. That game weighs more than a M110 tank!
 
Welcome to this crazy hobby.

Advise: Find friends that will help move games. :D

Do not buy a Spy Hunter. That game weighs more than a M110 tank!

Ha, my Spy Hunter is a lightweight compared to my Gauntlet Legends. :)
 
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