Phoenix Arcade SD board - Quick Reviews

ItsJustaGame

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Hey guys,

I'm planning on building a vertically oriented multi-game for fun. Lots of people seem to like the phoenix arcade sd board that's like $325 shipped. I basically want to play Pac Man and Galaga and a few other vertically oriented old games.

Could a few people chime in here and let me know if that's a smart buy? I'm pretty new to the hobby, but I care about:

1) Authenticity - How "right" are the games? I don't want to play bad rip-offs.
2) Simplicity - How easy is it to program/download/install games?
3) Fun - Will this board translate into years of fun for me and my family?

I've read a lot about the board already through searches here and elsewhere.

If you own one and have it working, could you please reply to this thread with a 1-2 sentence quick review? I want to buy a vertical multi-board, and I'm about to buy myself a present for the holidays and just need to know if this is the one for me. :)

Thanks!
 
Honest quick reviews:

60-in-1: PROS: Cheap Cheap Cheap! Plug n play. CONS: No support. Sound issues and high scores don't save (scores do but not names). No new games.

Arcadeshop PCB: PROS: Cheaper but still way more expensive than 60-in-1. Much better emulation. High Score mostly save. CONS: Not plug-n-play (requires programming which is a pain in the ass as you have to take your computer to the board or the board to the computer). No support. No new games. Can't buy original version new any more and new version is Chinese ripoff of original version.

ArcadeSD PCB: PROS: Best emulation. New games coming out. Current gen product with ongoing support. While not plug n play, updating/adding games is very simple using an SD card. High scores mostly save. More games than the 60 in 1 even and more to come. CONS: Not plug n play. Expensive.

Now, if the only games you are interested in are Galaga and Ms. Pac Man, you should take a long look at the CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP 60-in-1 as those two games are emulated well on that board... and since the games originally only saved the highest score and no initials, you'd not be bothered by the lack of initials/multiple high scores issue with the 60-in-1. If other games are a concern, it is my opinion that the ArcadeSD is the best value you're going to find.
 
What Frizz said...I'd also suggest you read up on how the software and updates work for the ArcadeSD. If you think you can handle it, you probably can - and other people chime in regularly to help out if you need them to.
 
Frizz said it all.
If you intend on keeping this game as a long term piece of entertainment in your house, and you have 300 bucks. It is a no brainer.

If this is a 1 month novelty, get your feet wet with the jamma pcbs via the 60-1
 
Is there a list somewhere of the other games available over the initial 60?


There are lists... not sure where they are at exactly though.

The 60-in-1 has some games the ArcadeSD doesn't have. The ArcadeSD has a bunch of games the 60-n-1 doesn't have.
 
One thing about the ArcadeSD... If you're on Mac you're out of luck with getting that board setup. You need a Windows PC with an internet connection to set it up. Luckily I had a bootcamp XP partition on my iMac.
 
Honest quick reviews:

60-in-1: PROS: Cheap Cheap Cheap! Plug n play. CONS: No support. Sound issues and high scores don't save (scores do but not names). No new games.

Arcadeshop PCB: PROS: Cheaper but still way more expensive than 60-in-1. Much better emulation. High Score mostly save. CONS: Not plug-n-play (requires programming which is a pain in the ass as you have to take your computer to the board or the board to the computer). No support. No new games. Can't buy original version new any more and new version is Chinese ripoff of original version.

ArcadeSD PCB: PROS: Best emulation. New games coming out. Current gen product with ongoing support. While not plug n play, updating/adding games is very simple using an SD card. High scores mostly save. More games than the 60 in 1 even and more to come. CONS: Not plug n play. Expensive.

Now, if the only games you are interested in are Galaga and Ms. Pac Man, you should take a long look at the CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP 60-in-1 as those two games are emulated well on that board... and since the games originally only saved the highest score and no initials, you'd not be bothered by the lack of initials/multiple high scores issue with the 60-in-1. If other games are a concern, it is my opinion that the ArcadeSD is the best value you're going to find.
Galaga emulated well? No way. IIRC when I played it was as accurate as a Galaga marquee with Pac-Man and flowers on it. I can't speak for the others as I haven't played them.
 
this is easy

Keeper = ArcadeSD hands down.
Resale = 60 in 1

If it is a keeper and you buy the 60 in 1 you WILL sell it and upgrade to the ArcadeSD.
 
Galaga emulated well? No way. IIRC when I played it was as accurate as a Galaga marquee with Pac-Man and flowers on it. I can't speak for the others as I haven't played them.

I've been playing Galaga since before you were born. Shoo...
 
I'm planning on building a vertically oriented multi-game for fun. Lots of people seem to like the phoenix arcade sd board that's like $325 shipped. I basically want to play Pac Man and Galaga and a few other vertically oriented old games.

Could a few people chime in here and let me know if that's a smart buy? I'm pretty new to the hobby, but I care about:

1) Authenticity - How "right" are the games? I don't want to play bad rip-offs.
2) Simplicity - How easy is it to program/download/install games?
3) Fun - Will this board translate into years of fun for me and my family?

If you own one and have it working, could you please reply to this thread with a 1-2 sentence quick review? I want to buy a vertical multi-board, and I'm about to buy myself a present for the holidays and just need to know if this is the one for me. :)

I can't write a review that short (1-2 sentence). Hell, your post is 10 sentences :p

I have had my ArcadeSD in a vertical cabinet for well over a year now. Overall, I'm quite happy with it.

(1) the vast majority of games are quite "right." Gorf isn't "right", and a few others have some minor issues (DK Jr. at higher levels(?), sound in Satan's Hollow, to name a couple). They are not "bad rip-offs."

(2) seems pretty simple to me. But I'm fairly technically-inclined, so I can't properly judge the "idiot-proofness" of it.

(3) I think it's fun.

The biggest issue you're likely to encounter is the 4-way vs 8-way joystick issue. Of course, this issue isn't specific to the ArcadeSD; it's present in any mutli-game that has games designed for both types of joystick. If you have an 8-way joystick in your cabinet, you can expect to have some difficulty playing some games, such as Ms. Pac-Man, which were originally designed to have 4-way sticks. If instead you have a 4-way joystick in your cabinet, you can expect to have some difficulty playing some games, such as Scramble, which require diagonal movement. Personally, I have 8-way sticks in my cabinet, and the only games I have found objectionable with it are the Pac-Man games; other 4-way games seem to play fine for me (DK, Frogger, etc.). It's just that Pac-Man games require a quick & smooth transition from left or right to up or down (and vice versa) without the diagonal (both directions) between, so it doesn't work out well. There are solutions to the issue, with varying degrees of expense, complication and limitation, such as 49-way sticks, auto and manual switching joysticks, etc.
 
The biggest issue you're likely to encounter is the 4-way vs 8-way joystick issue. Of course, this issue isn't specific to the ArcadeSD; it's present in any mutli-game that has games designed for both types of joystick. If you have an 8-way joystick in your cabinet, you can expect to have some difficulty playing some games, such as Ms. Pac-Man, which were originally designed to have 4-way sticks. If instead you have a 4-way joystick in your cabinet, you can expect to have some difficulty playing some games, such as Scramble, which require diagonal movement. Personally, I have 8-way sticks in my cabinet, and the only games I have found objectionable with it are the Pac-Man games; other 4-way games seem to play fine for me (DK, Frogger, etc.). It's just that Pac-Man games require a quick & smooth transition from left or right to up or down (and vice versa) without the diagonal (both directions) between, so it doesn't work out well. There are solutions to the issue, with varying degrees of expense, complication and limitation, such as 49-way sticks, auto and manual switching joysticks, etc.

If you are going with the cheap 60-1. get a cheap $7 ZIPPYY stick. It will do just fine for what you want to enjoy playing some classics.
 
How does the Arcade SD emulation compare to a MAME on a semi-reasonable piece of PC hardware? Obviously the setup and maintenance is an order of magnitude harder with MAME.
 
How does the Arcade SD emulation compare to a MAME on a semi-reasonable piece of PC hardware? Obviously the setup and maintenance is an order of magnitude harder with MAME.

Yes, the ArcadeSD is designed to be fairly easy to set up, and for most things to "just work" by default. It's nothing like MAME as far as configuration complexity (or flexibility, which is what complexity gets you...)

As far as how it's "emulation compares"... that depends on exactly what you mean. The ArcadeSD doesn't emulate many games after about 1985, so based on my experience neither one has any performance issues with the games in question. The ArcadeSD guys know very well the capabilities of their hardware, and don't really add games unless their HW & software can emulate them well. There are some bugs with a few of the ASD games, but of course bugs in MAME come and go as well; and the big ones on the ASD seem to get addressed.

If you meant something other than performance or bugs, you'll need to define how you want to compare emulation.
 
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Your point is? I've played both forms.

Man I know at your tender age it seems like it's really cool to act like you're knowledgeable about something, but make sure you ARE before you start blabbing about something. Galaga plays near perfect on the 60 in 1, any differences are negligable.

The ArcadeSD is superior, but not necessarily because Galaga is so much better on it. Many of the other games on the chinese one are pretty crappy and the ArcadeSD ones are much better, but Galaga isn't one of the ones that's a big problem.
 
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