I think the chances I play anything other than Galaga and Ms. Pac on it after this week are in the 1-2% range. And that's fine. None of the other games I would want would work on it due to the limited control scheme. Asteroids with a joystick? ROBOTRON WITH ONLY ONE JOYSTICK??!!

Madness.

Rolling Thunder seems like an odd addition. Cool game but odd to throw it in this package.

I actually like Pac-Mania.. but probably only because I have memories of it first arriving at Putt-Putt. It's a cool game.. but shit man, Super Pac-Man is better in a lot of respects.

Galaga 88 I've played a lot of on TurboGrafx/PC-Engine. Very cool game. Even features the ruins of Bostonian in later levels; where you promptly died.

I also never played any of the gamed from DD2 to Rally X much either. Also, ICJ is much more of a Mappy man than me. I just couldn't get into the game like I could say Elevator Action.

It's a fun little thing you got to mess around with. Once you tire of the existing titles you can probably put whatever you want within reason on this setup.

I can't even rib you for playing arcade games on an LCD. I've probably spent more time repairing CRTs in my adult life than playing on them

Look at this fucking selection, though. I know everyone here already knows, but god damn:

Ms. Pac-Man: One of the five best arcade games of all time.
Galaga: One of the five best arcade games of all time.
Dig Dug: A beloved classic. I think. I was never a huge fan, but it's fine.
Mappy: Heyyy, good ol' Mappy.
Rolling Thunder: Was a hit in the arcade. Haven't tried it yet to remember how it works.
Dig Dug II: Never played it. I'm guessing it's not that good, since you never hear about it?
The Tower of Druaga: I tried it once. Maybe the worst arcade game of all time? Am I judging it too quickly?
Rompers: A very bad take on Pac-Man. VERY bad.
Rally-X: I think I kinda liked this one when I played it before. We'll see.
Galaxian: Important, and way, WAY harder than the games that proceeded it. Nice to have.
Galaga '88: Joust 2 to Galaga's Joust. Subtraction by addition. Still, like Joust 2, fun every once in a while.
Pac-Mania: The very worst Pac-Man game that I could possibly even think of if I was trying to make one.

I guess it's not as horrible a collection as I felt it was at the beginning of this post, but I just got done playing Pac-Mania, Rompers and the Tower of Druaga. That'd leave a bad taste in anyone's mouth.

Anyway, Ms. Pac and Galaga are the whole point, and I am happy to be able to sit at a cocktail machine and play them for real.

That makes an old mall cop happy and brings a tear to the eye.

I did! Half of the games are total shit I would never play twice. Mappy made the other half!

Are ya gonna give ole Mappy a chance??

Kathy finally put this together while I was working today. Looks and works great! I got to 100,000 on Galaga my first try before killing all my guys intentionally so that I didn't burn dinner.

There's times when I slightly kick myself for not buying an arcade cabinet when they were cheap. I still can remember the signs on the machines at Time-Out in Long Ridge mall:

Take me home.....$350

I thought that was a lot of money for a Centipede machine. Maybe it was in 1988, I dunno. A friend of mine bought a Firepower II pinball table for close to $350 around then. Wish that was still around.

not everyone wants to learn how to adjust and repair CRT monitors, trouble-shoot the PCB once something weird starts happening,

Just last week a different friend of mine, who knows I have a pinball tabe, mentioned that his parents have an original Centipede machine in their rec room but it stopped working....
Then he let the sentence hang, hoping I would jump in and volunteer to take a look at it. I played stupid and said that was a shame, that was a cool game. Maybe they should buy a 1Up replacement.

What I know about fixing arcade games you could stick in your eye. I mean, I read Flack's book and listen to the foreign language Jizaboz speaks when he goes into capacitor troubleshooting but that's it. I'm not getting sucked into being THAT guy. If they want to get rid of the broken cabinet I'll certainly take it off their hands but I ain't gonna even try to be a repair man.

THE
NOT ON CALL
AARDVARK

AArdvark wrote: Fri Dec 02, 2022 5:54 am Those antiques would be a shame to expose to dogs and small children. My 1973 Bally pinball table was stored in a basement for years. The same basement where three young nephews were practicing their hockey skills. Luckily the only damage was puck marks and dents in the side wood. It could have been much worse. Imagine if a mint condition Ms. PacMan was chewed upon because a dog had a bout of separation anxiety. That would be pretty depressing. A 1Up cabinet wouldn't be as heart-wrenching.

At one point where I was living, the domestic long haired cats would jump on the top of the machines, and of course fur would get stuck behind.

I miss those days now. I do still find little long, grey hair in the nooks and crannies of the machines, all these years later.

Jizaboz wrote: Fri Dec 02, 2022 5:58 pm

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote: Fri Dec 02, 2022 9:22 am A nice Ms.Pac cocktail from the 1980s is like 1800+ bucks now, possibly more like 2500 if you want to get it from a place other than some guy.

DAYUMMMM

Glad I got mine when I did! I agree with Aardvark that these new machines have their place in a lot of homes. Price aside not everyone wants to learn how to adjust and repair CRT monitors, trouble-shoot the PCB once something weird starts happening, or other complications that can come up with owning a machine nearly as old as I am.

I should say - this is based on me looking idly at craigslist ads and remembering ones where there is some kind of business that would, in theory, stand behind the machine. Or more likely, laugh at you and not do anything if the machine failed.

As opposed to just buying from a person who, unlike a company, has a reputation they have to care about.

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote: Fri Dec 02, 2022 9:22 am A nice Ms.Pac cocktail from the 1980s is like 1800+ bucks now, possibly more like 2500 if you want to get it from a place other than some guy.

DAYUMMMM

Glad I got mine when I did! I agree with Aardvark that these new machines have their place in a lot of homes. Price aside not everyone wants to learn how to adjust and repair CRT monitors, trouble-shoot the PCB once something weird starts happening, or other complications that can come up with owning a machine nearly as old as I am.

A nice Ms.Pac cocktail from the 1980s is like 1800+ bucks now, possibly more like 2500 if you want to get it from a place other than some guy.

Those antiques would be a shame to expose to dogs and small children. My 1973 Bally pinball table was stored in a basement for years. The same basement where three young nephews were practicing their hockey skills. Luckily the only damage was puck marks and dents in the side wood. It could have been much worse. Imagine if a mint condition Ms. PacMan was chewed upon because a dog had a bout of separation anxiety. That would be pretty depressing. A 1Up cabinet wouldn't be as heart-wrenching.

THE
GNAW SCENARIO
AARDVARK

Why buy a chintzy cocktail cab with an emulated game? I have my eye on a real Ms pacman cocktail cab the Lockstop Cafe may want to sell.

Did you put up a big high score first so Mina has a goal?

Sitting safely in the box! So far no problems.

How is the machine??

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 10:08 am 400 is not a great price but I'm surprised retail was 699.

Yeah 699 would be madness. I paid 700$ for my real Ms Pac-Man cocktail cabinet!

You get Mappy and Galaxian!! But not Pac-Man.

I'll send you one of my BitKits for FREE if there is a chance a BitKits can be installed.

Worth it for Mappy. Who knew an adventure starring that chonky fat fuck would come to pass on Thanksgiving.

Welcome to arcade ownership

Well, it's happening. Thank you to all who participated.

It will be destroyed by dogs within two weeks, so it's not a huge deal either way.