New Life Games LLC
Arcade Games, Pinball, Crane Games, Redemption Games and Other Stuff => Arcade Games **Video** => Topic started by: RiseLikeRa on June 15, 2017, 12:43:30 AM
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Greetings Group:
I have been on NLG for about a decade now but I have never posted in this forum. I have several Electro Mechanical slot machines and I want to add a multi game arcade to my gameroom. My slots are in pretty good shape for their age of over 30 years so I dont want to buy a piece of junk to sit in the middle of them. My favorite game is Defender from my youth. I also like Galaga and Space Invaders. To get the machine in the house I would like it to have Pac Man on it for my wife. :talktothehand: I contacted a very nice seller at a company called arcadeclassics.com. This is when I learned about vertical and horizontal screen orientation and that never the two shall meet. I was also warned about computer generator games that lacked the "real feel" control and cheap monitors.
What should I do? Where should I look? What should I pay?
Any advice would be helpful.
Picture of part of the game room attached.
Thanks so much
Ra
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build your own cpu are cheap under 50 bucks
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I dont have the skill to do that. I wish I did. Then I would have to find the time. No. I am simply appealing to the wisdom of this forum, which I hope is the right one for my question, for some direction. Once I get a lead I will take it from there.
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Wow!
Over 80 reviews and only 1 reply! I was told that each one of these forums have different energy.
For those who looked. Thanks
Ra
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Hi Ra,
I've finally ventured over to the arcade game section of NLG!
I know only a little bit about your question.
By "multi-game," I assume you mean arcade games from a variety of manufacturers? In other words, a machine with Pac-Man (Namco), Centipede (Atari), Elevator Action (Taito) and more. If so, you probably want a MAME emulator machine. But beware—my brother bought one from a local company, and it's not so good—it freezes, has to reboot, and sometimes needs tech help. It's basically a Windows PC computer hooked up to a control panel and monitor.
There are a lot of companies out there that sell a nice-looking cabinet with a limited number of games, such as only Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga. Perhaps those are more reliable, but they're pricey. Hopefully someone who owns one can provide a review for you.
I wish I can help you more with this topic. Good luck!
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Ra, it really depends on the look you are going for. The vintage arcade games like pacman, defender, donkey kong, galaga, etc can easily run on a raspberry pie. One of my current projects is to take an X-Arcade joystick, use a raspberry pi 3 and hook it up to a wall mounted tv, voila, instant vintage arcade machine.
OR
You could just buy a finished product, plug and play type. The monitors nowadays are so big, that vertical games would be fine. Obviously having a setup for vertical games and one for horizontal games would give you maximum impact, but really, you don't need it. The games will play "letterboxed" with black areas on either side of the screen. Remember all these vintage games have a 4:3 aspect ratio, while most modern monitors are 16:9, unless of course you get a 4:3 monitor to use with your games. But think about it, if you have a wall mounted TV, like a 55 inch or so, all you would need is an X-Arcade type controller resting on a table with a raspberry pi running the mame emulator with whichever games you want. Then you could use the TV for both, watching TV or playing arcade classics. I will setup my project as it is so you can get an idea.
Here's a completed product, plug and play, but they get pricey.
https://shop.xgaming.com/collections/arcade-machines/products/x-arcade-machine-cabinet-with-250-arcade-classics
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Thank you guys so much for your replies. My hopes for finding the game that I want in 1 cabinet has all but faded. One of the main issues is the vertical vs horizontal situation. The game that I played EVERYDAY as a teenager is Defender. I loved it. That is a horizontal game. My wife liked Pac Man and Space Invader, a vertical game. Now I enjoyed Space Invaders and Galaga also but they were not reason that I missed classes on occasion.
There is a company called Arcade Classics that make a VERY nice one or the other game. At the NY State Fair there was a rep for a company called ownyourownarcadegame.com, Very nice game but again I would have to make the choice. For an average of $2000, which I would be willing to pay, I dont this that I should get only half of what I want. NOW Smooth warns me about the glitches. Yikes. Rick I checked out the link that you posted. No defender on the list. Beautiful game. Truth be told I dont need 2 or 3 hundred "filler" games to make me happy. Who the hell ever played some of these titles any way? I just need 4 or 5 popular games that work properly.
With space VERY limited in the game room I think that I will focus on getting an early upright Roulette gambling machine if one exists. I will sell 1 or maybe even 2 of my Bally Electro Mechanical slots to make space. The Games of Nevada Auto Roulette came close but was just too big.
They say the HUNT for these old games is the best part but I enjoy the capture and the playing more. lol
Enjoy your weekend guys and thanks again.
Ra
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Ra, Don't give up. The machine you are looking for is out there. I use to build these on a regular basis about 5 years ago. With my real job and passion for slot machines, I just dont mess with them anymore. To accomplish what you want, I would have started with an old arcade. Remove the game board and stall a older PC running windows XP. Then install the needed software and all the game Roms. There are over 10k games. Basically every arcade you can think of is available if you search right places. You would need to purchase the converter to connect the arc joysticks, track ball, and buttons to the PC. Since your using the Roms, and the original CRT from an older arcade, the game experience original and you won't be able to tell that it is not the original game. I have built many of these over the years and they sell for around $2000 to $3000 depending on how fancy you want the finish product to look.
Here are a few pics of the last machine I built 5 years ago.
Hope this info helps, dont give up.
Jon
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Here is another pic.
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I've always wanted one myself, and I would want a track ball. There are a few games that are almost impossible to play with only a joy stick. The game that come right to mind is Marble Madness. Crazy game where you had to run a marble thru a maze, over jumps to a finish line before the time ran out. The track ball helped with changing directions quickly.
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I built up a Jamma cab.
You can find a Dynamo HS5 cabinet with or without game for usually $2-$300 with a nice 25" monitor, then can grab a Pandoras Box or similar (650 games+, there are horizontal or vertical versions with tons of different games on them) for $80-$120 and all you would need to do is the art for the game or buy a premade art package for the Dynamo cabinet. - I have yet to do Ghouls n Ghosts art for mine. Great game!
Here's where I bought my Pandora:
https://www.highscoresaves.com/pcbs/multigame-pcbs.html (https://www.highscoresaves.com/pcbs/multigame-pcbs.html)
I do like MAME too and have one. This Jamma is a bit more user friendly and still has the classics on it that everyone plays anywho...
:cool_thumb_up:
*Edit- Look on KLOV for machines, always a few that are local.
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I don't like sounding stupid :duh: but what's KLOV??
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I don't like sounding stupid :duh: but what's KLOV??
Arcade forum. Killer List Of Video games.
https://forums.arcade-museum.com/
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I don't like sounding stupid :duh: but what's KLOV??
Arcade forum. Killer List Of Video games.
https://forums.arcade-museum.com/ (https://forums.arcade-museum.com/)
Thanks.. I'll have to check it out. :hail:
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I don't like sounding stupid :duh: but what's KLOV??
Arcade forum. Killer List Of Video games.
https://forums.arcade-museum.com/ (https://forums.arcade-museum.com/)
Thanks.. I'll have to check it out. :hail:
I've snagged some rare machines somewhat local to me on there. APB in MI was a score for sure!
- Check it out!
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Jon:
I had told my wife that I had given up the search for the multi game. She just smiled and did not say a word. (woman psychology) As I was reading your post and looking at the pictures of that beautiful game you built she happened to walk past the computer. She said "hey I thought that you called it quits on trying to find another big ass toy" I just smiled and did not say a word. (man psychology)
Its not the first time NLG has gotten me in trouble and I am sure that it wont be the last.
Have a great day guys. The leaves are falling here in NY. Snow blower time soon.
Ra
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I'm going to be building a table system this fall using a 60-in-1 JAMMA board, a cheapo LCD and cheap joystick controls. I'll be posting video content on my YouTube channel as the build progresses. It's actually pretty easy(and inexpensive) to put one of these together yourself. If all goes well I will consider putting a DIY table kit together with a wiring harness and cabinet components. You'd have to do the finishing on it (laminate, carpet, whatever). I'll be posting info on this forum as well before and during the project.
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Thanks so much. Sounds exciting. Please keep me posted.
Ra
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Will do! I just did a monitor swap on a friend's stand-up Williams cabinet that had a Jamma swap in it. So much fun! I could never decide what I wanted to play.. Dig-Dug, Ms PacMan, Frogger, Galaga, ahhhh! If you want to make it coin-op it's really easy, just need the switch assembly and bezel. Can find complete coin doors on eBay which make it even easier to install. I will probably put a coin door on mine and make the kids pay to play, just like the Coke machine I traded for and repaired. They have to buy their sodas for $.50 or do something special for me to open the door and let them grab a couple. :24: