"Retro Arcade" upright cabinet at Target

Post by **bicostp** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 8:04 am

Have any of you guys seen this yet?

<img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000A ... SS384_.jpg">

It's a slightly scaled-down arcade cabinet featuring 12 of Midway's original arcade games.

Specs:
13" Color CRT Screen
2 Player Simultaneous Play
AV Inputs for using it as a console screen

Games:
- Defender
- Defender II
- Robotron
- Joust
- Rampage
- Bubbles
- Splat!
- Sinistar
- Rootbeer Tapper (I think it was Beer Tapper in its original form but they changed it to conform with its target "E" ESRB rating)
- Wisard of Wor
- Timber
- Satan's Hollow

Dimensions:
22" (55.88cm) w
23" (58.42cm) d
62" (157.48cm) h

Price:
$449.95 USD

The Good

:
- Great-feeling controls
- Crisp screen
- Smaller size is perfect for den or living room use
- Feels like the old arcade games, to a point

The Bad

:
- 13" screen
- cheaply built case (not nearly as durable as my uncle's Space Duel game) I think it's just 3/4" thick acrylic.
- only 12 games
- Small cheap speakers (cheap TV speakers probably)
-Price
-The Marquee doesn't light up

The Ugly

:
- They could have made better side panel art
-All the room around the screen

Just from looking at this, I might build a MAME cabinet sometime within the next couple years. (going to college, and they do have some electronics / engineering courses and competitions...

) I'd follow the same dimensions, because it would be easier to move around and quite frankly I don't want to have a huge thing dominating my bedroom or living room or den. Maybe put it on locking or retractable caster wheels...

It officially ships on Dec. 1.

Dick's Sporting Goods will sell a bartop ("tabletop" they call it

) version. (I'm waiting for a cocktail table version I can copy off of

)

<a href="http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr ... R0">Target Page</a>

Bottom Line: Great MAME design, poor game system, but possibly the only option for the masses who don't know how to do anything better.

Whattaya think?

Mr. Cool · Post by **Mr. Cool** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 8:07 am

I saw one similar to that in a BJ's commercial for $899USD

daguuy · Post by **daguuy** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 8:09 am

it'd make a nice MAME cabinet if you only want 2 players, but since it's $500 i'd rather just make a bigger 4 player one with bigger screen and more games

Mr. Cool · Post by **Mr. Cool** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 8:16 am

I dont see why they are so expensive. They dont have very expensive technology int them, and the box would be cheap and easy to make. Even though $500 seems to be cheapere than most arcade cabinets, I think its still too expensive.

soundwave · Post by **soundwave** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 8:18 am

Maybe I'd consider this if the custom built cab I'm making in the spring wasn't going to be so positively female of the dog species'.

Post by **marshallh** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 9:03 am

Now, the next question I'm going to ask is whether or not this cabinet is JAMMA compatible? If so, you could plug in almost any arcade board.

Post by **bicostp** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 9:08 am

I doubt it. It's probably just a cheap emulator board.

I'm pretty sure it's just a standard TV screen in it, too. (I think I saw Composite signal artifacts, and a little dot-crawl

)

Post by **Sparkfist** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 9:36 am

Give me 2 sheets of AA plywood, a router, some scrap for making jigs and I can make that.

Its a nice cabinet. But I'd investigate it more if your planning to keep the games and hardware cause that is a lot of money to throw out if it ends up being a cheap emulation system.

Reaperman@home · Post by **Reaperman@home** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 9:53 am

- Rootbeer Tapper (I think it was Beer Tapper in its original form but they changed it to conform with its target "E" ESRB rating)

don't blame target, there were many versions of tapper from 'Budweiser' to the 'Rootbeer' tapper included in that upright. please visit your locally stored MAMEhave list for a more complete listing

G-force · Post by **G-force** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 12:04 pm

I think it's pretty cool that they are trying to bring arcade machines to the public. Although I think if I were to get one, I would prefer to make it myself.

Reaperman@home · Post by **Reaperman@home** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 12:09 pm

you're all right, it's probably little more than an elaborate TV-game paired with a $100 13" TV...by my math that comes to $120+cheap cabinet... I'll believe its real when I see the jamma connector and scart monitor.

On ebay, real arcade versions of those games don't approach $500. I'd be surprised if the boards cracked $20

Post by **benheck** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 1:16 pm

Yeah, having an arcade machine rocks! Considering people buy $4000 outdoor grills stuff like this seems reasonable.

Metroid fan · Post by **Metroid fan** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 3:03 pm

I agree Ben they totally rock my socks!

Darth Fett · Post by **Darth Fett** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 1:42 am

I think it's cool,but if i ever have a spare $400,then i'm gonna get a Star Wars one on ebay.

kidw/32+systems · Post by **kidw/32+systems** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 7:55 am

when i looked at the one at target it was like a cheap made in china toy
thats why i am trying to go to this arcade auction in Columbus,OH and it just so happens that my grandpa has a car show the same weekend there so hopefuly i can get a MVS

EDIT:there is a whole line of them here