OK, which one of you beavers is responsible for this one?

[paigeoliver]

Who did it, fess up and you will only get a bad beating. It will be much worse if we have to hunt you down.

[Carsten Carlos]

SAKRILEG!  

[zzsprade]

Excuse me for being naive... but... i don't get it??

-Alex

[Carsten Carlos]

THIS is the very first arcade cabinet ever - at least I don't know of any older!   It's from 1971 and long before Atari's PONG started the Arcade-revolution.

By the way, as Nolan Bushnell was involved in this game, it's somehow a preliminary Atari-product Those days it was produced from Nutting Associates, and yes, I'm somehow an Atari-Fan.  

To add - the name of the game is Computer Space.
Never seen one in original, even when, I was just one year old those days!  

[paigeoliver]

THIS is the very first arcade cabinet ever - at least I don't know of any older!   It's from 1971 and long before Atari's PONG started the Arcade-revolution.

By the way, as Nolan Bushnell was involved in this game, it's somehow a preliminary Atari-product Those days it was produced from Nutting Associates, and yes, I'm somehow an Atari-Fan.  

To add - the name of the game is Computer Space.
Never seen one in original, even when, I was just one year old those days!  

Well, it is the first "Production" VIDEO arcade cabinet. There were a half dozen  coin op Space Wars units at some college that predated these (apparently a single PDP computer os some sort ran several machines, search around on Google and you should be able to find it), and all sorts of EM and projector games that were older.

What is rather Ironic about the Computer Space cabinet is that it totally breaks from the look and feel of the older 60's EM game cabinets. But, that trend never took. Within a few years video game cabinets looked a whole lot like the old 50s + 60s EM game cabinets.

[Carsten Carlos]

Well, it is the first "Production" VIDEO arcade cabinet.

I knew I would get a picky answer to this, though I expected it not to happen just a few minutes after my posting!  

[kspiff]

I was thinking the same thing

[Brax]

All I can see is a CHEAP Computer Space!!!!!! BID man, BID!!

Throw a b&w tv in there and hope to god the board is still in there...... if not, well..... patience. It's still a darn cool cabinet. The refurb would be fun.

[paigeoliver]

Unfortunately it seems that Computer Space parts are almost impossible to come by. That is the only converted one I have EVER seen. The only reason you can usually find parts for most games is because they got converted. This just didn't happen to Computer Space (or to most B&W games), and thus the parts are largely still inside the original cabinets.

It actually isn't that rare of a game. I must have seen pictures of a good 100+ different ones online between ebay pics, live auction pics, warehouse raid pictures, and different people's game rooms. Almost every major arcade seller seems to have one stashed somewhere. It is only valuable because of the demand for them.

If I had to make a guess as to the most common B&W raster games, then it would be something like this

Space Invaders (all versions and clones included)
Pong (several versions from Atari, Kee, and Midway)
Sprint (2 and 1)
Sea Wolf
Atari Football
Computer Space
Gun Fight
Tank
Death Race (yeah, yeah, it is so rare that it is usually at least a month before another one pops up on ebay).
Starship I
Night Driver
Circus
Avalanche
Sheriff
Breakout
Fire Truck


I am sure I am forgetting something, but most B&W titles other the ones listed above (and those 2 and 4 player snake games) are incredibly rare.

Now try to find one of these Sprint 8,  Tank 8, Shark Jaws, Cops N Robbers, Road Runner, Shark, Super Flipper, UFO Chase, or just about any other pre-invaders title.

[Lilwolf]

That cab would make a SWEET starwars cab!  

<duck... cover... snicker... see how bad Howard flames me... hehe>

[Nailz]

Is there a link or a picture that I am somehow not seeing here?

[tmasman]

Is there a link or a picture that I am somehow not seeing here?

He had this:
http://www.alsarcade.com/Andy/arc/grose/pics/conv46.jpg
embedded... Maybe it didn't show up for you for some reason...

[Nailz]

Thanks tmasman, unfortunately your link isn't showing me anything either...

Oh the humanity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I need to see what has been done!  

[tmasman]

ok..ok....
I shrunk & cropped it a little, but here's the image...
It's got Pacman playing on the screen...

[Zakk]

Yeah, I only got $300 for that.  Man, I knew I should have cut that panel off and made a pedestal controller with neogeo layout.  


Hehe, Just kidding folks , but to be honest I would have paid a ton for it at auction.  Put the board into a mspac where it belongs, restore that sweet cab as close as possible, and then have it take the place of my middle child (she's always been a bit difficult anyway).

[HeadRusch]

History was made to be re-written....

If I could find a CS cabinet cheap, I'd mame the hell out of it

[menace]

all historical significance aside--I think that this thing is BUTT-ugly.  I have visions of gil gerard as buck rogers dancing around it with twiki--or apollo and starbuck ducking behind it to shoot cylons--or maybe I've just been watching to much 70's tv....

[Tailgunner]

If you cut the cab in half vertically and glassed in a 4" section you could probably squeeze a D9200 in it.  

[Frostillicus]

Seriously?  That is one AWESOME shaped cab - so ugly it's beautiful!  It's Logans Run, Lost in Space, and reeks of late 60s futuristic-space style! I'd bid on it.
 

[SirPoonga]

Seriously?  That is one AWESOME shaped cab - so ugly it's beautiful!  It's Logans Run, Lost in Space, and reeks of late 60s futuristic-space style! I'd bid on it.
 

Yeah, it;s very early 70s looking  Wonder if someone would make a fiberglass repo for people to mame....

[Grasshopper]

Seriously?  That is one AWESOME shaped cab - so ugly it's beautiful!  It's Logans Run, Lost in Space, and reeks of late 60s futuristic-space style! I'd bid on it.
 

Or Blake's 7, Space 1999, or Dr Who!

Joking aside, I don't really see the problem. If you can't get parts for that machine then it's simply an ugly (or beautiful depending upon your point of view!) mostly empty box taking up a lot of space. At least if you MAME it then it's getting used. And the conversion has been done in a fairly discreet way so in the unlikely event of the parts becoming available it could probably be converted back to a working Computer Space cabinet quite easily.

This is a mass produced fibreglass box we're talking about not a ming dynasty vase!

[GamingGreg]

The above pic comes from this Gallery of the Grotesque/CONVERSIONS FROM HELL page.  It's rather interesting reading.

WARNING!!! The above page contains graphic scenes of burning and rotting arcade cabinets.  (How could they do that to those poor classics?)  

I also snickered at these conversions...
Atari Pole Position cockpit-> Batman
Sega Star Trek
Vector with a Next Generation film poster marquee

[1UP]

Seriously?  That is one AWESOME shaped cab - so ugly it's beautiful!  It's Logans Run, Lost in Space, and reeks of late 60s futuristic-space style! I'd bid on it.
 

Or Blake's 7, Space 1999, or Dr Who!

Joking aside, I don't really see the problem. If you can't get parts for that machine then it's simply an ugly (or beautiful depending upon your point of view!) mostly empty box taking up a lot of space. At least if you MAME it then it's getting used. And the conversion has been done in a fairly discreet way so in the unlikely event of the parts becoming available it could probably be converted back to a working Computer Space cabinet quite easily.

This is a mass produced fibreglass box we're talking about not a ming dynasty vase!

There are like 16(?) of them left in the country, THAT'S the problem.  Super rare, so if you can't get it working, someone else can and will PAY you for it!  I have seen 3 of them in a restoration shop, where they wouldn't even let me make an offer because they were already spoken for.  Anyone MAMEing such a rare classic should be beaten about the head and shoulders, drawn, quartered and shot with a lightgun!

[paigeoliver]

16? Where did you get that number? I have personally seen at least 30 of them on ebay in the last few years. I came up with 12 of them just through a quick reading of recent Computer Space related RGVAC posts. I know someone else who has one, and there is one sitting in that warehouse that someone recently posted pictures of.

That makes 18 counting the Ms. Pac-Man one and the three you saw in the shop, and that doesn't even scratch the surface of them. There were 1500 made, which was a pretty decent number, especially for a black & white game (most of which did maybe 200-300 units).

-EDIT-

More RGVAC reading has turned up quite a bit more of them. I stand by my statement that they really are not that rare, they just aren't for sale that often.

[Howard_Casto]

Joking aside, I don't really see the problem. If you can't get parts for that machine then it's simply an ugly (or beautiful depending upon your point of view!) mostly empty box taking up a lot of space. At least if you MAME it then it's getting used. And the conversion has been done in a fairly discreet way so in the unlikely event of the parts becoming available it could probably be converted back to a working Computer Space cabinet quite easily.

This is a mass produced fibreglass box we're talking about not a ming dynasty vase!

Wrong wrong wrong!  It IS the ming dynasty vase!  At least to true arcade historians.  (Personally I don't give a crap about some moldy old chineese pottery.)  And converting it can do harm if it's a bad conversion.  It makes the cab ugly and ruins the cabinet's reputation.  See the star wars arm chair for further example.  Also as others have stated, converting it robs a true fan of the cab the joy and opportunity or restoring it to it's full glory.

It's people that say "it's just a cab"  that make me want to get out my shotgun.  How in the world could you enjoy this hobby and not appreciate the artistry of a nice looking arcade cabinet???  Especially CS, probably one of the most unique, and therefore, beautiful cabs in arcade history.  

People don't mame classics.  

Don't mame classics under the guise of "It can't be restored" when you know good and well it could, given enough time, money and tlc.  

Don't mame classics to make them look ugly with a non themed, clashing, add-on only to justify it by saying "it can be converted back."

Don't mame classics under the excuse "I can't find/afford a better cab to mame"

Don't mame classics with the justification of:  "This artwork is ugly, and therfore, it's not worth saving"  

Do not mame them here or there

Do not mame them in a square

Do not mame them no sir-re

Or face the wrath of HowardC

Remember kiddies, just because you don't find something valuable, doesn't mean someone else wouldn't treasure it.  There are only so many arcade cabs left in the world so if you buy one for a mame conversion and don't respect it enough to do it the proper way (as in don't make it uglier or hack it up with mods) then please pass that cab on down to someone that will and build a mame cab from scratch.  

The "I own it so I can do anything I want"  routine does not apply.  The louve(spelling?) could, in theory, paint over the Mona Lisa, but that would be an extremely thoughtless and selfish act.  An act that would horrify millions of art fans worldwide and deny countless future generations the opportunity to see it first hand.  And if you don't feel that strongly about arcade cabs then that's fine, but many are just as rare as a fine painting, so if you don't feel that way then for gods sake don't buy it and trash it.  

Ok I'm done..... go back to your business.... nothing to see here..... move it along

[DAmnb]

Hehe hes quite the poet and philisopher that HC  
Anyway I would have to agree, just check that page out: http://www.alsarcade.com/Andy/arc/grose/#CONVERSION hell there is enough horror their to make any grown man cry  

[paigeoliver]

Oh, and by the way. For all of you that DO want to use Computer Space cabinets for Mame then you are in luck. Reading RGVAC lately it seems that they may be making some reproduction cabinets, boardsets, and control panels.

[HeadRusch]

I'd still mame it.  Rare or not, there is barely a game there

Its a great looking unusual cabinet, wasted on a B&W game that could be run by a timex digital watch.

IMHO, sell the parts and save the cab, and put something in there that people will actually use.

[Smittydc]

I played that game once at an arcade museum show... pretty much sucked.

Obviously, though, that cabinet shouldn't be mamed.

I could have sworn this picture came out in a thread before and someone said it was photoshopped -- a fake.

[MameMaster!]

 

MY EYES....MY EYES.....THEY'RE BURNING!!! MAKE IT STOP!!!!

Wow, whoever did that should be banned from gaming for life!!!  

The MameMaster  

[Chris]

I played that game once at an arcade museum show... pretty much sucked.

Obviously, though, that cabinet shouldn't be mamed.

I could have sworn this picture came out in a thread before and someone said it was photoshopped -- a fake.

There was a fake MAME conversion that had been photoshopped.  I can see a Computer Space being converted to a Ms. Pac-Man at the height of Pac-Man Fever (the board inside is likely a bootleg); at the time, there was no real sense of history, and a Computer Space cabinet would just be a ten-year old hunk of useless fiberglass to a hungry arcade operator...

--Chris

[gnateye]

all other discussions aside, that picture looks faker than nude shot of britney spears, the stick is not in perspective to the panel at all, the monitor part looks convincing, but that easy.

i think its a fake made to rile us all up.

i would put an empty CS cb in my house before i would mame it, and i am the king of the unobtrusive conversion.....


oh well back to chain sawing that pac man cab into a couch

[mp2526]

Seriously?  That is one AWESOME shaped cab - so ugly it's beautiful!  It's Logans Run, Lost in Space, and reeks of late 60s futuristic-space style! I'd bid on it.
 

I was watching Soylent Green this weekend and my jaw just about dropped when I saw the scene where the rich guy's "girl friend" was playing a video game and it was a white version of one of these.

[1UP]

16? Where did you get that number? I have personally seen at least 30 of them on ebay in the last few years. I came up with 12 of them just through a quick reading of recent Computer Space related RGVAC posts. I know someone else who has one, and there is one sitting in that warehouse that someone recently posted pictures of.

That makes 18 counting the Ms. Pac-Man one and the three you saw in the shop, and that doesn't even scratch the surface of them. There were 1500 made, which was a pretty decent number, especially for a black & white game (most of which did maybe 200-300 units).

-EDIT-

More RGVAC reading has turned up quite a bit more of them. I stand by my statement that they really are not that rare, they just aren't for sale that often.

OK, I don't know how many there are, so sue me...

Look again, I said "LIKE", meaning that 16 is an arbitrary number that I came up with to express how rare they are (at least you rarely see them anywhere anymore...)  God I hate when people get technical...  

So there were a lot of them made...I'm sure a lot have been junked or made into funky outdoor sculpture by now...

[Sasquatch!]

Don't mame classics to make them look ugly with a non themed, clashing, add-on only to justify it by saying "it can be converted back."

I disagree with ya here.  In principle, as long as a classic cabinet is "mutiliated" and can be converted back, I see no problem.

[Howard_Casto]

Don't mame classics to make them look ugly with a non themed, clashing, add-on only to justify it by saying "it can be converted back."

I disagree with ya here.  In principle, as long as a classic cabinet is "mutiliated" and can be converted back, I see no problem.

Your missing the point man.  If it's badly converted then people like me have to see pics of the bad conversion.  That's just as bad is if it were ruined, even more so, because of the fact that something could be done about it.  It's like hanging "The Venus"  above your toilet and putting magnetic pink daisies all around the frame.  Just bad form all around.  

[hooded_paladin]

Don't mame classics to make them look ugly with a non themed, clashing, add-on only to justify it by saying "it can be converted back."

I disagree with ya here.  In principle, as long as a classic cabinet is "mutiliated" and can be converted back, I see no problem.

Your missing the point man
...
yadda yadda
...

here's something we could agree on:
the advantage is that, when people come to their senses, it's only a few nights of de-converting and a few years of therapy till the bad feeling is gone!

[Sasquatch!]

Don't mame classics to make them look ugly with a non themed, clashing, add-on only to justify it by saying "it can be converted back."

I disagree with ya here.  In principle, as long as a classic cabinet is "mutiliated" and can be converted back, I see no problem.

Your missing the point man.  If it's badly converted then people like me have to see pics of the bad conversion.  That's just as bad is if it were ruined, even more so, because of the fact that something could be done about it.  It's like hanging "The Venus"  above your toilet and putting magnetic pink daisies all around the frame.  Just bad form all around.  

I fully agree with you that it's a tacky thing to do, but I just don' t think that it's a "crime" of any sort.

[Frostillicus]

all other discussions aside, that picture looks faker than nude shot of britney spears, the stick is not in perspective to the panel at all, the monitor part looks convincing, but that easy.

hmmm....to further analyze this...there is not a shadow for the joystick - look how harsh the flash is there should be _something_ there.  Also, maybe it's there and I can't see it, but where is the hole to allow for freedom of movement of the joystick? Is it that small?  and no joystick disk? Does the monitor look skewed?  Is this the beer talking?

Someone call Francis Ford Coppola...

[APFelon]

Not to get entirely off-topic... Well, it's kind of on-topic, but I missed out on this type of discussion last time it came around and I thought I'd add to the "do not MAME classic cabinets" discussion.

I have two cabs that some would consider classic. The first one is a Gremlin "Head On" machine. The monitor works (although it is black and white) with minimal structural damage. The back door and bezel are missing, and the overlay has some fragments missing.

The second one is a JAMMAized Pac-Man cabinet that was once covered in a horrible mustard yellow formica. In order for the operator to get the formica to stick, they put heavy gouges in the sides and front of the cab, ruining the artwork. The bottom had moderate water damage, and the monitor was in dire need of a cap kit, and it has the gun.smoke splash screen burned in (although I'd bet it is the original Pac monitor). The CP had the original formed metal removed, leaving the wood with ten new holes drilled into it (I got it as a 2p Superstars of Wrestling).

I got the Head-On out of a pole barn slated for demolition, and I got the Pac cab from a friend whose new wife hated the rotting thing. The Head-On cab was free, I spent about 25$ on the Pac cab.

I intend to MAME them both. The Pac cab is already gutted, sanded, painted, and just needs the guts and a control panel modification in order to make it a single player vert cabinet. It is now a dark blue with florescent yellow highlights so it'll look great under a blacklight (which I am also going to install behind the marqee). The running cost of this project to date is about 100$ plus about 24 hours of labor. If I wanted to restore the cabinet to it's original condition, I would be looking a one thousand dollars or more, and that is if I had the artistic ability to use the stencils well enough to make it look decent. An artist I am not. Hell, I don't even like Pac-Man. Never did, even when it was the hot fad in the early 80's. Why on Earth would I want to sink money into restoring it? If I tried to sell it after restoration, I wouldn't even make my money back. How is this of value to me?

The Head-On machine is going to be project #3 unless I get around to installing a computer in the juke I have so it'll play MP3s. A Head-On machine in good shape goes for about 250$ IF I could find someone to buy it. Restoring the thing would probably cost much more than that. I can't exactly run down to Home Depot and buy an original Head-On overlay.  Does anyone want a simplistic black and white game in their family room anyway?

So, let's be realistic. I saved BOTH of these machines from the dump, where they would have been crushed and left to decay. Of course, it's not just homeowners who dispose of these types of cabs. I used to work for an operator that would crush cabinets daily. DAILY. And I'm not talking about generic Dynamo cabs here, either. I once saw twelve Ninja Warriors and Darius cabs crushed in less than fifteen minutes.

At the time, I could have cared less. Now I see them as a lost opportunity to give them a new lease on life. Back in 1993, MAME wasn't even a glimmer in Nicola's eye. Useless cabinets were doomed cabinets.

I imagine that today it is the same. I would bet that the compactor isn't rusting away from inactivity.

People installing MAME in a handful of cabinets isn't a problem. PERIOD. Sure, I slapped my forehead when I saw that cab where the guy chopped off the front of an old Dig Dug machine, but it was his cab, and he had every right to do with it whatever he pleased.

Look, if anyone wants to have a personal crusade to save classic cabinets from conversion or destruction, more power to you. Just bring your wallet and make room in your basement. If the thought of me "ruining" these classic cabinets is breaking your heart, make an offer and I will consider selling them to you. Then you can invest an ungodly amount of time and money into their restoration (the phrase "high investment, low outcome" comes to mind here). If not, please don't hawrang me and others like me. And please don't badger us with "restoring good, MAMEing bad" rhetoric. I am doing these cabinets a favor. They will see life again. They will be enjoyed again.

Don't worry, I won't post any pics. I don't have a digital camera. Besides, I don't feel like subjecting myself to endless criticism from people who don't like the idea of a Pac cab painted blue. But you can trust me- it looks great.

APf