Withdrawn- Big Games Midway Multi-Game Board

[404]

posted this on klov, figured i would post it here too...

To make a long story short, a neighbor of mine got one of those Big games midway cabs that were commonly sold in Target for his kids and they never played much until now. He came to me today to speak about possibly converting the machine to a mame cab in order to add more games. To offset the cost of the parts needed, i proposed to him we should part with the multi-game board inside.

Yes, we know the notoriety these units have had for being sold in Target etc. However, the board was developed by Clay Cowgill, creator of the multi-williams and multi-pac kits.

just figured i would post up a feeler in case there is at least one soul out there interested in the unit for a small project or something. If you happen to be interested, please chime in here or drop me a pm.

[Brian74]

How much

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[404]

How much

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I didn't get that far in the discussions with him but feel free to make your best offer on it.

[Rick]

I didn't get that far in the discussions with him but feel free to make your best offer on it.

$25, shipped to Ontario, Canada. How many games are on the board?

[404]

$25, shipped to Ontario, Canada. How many games are on the board?

From what i remember, there were 10 or 12 games on the board.

I will let him know about the offers when i see him tomorrow but just fair warning, he probably won't go for $25 shipped to canada. After shipping, it wouldn't leave him with enough to even buy new buttons. Regardless, I'll let him know.

[Rick]

From what i remember, there were 10 or 12 games on the board.

I will let him know about the offers when i see him tomorrow but just fair warning, he probably won't go for $25 shipped to canada.

Thanks! Worth a shot.

[jmike]

10-12 games...
Can you get a list of the games and what kind of connections it has?
Sorry not really familiar with these boards.

 

[JDFan]

10-12 games...
Can you get a list of the games and what kind of connections it has?
Sorry not really familiar with these boards.

 

    Defender
    Defender II
    Robotron
    Joust
    Bubbles
    Splat
    Sinistar
    Rampage
    Root Beer Tapper
    Wizard of Wor
    Timber
    Hollow

Review with some internal pics can be found HERE - ( http://retroblast.arcadecontrols.com/reviews/biggames.html )

[TKW4rr10r]

  Wasn't that the cab that had a bad 14" TV and not an arcade monitor? Not only that, I recall that being made with some flimsy 1/2" particle board and was a good foot shorter than it needed to be. And not in the nice cabaret format, either. Or at least it wasn't comfortable for me to play on.

I say if your neighbor is serious about going the mame cabinet route he should just sell the whole thing on CL or set it up for a trade for another full size cab (sorry Rick). You could potentially get something with most of the parts you need all ready to install a mame PC into (think cab in good condition but with a non-working PCB selling cheap for example). Seeing as they were around $400-500 new several years ago, you could get the most bang for your buck that way.

Or maybe your neighbor likes the current cab? I dunno, it makes sense in my head at least 

[Rick]

(sorry Rick)

Could you STOP killing my deals? Please?

[404]

Wasn't that the cab that had a bad 14" TV and not an arcade monitor? Not only that, I recall that being made with some flimsy 1/2" particle board and was a good foot shorter than it needed to be. And not in the nice cabaret format, either. Or at least it wasn't comfortable for me to play on.

I say if your neighbor is serious about going the mame cabinet route he should just sell the whole thing on CL or set it up for a trade for another full size cab (sorry Rick). You could potentially get something with most of the parts you need all ready to install a mame PC into (think cab in good condition but with a non-working PCB selling cheap for example). Seeing as they were around $400-500 new several years ago, you could get the most bang for your buck that way.

Or maybe your neighbor likes the current cab? I dunno, it makes sense in my head at least 

yup, that's the one. I didn't know the guy when he bought this unit. He got it for his kids and they were really just a tad too young to catch on to what an arcade is when he first got it. Once they saw wreck it ralph, they got the sickness.

I already donated a pc mobo, drive and psu to the project.  all that really needs to be done is better controls and possibly a new lcd. I'm just helping him along on what he wants to do. It is his after all.... 

Just figured it would make a neat board for a project for someone here and help offset costs. Apparently there aren't too many fishes biting.

[JDFan]

Would probably make a decent source for a build for someone - though it is a bit of a hybrid design so might take some experimenting with getting it all setup. Do you happen to know what type Power supply they have it hooked up to and what voltages it is using to run the module ?

But I doubt it will bring much $ since you figure you can pick up an older PC off CL or Ebay to run the same games under MAME for around the same price point and that method also provides access to a wider variety of games as your neighbor is now finding out ! -- as already mentioned it might be a better option to sell the entire thing for a couple hundred and build a MAME unit with the funds you get from the sale ( figure your gonna want a better monitor and CP parts eventually anyway )

[404]

Would probably make a decent source for a build for someone - though it is a bit of a hybrid design so might take some experimenting with getting it all setup. Do you happen to know what type Power supply they have it hooked up to and what voltages it is using to run the module ?

But I doubt it will bring much $ since you figure you can pick up an older PC off CL or Ebay to run the same games under MAME for around the same price point and that method also provides access to a wider variety of games as your neighbor is now finding out ! -- as already mentioned it might be a better option to sell the entire thing for a couple hundred and build a MAME unit with the funds you get from the sale ( figure your gonna want a better monitor and CP parts eventually anyway )

That's what i thought. Figured at least some midway or someone familiar with Clay Cowgill's work would be interested in the unit for a fair price.

I really don't know much at all about the unit. I haven't opened it up or anything. The unit works fine and the games aside from the crap tv in the unit, is very accurate game-wise.

Most of the full cabs that I've seen on CL don't seem to sell at all. I've seen dozens of them over the past two years or so. Most of which re-appear with lower and lower prices. There was one here locally going for about $150-175.

He seems dead set on using the existing cab even after i encouraged him to just get a simple bartop kit like the ones Haruman sells here. At the end of the day, it's his cab, his build and ultimately his decision. I really don't have much room for arguing with the guy over this.

At this point depending on what he wants to do about the monitor situation, i may just tell him to leave the unit in there.

[JDFan]

What you might also consider doing is pull the parts out of the cabinet and put together a quick bartop build using them to sell (figure you could use the PSU, Game board, CP parts, 14" TV) and pretty much have all of the internals for a build and the MDF etc. is pretty cheap - Then reuse the cabinet to build a MAME unit using a larger monitor and better buttons\joysticks plus the PC you are donating.  That way you could probably get a bit more $ than just selling the game board module and replace all of the inferior pieces in one shot and wind up with a good quality MAME build in the old cabinet that he likes. 

[Rick]

Just figured it would make a neat board for a project for someone here and help offset costs. Apparently there aren't too many fishes biting.

Hey, I'm a fish! I'm biting!

 

[TKW4rr10r]

What you might also consider doing is pull the parts out of the cabinet and put together a quick bartop build using them to sell (figure you could use the PSU, Game board, CP parts, 14" TV) and pretty much have all of the internals for a build and the MDF etc. is pretty cheap - Then reuse the cabinet to build a MAME unit using a larger monitor and better buttons\joysticks plus the PC you are donating.  That way you could probably get a bit more $ than just selling the game board module and replace all of the inferior pieces in one shot and wind up with a good quality MAME build in the old cabinet that he likes. 

+1
I like this idea. Your neighbor gets to keep the cabinet he wants, with all the new parts he needs for a mame build (new controls, 15-17" LCD maybe). And you get to sell a "Multi-williams bartop" for probably more then what the whole unit would sell for, since it doesn't have the stigma of that cabinet on it.

Or, sell all the parts to Rick so he can make a bartop out of it 

[yotsuya]

Or, sell all the parts to Rick so he can make a bartop out of it 

Just make sure he pays you in American dollars. 

[404]

What you might also consider doing is pull the parts out of the cabinet and put together a quick bartop build using them to sell (figure you could use the PSU, Game board, CP parts, 14" TV) and pretty much have all of the internals for a build and the MDF etc. is pretty cheap - Then reuse the cabinet to build a MAME unit using a larger monitor and better buttons\joysticks plus the PC you are donating.  That way you could probably get a bit more $ than just selling the game board module and replace all of the inferior pieces in one shot and wind up with a good quality MAME build in the old cabinet that he likes. 

I'm really not looking to get anything out of this and besides, I'm not much of a woodworker. I was never even able to make anything arcade related that didn't look like a 10 year olds makeshift bike ramp.   

Hey, I'm a fish! I'm biting!

 

I just bumped into him a few minutes ago as i got home. I let him know about the offer but he didn't seem too thrilled about it. 


I will leave this up for another day or so. After that, he will have to sort out what he wants to do with the board on his own.

[Rick]

I just bumped into him a few minutes ago as i got home. I let him know about the offer but he didn't seem too thrilled about it. 

No worries, sir. Appreciate the attempt.

[TKW4rr10r]

I just bumped into him a few minutes ago as i got home. I let him know about the offer but he didn't seem too thrilled about it. 

I will leave this up for another day or so. After that, he will have to sort out what he wants to do with the board on his own.

Did he indicate how much he -thought- it was worth? There could be a pretty big gap in there. I wouldn't see it selling for more than $25 + SH due to what's needed to integrate it into a cab. Heck, I'd be interested at that price if I wasn't so buried in projects already.

[Rick]

Did he indicate how much he -thought- it was worth? There could be a pretty big gap in there.

I'd be interested in that myself!

I wouldn't see it selling for more than $25 + SH due to what's needed to integrate it into a cab.

Hmm. What might I have missed? I did a bit of reading, but it sounds like not enough! What parts would this need?

Heck, I'd be interested at that price if I wasn't so buried in projects already.

It's yours!

[TKW4rr10r]

From what I recall, the game was in it's own black box and connected to the TV through standard TV inputs, I want to say composite. Also the control connections were proprietary. Another reason why he would be looking to swap the controls. So if selling the game "board", hopefully the controls will be included. We need some pics when you crack that cabinet open man   

I'm sure the emulation was sound, but depending on the type of video feed it could be the TV that sucks or the way they fed it. I don't recall the colors being to good on the one I played. But for a reasonable price might be interesting to make a bartop or barstick out of it.

Not me though. Got an "Asteroids Deluxe" to fix/flip and a special cab to build for the guys in the office. Also need to scan all the artwork on that massive X-men cab for the guys here on the forum.  Then if money comes in some really special builds to start off the new year.

[JDFan]

I wouldn't see it selling for more than $25 + SH due to what's needed to integrate it into a cab.

Hmm. What might I have missed? I did a bit of reading, but it sounds like not enough! What parts would this need?

Here's a pic of the electronics module -- (TK is correct it is using composite RCA connections and does not support RGB)


And the CP panel uses the ribbon cable from the electronics module to connect to their version of an encoder which also looks to be a proprietary lay out so may need some work in getting the wiring connected properly. Not sure if there is any wiring diagram included in the unit and since they've gone bankrupt it might be hard to get any info on the units after purchase which is why it may be better to sell the CP and electronics module together (or map out the diagram before dis assembly)

[404]

Just had a chance to go over and have a look at the unit.

Yes, it is quite literally exactly like the pictures. the board is enclosed in a plastic enclosure box with a series of cables coming out of it. The board seems to be powered by a wall wart style ac adapter. the long ribbon cable connects to a breakout pcb which then connects to the individual buttons.

The control panel is also just one big slab of plastic.  Changing the buttons doesn't seem like much of an issue. Changing the joysticks would either involve grinding down the joystick mounts or creating a new top control panel out of wood or metal. The joysticks and buttons are flimsy pieces of junk.

After a bit of talking with him, he doesn't seem to be inclined to part with anything now. Think he got spooked by how much work would need to be done to get it up to a decent standard. Besides, there doesn't seem to be all that much interest in the board anyway.