New Arcade1Up Machines from Tastemakers

[8BitMonk]

New from the company that brought you Hatchimals!! 

Not quite sure what to think of these. 4ft tall • $399 • 17" LED



PR, no details on components.
https://www.polygon.com/2018/2/16/17019860/arcade1up-cabinets-street-fighter-2-asteroids-centipede
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/golden-age-classic-arcade-cabinets-coming-to-a-home-near-you-674172363.html
http://toybook.com/tastemakers-launches-arcade1up/

Site link
http://www.tastemakersllc.com/arcade1up.html

[JamesRIves]

Interesting.  Perhaps I'll be surprised, but I'll wager a bet that these things will be made of very thin MDF and other cheap materials... similar to those "home use" cabs they sold years ago at Walmart, Target, etc. 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Konami-Stand-Up-Arcade/5185227

I bought one of these units off Craigslist a while back for $50.  I was planning to convert it to a cheap Raspberry pi set up for my 8-year-old nephew.  Thought the thin materials would be perfect since it would be light and easy to move around.  I was warned not to bother, and told they aren't worth purchasing regardless of the price.  I should have listened.  It was useless... even as a shell.  After spending a few days trying to reinforce the shoddy materials with supporting brackets, it was still incredibly flimsy.  I should have known better.  It's not really the manufacturer's fault... it was really designed to be a toy versus a true arcade cabinet.  Ultimately, I broke it into pieces (which was way too easy to do) and the garbage man ended up hauling it away.   

Jim

[8BitMonk]

Interesting.  Perhaps I'll be surprised, but I'll wager a bet that these things will be made of very thin MDF and other cheap materials... similar to those "home use" cabs they sold years ago at Walmart, Target, etc.

Tough to say, these seem to occupy a space in between the high end and super cheap. A newbie retro arcade enthusiast is looking at the relatively expensive Arcade Legends or Ultimate Arcade multi's (are these even sold anymore) or perhaps building their own bartop arcade or braving Craigslist or Ebay, all of which are fairly expensive and/or complicated. Those Konami and Midway 12-1's that were super cheap and cheesy aren't sold anymore so there's not really low end competition.

Flip a coin, I can see these things finding a niche and being popular to a certain crowd or totally crashing and burning hard depending on how they're marketed, build quality etc.