Who actually likes cocktail arcade cabinets?

[leapinlew]

The actual usefulness of a cocktail cabinet is lost on me. I can't think of any situations that a traditional cocktail cabinet makes sense. Traditional meaning a cabinet where someone sits on one end, and someone sits on the other end. I've owned 3, and each time I think it's just a waste of space. That I can put close to 2 traditional arcade games in the same space.

I think they are cool cabinets, and definitely hit the nostalgia nerve, but for actual personal home arcade use? I'll pass.

The Joust cocktail cabinet, now that's slightly different and I don't consider it traditional. It's a little more efficient, but it's still not as good as a standard stand up machine.

[negative1]

The actual usefulness of a cocktail cabinet is lost on me. I can't think of any situations that a traditional cocktail cabinet makes sense. Traditional meaning a cabinet where someone sits on one end, and someone sits on the other end. I've owned 3, and each time I think it's just a waste of space. That I can put close to 2 traditional arcade games in the same space.

I think they are cool cabinets, and definitely hit the nostalgia nerve, but for actual personal home arcade use? I'll pass.

The Joust cocktail cabinet, now that's slightly different and I don't consider it traditional. It's a little more efficient, but it's still not as good as a standard stand up machine.

you must not have ever been to a bar before.

these weren't for kids.

later
-1

[pbj]

I’ve been $300 cash in hand for a decade on a Midway cocktail.  No luck.

 

[Ond]

I don't know about "useful"  .  If you can sit down comfortably and play arcade games that's pretty useful.  I have a nostalgic view of them because my friends and I used to sit together at them, play games for long periods of time and socialise.
 
I'm building my cocktail cabinet project with a large CRT because I really like the seated, top down view of the graphics on a CRT. But again that's nostalgia for CRTs for you, which is what we're all about here aint we?

ZapCon had a cocktail "lounge" area.  It was a good spot to hang out with guy's like Nephasth, spend time chatting and play cocktail pinball.  Beers rested on same

[leapinlew]

That's a good point about the $300 cash in hand. They do seem to hold their value. The 3 I've owned were junkers that I had to restore and I had to pay more than a stand up and while they did sell for slightly more, it didn't' offset the extra controls and work.

I get that the idea is to put them in a place where you can park a drink on it. I also get that it seems like a way to monetize a table, which doesn't normally generate money, but it just seems like such a poor form factor for so many reasons. Despite what negative 1 says, these cabinets were in many places besides bars.

I'm decent at a few games, and the ergonomics of a cocktail are such that I wouldn't want to play any of my marathon games on one. I still like seeing cocktails and they still have a novelty to them, but I personally won't own one.

[Arroyo]

Beers rested on same

That’s the appeal to me of a cocktail...hence the name I guess.  I like the idea of resting a drink on it and not worrying about it spilling.

[Mike A]

They take up way too much space.
I liked them growing up because they had 2 of them at the local Pizza Hut.
I own two cocktail tables. The space they occupy could hold at least 4 uprights.

[yotsuya]

I’ve been $300 cash in hand for a decade on a Midway cocktail.  No luck.

 

I sold two of them at ZapCon for $750

[opt2not]

Certain games actually play really well on a cocktail. Cocktail version of Tetris head-to-head plays well (especially as a drinking game - do a shot on a tetris). Hat Trick (Sente) is better on a cocktail than standup.

Also, there are different styles of cocktails aside from the midway ones that support horizontal games.

I’m in love with the Japanese Sega classic Cocktail. It looks like the old Nintendo ones, but has a proper CP angle rather than being a vertical CP on the side.

TLDR; I like Midway cocktails for certain games, but I love the old Sega classic cocktails.

[Howard_Casto]

I don't find them particularly comfortable.... I guess they'd be ok for shorter guys. 

That being said you've got stuff like warlords and various other pong style games that just make more sense as a cocktail.  Also those new pac-man games ect. 

[yotsuya]

I like the Midway ones.

[TuffGong]

The whole reason I signed up for this forum is that I plan on building my own cocktail cabinet for my remodeled basement.  I can't wait to get started (could use a lot of help from this site).  I remember playing on a cocktail table at so many places (supper clubs mostly here in Wisconsin) as a kid.  My wife remembers playing on one at the local Pizza Hut in her home town.  I think for a lot of people in the 40-some age range these are great conversation pieces and if you have the space fun to have.

Just my two cents, again, thanks to everyone.  Trying to get up to speed as quickly as possible so that we can get started with the project.  I have set up a raspberry pi to play games using my television and Xbox controllers, so I'm somewhat familiar with the process.  I plan on purchasing a cabinet versus starting from scratch (not sure who I am buying from yet).

[pbj]

Zapcon reminded me they’re uncomfortable as hell to play on, but I still want one.

 

[pumaconcolor]

They're low and don't block the view.

[Mike A]

Tuffgong.

Where are you located in Wisconsin?

Make the pilgrimage here:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,160862.0.html

Look at my previous party entries to get an idea.

I have a decent sized arcade room with over a dozen games.  I have a workshop that includes a small CNC machine and a CO2 laser.

I like helping other people and I like drinking too much beer.

Bring a six pack of Spotted Cow with you and have a good time. Bring your wife / girlfriend. Bring your kids. My parties include all ages. My friends all have young kids.

[TuffGong]

Mike A,

I live in Manitowoc.  I'd appreciate any help a fellow Badger could give.  I've been wanting to build a cocktail cabinet for years now, to remind me of all the good times up at the supper club north of Shawano we went to as kids.  I'd play the cocktail table as many times as my folks would give me quarters.  Trying to recreate that slice of my childhood for my kids.

Let me know where you are at.  I do have to work Saturday morning unfortunately.

[Mike A]

 I am in Illinois 6 miles from the Wisconsin border. You are about 2 and a half hours from me.
I would be happy to open up my workshop and help you out.
Whenever you have a weekend free just let me know in advance. A cocktail cab would be easy to knock out.

[keilmillerjr]

When i was younger, I loved going to a papa ginos pizzeria. They had a cocktail. We could play and have soda at same time while waiting for the pizza to cook.

[Mr. Peabody]

In the early days, many places might have one game (or none). You could drink and eat while playing, and it kept the kids busier. But it was a tight thing. By the late 80s, lots of smaller places had an upright or two, or nothing because a table made more money than a cocktail.


Manitowoc.....sleepy, brewery town when I passed through in 2001.

[Beretta]

I like them, No interested in paying the price they command though.

Some day I'll build one.. it doesn't seem like it would be difficult.. glass top be the hardest part I think.

They're functional.. the name "cocktail cab" says it all.. an arcade game that encourages you to sit drinks.. or food.. or what on it.

I would not try to put guns, track balls, and wheels on it..

Classic Jamma loadout.. 3+start with a 4/8way quick switch on it.. ya sound pretty sweet to me.

[TuffGong]

Mike A,

I will definitely be in touch and would love to drive down and work together.  I really appreciate it.  I'll PM you so that we can share contact info.  Thanks again, can't wait!

[leapinlew]

Ok. Some folks really like the cocktail cabinets. What ones are the preferred?

Midway Cocktail seems to be the standard

These were awful


Red Tents are also not a good cabinet to me.



The best one I think is the Joust cocktail. Never owned one though, so maybe I'd dislike it or like it even more


Am I missing any designs

[pbj]

Red tent takes up so much room that it's unreal.  I got 2 pinball machines and a Guerrilla War into the space that thing killed.  Vs. Excite Bike is EXACTLY the same as the console game and bored everyone quickly.  Dr. Mario has loud, 30 second music that loops nonstop.  Vs. Super Mario Bros changes the levels up just enough to piss you off and doesn't play well on a joystick anyway.  In high school, I used to play a red tent converted to Alien vs Predator that was pretty damn cool, though.


I've owned a couple of those Taito type.  Phoenix and....? Tough on the wrists and way too big for the size of the monitor.


I had a Nintendo Donkey Kong 3 cocktail that I bought for something like $50 at a Super Auction and immediately flipped without ever touching it.  Always kinda regretted that.  I bet that board was easily converted back to DK1, too, and I'm almost afraid to google it.

[gingecko]

The Joust one would be my preference. The things that would negatively impact the comfort, would be poor height/ergonomics.

That first one, looked like the joy is angled vertically?! The second has more comfortable controls, but is just ugly to me. Might as well have a standup at that point.

The other issue I recall was the controls being nested uncomfortable under plexiglass on some.

I've been musing about making a cocktail cabinet someday though. The design is nice because it can potentially sit against a wall, throw a cover over the top and you have a 'table'. The downside to that is...most horizontal surfaces will accumulate clutter in no time. Which means you have to remove all the "stuff", if you want to play games. Which likely means you ended up with a an expensive table. On the plus side, it could be a great way for me to have a cab with some dedicated vertical games, and/or controls. Maybe a Defender layout on one side, Missile Command/Centipede on the other.

[opt2not]

These were awful

Yes, those were.  But the Sega versions (T-13's) were vastly better in design for the control panel angle and horizontal screen orientation:





They also had 2P on one side CP's:



The "candy" version of the Aero City cocktail (T-26) is pretty awesome. It hosts a whoppin' 26 in screen, 2p panel and attached speakers:






Besides the tried and true Midway cocktails, These 2 Sega ones are my favorite as well.

[gingecko]

I kind of like this one.

[opt2not]

I kind of like this one.

Didn't know Kirsten Dunst was into cocktail cabinets...

[leapinlew]

From an aesthetics perspective, any of the ones that look like a converted school desk with the metal legs, are ugly to me. The cleanest of those were the candy versions which I've never seen in the wild.

[pbj]

I kind of like this one.

I was  going to make a joke about how "if a flat surface exists, people have ---fouled up beyond all recognition--- on it" but figured I'd give  it a rest. And here you go and show all the 38 year Olds how they were conceived.

[Osirus23]

I love Midway cocktails. Damn sexy cabs.

[Beretta]

Pacman cocktail.. IMO it's the best design (for a cocktail)

Vertical screen, sit's like a table, simple flat glass top says "sit your drink here dude."

[yamatetsu]

lew: If you don't like the stock cocktail cabs, you can BYOAC.

I like this one. It's jkdubb's aptly named '16x9 Cocktail Table Project'.

[Osirus23]

Pacman cocktail.. IMO it's the best design (for a cocktail)

Vertical screen, sit's like a table, simple flat glass top says "sit your drink here dude."

Indeed. That's why I built one.

[javeryh]

Pacman cocktail.. IMO it's the best design (for a cocktail)

Vertical screen, sit's like a table, simple flat glass top says "sit your drink here dude."

Indeed. That's why I built one.

Beautiful.

[gingecko]

And here you go and show all the 38 year Olds how they were conceived.

Oh man, that cracked me up.

Back on topic, that jkdubb cocktail cabinet is slick. Looks more like furniture than arcade, but I still like it.

[Arroyo]

Indeed. That's why I built one.

Does the Trinitron tube bother you at all in vertical?  I've been collecting CRT's for the last year, and I was told that vertical games on the Sony Aperture grill with the straight vertical glass (left and right in vertical games) was distracting.  Curious to hear your experience.

[Osirus23]

Indeed. That's why I built one.

Does the Trinitron tube bother you at all in vertical?  I've been collecting CRT's for the last year, and I was told that vertical games on the Sony Aperture grill with the straight vertical glass (left and right in vertical games) was distracting.  Curious to hear your experience.

Hasn't bothered me. I'm not even sure what the tube is tbh. I bought it from 8liners years back. I do have an issue with the coin door causing discoloration in the corner of the screen where the mechs are closest to the tube.

[javeryh]

Indeed. That's why I built one.

Does the Trinitron tube bother you at all in vertical?  I've been collecting CRT's for the last year, and I was told that vertical games on the Sony Aperture grill with the straight vertical glass (left and right in vertical games) was distracting.  Curious to hear your experience.

Hasn't bothered me. I'm not even sure what the tube is tbh. I bought it from 8liners years back. I do have an issue with the coin door causing discoloration in the corner of the screen where the mechs are closest to the tube.

Is that a scratch build or was it a kit?  It looks factory fresh.

[Osirus23]

Indeed. That's why I built one.

Does the Trinitron tube bother you at all in vertical?  I've been collecting CRT's for the last year, and I was told that vertical games on the Sony Aperture grill with the straight vertical glass (left and right in vertical games) was distracting.  Curious to hear your experience.

Hasn't bothered me. I'm not even sure what the tube is tbh. I bought it from 8liners years back. I do have an issue with the coin door causing discoloration in the corner of the screen where the mechs are closest to the tube.

Is that a scratch build or was it a kit?  It looks factory fresh.

Scratch build. Stained oak plywood and parts from pac-man.com, Happ, etc.

[Howard_Casto]

Shut it lew.  Red tents are the best Nintendo cabs.  Fight me!   

I'm with the any horizontal cocktail looks awful camp.  They are uncomfortable to play at for long sessions, but the midway ones look great and are the closest thing to furniture. 

[yotsuya]

Shut it lew.  Red tents are the best Nintendo cabs.  Fight me!   

I'm with the any horizontal cocktail looks awful camp.  They are uncomfortable to play at for long sessions, but the midway ones look great and are the closest thing to furniture.

Fight him, Lew!!! I’m still waiting to see you facepunch someone!

[Osirus23]

Red Tents aren't cocktails. Seriously, where am I supposed to set my drink on those things?

[gingecko]

Shut it lew.  Red tents are the best Nintendo cabs.  Fight me!   

I'm with the any horizontal cocktail looks awful camp.  They are uncomfortable to play at for long sessions, but the midway ones look great and are the closest thing to furniture.

Fight him, Lew!!! I’m still waiting to see you facepunch someone!

[Rattus]

I agree with all the negatives but the Head2Head play on my Space Duel cocktail is awesome.

Sent from my SM-A505YN using Tapatalk

[pbj]

Red Tents aren't cocktails. Seriously, where am I supposed to set my drink on those things?

You sit down to play it, so it's close enough.

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah but you sit down and play virtually any cab made in Japan.  I'd classify it as the precursor to candy cabs. 

[pbj]

Sometimes things just are, man.  Go with it.

[Osirus23]

Red Tents aren't cocktails. Seriously, where am I supposed to set my drink on those things?

You sit down to play it, so it's close enough.

After Burner is my favorite cocktail cab.

[opt2not]

What about cocktail pinball cabinets?  I know Yots got smitten with 'em lately.

[pbj]

[BlueGhost]

I'm building a cocktail cab for my game room.  To me it's going to be more of an interactive bar table, a slightly taller midway style cocktail.  I would want some kind of table to sit drinks on anyway, why not have something that can play classic vertical games too.

[markiej]

I can't see it as my one-and-only mame cabinet for mainly personal use - too awkward.  But it would be cool if I were an entertainer and had a large, dedicated entertainment space.  Because then it's like a cool side tablet for people chat and pound IPAs while occasionally glancing at attract mode, and occasionally have a little spirited head to head.

[Mr. Peabody]

Speaking of cocktails: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,161085.0.html

[BlueGhost]

I can't see it as my one-and-only mame cabinet for mainly personal use - too awkward.  But it would be cool if I were an entertainer and had a large, dedicated entertainment space.  Because then it's like a cool side tablet for people chat and pound IPAs while occasionally glancing at attract mode, and occasionally have a little spirited head to head.

That's the idea behind mine.  I'm planning two more dedicated cabinets, a slimmed down Atari cabaret for trackball and spinner games, and the somewhat standard 2 player 6 button cabinet.

The cocktail will be a great place to hang out while waiting your turn at a game of pool, or watching a game on the TV.  It's also a good format for classic vertical games.

[DrewKaree]

supper clubs mostly here in Wisconsin

I'm guessing this phrase is akin to "where's the bubbler" to anyone not from Wisconsin.  Don't let rew discourage you, he plays de foosball.

[DrewKaree]

I have a buddy who is/has considered building a cocktail, and only a cocktail.  In his view, a standup cab is - his words - "too big and bulky, takes up too much space".  I offered to help him build one, if he would help create a template first, so as to pound out a few of them to sell for some side cash.  Seems there's a market in our area for them, but I'm not sure if the ROI is worth it when dealing with another partner.

[DeJarvis]

Pizza Hut

Nothing like playing an 80s Pizza Hut cocktail arcade while waiting for your pizza.

They can be placed in the middle of a room, and 2 players can stay seated while playing 2 player games. That's about it.

[Stobe]

Ok. Some folks really like the cocktail cabinets. What ones are the preferred?

Midway Cocktail seems to be the standard

These were awful


Red Tents are also not a good cabinet to me.



The best one I think is the Joust cocktail. Never owned one though, so maybe I'd dislike it or like it even more


Am I missing any designs

Don't forget this monstrosity I picked up years ago:

[gingecko]

That control panel makes my hands hurt, just looking at it.

[Stobe]

That control panel makes my hands hurt, just looking at it.

If it makes it any better, that game is along the same lines of the dog fighting levels of Atari's Combat.

[leapinlew]

I could have some fun Warlords games on that, but it takes up the room of like 4 stand up machines

[Stobe]

Yeah.  Wasn't my smartest purchase.  I actually drove up to your neck of the woods to pick it up too.

[General_Faliure]

I built a "Barrel of Kong".
It is standing in my living room, and a lot of fun at party's
There is a whole topic about it here: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,131202.msg1344825.html#msg1344825
Here's a picture of mine:

[pbj]

Oh man, how could I forget the barrel craze....

[Zebra]

I can see a slight point to cocktail cabs that are set up with joysticks for both vertical and horizontal games so you only have to change seats instead of turning a 100lb crt on it's side. Aside from that, they are worse in every way than any sort of upright.

I can see how nostalgia comes into though. I have no positive experiences with them to draw from. All the cocktails I saw as a kid were horrible to play on and usually set up with an inappropriate game. I played on one on a cruise ship with Street Fighter 2. It had two buttons per player and player two controls were on the opposite side of the table, so you had to play upside down....

[Nephasth]

...All the cocktails I saw as a kid were horrible to play on and usually set up with an inappropriate game. I played on one on a cruise ship with Street Fighter 2....

You must be all of... what? 20?

[n3wt0n]

Joust would be the only cocktail I would own and even then I would likely prefer the stand up version in the end.

[Zebra]

...All the cocktails I saw as a kid were horrible to play on and usually set up with an inappropriate game. I played on one on a cruise ship with Street Fighter 2....

You must be all of... what? 20?

I'm 39.

[Nephasth]

---smurfy--- operator conversions of classic games shouldn't color your opinion of cocktail cabs.

[pbj]

Yeah, I was gonna say I bet that dude was around my age.  Everything was converted to SF2 circa 1992-93.  EVERYTHING

I played Alien vs Predator on a converted red tent and that was pretty awesome, though.

 

[Howard_Casto]

Yup I remember seeing a Pole Position cockpit converted to sf2.  Made zero sense as then only one can play at a time and it took up the space of two sf2 cabs. 

[Zebra]

Yeah, I was gonna say I bet that dude was around my age.  Everything was converted to SF2 circa 1992-93.  EVERYTHING

I played Alien vs Predator on a converted red tent and that was pretty awesome, though.

 

That's so true. Literally everything was converted and we were so desperate to play SF2 that we overlooked the obvious lack of buttons. Who cared if you only had light punch and a 4-way pacman joystick. It was SF2!

That aside, I still don't like cocktail cabs. Looking down to the monitor just feels wrong to me. There is a reason why we mount our tv's on the wall these days instead of the floor.

[opt2not]

I still like cocktail cabinets for certain games.  Hat Trick on a cocktail is awesome, and makes sense like playing Air Hockey.
Arkanoid is another game I prefer on cocktail cabinets. Galaga too.

I also enjoy Gyruss on a cocktail, even though it doesn't look as psychedelic as it's upright counterpart.

For my preference, I enjoy them for a curated list of games, but they're not great for all games. Mind, most people here would MAME their crap, whereas I'd prefer the wacky idea of dedicated cabinets. 

[KenToad]

Demolition Derby was a fun cocktail game with wheels attached all around. I used to play it at the county fair, which is also where they had the real derby.

[Mr. Peabody]

Barrel cocktails are pieces of art to me, the more refined the more so.


Demolition Derby came in 4-player. I must revisit it - see whether emulation is mature enough.


@Howard_Casto: I'm surprised they didn't try to squeeze two players onto the PP panel - each person half in and out!  Or sawed the canopy off, modded the cp and seat....  What did the cp look like?


Uh-ohh, opt2not used curate in relation to game(s) lists, it's legal process.

[opt2not]

Uh-ohh, opt2not used curate in relation to game(s) lists, it's legal process.

Eh? I used curate correctly...

cu·rate
/ˌkyo͝oˈrāt,ˈkyo͝oˌrāt/
verb
select, organize, and look after the items in (a collection or exhibition).

[leapinlew]

Is Atari Football considered a cocktail?

[Nephasth]

Is Atari Football considered a cocktail?

You could set a cocktail on it, so...

[Mr. Peabody]

@opt2not: my reference was to a recent topic where several disagreed with that definition in regard to game lists.....

Is Atari Football considered a cocktail?

No room for drinks, and you stand up (or use a stool).

[Mike A]

Vigo and I broke one of those.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[Mr. Peabody]

I played Atari Football when it came out. We were so dim, we didn't understand the dome button toggled plays, and tried to press the lights in the diagram. Not that it mattered for me, because the plays looked like gibberish.