Before I destroy this original

[Santoro]

well ive seen all the opinions on this post, and there are a lot of vets here.  well this opinion is coming from someone who could give a rats ass about old games.  

This got me thinking, maybe one's stance on the debate is age-related. Is there anyone born after 1978 who cares what they do this poor defenseless cab?

Just a thought....  I am a geezer born in 1965, and I care.

[Minwah]

This got me thinking, maybe one's stance on the debate is age-related. Is there anyone born after 1978 who cares what they do this poor defensless cab?

Just a thought....  I am a geezer born in 1965, and I care.

1979 and yes I would rather see the machine restored than MAME'd.

Someone gave the car example, this reminds me of a big Mini debate.  I'm into Minis and go to a lot of shows - there's always some wiseguy who does something rediculous to an old Mk1, like cut the arches out and stick on a big whale-tail.  Their argument would be 'at least its not on the scrapheap', which is a reasonably fair point.  Why mess up something that's survived so long is everyone elses point...let someone who cares restore and look after it.  Same principal applies here...

Note that this isn't a reflection on this case neccessarily.  If you're going to restore it StudBoy then good luck and fair play

[studboy62]

Guys, I'm gonna restore the case so please don't worry about it.  I've already talked to Jay and he agrees with me.  When I talk about painting the sides I mean just on the bottom were the board has chipped off.  I'm just gonna paint the chipped part so that it's not as noticeable.

And about the Troll thing, I've never seen people do that on message boards before so I didn't know about it.  Sorry for any confusion.

[patrickl]

studboy62, good luck restoring the cab.

Just wanted to say that I think more people should build their own cabs. Like the guy (forgot his name) who designed his own airplane to race, since everyone else was using (and destroying) old mustang airplanes. If you build the cab yourself you're free to do whatever you want wwith it and noone can nag on you for authenticity  

[paigeoliver]

I use original cabinets all the time, but I only use the RIGHT cabinets.

First off, if it is working, then forget it. (Unless it is a fairly trashed mis-matched conversion, like a black painted pac-cabinet with Contra marquee running a Gals Panic board).

Dead conversion titles are generally open season, although I DO try to keep the original conversion artwork if possible.

Dedicated games are more complicated.

Dedicated working, forget it, keep it as is.

Dedicated dead (but complete), MAYBE usable for Mame. Basically you need to take a reality check on what the game is. What the game is worth. How much money it would take you to repair the game, and if you would want the game once fixed. I do often support simply replacing a dead PCB with the computer in these instances. Fact is that a Pac, Galaga, or Williams PCB is REALLY expensive, and the computer can play the same game for cheaper.

Dedicated incomplete. Same questions as dedicated, dead.

Dedicated stripped. Usually open season for Mame here. There are VERY FEW games that it makes financial sense to build from the ground up when all you have is a piece of wood.

In all cases of dedicated games, One major rule applies

#1. Do not paint over the sideart, enlarge the control panel, or otherwise modify the cabinet. If you are not happy with the original control panel, then simply remove it and make a new one to replace it. Do your absolute best to make sure your results look like the original game.

A few examples from my own LONG maming history.

Galaxian/Pac cabinet. Was Clutch Hitter (painted brown) when I got it. Eventually got a Pac-Man marquee, bezel, and control panel, and ran only 4-way games.

Amazing Maze - Was complete and dedicated, but dead when I got it. Boardset repairs would have run me $150. There is ZERO demand for this game. The repaired game would not have been worth the $150. I sold the monitor and boardset for far more than the working game would have been worth. I removed the original panel and set it aside (still have it too), and made a new panel with the standard SF II layout. I used it for a LONG time this way. It was recently de-mamed though. I plan on putting the original panel back on, and redoing it to only have games that can play with the controls it has on the original panel.

Battlezone. I was doing this to look all original outside, but be all computer and VGA inside. Cabinet came to me complete minus PCB, minus monitor. A quick ebay check tells me that the monitor and PCB are worth more than the complete working game. So I went the mame route. I never quite finished the project though. I got the monitor installed, and lost interest. I listed the incomplete project on ebay, and the buyer ONLY wanted the panel and periscope plastics, so now I STILL have the cabinet, only far less complete than before.

Defender - Was empty cabinet with sideart. I got a repro marquee, an NOS Willis Defender overlay, and made it into a Mame powered Defender. It ONLY runs Defender right now, and I never actually got around to giving it a dedicated computer, so it is still in project mode.

Space Firebird - Was mini. Was complete, and worked, except for one problem, missing shot animations. It is a common problem, and no one know how to fix it. I sold the insides, sold the cabinet to someone else to Mame, and then was given the cabinet back six months later. I changed only the joystick externally (switched 2 way for 8-way), and eventually sold this game complete at the St. Louis auction.

I have more examples, but I think you guys get the picture.

For those of you that DON'T want to build your own, but don't want to "tear up" an original either, then there is still one big option.

Non-collectable machines.

Trivia machines.
Gambling machines
Tournament Solitaire (ONE OF THE BEST cabinets for Mame, has serial trackball already, has VGA monitor already, has room for two joysticks and buttons).

other commericial units that resemble arcade games, but are not.

This gambling and trivia stuff has no real collectors value. It isn't like Pac-Man, where the new stuff will NEVER replace the old stuff. With gambling and trivia, the new stuff is ALWAYS better than the old stuff.

[patrickl]

The trouble is that the idea of "collectable" will change over age.

[paigeoliver]

I severely doubt that pre-"Cherry Master" video gambling and video trivia stuff will ever really be collectable.

Their are multiple reasons.

The first is the most important one. The new video trivia and gambling machines play the EXACT same stuff as the old ones, but with better graphics. The newer stuff is simply a superior product to the older stuff. There is no magic "gameplay" hidden in the older machines. Matter of fact, the newer machines have better gameplay than the older ones.

Second issue. The build quaulity of a lot of that stuff i junk. It breaks down, very little documentation is available, as many of this stuff was grey market stuff, made by long defunct companies, and it came with little more than an instruction sheet.

Third issue. The older trivia machines are VERY DATED in their questions. They ask a lot of stuff that you barely would have known the answer to in 1985, much less now.

[Wade]

Well, I'm definitely in the minority here, but if he wants to Mame it and sell the parts to pay for it then let him do it.

It is a well known and easily proven fact that MOST video games are worth more when parted out, even if working.  That game is working but it had heavy burn in the monitor and the cabinet is in relatively poor condition.  IMO it won't fetch as much money as a lot of you seem to think.  If he really "restores" it he is going to put a lot of time and money into it.  Also, parting a machine isn't always a bad thing... one parted machine might make 3 or 4 other broken Centipedes get repaired!

That said, it is in good enough condition (the sides aren't painted over) and working so he could easily sell it and pay for a generic cab plus plenty of extra parts (nice big monitor, a new PC, etc.)  That is what I'd recommend doing and this is what would probably please the most people on this forum.

All this talk about what's "right" and what's wrong to do with a cabinet... But if he wants to do something else, it isn't "right" to rip him a new one just because he has different priorities.  To each his own, there are all different types in this hobby (I personally know a lot of people who have no interest in Mame machines at all, they are only interested in original classic games).

Wade

[Yander]

I agree with you to some extent but if he is asking what to do I would tell him to restore it. It is sad to see a classic have a huge monitor, covered sideart, and a control panel with 300 buttons, 6 joysticks, 2 spinners, 3 trackballs, and blinking lights.