An example of NOT to do to a classic !

[y2k600f4]

eBay Link

[fjl]

 

[NickG]

ha-ha. To really top it off the seller brags about his POS and talks down about other peoples work.  Class sick.
(pun intended)

[Zeppo]

Look at his past auctions.
He has mamed a Defender, a Centipede, a WWF, and a Frogger.

Someone should really beat this person.

[Herk]

He says at the end, "Many happy returns!".  People are happy to return his products.

[stuckpixel]

That makes me cry.

[Mr. Greenjeans]

I viewed his other auctions

QUOTE:

"hotroded with a Pentium 4 IBM with Windows XP, and a brand new 19" Hewlett Packard HD flat screen monitor. This is literally the best cab that money can buy. But shop around, I brought this baby in cheap. I'm quite proud of the price point I've achieved. A STEAL! (why does this WWF machine have a nicer computer than I do?"

Because you are a ass!!!  ....................WTF .............. the worst part is people actually pay this $   


 

[Q*Bert_OP]

This game is such a watershed that you'll not the ebay videogame template background has Space Invaders on it.

WTF?

[shardian]

I've seen worse abominations than that.

I love this final paragraph in his listing:

A few rules of thumb on these machines.  1.  Lightning backgrounds, granite shelf paper, unicorns, monochrome paint, all great for the mid 1990's.  2.  Preferably smaller than a guest bedroom and the control panel smaller than a kitchen table.  3.  Don't settle for Billy's abandoned MAME project with the one joystick and 59 buttons that looks like an IKEA exploded.  It takes a long time to iron out all the wrinkles in this bussiness.  Arcadehollywood has been at this for years.  We've sold cabinets all over the world and we always wildly exceed expectations.  4.  Please do not buy a cabinet with a TV for a monitor, they look terrible.  Games look better than they did in the day on the HD flat screen monitor.  It is remarkable.  5.  Don't settle for some plastic fantastic new MAME beast that you have to assemble. Our cabs ship solid state. And who wants one of those soul-less new beasts and their sweaty looking formica. This is a real cab played by real people; young couples on their first date, homesick G.I.s, businessmen popping into the arcade at lunch. SOUL. Turn your house into an instant party destination. 5'8" tall with a 26 1/2" W x 34" deep.  About 200 lbs. Oh, and we provide free customer service on these masterpieces for life.

For some reason he left of the rule about maming classic, unique cabinets. 

[Anubis_au]

The funny / saddest thing is, the sideart for one of the other cabs, which is a mish-mash of characters from classic games, looks like vector graphics taken from the website (forget its name) which is the depot to all these graphics.

So, these people, not only are the modding classic cabs, they are profiting with the help of the fine people in these types of forums.

[Guaranos]

I don't think this conversion is worth fussing over.  I mean, he hasn't apparently damaged the cabinet in any way that's not reversible, except maybe the control panel itself (easily replaced), and he kept the original theme intact.  If the vector monitor on it was dead, and chances are it was, the odds of finding a replacement at a reasonable cost are practically nil.  Plus, SI Deluxe isn't exactly rare or high-demand.

Personally, if there's going to be a conversion of a non-generic cabinet, I'd rather it be like this - tasteful and reversible - than painted black with MAME logos on it.  That said, I still wouldn't pay $1800 for it...

[XtraSmiley]

I don't think this conversion is worth fussing over.  I mean, he hasn't apparently damaged the cabinet in any way that's not reversible, except maybe the control panel itself (easily replaced), and he kept the original theme intact.  If the vector monitor on it was dead, and chances are it was, the odds of finding a replacement at a reasonable cost are practically nil.  Plus, SI Deluxe isn't exactly rare or high-demand.

Personally, if there's going to be a conversion of a non-generic cabinet, I'd rather it be like this - tasteful and reversible - than painted black with MAME logos on it.  That said, I still wouldn't pay $1800 for it...

I agree and to make it better, SI never had a vector monitor so he really just tossed a crappy black and white monitor.

[y2k600f4]

XtraSmiley and Guaranos....I think there may me plenty of people on BYOAC that may disagree. Thanks for posting your views. I am new and just learning and did mention (before doing research) of doing the same thing to a Tempest (BUT I NOW WOULD NEVER, I know better). Just curious what cabs would you consider classis an not acceptable to even do minor reversable mods ?

[XtraSmiley]

XtraSmiley and Guaranos....I think there may me plenty of people on BYOAC that may disagree. Thanks for posting your views. I am new and just learning and did mention (before doing research) of doing the same thing to a Tempest (BUT I NOW WOULD NEVER, I know better). Just curious what cabs would you consider classis an not acceptable to even do minor reversable mods ?

Well, a Tempest is a vector game and vector monitors are very hard to get ahold of now.  I think ANY reversable mode is fine.  Of course if you are cutting/drilling or whatever it is not reversable.

Any fighting game or modern shootemup is also probably OK to mode as well (SF etc).  Of course that is my opinion, and you know what the say about opinions...

[WareWolF]

SI is a game where you look IN the cab and the image is reflected on a mirror.
The viewing angle on this thing must be horrible.

[Kevin Mullins]

First off - WHAT A WASTE !!

WareWolf - You're right about an original SI monitor orientation..... but he obviously re-mounted the new monitor for direct view, otherwise you wouldn't be able to see the screen in this pic -

[Guaranos]

SI is a game where you look IN the cab and the image is reflected on a mirror.
The viewing angle on this thing must be horrible.

Actually, I had one of those cabinets that used a mirror and the viewing angle was fine.

[WareWolF]

What I mean is space invaders is a rather short machine, and you are supposed to look DOWN on the mirror, not AT it.  Imagine putting a monitor in a PAC man machine on a horizontal shelf instead of angled toward the back, same idea I just does not look right and I can't image it is confortable to play for long periods of time.

Machines with monitors on a horizontal shelf usually have the monitor mounted up higher around eye level (Centipede), have the monitor recessed into the machine (Donkey Kong), or have a deep control panel so you stand farther away from the monitor (gauntlet, most fighters, etc)

[Trebeck]

Yikes!

 

[Thenasty]

I think that Zaxxon is next 

[Q*Bert_OP]

"well...what do you think we should do to this ugly Ms. Pac Man?"

[Guaranos]

"well...what do you think we should do to this ugly Ms. Pac Man?"

If it's empty, the outside is kept original, and the person puts a PC in it instead of an original board, who cares?  I'd rather it have a PC in it than have it remain empty.  Would you rather it rot away unused in someone's shed, or be enjoyed by people who play games? 

I mean, really, if it's a reversible conversion there is absolutely no advantage to just letting it sit.  An empty cabinet is just wood with some artwork on it.  If the wood and artwork are preserved, why does it matter what's in it as long as what's in it can be removed?

Where do we draw the line with this elitist crap?  Apparently, if you stick a PC in a classic cabinet, it's not cool.  Why?  Because it's not original?  What if you stick one of Clay's Multi-Pac boards in a Ms. Pac-Man machine?  That's not original.  Must not be cool.  Or what if you put one of those Multipede boards in a Centipede machine?  That's not original either.  Must not be cool.  A multi-JAMMA connector with adapters so you can play Galaga and Galaxian in your Galaxian cabinet?  How about one of those bootleg speedup chips?  A high score save chip?  Upgraded speakers?  A new monitor?  New buttons?  Don't you dare replace that frayed power cord!

[CheffoJeffo]

"well...what do you think we should do to this ugly Ms. Pac Man?"

If it's empty, the outside is kept original, and the person puts a PC in it instead of an original board, who cares?  I'd rather it have a PC in it than have it remain empty.  Would you rather it rot away unused in someone's shed, or be enjoyed by people who play games? 

I mean, really, if it's a reversible conversion there is absolutely no advantage to just letting it sit.  An empty cabinet is just wood with some artwork on it.  If the wood and artwork are preserved, why does it matter what's in it as long as what's in it can be removed?

Where do we draw the line with this elitist crap?  Apparently, if you stick a PC in a classic cabinet, it's not cool.  Why?  Because it's not original?  What if you stick one of Clay's Multi-Pac boards in a Ms. Pac-Man machine?  That's not original.  Must not be cool.  Or what if you put one of those Multipede boards in a Centipede machine?  That's not original either.  Must not be cool.  A multi-JAMMA connector with adapters so you can play Galaga and Galaxian in your Galaxian cabinet?  How about one of those bootleg speedup chips?  A high score save chip?  Upgraded speakers?  A new monitor?  New buttons?  Don't you dare replace that frayed power cord!

What he has done is rather different from what you are talking about.

Cheers.

EDIT: I *DO* think this is an interesting question (my views have certainly changed since I first started out), but I don't think that it is 'elitist crap'.

[XtraSmiley]

Yes people get sensitive to this.

For me, as long as the spirit of the original game is there, it is fine.  A guy did a nice Qbert MAME awhile ago that was a restored QB cab with a new control panel that had buttons on it.  All done in the QB style.

It was Fing great!

If it is a rare cp and you are drilling it, that is a no-no.  Like a Major Havoc or Joust 2.  No reason to put extra buttons in those.  Also, some cabs will never get replacement vector monitors.  I see no problem in MAMEing a Quantum as long as the cab and cp stay in good shape. 

In fact, I'm looking for a cheap Quantum cab if anyone has one...

[More Cowbell]

I'm with the reversible crowd. As long as it isn't permanent then someone can restore it at a later date (maybe you/me). I have taken some cabs in awful condition and brought them back to the land of the living using MAME. However, I'm not big on throwing a ton of buttons on there so you can play every game on your SI. I like to keep my original cabs original to their games. My Hyper Sports plays all of the HS variations and Track & Field variations, my Defender plays all of the Defender and Stargate variations, etc. I guess that's where I draw the line. Everyone has the limits they're willing to go to.

[CheffoJeffo]

Also, some cabs will never get replacement vector monitors.

Although that situation is getting better all the time (not 'better enough' for my liking, but still ...)

[shardian]

I'm with the reversible crowd. As long as it isn't permanent then someone can restore it at a later date (maybe you/me). I have taken some cabs in awful condition and brought them back to the land of the living using MAME. However, I'm not big on throwing a ton of buttons on there so you can play every game on your SI. I like to keep my original cabs original to their games. My Hyper Sports plays all of the HS variations and Track & Field variations, my Defender plays all of the Defender and Stargate variations, etc. I guess that's where I draw the line. Everyone has the limits they're willing to go to.

This is how I feel. In my current projects, I have a Xevious, a Jungle King, and a Pacman cocktail. Each will have original controls and will be limited to games that share the control scheme and monitor orientation. I have a generic Dynamo that I am saving to put a fighter/ trackball panel on.

[Angry_Radish]

On my pole position cabinet, I DID have to modify the plastic back piece to mount buttons (coin, start), but the only reson I did that was because I have 2 more intact pieces I couold swap out :-)
Same goes for the pedal(s), and anything else I changed..
I don't have a problem with changing a classic cab (especially one as easy to find as a pole position) as long as you can change it back 

Of course there is always the argument that if you bought it, you can do whatever the hell you want to it, but it DOES pain me when I see something like a Star Trek captains chair mamed...