Zombie Arcades launches first machine in the UK. Opinions welcome.

[gonzo90017]

I personally like those red buttons. They're small and out of the way.

[zombie_arcades]

I personally like those red buttons. They're small and out of the way.

Thank you! 

[zombie_arcades]

VERY nice zombie_arcades!

My favourite colour scheme too! 

If you like you could LED light those bubble tops to match the buttons. I did a guide to lighting them if it helps:

http://www.retroblast.com/Articles/DIY-LED-Joysticks.php

This is something I've given serious thought to. Your guide is a good one and I will consider adding this feature into the control panel in the near future.

[leapinlew]

I personally like those red buttons. They're small and out of the way.

Thank you! 

It's been my experience that a kid will push any and every button. I wouldn't be surprised if someone requests a machine and asks for a way to disable those buttons or remove them all together.

[zombie_arcades]

I personally like those red buttons. They're small and out of the way.

Thank you! 

It's been my experience that a kid will push any and every button. I wouldn't be surprised if someone requests a machine and asks for a way to disable those buttons or remove them all together.

I have to disagree. I doubt very much one so young (whereby they cannot stop themselves pushing any and every button) would be 1. playing without an adult and 2. playing at all.

Also, my target market is predominately single, adult males. Executives, sportsmen, high flyers etc. It's a niche market, but a market nevertheless. I would imagine (I could be wrong of course) you're typical family with young children will opt for the cheaper systems (for example, chinese imports) costing less than £1000.

And coming back to my first point, I doubt a child so young would be left alone playing this system.

But I appreciate your input leapinlew.

[zombie_arcades]

Just to add to the issue of 'admin buttons'. In my opinion, it makes for a smoother and more authentic gaming experience when you remove the hassle of having to use your keyboard every time you want to Pause or select a different game.

The red admin buttons may not be to everyones taste, but their functionality cannot be underestimated.

[Ginsu Victim]

Just to add to the issue of 'admin buttons'. In my opinion, it makes for a smoother and more authentic gaming experience when you remove the hassle of having to use your keyboard every time you want to Pause or select a different game.

The red admin buttons may not be to everyones taste, but their functionality cannot be underestimated.

Two words:
Shifted functions

[EVEGames]

VERY slick looking machine, ZA.  Clean, shiny, minimalist, I like it.

Just a quick questions, would you consider offering an alternate CP layout without the staggered button layout?  While it may be asthetically pleasing, as a player I think that would drive me extremely nuts extremely fast.  But maybe that's just me.

Congratulations, and good luck with the business!
 

-E.V.E. Games

[leapinlew]

And coming back to my first point, I doubt a child so young would be left alone playing this system.

I agree. A child couldn't be left alone to play your system.

It's a nice looking system and I wish you good fortune.

[zombie_arcades]

VERY slick looking machine, ZA.  Clean, shiny, minimalist, I like it.

Just a quick questions, would you consider offering an alternate CP layout without the staggered button layout?  While it may be asthetically pleasing, as a player I think that would drive me extremely nuts extremely fast.  But maybe that's just me.

Congratulations, and good luck with the business!
 

-E.V.E. Games

I would consider it, yes. In fact, I'm considering offering several different CP's.

This machine is modular in that the CP can be removed and a replacement can be installed in it's place. It's very simple. I designed it with this in mind.

The feedback so far on here has been very helpful. I appreciate it.

[zombie_arcades]

And coming back to my first point, I doubt a child so young would be left alone playing this system.

I agree. A child couldn't be left alone to play your system.

It's a nice looking system and I wish you good fortune.

Thank you leapinlew 

[Ginsu Victim]

Well, it's a very nice machine.

Bub salutes you!

[ark_ader]

Nice looking cab.  Really great workmanship.

I'd figure on dropping the price to say £700 all in. 

You should get more orders.

Good luck!

Impossible. It costs more than that to build one.

Rubbish.

[surface tension]

Nice looking cab.  Really great workmanship.

I'd figure on dropping the price to say £700 all in. 

You should get more orders.

Good luck!

Impossible. It costs more than that to build one.

Rubbish.

You should expand on your one-word reply. I imagine that if you are mass-manufacturing, you might be able to get the cost near your dream price, with no room for profit. But in low quantities, the computer and LCD alone will account for all of this.

[Haze]

The wide-screen LCD. I don't like LCD's for classic games, but I can understand why you chose it. But why a wide-screen ?

probably the best point made here.

MAME supports *2* games with widescreen mode.  Street Fighter III 2nd Impact, and Virtua Racing.

NONE of the other games supported in MAME are designed to be rendered at widescreen.

Arcades, until very recently didn't have wide-screen monitors at all.  Your pictures show Street Fighter 2 stretched to widescreen.  It *isn't* a widescreen game, and was never designed to be.

[massive88]

Correct me if Im wrong, but 384x224 is a widescreen resolution is it not?  It seems pretty close to 16:9 [or 10] to me (which is not 4:3).

http://www.mameworld.net/maws/srch.php?resolution=384x224

Edit: I stand corrected!  Thanks Blanka!

[Blanka]

A lot of resolutions are pictured with non-square pixels. This resolutions was ment for 4:3 tubes as well. The pixels are 0.77x1 rectangles.
Compare it with NTSC. NTSC DVD's have 480x720 pixel resolution, yet they are displayed 4:3.
 

[amadama]

It's a nice looking machine but two things (that have already been mentioned).
1) The Price. Way too expensive. Here in the USA you can something equivalent for about $2-3k brand new.
2) The monitor. A widescreen LCD is only good if you are going to use it for next-gen consoles like Wii, Xbox360 or PS3. A good CRT would be best for retro gaming.

Best of luck!
Alex

[zombie_arcades]

You should expand on your one-word reply. I imagine that if you are mass-manufacturing, you might be able to get the cost near your dream price, with no room for profit. But in low quantities, the computer and LCD alone will account for all of this.

I second that.

[zombie_arcades]

The wide-screen LCD. I don't like LCD's for classic games, but I can understand why you chose it. But why a wide-screen ?

probably the best point made here.

MAME supports *2* games with widescreen mode.  Street Fighter III 2nd Impact, and Virtua Racing.

NONE of the other games supported in MAME are designed to be rendered at widescreen.

Arcades, until very recently didn't have wide-screen monitors at all.  Your pictures show Street Fighter 2 stretched to widescreen.  It *isn't* a widescreen game, and was never designed to be.

I agree with your point. However, you are thinking from an arcade purist point of view. My target market do not care if SF2 isn't meant to be played in widescreen. They want a big screen, quality craftsmanship, quality components and lots of games. The biggest screen I could find (within reason) was a 24" wide. The biggest 4:3 is 19".

Having said that, SF2 looks darn good in widescreen 

[zombie_arcades]

The wide-screen LCD. I don't like LCD's for classic games, but I can understand why you chose it. But why a wide-screen ?

probably the best point made here.

MAME supports *2* games with widescreen mode.  Street Fighter III 2nd Impact, and Virtua Racing.

NONE of the other games supported in MAME are designed to be rendered at widescreen.

Arcades, until very recently didn't have wide-screen monitors at all.  Your pictures show Street Fighter 2 stretched to widescreen.  It *isn't* a widescreen game, and was never designed to be.

I agree with your point. However, you are thinking from an arcade purist point of view. My target market do not care if SF2 isn't meant to be played in widescreen. They want a big screen, quality craftsmanship, quality components and lots of games. The biggest screen I could source (within reason) was a 24" wide. The biggest 4:3 is 19".

Having said that, SF2 looks darn good in widescreen 

[spacies]

Samsung make a 21" 4:3 LCD.

[FrizzleFried]

Games that aren't meant for wide screen look like ass on a wide screen.  Anyone with any sense of aspect ratio will immediately be annoyed by the stretching.  I know I'd be extremely pissed off if I purchased a cab for $5K and when I got it home,  all the games played stretched.

[ark_ader]

You should expand on your one-word reply. I imagine that if you are mass-manufacturing, you might be able to get the cost near your dream price, with no room for profit. But in low quantities, the computer and LCD alone will account for all of this.

I second that.

Ok.  You ask, I will expand.

Everything you included on your site minus the screen and the amount of games (customer supplies this) = £500 build + £200 profit.  Do your market research, locate international vendors and aim realistically at your pricing structure and you will succeed, otherwise it will be a monkey for your back and a cash blackhole.

I tried making a business plan based on your similar ideals.  Cost was minor, it was the market that was the stumbling block.  Stick to your design, and try not decide the outcome of the cabinet or product as how you would expect it, but how the customer expects it.  I.E. do not go overboard on design.

Lower your price and have patience and down the road you will do better.

If it was me and I wanted to start up again, I would focus on very small cabs which I could get better build pricing for.  Look how smaller cabs make more of an impact and the general selling prices on Ebay.

I'm sure you will disagree, after all its your business, and you have your dreams and expectations of being a quality arcade cabinet maker.  Just don't bite off too much than you can chew in an already saturated market.

You asked for my opinion, so I hope you will listen to it.

Good Luck!   

[Ginsu Victim]

Games that aren't meant for wide screen look like ass on a wide screen.  Anyone with any sense of aspect ratio will immediately be annoyed by the stretching.  I know I'd be extremely pissed off if I purchased a cab for $5K and when I got it home,  all the games played stretched.

Yep, it's pretty lame. Also, playing 4:3 on a widescreen and having black bars on the side is lame, not to mention how small vertical games appear. (Oh man....vertical stretched 16:10 widescreen.... blargh!!!)

[surface tension]

Ok.  You ask, I will expand.

Everything you included on your site minus the screen and the amount of games (customer supplies this) = £500 build + £200 profit.  Do your market research, locate international vendors and aim realistically at your pricing structure and you will succeed, otherwise it will be a monkey for your back and a cash blackhole.

I tried making a business plan based on your similar ideals.  Cost was minor, it was the market that was the stumbling block.  Stick to your design, and try not decide the outcome of the cabinet or product as how you would expect it, but how the customer expects it.  I.E. do not go overboard on design.

Lower your price and have patience and down the road you will do better.

If it was me and I wanted to start up again, I would focus on very small cabs which I could get better build pricing for.  Look how smaller cabs make more of an impact and the general selling prices on Ebay.

I'm sure you will disagree, after all its your business, and you have your dreams and expectations of being a quality arcade cabinet maker.  Just don't bite off too much than you can chew in an already saturated market.

You asked for my opinion, so I hope you will listen to it.

Good Luck!   

One word replies get on my goat, so good of you to expand. Some good points in there and certainly the voice of some experience in these matters.

I don't want to go messing this thread up, but I have to say that economies of scale come into it and there are many people willing to pay more so they have to do less... or even nothing.

Back to the thread...

[TPB]

Games that aren't meant for wide screen look like ass on a wide screen.  Anyone with any sense of aspect ratio will immediately be annoyed by the stretching.  I know I'd be extremely pissed off if I purchased a cab for $5K and when I got it home,  all the games played stretched.

LOL, have to agree.   

That applies to all video displayed on these screens, not just games.  There's nothing worse than viewing a picture with an artificially distorted aspect ratio.  I can't stand seeing a Widescreen playing a 4:3 TV broadcast or other media, and having the picture stretched to reach the edges.  It makes everyone in the picture looked like bloated, with melon-like heads and broad, stocky bodies.

[ark_ader]

Games that aren't meant for wide screen look like ass on a wide screen.  Anyone with any sense of aspect ratio will immediately be annoyed by the stretching.  I know I'd be extremely pissed off if I purchased a cab for $5K and when I got it home,  all the games played stretched.

LOL, have to agree.   

That applies to all video displayed on these screens, not just games.  There's nothing worse than viewing a picture with an artificially distorted aspect ratio.  I can't stand seeing a Widescreen playing a 4:3 TV broadcast or other media, and having the picture stretched to reach the edges.  It makes everyone in the picture looked like bloated, with melon-like heads and broad, stocky bodies.

Its classic "what I want cab" instead of "what it should be cab".  I'm not going to reiterate what I have posted before, but I would just love getting into the market again with faithful recreations.  Like cabaret cabs like Asteroids or Pac Man.  Perfect for the UK or US home market (you can put it away somewhere easier in a 3 bedroom semi).  Also the customer can relate to the cab, during his or her childhood than a mega bling bling ding dong cab.

And what a perfect arena to voice these questions.  I have yet seen such replicas come out.  Any cab maker out there worth his salt would like to venture an opinion?

What is wrong with new single game cabs anyway? 

Do we need to play gazillions of games? 

[TPB]

Zombie,

That's a great looking cab.  It was real Wow factor, and would be a nice piece of furniture to grace any living room.  Probably the most "Wife Friendly" cab on the market, if such a thing exists.   


You've got a lot of fat built into your price.  Perhaps ark_ader's pricing suggestion was a tad aggressive, but you've got a huge margin built into your price at 2,850 pounds, which is about $5,500 USD.

Case in point ... you can pick up that Acer screen for 204 pounds, which is only about 7% of your asking price.  And that's the retail cost for "Joe Average" who purchases a single unit.  They could be purchased even cheaper by a business at Wholesale prices, and/or in Bulk quantities :

http://www.unbeatable.co.uk/product/Acer-AL2416W-Silver-Black-24-in-LCD-Television/28515123.html


Of course, you're entitled to define your own business model, and set your own prices.

Let's be frank.  You're not striving to be the lowest cost producer.  You're marketing to the image and style conscious (yuppies, metrosexuals ?), those to whom money is no object.  And hopefully you'll also pick up business from newbies who are scarcely aware of cheaper alternatives, or who are unwilling or unable, or simply don't have the time, to investigate alternatives.

I don't know if you'll pick up a ton of customers from this forum.  The average BYOAC'er doesn't fit this profile.  Many of your target customers would have never heard of BYOAC, or if they have, think we're a geeky bunch of fanatical tech-head's.  And maybe they're right, it's all a matter of one's perspective.   

... you are thinking from an arcade purist point of view. My target market do not care ...

... you'll tend to find a few of those types around these traps.   

Arcade purists are unlikely to shell out that sort of serious dosh for a cab. with no spinner, no trackball, limited options for expandability (the CP is quite narrow), and a Widescreen LCD screen that distorts & stretches all of the games.

Your market is out there, albeit not in great numbers on this forum.  Your challenge is to effectively seek out & pinpoint this market, to enable your business to thrive and prosper.   

[Blanka]

The big trouble is that 24 inch full HD widescreen sounds way more sexy and expensive than 24 inch CRT or 21 inch LCD (biggest 4:3). I really follow that marketing technique.
On the other hand, if Acer is mentioned, you have some dikshrimping brand in your catalog that might scare your metroman. If you really wan't it to be a good arcade, consider the Samsung 214T to be included. That one is an awesome 4:3 LCD with real viewing angles, the option to pivot it for Pac-Man and Galaga (if it is a motorized auto pivot than that is also sexy) and real blacks (for those old space and pacman games). 24 inch TN screens like the acer are the cheapest to get big-size, yet they do not have very fine picture quality. But, with S-PVA you might have some extra lag, but that is definitely not a problem for your market. If you really want to score with widescreen, go for the Samsung 275T. That 27 inch beast is way beyond anyones dreams. Acer looks poop next to it.

[headkaze]

I don't see the problem with the black bars down the side of a widescreen LCD when playing at the correct aspect ratio. You should be playing in a dark room full of smoke anyway, and the black bars are hardly noticable.

I'm curious will there be a "Zombie cocktail"?

[zombie_arcades]

I'm curious will there be a "Zombie cocktail"?

No "zombie cocktail". I'm going to focus on upgrades and new upright models.

[Haze]

The wide-screen LCD. I don't like LCD's for classic games, but I can understand why you chose it. But why a wide-screen ?

probably the best point made here.

MAME supports *2* games with widescreen mode.  Street Fighter III 2nd Impact, and Virtua Racing.

NONE of the other games supported in MAME are designed to be rendered at widescreen.

Arcades, until very recently didn't have wide-screen monitors at all.  Your pictures show Street Fighter 2 stretched to widescreen.  It *isn't* a widescreen game, and was never designed to be.

I agree with your point. However, you are thinking from an arcade purist point of view. My target market do not care if SF2 isn't meant to be played in widescreen. They want a big screen, quality craftsmanship, quality components and lots of games. The biggest screen I could find (within reason) was a 24" wide. The biggest 4:3 is 19".

Having said that, SF2 looks darn good in widescreen 

who are your target?

MAME is explicitly not for commercial use, so you can't sell it, or use it in a commerical environment (keep that in mind)

the price is prohibitive for a general purpose family entertainment machine

so your target is going to be arcade enthusiasts who want a machine at home and are going to care _very_ much if the games they're running are stretched to unnatural sizes.

if you like fat chicks, then sure, SF2 in widescreen with an obese Chun-li might be for you.. but otherwise?

[leapinlew]

who are your target?

MAME is explicitly not for commercial use, so you can't sell it, or use it in a commerical environment (keep that in mind)

the price is prohibitive for a general purpose family entertainment machine

so your target is going to be arcade enthusiasts who want a machine at home and are going to care _very_ much if the games they're running are stretched to unnatural sizes.

if you like fat chicks, then sure, SF2 in widescreen with an obese Chun-li might be for you.. but otherwise?

I agree. On their website they say:
We prime all our Zombie arcade machines for a further installation of 4000 classic arcade and console games. That isn’t a misprint. A further 4000 all time classic games in one fantastic arcade machine! Classic gaming truly resurrected with a Zombie arcade machine. Please ask for details.

137 licensed games, primed for 3000+:
Which leads me to believe it's setup with Mame and other emulators.

I did say something about the lack of authenticity regarding the red buttons but was quickly dismissed as a "purist". I also wondered what market he was aiming for since a purist would most likely be the person interested in an expensive stand up arcade machine in the first place.

Assuming the licensing issue is all squared away, I wish him luck. My guess is this is too expensive for nearly everyone and the people who do have money to spend have plenty of options at that price range.

[CheffoJeffo]

First -- that is a beautiful cab.

I agree with LL and others concerning the red buttons. You may not think that your target market has kids or that kids won't be playing alone on the cab. The flaw in your argument is that your target market likely has nieces/nephews/kids of friends who will love to play when they visit. Also remember that age isn't the only factor -- the inebriated buddy is another obvious choice for inappropriate button mashing and has been known to foul-up the configuration of more than one MAME machine.

With respect to the widescreen, so long and the AR is fine, I have no objection ... but nothing is worse than a fat ChunLi ... or MsPac ...

Finally, I am not exactly enthusiastic about the pricing. I was just in the basement, looked around, saw 20 coin-op machines (and have another at the lake house). I made a mental tally and I would have to sell them all in order to purchase one of your machines.

FWIW, I think that you should set your own prices and be fairly compensated for your efforts. I understand completely that I am not your target market (for starters, I have kids) ... just pointing out the obvious discrepancies in the economics.

Oh, and for $5700, I want a freaking coin door ... or a NIB IJ4 and some change ...

[Ginsu Victim]

The simple breakdown of all this:

It's not aimed at us. It's aimed at people with too much money to know better.

That being the case, good luck. I hope you dupe people into buying your nice looking, albeit, overpriced cabinet.

If I built my own for that amount, I could have the fastest PC available in my cabinet, with a 6 player panel, trackballs for everyone, Tron stick, spinners galore, a monitor for each player, the best sound system possible, an LCD marquee, and a little Puerto Rican boy hired to wipe the machine down every day.

Oh, and it would have a coin door. 

[Donkey_Kong]

the inebriated buddy is another obvious choice for inappropriate button mashing and has been known to foul-up the configuration of more than one MAME machine.

If all that really needs to be adjusted is the price, dude's done pretty good. As far as the buttons go, I think they are alright. Either way would be fine. I'm sure they will get pressed, especially if you tell people not to! Put a brand new arcade machine in front of me with 4-5 little shiny red buttons, and tell me not to press them. YEAH, RIGHT! 

Maybe just rewire the buttons to some really funny sound bites like
"Hey you --smurfing-- idiot!! I told you NOT TO PRESS THE LITTLE RED --smurfing- BUTTON!!"
and, you know
"Insert actual funny or witty sound bites here"

That would be great. An awesome arcade machine that can really mess with your drunken buddies. Yea, do something like that and forget about lowering the price!
 
 

[headkaze]

"Will Stimpy be able to resist pressing the button that will destroy himself and the entire universe? Will he be able to hold back from causing total annihilation just from the push of a...SINGLE...BUTTON? A BIG RED button? A BEAUTIFUL, SHINY, CANDY-LIKE button? Can he do it folks? Can he?!?"...

[lettuce]

Im thinking of sticking my arcade cab on ebay soon, and i wouldnt dare ask more that £1000 for mine if that! (more like £800). The £2800 asking price does seem rather high, must be making 80-100% profit on it, but it is a nice cab though, not one for the purist but more for the average joe, but then does the average joe has the best part of 3 grand to spend on such a thing??

[Ginsu Victim]

"Will Stimpy be able to resist pressing the button that will destroy himself and the entire universe? Will he be able to hold back from causing total annihilation just from the push of a...SINGLE...BUTTON? A BIG RED button? A BEAUTIFUL, SHINY, CANDY-LIKE button? Can he do it folks? Can he?!?"...

I was thinking the same thing.