New Jakks Retro Arcade

[erictrumpet]

I'm with Ummon - Bosconian sucks.
Some classic games are retro and awesome - that is why we are all here - but many games are just old and suck.

Eric.

[Blanka]

I actually was quite happy to find it on the Pac-stick. Never heard of it before, but it's a good challenge. Better playable than most shoot-m-ups/side scrolling shootsers.

[RandyT]

I'm with Ummon - Bosconian sucks.
Some classic games are retro and awesome - that is why we are all here - but many games are just old and suck.

Wow....I hope you are just referring to the implementation on the Jakks unit as others seem to be.....

Bosconian is a true classic that was ported to many systems due to it's popularity and it offered some very addictive and hectic gameplay.  It's one of my all time favorites, but to each his own I guess....

RandyT

[erictrumpet]

Haha, actually I was referring to the game itself... I suspect it is one of those deceptively addictive games hiding behind horrendous graphics and cheesy sounds
Zookeeper is another one of those - a GREAT game, but just looks and sounds terrible

Eric.

[Level42]

Pac Man and others had a 4:3 landscape layout for table-tops.

Huh? 

+1 !

I'd sure like to see that !

[torcer]

It's hard to argue against $20, especially when I have Drill bits I only bought for my Cabinet that cost me as much!

[MinerAl]

If you hack a 4/8 switching stick to one of the blue ones, Bosconian plays properly 8-way.  It's a physical restriction of the machine, not a software restriction.  Makes it suck waaaaaay less.

I did it a few years ago when I made a mini-cab for the niece&nephew

[Ummon]

Haha, actually I was referring to the game itself... I suspect it is one of those deceptively addictive games hiding behind horrendous graphics and cheesy sounds
Zookeeper is another one of those - a GREAT game, but just looks and sounds terrible

Eric.

Ho there! Blasphemy. Actually, I remember thinking Zoo Keeper was a little questionable, graphics and sound-wise when it came out. I don't think I got to play it till Mame, and I ended up forgiving it, because the game play is great.

I'm with Ummon - Bosconian sucks.
Some classic games are retro and awesome - that is why we are all here - but many games are just old and suck.

Wow....I hope you are just referring to the implementation on the Jakks unit as others seem to be.....

Bosconian is a true classic that was ported to many systems due to it's popularity and it offered some very addictive and hectic gameplay.  It's one of my all time favorites, but to each his own I guess....

RandyT

That's what I've always thought - as in, why did so many people like it? But, hey, lot sof people think RallyX was/is cool. I just think the marquee is bad-ass. I love that old art style from the 70s and 80s. I remember coming into a class in probably '87 and someone had left a huge outrageous four-by on the main board. Shame to wipe it off.

[benjammin]

I've been enjoying playing Galaga and Pole Position but can't believe I bought this for my wife and it doesn't even have Ms Pacman.  doh!

And there is no 2-player option.

[Blanka]

Does anybody know a place to get one of these in Europe?

[Yvan256]

Just bought one on eBay, I'll try to compare with the Ms. Pac-Man version I have (the one with the GameKey slot and the twisting joystick/steering wheel).

[Blanka]

Got 2 of these last week. They are really good fun. Only problem, the fire button is on the wrong side and extremely stiff. It makes your arm hurt. Definitely one to put into a cheap multicab.

[Grasshopper]

Got 2 of these last week. They are really good fun. Only problem, the fire button is on the wrong side and extremely stiff. It makes your arm hurt. Definitely one to put into a cheap multicab.

You're in Europe, aren't you? Can you tell me where you bought them?

The reason I ask is because I've never seen them for sale here in the UK.

[Blanka]

Bought them very cheap at amazon.com. They don't ship to europe, but almost for nothing within the US, so a friend repacked the stuff for me and send it from the twin cities.

[IG-88]

Bought them very cheap at amazon.com. They don't ship to europe, but almost for nothing within the US, so a friend repacked the stuff for me and send it from the twin cities.

I from here in the states. I could do the same for you too Grasshopper.

[taylormadelv]

I've hacked of of these and the older Ms. Pacman into one of those Midway 12 in 1 target deals, it was a perfect combination!
 One thing that comes up right away if you want to put these into a cab is that the new version has a battery save function where it automatically turns itself off if it's not touched/played for like 5-10 mins. The old Ms. Pac will stay in "attract mode" forever, just like a "real" arcade.
The "coin drop" is just a start button with an led that lights up the coin logo, a cute touch. The interesting thing about hacking these is that when you open it, you will see that the joystick works the exact opposite as a "real" arcade joystick. I just took out all the cheesy microswitches and put them in the Midway control panel, Ms Pac on the left, new one on the right and use the midway joystcks which are a little better than the jakks joysticks.
High scores are saved! Bosconian is awesome! I wonder if the no shoot hack works on Galaga, the games look SO close to the original, I just never have the patience for to try it.

[Yvan256]

If you live in Canada, you'll be happy to learn that the 12-in-1 is available at Canadian Tire for only 25$CAD.

[ark_ader]

Got 2 of these last week. They are really good fun. Only problem, the fire button is on the wrong side and extremely stiff. It makes your arm hurt. Definitely one to put into a cheap multicab.

You're in Europe, aren't you? Can you tell me where you bought them?

The reason I ask is because I've never seen them for sale here in the UK.

My local crap-stock shop had them a few months back on clearance and also the Golden Tee golf game (snagged two of them) to hack for a PS2 LCD/DC mini cab I have kicking around.  Like others say - its a nice idea but if you are on a tight budget you can find these in the goodwill/oxfam shops for a fiver.  I think Argos had them a year ago and learned their lesson.

[Grasshopper]

Bought them very cheap at amazon.com. They don't ship to europe, but almost for nothing within the US, so a friend repacked the stuff for me and send it from the twin cities.

I from here in the states. I could do the same for you too Grasshopper.

Hi IG-88, thanks very much for your kind offer. I might get back to you on that. Could you accept payment through Paypal?

Blanka, can you remember how much the shipping was? I've just looked to see how much they go for on Ebay, and some US sellers are charging £21.80 to ship one over. 

[IG-88]

Ya I can do paypal. Let me know what you decide.

[CrazyKongFan]

Pac Man and others had a 4:3 landscape layout for table-tops. Those versions are used.

Umm, the only difference between an upright and a cocktail is the screen flips upside down in cocktail mode. They both still use the same vertically oriented monitor with the same aspect ratio. They've redone the screen on these retro arcade games so the score, number of men left and what board you are on are on the right side next to the maze instead of on top (score) and bottom (men and board level). Bosconian and New Rally-X probably looks correct though, as that's how the screen looked on the original arcade (with the score and radar map on the right side of the screen)

[Blanka]

Blanka, can you remember how much the shipping was?

Within the US I qualified for free supersaving delivery.
The package to europe (2 pieces) was 28$. So about 19 euros.

[Yvan256]

Are those shipping quotes from USA to Europe for air or land/sea transport?

I routinely ship packages to Europe by land/sea for about 15$CAD. Takes four to six weeks for delivery though.

[Bender]

Yeah I love these things, $20 for the guts of  little arcade Machine is awesome
I've got a few little projects going now with these

[Yvan256]

Yeah I love these things, $20 for the guts of  little arcade Machine is awesome
I've got a few little projects going now with these

Hand-sized arcade machines that fold into a wallet? 

[Bender]

 

naw, just some mini cabs for friends. Under $100 for each one though. I had to make something cheap. I spent way too much $$$ on the Benderama
I'll start a post in the Projects thread soon

[Yvan256]

naw, just some mini cabs for friends. Under $100 for each one though. I had to make something cheap. I spent way too much $$$ on the Benderama
I'll start a post in the Projects thread soon

Can't wait to see what you used for the displays. Also can't wait to see if you have recycled the Jakks controls or if you used real parts from Sanwa, Seimitsu, Happ or something else. And last, can't wait to see the size of those things.

How many mini cabs are you building? Will they all be identical?

Better start that new thread right now, even if there's no pictures. 

[Blanka]

Are those shipping quotes from USA to Europe for air or land/sea transport?

Guess it was air. From amazon to friend to holland took from wednesday to monday.

[Blanka]

Can't wait to see what you used for the displays.

I plan to buy and kill an iPad for its screen as soon as they are available.

[Yvan256]

Can't wait to see what you used for the displays.

I plan to buy and kill an iPad for its screen as soon as they are available.

And how do you plan on interfacing the LCD? There's less expensive LCD displays available and those have composite and/or VGA inputs.

[Blanka]

I have a good composite to DVI upscaler laying around, and most of these laptop kind of displays have a flat DVI cable.
There might be cheaper screens, but hey, we wan't a serious one: IPS + 4:3 aspect. Try to find that.
And second: what is cooler than killing an iPad the week it comes out for public and have a nice blog post about turning it into an arcade. The exposure is priceless. No problem it is 450 euro down the drain.

[spauldingd]

Amazon currently has these on sale for $19.77 if you can't find one locally its not a bad price.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0028RZ7NS/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

Dave in Des Moines