Main > Main Forum
Origin of lit buttons
(1/4) > >>
Blanka:
I was wondering if the current hype of LED buttons originates from some real Arcade Cabinets.
As far as I know only the first cab ever, Computer Space, had some light-attract mode.
Are there any other classic cabs that have lit buttons in attract mode?
Or is it some pinball-freak that created an arcade cab at some point and took the BYOAC community by storm in the era of MTV Cribs and the SUPERBLING hype?
For me the cabs that look like pinball machines are still a little weird. I think an arcade should attract with some weird sound effects and the screen itself.
1UP:
I don't know about attract modes, but many games certainly had lit buttons.  Missile Command launch buttons were lit, I believe Tempest and some other Atari vector games had player buttons that lit depending on the number of credits, Space Ace had difficulty buttons (Cadet, Captain, Ace) that flashed when a game was started, prompting the player to select.  Pac-Man had coin slots that flashed when a coin was inserted...probably a lot more I don't remember.  Didn't Sinistar have translucent buttons as well?

Well, the new lighting boards have a mode that allows them to light only the used buttons for specific games, which is a useful function.  I think for the most part the attract modes are just to add some interest to a cabinet 'because we can', and maybe remind us of pinball as well, which was another big part of early arcades.  Since many people have Virtual Pinball in their cabs, I think it might be very appropriate.  :)
SavannahLion:
Try as I might, the Atari Volcano buttons are the only classics to come to mind.

I don't really recall any classics in the wild with lit buttons (if they did, they likely burned out by the time I came around), but there are a couple of modern cabs with lit buttons. I have a sneaky suspicion that these have been retrofited with lit buttons (one is a SFII and the other is one of the Multicades or similar) or they're cabs that are outside normal designs anyways (such as Pop 'N' Music).
genesim:

--- Quote from: SavannahLion on May 10, 2009, 04:22:26 am ---Try as I might, the Atari Volcano buttons are the only classics to come to mind.

I don't really recall any classics in the wild with lit buttons (if they did, they likely burned out by the time I came around), but there are a couple of modern cabs with lit buttons. I have a sneaky suspicion that these have been retrofited with lit buttons (one is a SFII and the other is one of the Multicades or similar) or they're cabs that are outside normal designs anyways (such as Pop 'N' Music).

--- End quote ---

I was goint to say this too.   Atari was the front runner on so many aspects.   I still hope one day their circuit based earlier games get emulated.   Kills me every time I watch Dawn Of the Dead.

But getting back...I keep wonderinng if the lighted volcano's are just "too much" for a home cab.
CheffoJeffo:
A number of the Williams games used translucent buttons for P1 and P2, but the ones that comes to my mind were not actively lit. The Joust cocktail has two bulbs that sit behind the buttons and lit the "1 Player / 2 Player marquee", but they are just GI and light the marquee far more than they light the buttons.

To my mind, the current popularization can be attributed to Knievel's Neon MAME. I know that his results, along with those of TOK and spacies are the reason why I want my Williams Multi CP lit.

Navigation
Message Index
Next page

Go to full version