New arcade machines from the guys at Alan-1 in a new partnership with Atari !

[bobbyb13]

People may have seen or read this elsewhere but the gents at Alan-1 have recently expanded their efforts in the world of video gaming from producing great replacement and upgraded repro parts to include building NEW arcade machines with that most recognized of video game brands- Atari!

I first became familiar with the Alan-1 crew when I began building a machine to play one of my old vector favorites, Star Wars (because of their superior reproduction of that iconic flight yoke) and I have since also benefitted from their work to make vector monitor components that can actually survive in a real arcade environment.
Also great for scratch building a vector monitor it turns out!

Very cool stuff as it was with a catalog that was already growing when this latest development of partnership gelled.

From what I see we are talking about cabinets that are still in what we would all recognize as an "arcade machine" form factor but utilizing some tech from the world of pinball to re-imagine the idea of what a video game machine in a public space could be.

I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with and am encouraged that we could be looking at some (finally!!) truly new things from a beloved progenitor of the industry that fueled one of my favorite hobbies.

I believe they are at the current iteration of the AMOA show this week with some prototypes.
Hhopefully one of those guys will see this and be encouraged to keep us up to date with what is happeneing!

[Mike A]

I applaud their effort, but the stuff they do on their own is creative and Atari will stifle that with their rehashed terrible "Recharged" games.
I understand that Atari probably threw a bunch of money at them and the Atari name still draws people to it.
Avian Knights looks interesting, but they did that without Atari.
Asteroids Recharged is a really ---smurfy--- game. To make it fun they will have to rework it extensively.
Hopefully Atari lets them do that.

[Zebidee]

Wow     The final cost of those finished cabs is eye-watering. Would have to be a damn good game.

https://alan-1.com/product/avian-knights-deluxe-coin-op-arcade-game-4-players/

[bobbyb13]

I thought the same thing on price myself initially but learned from a few people currently in the business that the pricing is in line with current offerings from other manufacturers.

I've wondered what that price level really should be since when people ask about machines I have built and I tell them I would want $4k USD and more for one just to make a small amount for all my time they have the same reaction!

I'm sure someone has done the math on how much one play costs and how long it needs to be on site to pay for itself.

[Zebidee]

I'm sure you are right about the prices, after all business is business and a lot of work goes into a good cab.

When people ask how much for my custom cabs, like a "unit price" - I don't like to give a number at all anymore, unless they're actually on sale (they're not). Each is bespoke and unique, they aren't slabs of beer.

If they still push on for a number, I might say something like "depends on the cab, they're all different, but definitely more than $4k". People aren't shocked when you put it like that.

[danny_galaga]

Is it aimed at the young hipster crowd who will imagine it's virtually the same as the real deal?

[Zakk]

I remember the days when a cabinet looking like that would be ridiculed mercilessly by the BYOAC crowd.

TWELVE GRAND for an LCD tv and a handful of control parts and likely a budget pc.

Best of luck to them on that one. I'd be real interested to see their marketing research material, who exactly would their target be on that...thing?