Target to Carry Arcade cabs. Kinda

[pmpddytim]

http://www.mybiggames.com/index_files/page0007.htm

 

Kinda cool if you're not handy enough to build your own MAME.

 

-Tim

[RangerG]

How would plugging in your own console work? i.e. you couldn't use the controllers to play classic systems like the 5200, Colecovision, etc. with the keypads ?? These will be cool to see in stores.

[sku_u]

These have been around for a while now. They only vaguely resemble an arcade cabinet and are cheaply made.

 

Here's a direct link to the site that has a couple of pictures:

 

www.mybiggames.com

 

The cabinet is made out of either plywood or particle board then covered with arcade looking contact paper. Anyone with a basic knowledge of a saw can make one.

[mandm785@juno.com]

Ughhh...More crap! I think this thing is basically like the 5 in one joysticks, sold at retail stores now. http://www.jakkstvgames.com/ It is just housed in a cabinet, and comes with the TV. The cabinet dimensions are are tiny, this is more like a caberet than upright. It is probably a 13 inch TV, with a tiny PCB, and cheap controls. I'm sure it must compromise quality in every aspect to come in at such a low price point.

[Blackjack]

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=b...asin=B000AQHKR0

 

Wow... 12 classic games for $611.99 (incl. shipping) and it's 42" tall.

or 3 grand for the one with 30 games & more height.

 

What a joke!

[Flack]

Or you can get Williams Arcade greatest hits for the SNES for a penny off of eBay, and then put your SNES on a 42" stool.

[Curt Vendel]

The cabinet comes with a 13" color TV set it in, you plug your game console into the AV ports on the TV and select input to select the AV jacks.

 

The whole thing is a big smoke and mirrors for what is really an overpriced piece of junk:

 

Cabinet is 1/2" plywood with rounded edges

Controllers are the same low quality Namco 5in1 junk

Games are re-writes on a Genesis on a Chip

Video is from a 13" TV set.

 

Not anywhere near something that should be called an arcade game. You can do something like this yourself for about $250-$300 using your own console and using REAL arcade controls.

 

 

 

Curt

 

How would plugging in your own console work? i.e. you couldn't use the controllers to play classic systems like the 5200, Colecovision, etc. with the keypads ?? These will be cool to see in stores.

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[Clay Cowgill]

Games are re-writes on a Genesis on a Chip

 

Have you seen one in action? Still care to say it's a Genesis on a chip?

 

-Clay

[keilbaca]

I was going to get one and rig it for my atari 7800 and NES when I heard about it.

 

Now that I know its just cheap plywood, I just have to get a saw and build me a mini cab and do the same thing.

 

Either that or stick in a 5200 and make it a Castle Crisis cab

[Curt Vendel]

Yes, twice in the showroom and it is apparently not a GoaC, but some kind of derivative SNES clone chip.

 

 

Curt

 

Games are re-writes on a Genesis on a Chip

 

Have you seen one in action? Still care to say it's a Genesis on a chip?

 

-Clay

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[NightSprinter]

I just saw it at Target (spent a good 45 minutes acquainting myself with it.. heh.. fun games). I noticed that there's a large cartridge visible above the television set. I do believe this is where the games are. Considering that the cabinet DOES in fact have the famous "Street Fighter" layout, I'm imagining more licensed game cartridges will eventually contain some of Capcom's older fighters, or other games that made use of more than two buttons.

[rexreed]

I just saw it at Target (spent a good 45 minutes acquainting myself with it.. heh.. fun games).  I noticed that there's a large cartridge visible above the television set.  I do believe this is where the games are.  Considering that the cabinet DOES in fact have the famous "Street Fighter" layout, I'm imagining more licensed game cartridges will eventually contain some of Capcom's older fighters, or other games that made use of more than two buttons.

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I saw the $450 version at Target today. Not bad- I remember most of the games and they are adapted well. The screen is small compared to an arcade, but the whole machine is miniature so it doesnt seem so small. The controllers are not arcade quality, but they are far better than the namco 4 in one jakks controllers.

[Shannon]

I saw one myself today as well. Knowing now that it is based on some form SNES clone, that sounds about right. It had a familiar "feel" to it.

 

I had a chance to play robotron (no sound), and later on when my wife was there we played 2 player joust for a few seconds. The buttons felt a little too mush for my tastes. But still interesting non-the-less.

 

Maybe when it goes on clearance I'll pick one up. One nice thing is it has a fairly small form factor but, as was stated here, the cabinet itself is pretty low quality. It'd be interesting to see what is inside and how modifiable it was.

 

Looking at the target site they apparently also have a

 

 

Jazwares Game Room Classics - Taito Version ($480)

Arcade Legends Tabletop Arcade Cabinet - 9510 ($3000)

Arcade Legends Full-Size Arcade Cabinet - 9500 ($3000)

Dream Authentics 2 Player Video Arcade Game ($3500)

and

Dream Authentics 4 Player Video Arcade Game ($6000)

 

Nice thing about the tabletop is it has a trackball. The jazware comes with arkanoid which makes me wonder if it has some type of spin controller.

[dr. kwack]

OK, I actually have one of these. Got it this weekend. My wife saw it, told me about it and we hiked out to Target and took a look. I liked it in the store and it became an early Christmas gift.

 

Here's my review:

 

You do have to put it together. Takes about an hour. The instructions are clear and easy to follow.

 

You assemble the marquee and body. The main console with monitor, system, and controls is pre-assembled. It has a built in surge protector. The cabinet is a bit better than Sauder quality furniture. The side/marquee art is bright and features the marquee artwork of the 12 games.

 

It is roughly cabaret size- which is not so bad. It can be disassembled for moving. To me that's nice- I used to have a Temple of Doom coin-op that was a pain in the butt to move.

 

The games are in a separate cartridge that plugs in below the marquee. It's my guess that some other titles could be available in the future. Most likely, if it happens at all, we may see other titles from the "Midway Greatest Hits Series".

 

The monitor is small but not so small that gameplay suffers. The sound and play of the actual games seem to be dead on. Defender sounds like Defender (unlike the first 2600 plug and play where the sounds were not even close on some titles).

 

It's strange- Wizard of Wor has all the right sounds, but no speech- but in MAME you have to get a sample ZIP for speech.

 

Even hall of fame is here and attract modes. I also noticed little things like the Joust "slip thru" platform bug is present.

 

I noticed that most of the titles are "wide" screen games- (i.e. Pac-Man, Galaxian, etc. are games in which the monitor is taller than it is wide- these for the most part are not like that) therefore they fit on the screen like they should. The only exceptions (from what I can tell) are Satan's Hollow (which has been modified with a bit of bezel art- it is "sideways widescreen") and Sinistar in which the radar has been moved to the side.

 

You can also access menus to set difficulty levels, lives per credit, all the usual arcade/MAME settings.

 

There are ports inside the cabinet to connect a DVD/VCR/PS2 or other game system. I haven't tried that yet. I'd like to put a DVD w/Dragon's Lair inside, but I'm not sure it would be all that great. Anyone know how to make a Universal Remote- joystick style

 

The controls are much better than Plug and Plays. Not arcade quality- but very nice. Easy to use on all games save Rampage where response is a bit fuzzy on diagonals.

 

I only have a few small beefs. The monitor color is a bit off. The color is just a tad oversaturated and the blacks and browns are too dark. I know this could be fixed with a monitor adjustment, but there are no controls available for this- only volume. This brings up my other complaint- I haven't been able to contact the company to ask about this- customer service hotline is a recording and the website has broken links.

 

Overall- I like it. It's a neat piece for the basement, it's fun to play in an actual cabinet with arcade style controls. I don't have the time to build my own with a job and family and whatnot, so...

 

There ya go. There's my two cents! Whew!

[dr. kwack]

I just did a bit more research at KLOV and wanted to add a thing or two...

 

The extra art in Satan's Hollow (which appears on the left and right of the screen during gameplay) is actually the sideart graphics on the original coin-op. This is used to make the Vertical oriented game "fit" on the horizontal screen without having dead screen space. It works nicely too.

[Room 34]

Spotted one of these at Target today. It definitely got my attention... even if the cabinet "art" reminded me of a NASCAR car with a billion tiny logos stuck all over it with no regard for aesthetics.

[Shannon]

OK, I actually have one of these. Got it this weekend. My wife saw it, told me about it and we hiked out to Target and took a look. I liked it in the store and it became an early Christmas gift.

969718[/snapback]

 

Since you got one I got a question.

 

Are the controls such that they can be used for other systems that you may connect to the tv? How are they connected to the built in system?

[dr. kwack]

I just tried it out and unfortunately the controls seem to be for the 12 games built into the system only.

 

I connected my DVD player to the unit to see if the joysticks and buttons would work as the remote (so I could play Dragon's Lair). They don't.

 

I don't own an X-Box or PS2, so I can't help you there.

[keilbaca]

OK, I actually have one of these. Got it this weekend. My wife saw it, told me about it and we hiked out to Target and took a look. I liked it in the store and it became an early Christmas gift.

969718[/snapback]

 

Since you got one I got a question.

 

Are the controls such that they can be used for other systems that you may connect to the tv? How are they connected to the built in system?

970488[/snapback]

 

Most likely not, unless it has added plugs to plug into the controls, like small ps2 controller plugins that connect to the controls.

 

Besides, if you're handy with a soldering iron, why can't you just open it up, solder into the controls, and make it work for say, ps2. Can you say, marvel vs capcom 2, using the arcade controls? *drools*

[Shannon]

Well I guess what I'm kinda wondering is what kind of connector is used to connect them to the main unit.

[dr. kwack]

The cabinet came in three pieces- the marquee (which required assembly), the storage section of the cabinet (also required assembly) and the middle section/game unit (which was pre-assembled and sealed shut). The game cartridge plugs in above the monitor.

 

The controllers, monitor, and actual game system are all enclosed in that middle section of the cabinet.

 

To see all the hardware I would have to take apart the middle section and I'm leery of doing that at this time. This is a problem for me as I would like to adjust the monitor settings. The reds are just a bit light and the grays/blacks are too dark. It's nothing horrible, just needs adjusting.

 

I emailed the company about that. I guess that some consumers are having similar problems and they are supposedly going to send me a remote control- we'll see if that happens or not.

 

Otherwise I still have no complaints. It's been a hit with my friends and family.

[yuppicide]

Does it looks like a famicom cartridge or what?! Is the cartridge removable?! Can you get pictures of it?! Wish I had money to disassemble one of these so we can see what the actual system is inside.

 

The games are in a separate cartridge that plugs in below the marquee. It's my guess that some other titles could be available in the future. Most likely, if it happens at all, we may see other titles from the "Midway Greatest Hits Series".

969718[/snapback]

[yuppicide]

Here's an email I received straight from the manufacturer:

 

My Question:

"Thanks for the quick response. Could you tell me what you emulate the

games on?! Is it a build in NES on a chip type thing or what?!"

 

Their answer:

"The full answer is proprietary, but it is way more robust than an NES or

Genesis "chip". We use a custom platform capable of recrating the hardware

environments of most old school arcade machines which allows us the run

barely modified original arcade code..."

[yuppicide]

I still want to get one. I might get the Taito one also.. it's go Qix and Zookeeper among others:

 

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=b...asin=B000B5GOJU

 

I'm gonna build them on a swivel base into a bar in Hawaii.

[tillenterprises]

Well, I stopped at Target to look at this thing today, and thanks to the tiny monitor and use of cardboard on the bezel, it totally reminded me of just a store display that they used to use back in the 80's to demonstrate home video games. It didn't give me the "feel" of playing an arcade machine at all. I thought the TV monitor looked washed out (it might have needed to be adjusted, if possible), and the joysticks and buttons did feel like the JAKS Pac-Man stick. Of the few games i tried, Satan's Hollow had the feel and look of a port- not the original, Robotron and Joust seemed okay, Wizard of Wor didn't have the stars in the background. Rampage seemed okay, but still seemed like a port- not authentic. Same for Bubbles, which was hard to control with the joysticks. I wish I could buy just the empty cabinet, and add my own stuff to it- it would make a nice looking MAME cabaret, but that's about all it's good for.