That's a shame. I have three now (Galaga, Centipede and PacMan) and all of them work like a champ. Rampage is incoming.

 

Yeah, they dropped the price again to $199. That seems to be the magic number on these machines. I know I won't pay over $249 for one.

 

The Street Fighter cabinet would be the only one that I'd even consider getting since I spent many-a-quarter playing Champion Edition back when I was in college. In fact, I've never even seen the SF cabinet. I've only seen Pac-Man and Galaga. I'm kind of surprised that they don't have a Mortal Kombat cabinet.

As cool as these cabinets are, they're just too small for me. I'm 6'3", so hunching over to play these would be more trouble than it's worth, especially considering I have all of the games on MAME on my computer and on other video game systems. I do like the idea of turning a spare room into an arcade for the nostalgic factor, though.

 

so at least 800+ spent on 4 mini cabs now...

that kind of money could have built you a 60" cab with pedestal setup and arcade perfect controls....

I just am not seeing the appeal on these vs the costs  

 

Who would build me A 60" cab? I'm no carpenter. And I want more than one single cab with the artwork. I'm not building a single machine for myself. I have two kids and a wife who play these too. The goal is a full room of cabs for less than $1000.

And the controls on the ones I have are great.

No, you're not seeing the appeal. Laugh all you want. And that's okay. In the end, I'm happy.

 

If these can be sold at $200 without retail or the manufacturer taking a loss, the controls on some of these probably aren't going to last very long with regular use. Especially the trackballs, spinners and SF2 sticks.

 

Maybe, maybe not. Not too worried as I didn't buy the SF2 cab (no interest in fighting games). As long as the kids aren't jerking the joysticks around like they're wrangling a snake, I think these machines should hold up for awhile. And replacement parts aren't all that expensive off Amazon if they go out in a few years.

The other night, my daughter and son went down to play the machines and my daughter said "The Arcade is open for business!". It almost brought me to tears.

 

Bought my 9yo the Rampage machine. It worked for about two minutes before the screen died. Very disappointing Christmas morning. Thank God I bought the extended warranty at Walmart.

 

Had the Galaga for over a month now. I have played it more since then, than I have my entire life. I love these small cabinets. My best friend commented how they have already seen twice as much use as his all in one. Kids seem to love the smaller scale. I have it set up with a cheap piano bench to play, works great. Going to get the one with Crystal Castles next, then build a Rasberry Pi version out of a Street Fighter Cabinet. This small cabinet might be what I need to build Dragons Lair 1 and 2 machines finally.

 

My latest set up. Bought a pair of risers with some Christmas money.

 

Man, that sucks. There does seem to be a bit of a dice roll involved with these. My Rampage machine had a split in the particle board housing the monitor. Luckily, it didn't go all the way through and I was able to secure it within the cab just fine. Another half an inch, though, and I would've had to send it back.

The only other complaint I have is that Centipede sometimes requires me to flick the on switch twice to get it to boot up. Not a huge deal...just something I've taken note with.

 

I'd spring for a Streets of Rage cabinet myself. One of my favorite beat em ups.   Ooh! And a Hogan's Alley cabinet too.

 

Final Fight is coming, at least. With 1944, Ghost N Goblins and Strider.

 

I've never played Strider. Is it fun?

 

To put it simply...hell yes  
Strider was arguably the most influential side-scrolling action game of the time. Fast action, huge bosses, a versatile player character, impressive graphics and music for the time.

What’s even more impressive to me is how arcade-accurate the Genesis port is. Aside from a slight graphical downgrade and having most of the digitized speech removed, it’s just like having the arcade game at home. IMO the music in the Genesis port is even better than the arcade.

The NES port, however, is a completely different game. Same main character and that’s about it. It’s a side-scrolling adventure game where you travel around from country to country in your big ship looking for computer discs and such. Not a bad game, and it has Capcom’s signature polish, just totally different than the arcade.

Edit: I was going to recommend Strider 2 for PS1, which includes the arcade version of Strider on the second disc, but I checked prices and I had no idea it was going for so much  
Fortunately, I got mine from the store on release years ago  

 

What UndertakerPrime said. I'm actually not all that familiar with the game but it sounds like it is an awesome cross between Bionic Commando and Shinobi.

If I get the cab, though, it'll be mostly for 1944. And hopefully, they get emulators that actually maintain the high scores and leader boards. So far, the only ones I have that do are:

Pac Man
Pac Man Plus
Galaga
Galaxian
Centipede
maybe Millipede but I'm not good enough to get on the leaderboard yet to test it

The ones that don't are:
Rampage
Joust
Defender
Gauntlet
Crystal Castles
Missile Command

It's not a deal breaker...but it'd be nice if all of the games saved the high scores.

 

Plus Golden Tee and Karate Champ announced. We already knew about Final Fight and Space Invaders.

Anyhow, here's my latest arcade pic. I've added some mood lighting. Really need to find a good way to light the marquees...

 

I might be interested in the Final Fight one, being one of my personal favorite games (Haggar-for-life!), but really wish this version came with other Capcom beat-em-ups instead of the mix assortment that it does (which would work better in other arrangements IMO). Having the Final Fight arcade art is appealing, I'll give it that.

 

Sounds like Karate Champ is coming with Bad Dudes, Burgertime and Caveman Ninja. Burgertime is awesome and win - and one of my wife's personal favorites from the arcade, so it sounds like it's going to end up being my fifth cab.

My son would want me to get Mortal Kombat. I suck at fighting games so he'll just have to settle for Karate Champ.

Golden Tee...is kind of appealing. Might have to think about getting it for my folks' house. My dad would probably get a kick out of golfing on it.

Don't know what I'd do, though, if they ever announce Donkey Kong or Ms. Pac-Man. Or Popeye!

 

Was Karate Champ popular in the US? Seems like a weird choice to headline the Data East cab with that rather then Burger Time or Bad Dudes.

LOL at Mortal Kombat having the wrong sticks.