Why do you have/want cabs?

[chadtower]

I'm wondering... why do people want to have cabs in their house? Is it the gaming? The novelty? The status? I'll tell you why I like them.

I grew up in a place that had no arcades. I mean, none. There were some video poker machines around that paid off in credits, but other than that, nothing. It wasn't until I was maybe 10 or 11 that I first entered a true arcade. So it's part trying to get back what I missed. I love the arcade vibe.

The other part is restoration. I like the idea of preserving and restoring cabs. I don't mean only the classics. I'm just getting into it but the supply of working cabinets is rapidly dwindling. I want to do my miniscule part in getting those on the brink back and returning them from the dead.

How about you guys?

[Darth Sensei]

I like them with melted butter.... Oh, shoot you said Cabs. I don't have any, but will someday have an Asteroids Cab.

D

[ClubNinja]

It's hard for me to say, really. I don't have any *major* nostalgia for arcades - we had very few around when I was a kid (even less now) and my parents thought they were a waste of money which kept me out anyway. I got to play when we went on vacations, as they'd generally be found in rec rooms by the pool and set on free play. Occasionally, I'd get to play at the machine near the registers at the local Zayer's department store; but only while my mother was in line, which meant Game Over fairly quickly.

I'm attracted to the unique vibes that cabinets bring. Nearly everyone has a console in their home, but only a few have cabinets. I like the style of gaming they promote. While sitting down with some long-drawn modern game can be OK sometimes, the feeling of two people crammed at an arcade panel and jamming at buttons is far superior. I enjoy the hobby or tinkering opportunities they provide. Sure, we can all go modify our consoles to play multi-regioned games, but that's got nothing on screwing with arcade hardware. The best project gaming-wise I've ever done was with my Neo Geo MVS. Right now, I'm looking to obtain a super cheap and small (but functional) cabinet locally so I can... well, I don't really know what I want to do with it yet, but having the machine there will certainly spawn some ideas.

Even though people still collect arcade cabinets and games, I feel that they better signify the gaming and creativity sides of the hobby than do console games.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Y'see, I was a creature of the arcade, from '78 until about '84. I love arcade games. I'd like nothing more than to have a house full of 'em, though at present I have my wife's blessing for one more upright (I already have a Kickman upright) and one cocktail, because that's all the additional load my game room will bear space-wise.

The Kickman machine - well, technically, just Kick - was something I stumbled across on eBay for an insanely low price. Sniderman will tell you how low - I think his head almost exploded when I showed him the auction about a day before I won it. I once wrote an article for Classic Gamer Magazine about the most obscure treasures of the arcade, and I had always promised myself that if I got a coin-op, it would be one of the games on that list. Which Kick/Kickman was.

In this day and age of MAME, I feel that the best reason to get a real live quarter-sucking upright cab is that the game and/or its controls should be something that MAME just can't quite get right, no matter how hard it tries. Kickman has a very unusual control scheme: a lateral trackball. The thing is literally a ball spinning on an axis right down its middle, left or right only. MAME allows for keyboard or mouse usage on Kick/Kickman, and it's not quite right. This is a game where the best way to play it is to have the Real Thing.

I'm also jazzed about it being a Kick cabinet and not a Kickman cabinet. Kick was originally released in '81 by Midway, and went just about nowhere. After 1500 machines were made, Pac-Man was added to boost business, and the game was retitled Kickman. Replacement PCBs and Marquees were sent out to the operators who already had Kick machines. My cabinet has the revised PCB (which is fine by me, because the game's a lot more fun with the bizarro guest appearances by the Pac characters), but the original marquee. It's a beauty. It's a piece of history that isn't going to head for the junk pile or even the converted-cabinet pile so long as I own it.

And that's reason enough for me.

[chadtower]

In this day and age of MAME, I feel that the best reason to get a real live quarter-sucking upright cab is that the game and/or its controls should be something that MAME just can't quite get right, no matter how hard it tries. Kickman has a very unusual control scheme: a lateral trackball. The thing is literally a ball spinning on an axis right down its middle, left or right only. MAME allows for keyboard or mouse usage on Kick/Kickman, and it's not quite right. This is a game where the best way to play it is to have the Real Thing.

You're right, the real thing is always better. I'm wondering, though, about your saying it can't be done with MAME... couldn't you use the original arcade controls, a trackball interface like an OptiPac, and MAME? Technically that would be working with the original controllers. I suspect that in the absence of an original PCB, it could be done in MAME authentically.

[Cmosfm]

I just recently bought my first (and last due to space) arcade cab. It was Primal Rage....yeah, not a favorite among others...but I played this to death when I was little. FIGHTING DINOSAURS! how cool is that?

ANyways, I bought it because 1. I've always wanted an arcade machine, wow, they just look SO COOL! and 2. It's fun to play, simple enough...for some reason I'd rather be standing 2 ft from a moniter playing a game than sitting on my ass playing a game.

Anyways, I need to fix the moniter in mine. I have the seller sending me a new Chassis so hopefully that's all that's wrong with it. *prays*

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

You're right, the real thing is always better. I'm wondering, though, about your saying it can't be done with MAME... couldn't you use the original arcade controls, a trackball interface like an OptiPac, and MAME? Technically that would be working with the original controllers. I suspect that in the absence of an original PCB, it could be done in MAME authentically.

I hadn't even considered something that...elaborate, really. (Then again, I suppose having something that's about the size of a refrigerator that only plays one game is pretty elaborate too. :P )

[chadtower]

I hadn't even considered something that...elaborate, really. (Then again, I suppose having something that's about the size of a refrigerator that only plays one game is pretty elaborate too. :P )

Yeah, no more elaborate than the original cab, anyway. You could also hack a mouse to take its input from the trackball as well, though the OptiPac would be cleaner and easier.

[Flack]

One reason I collect them is for the "holy shit" factor. I won't lie. Pretty much everyone who sees my arcade collection utters those words when I open the door to my gameroom and sees 15 games sitting there.

I also try and collect games that cannot be played in MAME for one reason or another, or games that have unique controls, artwork or cabinets. I like Karate Champ's unique two joystick setup. I like Off Road's steering controller. I would love to get a 720 machine

I also like collecting arcade games because kids LOVE them. I can't keep my neices and nephew off them when they come over -- and it's not like they can hurt a 300lb piece of wood.

I have given a lot of thought to restoring some of my games, either for resale purposes or just to make them look nicer while they're in my home, but to be honest I just haven't found the time to start one, much less finish one.

It's easy to get addicted to buying these and, at least for me, emotionally hard to get rid of. Even the ones that are scuffed up or have problems still look awesome to me.

[Sanriostar]

It's just the whole gestalt experience: you play the game more seriously; odds are your'e standing up, and if youre in a sit-down you have this thrill. A freind of mine once owned a Sit-down Star Wars, and we played it to death. The PS and the top of the line PC gather dust, it was 'Red 5 Standing by' for hours on end!

[Pantechnicon]

I also like collecting arcade games because kids LOVE them. I can't keep my neices and nephew off them when they come over -- and it's not like they can hurt a 300lb piece of wood.

No kidding. My MAME cab has made me the most popular dad on the block. I've got a lot of those late 1980's Konami side-scrollers (TMNT, Simpsons, X-Men) loaded uip. Personally I never liked those all that much, but I get the biggest kick out of watching my son and the neighborhood boys all crowded shoulder-to-shoudler around the thing banging buttons like there's no tomorrow.

There's definitely an aesthetic that resonates with us thirty-somethings upon seeing an old-school upright arcade machine beckoning with its glowing-red coin slots, attract mode, what have you. Whenever we have over new friends and we show them around the house I like to save my office for last. You can't see the "MAMEframe" when you first walk in, but when you turn around to leave, there it is. More often than not, the reaction from those old enough to remember is usually this quiet, awestruck voice that says, "You have your own arcade machine." It's like you just cracked open the door to Heaven and gave them a brief glimpse of something long forgotten. Unless you have your own machines, you can't imagine how selflessly gratifying a feeling that can be.

I've got an authentic Pac-Man machine in the garage awaiting restoration (no MAME for this one, thank you).I'm not really a fan of the game, but it's Pac-Man, you know? It will be placed alongside the MAMEframe and the wow factor will double.

[NE146]

Collecting cabs is just like collecting anything else. You want the authentic thing. You want the artwork. You want the hardware. You want the controls. You want the sound and the entire package basically. Sure you can play games via emulation, but you can also play Intellivision and 2600 via emulation as well.. is it the same thing? Of course we all know it isn't! Ditto for arcade cabinets. The danger comes when so many people think Mame is just as good when that is so far from the truth.. especially when it comes to classic dedicated cabinets. They stick Mame in a generic cabinet and think that's it. Sure that's cool up to a point, but it will of course naturally never be the same for many games for obvious reasons. (just look at a simple b&w game like Top Bowler below). For example on an old game.. you can't put a lighted cardboard background up. You can't mirror the display so it looks holographic. You can't get the sound that reverberates through the cabinet wood. And of course there's all those other things like the coindoor, artwork, and actual hardware (like the authentic large white joystick ball on the taito joystick) that arcade collectors look for. I won't even go into the subject of using mame for Vector games.. That being said, I wouldn't mind a mame cab. It's convenient. But I'd have one of those along with dedicated cabinets of games that I've always wanted.

Arcade collectors are a certain breed and it's kind of funny because a lot of them frown upon console collectors.. Kind of odd :P Personally I can see the value of both. Having literally grown up in arcades (I was the little kid always hanging out and wandering around) when I start collecting cabs, I'll take a Mame cab sure (or mame on the pc for that matter).. but in the end for a lot of games I really like, I NEED the real deal. And for that you need the actual cabinet

[Pantechnicon]

I imagine quite a bit of NE146's above post is said in response to some of the things I brought up. So allow me to say that I agree wholeheartedley; there is no substitute for a real cab with dedicated hardware, controls, etc. Believe me, if I didn't have to worry about the practicalities of taking care of a family, etc. my house would probably be so crowded with real cabs that you'd have to walk sideways in every room (Packratting tends to run in my family. For my grandpa it was antiques. My dad's an old hot rodder and I have this thing for all things silicon). Having had a few cabs pass through my hands in the last few years, I certainly understand how (as others have described it) addictive they can be.

So props to you guys and gals what have the dedication, technical expertise, extra space and disposable income for the real things. Surely but slowly I aspire to more deeply join your ranks. This is why I previously mentioned my Pac-Man cab, y'see...for the sake of upping my street cred .

[NE146]

I imagine quite a bit of NE146's above post is said in response to some of the things I brought up.

Oh no not at all actually! It's actually just my usual schpeel which I express every so often on these boards in one context or another. But I can see how you thought that.. Let me just clear up that it really wasn't meant as a response to your post in any way.

I totally understand and agree with what you're saying by the way. I actually have no cabs at all since my living situation is so temporary at the moment. But I'm realistic about the future and like I said, I'll probably have a mame cab (which works great of course for most games.. especially many jamma games ) But I do hope to have a couple (as in 3-6ish) actual cabs of my choosing :P But yeah I see a lot of those guys with really nice and extensive arcade collections.. man, if only.

[bargora]

While I don't have any cabinets, I covet them for the unique controller schemes (Spy Hunter, Front Line, Robotron 2084, Defender), as well as the "gestalt" and/or "holy shit" factor.

One day, Gadget.

[MarioAllStar2600]

Holy shit factor is definatly one. Another is mentally there is nothing like going head to head with someone on a stand uip machine. The marquee glowing. You having to stand, and the moniter for only one game. Ahhh I love it.

I have one problem with my holy shit feature though. My rents took it away from me. They bough a Twister Pinball, and cruisin USA (sitdown) a couple years back. People are always like why dont you put that in your VG room? Then I have to explain how I pay for my video game collection and wont accept high priced stuff from my parents. My parents machines get a better holys hit then mine.

[maxlords]

Heh. I'm exactly the opposite of almost everyone here I think. I have ONE cab. A Neo Geo Jamma cab. I plan to get a second cab...a vertical JAMMA cab (preferrably Jp). I don't invite people over....no one ever sees my cab. All I care about is being able to play games that one can't play anywhere else. Granted the Neo Geo is available as a home system, but it's prohibitively expensive compared to the cab I got for $100 and the huge stack of Neo games I got cheap.

Basically, most JAMMA games aren't available anywhere else. If they are, most are inferior versions or ports of the arcade games. And I have a weird thing about having the original hardware or software for games. I don't like burns and copies and ROMs. So I buy JAMMA boards. Personally, I don't care for many pre-JAMMA games, and the ones I do like, convertors can be made for. Hence...ONE cab for horizontal, and eventually one for vertical. That's all I want. I swap boards when I want to play something else, just like giant carts

Plus....it's a way to game when my wife is using the TV

[buttasuperb]

I have a MK2 cab. Ever since the game came out I wanted one, and when one popped uip on ebay near me, I sold a bunch of stuff and overpaid a little for the cab. I just HAD to have one.

I like romz on xbox, and I like playing the real deal through the supergun a little more, but nothing compares to either standing or sitting at a cab and playing your favorite game(s). I plan on getting 2 more cabs at least, one for snk games, one for capcom. And then maybe a cab with a vertical monitor.

[The Collector]

Heh. I'm exactly the opposite of almost everyone here I think. I have ONE cab. A Neo Geo Jamma cab. I plan to get a second cab...a vertical JAMMA cab (preferrably Jp). I don't invite people over....no one ever sees my cab. All I care about is being able to play games that one can't play anywhere else. Granted the Neo Geo is available as a home system, but it's prohibitively expensive compared to the cab I got for $100 and the huge stack of Neo games I got cheap.

Basically, most JAMMA games aren't available anywhere else. If they are, most are inferior versions or ports of the arcade games. And I have a weird thing about having the original hardware or software for games. I don't like burns and copies and ROMs. So I buy JAMMA boards. Personally, I don't care for many pre-JAMMA games, and the ones I do like, convertors can be made for. Hence...ONE cab for horizontal, and eventually one for vertical. That's all I want. I swap boards when I want to play something else, just like giant carts

Plus....it's a way to game when my wife is using the TV

Its too bad your being forced to sell your Big Red . Good luck getting another MVS in the future. I recommend the Candy (of course )

[tholly]

i have two reasons......my first is the novelty / holy shit factor of wow....an arcade game in your basement, arent they only found in mall arcades and what now....

my second reason is that i wanted to get into the Neo Geo scene and i wanted to experience Metal Slug on a true Neo Geo system....and since the AES of metal slug is out of hand with its pricing, the cabinet MVS version was the way to go...especially when i found my 4-slot at a steal of a price....