I'm back after 2 years: AGDQ '18 Arcade & Pinball Discussion Resurrection - Never too early to start discussion I suppose

OtakuSRL

Edit history:

OtakuSRL: 2017-01-15 05:04:11 am

OtakuSRL: 2017-01-15 04:35:26 am

2017-01-15 04:34:14 am

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(I posted this sooner than two weeks as I'm fairly certain it doesn't fall under "criticism" whatsoever, I hope that's okay - I know discussion for this kind of thing needs to be started very early on and I wanted to do it while I had a ton of free time)

Last thread I started years ago: https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/arcade_machine_for_gaming_room_at_agdq_2015.html

Hey guys, this is my first post back after life dragging me away for around two years. (If anybody can update me on any major occurrences/changes while I was gone that'd be great I feel a bit lost)

Unfortunately just as I planned to head down to AGDQ to try and jump back in I learned you can't register on-site anymore so that killed my plans at the last minute, but oh well.

Anyways, I wanted to bring up the possibility of having a miniature arcade at the next AGDQ (I cannot feasibly drive to SGDQ - sorry), from the previous thread to now I have gained a considerable amount of machines and knowledge on said machines in terms of upkeep and repair. At this point in time I have 13 arcade machines and 26 pinball machines all under one little roof.

I know pinballjoe has been involved with events since 2015 (and apparently still is), however our machines differ in the fact that mine are not only both arcade and pinball machines (separately obviously), but also that my pinball machines are from a much different era so I hope they could be included in whatever this may come to be.

Within the next year I plan to be getting a few different gamer-desirable machines as well as I am beginning to venture out into publicly operating in others' businesses, so in addition to my current collection the next things on the block are a Street Fighter II machine and a Mortal Kombat machine.

I'm not sure where we would have the space for it but hopefully we can work something out - even if it's just a few machines tucked in the casual gaming room. I remember there was that room close to the marathon room that had projectors and people ate in that never saw as much use as the other rooms, but I haven't been able to be back again since 2015 (very unfortunately, I miss it!), so I'm not sure on the status of that and everything else.

They'd be on free-play and I'm not looking to make any money from this, probably would just need to bring a u-haul to bring a considerable amount down. Probably like 5-10 for the entire week. Pain in the ass, yes, but I'd love to do something like this and like I said don't really expect much in return.

I hope you all had a great marathon and I hope to see you all next year! (and at SGDQ hopefully - just without machines as I'd be flying in)

OtakuSRL/OtakuSpeedruns

I'll put some photos in the next post.

Thread title:

(I posted this sooner than two weeks as I'm fairly certain it doesn't fall under "criticism" whatsoever, I hope that's okay - I know discussion for this kind of thing needs to be started very early on and I wanted to do it while I had a ton of free time)

Last thread I started years ago: https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/arcade_machine_for_gaming_room_at_agdq_2015.html

Hey guys, this is my first post back after life dragging me away for around two years. (If anybody can update me on any major occurrences/changes while I was gone that'd be great I feel a bit lost)

Unfortunately just as I planned to head down to AGDQ to try and jump back in I learned you can't register on-site anymore so that killed my plans at the last minute, but oh well.

Anyways, I wanted to bring up the possibility of having a miniature arcade at the next AGDQ (I cannot feasibly drive to SGDQ - sorry), from the previous thread to now I have gained a considerable amount of machines and knowledge on said machines in terms of upkeep and repair. At this point in time I have 13 arcade machines and 26 pinball machines all under one little roof.

I know pinballjoe has been involved with events since 2015 (and apparently still is), however our machines differ in the fact that mine are not only both arcade and pinball machines (separately obviously), but also that my pinball machines are from a much different era so I hope they could be included in whatever this may come to be.

Within the next year I plan to be getting a few different gamer-desirable machines as well as I am beginning to venture out into publicly operating in others' businesses, so in addition to my current collection the next things on the block are a Street Fighter II machine and a Mortal Kombat machine.

I'm not sure where we would have the space for it but hopefully we can work something out - even if it's just a few machines tucked in the casual gaming room. I remember there was that room close to the marathon room that had projectors and people ate in that never saw as much use as the other rooms, but I haven't been able to be back again since 2015 (very unfortunately, I miss it!), so I'm not sure on the status of that and everything else.

They'd be on free-play and I'm not looking to make any money from this, probably would just need to bring a u-haul to bring a considerable amount down. Probably like 5-10 for the entire week. Pain in the ass, yes, but I'd love to do something like this and like I said don't really expect much in return.

I hope you all had a great marathon and I hope to see you all next year! (and at SGDQ hopefully - just without machines as I'd be flying in)

OtakuSRL/OtakuSpeedruns

I'll put some photos in the next post.

OtakuSRL

Edit history:

OtakuSRL: 2017-01-15 04:46:45 am

2017-01-15 04:43:01 am

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Here's my home collection, I'm buying some newer stuff in the coming year as I look to balance out the variety of my collection. Obviously there's some machines that I wouldn't bring as they're too valuable or in considerably great condition, but there are definitely a few I would bring with me - and many of these have been to other conventions & pinball shows.

(Apologies for the mess, I took these photos over the busy holidays where a lot of junk was laying around)

(Old picture below hence the different layout, there's some repeated games)

Here's my home collection, I'm buying some newer stuff in the coming year as I look to balance out the variety of my collection. Obviously there's some machines that I wouldn't bring as they're too valuable or in considerably great condition, but there are definitely a few I would bring with me - and many of these have been to other conventions & pinball shows.

(Apologies for the mess, I took these photos over the busy holidays where a lot of junk was laying around)

[img]http://i.imgur.com/141r7ps.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/wbQhccs.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/qt6lfda.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/3N4IFoZ.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/mu6ecpK.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/RoTXFrz.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/aVldwWy.jpg[/img]
[img]https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13533107_10206583798422185_8060571840936710372_n.jpg?oh=7228055a7246297b4c0d488dc3becf0d&oe=587D2337[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/rGcpO0u.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/OsJGylm.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/b2k6xCq.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/2wssxjF.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/OJUxvzD.jpg[/img]
(Old picture below hence the different layout, there's some repeated games)
[img]http://i.imgur.com/AH4oZ7p.jpg[/img]

OtakuSRL

Edit history:

OtakuSRL: 2017-01-15 04:56:36 am

2017-01-15 04:55:13 am

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Last post until I get some replies, here's my 1974 Gottlieb Magnotron at a gaming convention just as some sort of proof of concept:

Some of my games at the end of the Whiterose Gameroom Show/Convention (different place than above, different state even):

Nearly ready to come home:

An edited photo of Domino I brought to Pinfest 2016:

I've done some more conventions/shows but can't seem to find the other photos right now. Anyways, thanks!

Mr. Kelly R. Flewin

2017-01-15 01:29:50 pm

Learning to Stream

o.o!! Holy crap a North Star! Wow! And Sky Jump... oh sweet memories... Not too shabby an EM collection. I think it could have some nice retro appeal... not sure how well it would work with todays generation though. My generation [Turning... omg.. 40 this year]... it has appeal.

But I also like the idea of more classic stuff too. Not a bad idea. Dunno if it will work out.. but hey, cool if so.

Twinge

2017-01-16 06:48:01 am

If you're unaware, we've had organizations like SavePoint, MAGFest, and Tokyo Attack help bring in arcade machines for attendee use in the past several events. This includes classic arcade cabinets, nonsense like BishiBoshi, and the always-in-use-even-at-5am juBeat. With that plus the 5ish pinball machines from PinballJoe, much of this is already covered to some extent.

It's a cool offer and I'm not staff, though, so it's possible they'll have extra room for more, do part and part from multiple sources, etc.

presjpolk

2017-01-16 04:41:51 pm

HELLO!

Considering how poorly maintained some of the arcade machines have been at the last 2+ events, I would hope they'd consider alternatives to doing what they've been doing.

Absnerdity

2017-01-16 05:19:30 pm

Tokyo Attacks! is the company (iirc) that brings in the arcade machines for AGDQ. The older machines are always in really rough shape and really poorly maintained. Last year the TRON machine didn't work and Robotron 2084 was barely functional. This year one of the Nintendo cabs wasn't even on, Neo Geo cab had a misaligned monitor and bad controls, the GnG machines also had poor joysticks and Roadblasters didn't have blue on the monitor. From what I heard even Nibbler was unplayable.

However, with that said, not as many people seem to even care that those machines were even there. They only really cared about all the rhythm games. Is that because the machines were in poor shape and tough to play? Was it because of the poor selection of retro games? I can't say as I didn't spend much time there because of the poor selection and the awful state they were in.

Personally? I'm always up for more options especially when it comes to older arcade games. I'm sure I'm in the minority, however.

TokyoAttack

2017-01-18 02:36:21 pm

Quote from Absnerdity:

Tokyo Attacks! is the company (iirc) that brings in the arcade machines for AGDQ. The older machines are always in really rough shape and really poorly maintained. Last year the TRON machine didn't work and Robotron 2084 was barely functional. This year one of the Nintendo cabs wasn't even on, Neo Geo cab had a misaligned monitor and bad controls, the GnG machines also had poor joysticks and Roadblasters didn't have blue on the monitor. From what I heard even Nibbler was unplayable.

However, with that said, not as many people seem to even care that those machines were even there. They only really cared about all the rhythm games. Is that because the machines were in poor shape and tough to play? Was it because of the poor selection of retro games? I can't say as I didn't spend much time there because of the poor selection and the awful state they were in.

Personally? I'm always up for more options especially when it comes to older arcade games. I'm sure I'm in the minority, however.

Hello! So the machines around the walls of the room (the Japanese imports) were all brought by us. All of the games in the center of the room (the older / classic cabinets) are all brought by MAGFest. Unfortunately due to this we can only assure all the Japanese cabinets will work, and do not touch any of the center games as they are not ours.

[quote="Absnerdity"]Tokyo Attacks! is the company (iirc) that brings in the arcade machines for AGDQ. The older machines are always in really rough shape and really poorly maintained. Last year the TRON machine didn't work and Robotron 2084 was barely functional. This year one of the Nintendo cabs wasn't even on, Neo Geo cab had a misaligned monitor and bad controls, the GnG machines also had poor joysticks and Roadblasters didn't have blue on the monitor. From what I heard even Nibbler was unplayable.

However, with that said, not as many people seem to even care that those machines were even there. They only really cared about all the rhythm games. Is that because the machines were in poor shape and tough to play? Was it because of the poor selection of retro games? I can't say as I didn't spend much time there because of the poor selection and the awful state they were in.

Personally? I'm always up for more options especially when it comes to older arcade games. I'm sure I'm in the minority, however.[/quote]

Hello! So the machines around the walls of the room (the Japanese imports) were all brought by us. All of the games in the center of the room (the older / classic cabinets) are all brought by MAGFest. Unfortunately due to this we can only assure all the Japanese cabinets will work, and do not touch any of the center games as they are not ours.

z1mb0bw4y

2017-01-19 10:15:38 am

Gets the cake.

I'd also like to say that whatever condition the classic game cabinets were in, all the Tokyo Attack cabinets I played on (Jubeat, BishiBashi, SF5, ReflecBeat, Sound Voltex) were VERY well kept, and this is despite them being taken to multiple large events like Dragon Con and others. My only "complaint" is that the Jubeat cabs didn't have headphone ports, but they were loud enough that I could hear the music so I didn't really care all that much.

I think that people mostly played the Tokyo Attack cabs rather than the ones in the middle because those games, especially the rhythm games, are not easy to play otherwise. Sound Voltex and IIDX are the ones that can most easily be played at home, but they require expensive controllers (the DJ Dao SDVX controller that is most common is nearly $200 after shipping) that function only for that one game. Classic arcade cabinets are easy to emulate, and if you have a ~$30-50 fight stick you can just play basically all of them whenever you want. Additionally, most of those are games that you can find in a lot of smaller local arcades, whereas the rhythm games are not.

I'd also like to say that whatever condition the classic game cabinets were in, all the Tokyo Attack cabinets I played on (Jubeat, BishiBashi, SF5, ReflecBeat, Sound Voltex) were VERY well kept, and this is despite them being taken to multiple large events like Dragon Con and others. My only "complaint" is that the Jubeat cabs didn't have headphone ports, but they were loud enough that I could hear the music so I didn't really care all that much.

I think that people mostly played the Tokyo Attack cabs rather than the ones in the middle because those games, especially the rhythm games, are not easy to play otherwise. Sound Voltex and IIDX are the ones that can most easily be played at home, but they require expensive controllers (the DJ Dao SDVX controller that is most common is nearly $200 after shipping) that function only for that one game. Classic arcade cabinets are easy to emulate, and if you have a ~$30-50 fight stick you can just play basically all of them whenever you want. Additionally, most of those are games that you can find in a lot of smaller local arcades, whereas the rhythm games are not.

PJ

2017-01-19 01:59:28 pm

Is PJ

Many of us would've been happy to play the cabinets in the center (the classic arcade games) if they were functional. Many of them have nearly-unusable control panels, bad monitors, or just shut down in the middle of playing. If they were actually working properly, people would've definitely been using them.

That's not to say that they'd be more popular than the rhythm games or really obscure and neat Japanese games around the perimeter (because they almost definitely wouldn't), but at least there would be people playing them instead of being constantly vacant. Working games are important for an arcade.

OtakuSRL

2017-01-29 02:35:29 am

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Huh, that's odd, the guy who runs MAGFest is a very frequent user & technician in one of the big arcade collector communities and even does mail-in service for others, you think he'd be on top of his games better. I really strive to make sure not only everything works, but works well & consistently. Especially keeping those monitors rebuilt. Once you're fluent at circuit board soldering and replacing components it's a 40-60 minute job for a monitor that was still working and just looked like trash (no advanced diagnosis needed), it can make the picture look brand new.

Regardless if one area or another is covered, I'd totally be willing to just cover one or the other rather than insisting I bring both, although it probably doesn't matter. (Meaning if I needed to bring arcade machines but no pinball that is fine; but there doesn't seem to be anything fulfilling the more retro side of pinball, last time I checked it was all DMD/modern games but perhaps they switched it up a little recently? No clue.)

Disappointing to hear the condition of the current retro arcade machines, like, seriously. It isn't THAT hard to at least make sure the games you are bringing are presentable and playable. Hmph. Well, if there's any more opinions let's hear 'em for sure! No clue if this will get anywhere in the heads of the planners but at least there's discussion - thanks guys.

Otaku

Huh, that's odd, the guy who runs MAGFest is a very frequent user & technician in one of the big arcade collector communities and even does mail-in service for others, you think he'd be on top of his games better. I really strive to make sure not only everything works, but works well & consistently. Especially keeping those monitors rebuilt. Once you're fluent at circuit board soldering and replacing components it's a 40-60 minute job for a monitor that was still working and just looked like trash (no advanced diagnosis needed), it can make the picture look brand new.

Regardless if one area or another is covered, I'd totally be willing to just cover one or the other rather than insisting I bring both, although it probably doesn't matter. (Meaning if I needed to bring arcade machines but no pinball that is fine; but there doesn't seem to be anything fulfilling the more retro side of pinball, last time I checked it was all DMD/modern games but perhaps they switched it up a little recently? No clue.)

Disappointing to hear the condition of the current retro arcade machines, like, seriously. It isn't THAT hard to at least make sure the games you are bringing are presentable and playable. Hmph. Well, if there's any more opinions let's hear 'em for sure! No clue if this will get anywhere in the heads of the planners but at least there's discussion - thanks guys.

Otaku