Basic Fun?

There's definitely an appeal to the full size ones - I had a local place that rented them, and I rented Hydro Thunder, which was awesome. The best parts were when it arrived, and when it was carted back off again :D

Thank you, thank you, thank you Mat. Like the riddle of the Sphinx I’ve been awondering about the origin story of your name, as spelled for several years. Now all is clear. And not to belabour the point - Thank you!

I would love to have an original Donkey Kong machine if I had the space (and the cash). I would consider a small tabletop unit like this Asteroids one, but Nintendo seems to be pretty stingy with their IP. As it stands, I have a Nintendo Classic Mini that I connect to the TV when I really want to scratch the Donkey Kong itch, but it’s not quite the same as playing the arcade version.

I'd spend the money on driving to Bury - and going to Arcade Club - which is waaaaaaay better than I expected and is really the most fantastic arcade you could imagine. Definitely got some cabaret sized machines too. Honestly, so good.

I used to build and sell those an a lot during Covid. There is a site called Arcade punks who have rom sets to suit all tastes 16,32,64,256,512 GB, 1,2 TB etc. I only play about 20 games from the 80s so having 23,000 games is a bit over kill

I totally relate to the what was said at the end. My uncle owned a pub when I was a kid and they had a Ms PacMan machine. I always wanted one for my house. I bought an Arcade 1UP Ms PacMan machine a few ago. It sits in my basement and I rarely play it. I guess it is still cool to have.

The only arcade machine I’d want is Galaxian. My local chip shop had one around 1982/83. Many happy but frustrating hours trying to get high scores. I never did though. Think the machine was faulty.

If I had the space and funds, I'd probably go for an arcade where there is something that is hard to recreate elsewhere. Probably one with those fixed guns that recoil and stuff. Those were a treat if memory serves just for the physical experience. Bonus would be the ability have different games for it so it would interest longer. But that's about it really.

Had the full size Pac-Man machine. I had one for a few years in my home office, loved it but it took quite a considerable amount of real estate. Bonus was I sold it for more than I invested in it (renovated it)!! Now it’s gone, wish I had it back 😂 Cheers Matt / MAT. Lee

part of me regrets never getting 1up's Simpson's Arcade Machine. that said, the other part of me understands - like you say in the video - that I'd use it once or twice then forget about it. so bullet dodged, money saved. still, would have been nice...

I think either Crazy Taxi or OutRun would be my choice. I knew a guy who got his own Candy Cab, he was enamoured for a few weeks, then eventually it became a burden as he tried to move house so he had to flog it.

We've got a big 1up Pacman machine in our lounge, its a talking point but it's mainly a dust gathering thing that seems to be gathering cuddly toys at the moment 😄

You are so right about the buying vs actually using. Bought a tiny Super Mario Bros handheld that I played for about ten minutes and has sat in a drawer since. But as to your question... I always say to myself it'd be the Tron arcade cabinet. I only played it in the arcade in the 80s because it never got a proper home release that I'm aware of. It looked REALLY cool with that clear blue joy-stick. Was pretty simple but challenging.

Would have to be Defender, I once clocked it and finally just gave up after about 2 hours of play, best 20p spent ever!!

You’re sitting on an orange Dyvlinge chair? Coincidence: it’s on my shopping list for this weekend.

I've played Asteroids hundreds of times but I never notice the giant hand at the bottom of the screen. But seriously, Asteroids was the go to machine at the hotel lobby near me. They had a tabletop version. One player would sit on one side and a second player could sit on the other side of the machine. Good memories. Defender or Robotron are some of my favorites.

Id have OutRun...magical sound shower 👌

I was gifted a very similarly sized cabinet designed to use an ipad for its screen. So excited when I got it, being able to play old favorite arcade games with "real" controls... But after a few weeks, the sheen and nostalgia hit just wore off and it is literally collecting dust as you suggested. It's a weird thing the fickle, transient nature of these things we're convinced we'd use all the time, if only we could afford, have time or space for. Maybe I should fire it up and play some Golden Axe. Nah, rather watch an old ep of Techmoan....

LOL, I've never seen the UFO murderate itself.

Arcade1Up have very recently gone down the toilet for various reasons so maybe this video will be the boost they need to keep afloat. Probably not though.

If I could have any cabinet in my house it would be Street Fighter 2. Brings me back to the caravan park games rooms of the summer holidays of my youth. I’d use it as much as I use the copy of Street Fighter 2 and the Super Nintendo I have in the spare room now. Never.

I guess my foremost interest in arcade machines would be to restore and repair them, and then get them to a proper arcade where people can enjoy them... I what The 8-bit Guy did there :-D.

Great video. Should release it as non pateron video lots people have interest in these things. I've spent to much time on Forza horizon 6 (Japan) great game

If I could have one full-sized arcade machine in my house, it would be the Cactus Canyon Remake pinball machine. And purely by coincidence to this video's being posted, I actually bought just such a unit, “new in box,” from a local distributor earlier today. Super excited to finally be realizing a nearly lifelong dream of mine!

I think the game I enjoyed the most at the arcade was Outrun with the full driving cage thing, but even if I wanted one of those the size of it - as well as lack of availability - would make it a non-starter! I don't think having a real arcade machine would be my thing anyway, but if I knew someone with one I'd be interested in having a go!!

Haha! Nice to see you have the same reason for spelling Mat as me.

I wanted their Star Wars cabinet, with the yoke, but even when I caught it on sale I couldn't quite justify the expense and even more so when I'm sure it would get played enough to justify it. With luck I'm going to be getting a job offer, sometime soon, where I could afford to buy one but I'm pretty sure you can't get them now...

I have a original Atari Cabaret Asteroids, don't play it often, but a friend loves it. Also a Atari Tempest "in motion" or on the lab bench more correctly.

I have the same problem, something looks interesting so I buy it expecting to use it all the time and use it once and it sits in a corner until I "find" it again in a year.

It's a heat wave here, too. The high will be 89 °F / 32° C without wind. Yuck. Add to that I have to spend all day doing DoorDash without AC because aircon uses more fuel. 🥵 I'm out of my high-speed cell data until June 2nd and without Internet, so I will have to delay watching any videos. I'm sure they are and will be great. Take care 🤍.