BrendanK wrote: I think it's just a licensing thing, they can make a lot more by just putting 2-3 on each game.

This may well be.

DaveA wrote: Thu Jun 09, 2022 1:36 am Seems like there'd be a big market for people to play the arcade versions of Super Sprint, Super Off-Road, Rampage, the Double Dragon and Golden Axe games, 720, Paperboy, The Simpsons, the TMNT games and so on, at home.

A lot of different companies, a lot of different licenses (just clearing the Simpsons for use took some work I guess, and a cut of the profits I'm sure). There have been some "mini" arcade machines released, like the Taito Egret II Mini. They tend to have collections of games specific to one manufacturer.

Plus there's a fair few different control schemes on that list as well. Super Off Road requires three steering wheels to do it properly... cabinets that try to accommodate every control scheme at once risk looking like The Contrabulous Fabtraption of Professor Horatio Hufnagel.

Brendan's Simpsons machine has a rather unusual combination of 4 player sticks + a trackball.

I guess I would be wondering about getting some more 3 and 4 player games on there, like TMNT, Gauntlet, Rampage etc, and I suppose some trackball games like Marble Madness or Missile Command? I've never had a trackball controller. Or three friends who want to hang out playing video games.

Had a little time to play on the Simpsons machine last night - overall the cabinet is pretty nice, but if you're paying attention you can tell it's 500$ if you know what I mean. But it looks nice, the controls are responsive and the screen and sound are all as I remember.

I guess I'm not surprised, but it's funny to me that I could spend a whole afternoon pumping quarters into the main game when I was a kid - I played for 20 minutes, and it's so repetitive. But it is fun and funny, and I'm looking forward to playing it through with the kids (my kids are probably more excited for it than I am.)

I wouldn't have bought it if not for the Simpsons bowling, and honestly I think that is the more fun of the 2 games. I played a couple games after a difficult early morning meeting, and it was a perfect palate cleanser.

Anthony Flack wrote: Thu Jun 09, 2022 12:15 am DoDonPachi - check it out.

It can be Raiden II though... well, actually you know what, Raiden II seems to run a bit slow on the Pi. Might need to upgrade to a Pi4 to run that one properly... but I'm thinking of upgrading from emulator to FPGA at some point.

Yeah, I need to find this. "Bonus!"

BrendanK wrote: Fri Jun 10, 2022 8:27 am I wouldn't have bought it if not for the Simpsons bowling, and honestly I think that is the more fun of the 2 games. I played a couple games after a difficult early morning meeting, and it was a perfect palate cleanser.

Nice. I've never played that one. Bowling games can be surprisingly fun - as can golf games.

Konami's brawlers like Simpsons and TMNT are beautiful, but shallow. Quite basic button mashers, with great art. Probably both are much better with four players. I like them, and they both make good use of their respective licenses (the Simpsons game has Binky and Bongo in it!) but I don't feel like there's a whole lot of technique to master. As far as brawlers go, the late Capcom ones are my favourites - The Punisher, Alien vs Predator etc. I've also been enjoying Streets of Rage 4 on the Switch recently.

An arcade cabinet makes for a great palette cleanser, a quick ten minute blast. That's the sort of games I gravitate to now because I don't have hours of spare time.

Anthony Flack wrote: Fri Jun 10, 2022 3:44 amI've never had a trackball controller. Or three friends who want to hang out playing video games.

LOL. In the latter case, I definitely did, when these games were current: had a birthday party or two at a once-prominent chain here called Aladdin's Castle. (Sort of like a Chuck E. Cheese without the animatronics. And no colored balls to jump into/"analog" games. Just arcade games and a some stacks of tokens with which to play them.)

But yeah, beyond licensing, I failed to take into account the variegated hardware/controls for these things. That would present issues. I know that in porting these titles to early Nintendo/Sega consoles compromises along these lines had to be made, to say nothing of compromises in the realm of graphics.

Oh yeah, back when these games were current, friends would drop by in groups of five.

I had a go on The Punisher just now to check it was still awesome - and yep, it never disappoints. I wanted to play as Nick Fury on player 2 controls though, and it reminded me I need to switch out my P2 stick.

These old cabinets are designed to be modular and you can pretty easily switch the control panels out. So when they were putting a new game in, if it needed different controls they could put in a different panel. One day I'll make up some alt panels that fit, like a trackball one or spinner.
Here I have been trying out some different sticks. On the left is a Sanwa with an octagonal gate, and on the right is a knock-off Seimitsu with no gate and a long shaft, which has a crazy wide throw, and is coming off. The buttons are American-style (Happ) mixed with Japanese sticks, but that was normal around here in the 80s and I did it like that on purpose. I still haven't found my perfect stick though. It's like guitar parts y'know; the post could get long here...

A panel with a pair of these Seimitsu LS-30s (with the rotating top) would be a great swap-out, but they are ultra rare now and there isn't really any substitute available.
Oh, I thought of another 4 player Konami game from the same era that would look great on that Simpsons cab - Sunset Riders.

You're more into all of this than I could hope to be. Seems like a fun hobby though.

Also, let's not forget NARC, as far as popular titles from that time go:

The new TMNT (6-player co-op!) beat-em-up went up for pre-order a couple days ago and is supposed to release on Thursday. Seems like mindless summer fun…looking forward to playing it with my kid.

DaveA wrote: Sun Jun 12, 2022 10:25 pm You're more into all of this than I could hope to be. Seems like a fun hobby though.

Oh, it's not something I spend a lot of time on, just now and again. I mean it took me over a year to get around to swapping that stick over. But I've got a lot of use out of these cabinets in the time since I fixed them up. They're great if you're a time-starved parent. I am also a video game designer by trade so I do have a professional interest in this sort of thing (and I'm nerdy enough about it to know that Narc was designed by Eugene Jarvis, for instance).

But even so, it's my Nintendo Game & Watch collection that is the true indulgence.

And yeah, Shredder's Revenge looks rather good...