Thinking of buying a standalone arcade game for my apartment

[Duke]

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Less "post your favorite arcade game" and more links to actual products please.

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You mean so you can see what we're talking about, or so you can see where to buy it? If it's the latter, any old game will be purchased used from a guy who used to route arcade machines, and probably be rebuilt. It's not like he's going to walk into Wal-Mart and buy Ms. Pac Man.

[KDuff]

Big Buck Hunter would be awesome.

[Ribsauce]

Has anyone built a mame cabinet and if so tell us about it please

[tuq]

DrewDevil, awesomely obscure picks with Pigskin and Arch Rivals. I'd totally forgotten about those sweet games.

DaveR, I was an arcade junkie pre-21 (heh, my old man used to actually sneak me out of the house when I was about 7-10 years old after my mother went to bed...he was hooked on the Pac-Man series and he would play the sit downs with me at bars while he drank until bar time). I had a rich friend who had both an NBA Jam and a Cyberball at one point in time or another, and I can say with sincerity: a game pack is sweet but if you choose a single game go with some type of multiplayer (hopefully four player) game where you can all play together. Gauntlet is a great call but I'm partial to competitive games with an ending, such as a sports game.

My point is this: it will basically gather dirt when you don't have people over, but it will be the party's focus when you do. A game with one player playing at a time just isn't inclusive enough to keep people's focus. Make it a four-player competitive or open-ended game and you'll get your ROI big time.

[MicroBob]

Good call Tuq/tup.

Pinball tends to be somewhat more group oriented that regular video-games much of the time though.
Easier to stand around and socialize and watch the game I guess as well as playing 2 players where you alternate turns.

Liking the Gauntlet idea though.

[Humble Pie]

You must consider 'Virtua Tennis', even if your not a tennis enthusiast...... [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Benal]

I'd go with 1942 or the WWF game where you face The Road Warriors at the end (I forget it's name)

[Peter Harris]

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Tabletop / Cocktail Table
Common in pubs and bars in the 80's these are basically arcade machines like a table with a glass top.

The monitor is under the glass top and the control panels are mounted on oposite sides.

The players sit opisite each other at the table. On games where players take turns, when it is player 2's turn the picture flips over 180degrees so that player 2 see's the screen just as player 1 does.

Table top machines have much less artwork then upright machines, and as is the case with many games some are very generic looking 80's woodgrain style. Most have a 14" monitor.

UK table top machines generally are quite short, rectangular woodgrain tables with T shapped metal legs on the sides. Most have a 14" monitor. On the other hand US style tables are taller, rounder, have usually more artwork and are most commonly fitted with a 20" monitor. As with most things in life the US always get a better deal.

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http://www.arcadeuk.com/guide_machines.htm

we used to have a holiday home and the neighbour had a table-based Space Invaders game. It was super sweet because, of course, you could use it as a coffee table and be like "yeah, arcade machine. I'm cool. I use it to eat breakfast off, then stick 10p in and blast away"

[JJNJustin]

I bought one for my rec room when i hit a big bad beat jackpot. It was costly and I had to pay movers to take it to the basement. I played it at first but now it just sits there. Big waste of money I think.

-J

[Orangeheat]

Addams Family pinball is top of my wish list.

Orange