Best Multicade Standups?

[careerbellman]

Hey, Im less than a year away from getting a standup arcade in my home. SO Im doing research now. For starters, I would like to buy one of those multicade standup arcades. So far Ive seen 3 different kinds, the ULTRACADE (which has now went out of business, Ive heard), Arcade Ledgends 2, and Global Arcade Ledgends. Im sure there are more. Anyway Ive played ULTRACADE before several times, and although I wasnt paying close attention to detail, seemed pretty cool. The Global Arcade Ledgends with the 26 inch LCD monitor looks awsome on the website but is almost 4 grand and selection of games is kinda lagging. Although they say theres more comming. Arcade Ledgends 2 has an awsome selection of games and is the cheapest but what do you guys think?
Can anyone give me their opinion. Whats it like playing Tempest or Warlords with a joystick? I would think that Id rather not even have those games even on there. How close to the real games are we getting on these machines. I mean I think I played Berzerk on the Ultracade and it seemed stretched out, defentially not the same aspect ratio as the origional. I guess that be the drawback of a bigger monitor. Sorry to be so long winded, any input would be helpful. thanks for your help.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Pre-fabricated/manufactured "multicades" are all pretty ridiculously priced/cost prohibitive for what they do.

In this day and age, I think it's easier to find an appropriate cabinet and necessary hardware to convert an older common machine into a MAME cabinet, which would then have the option of the additional appropriate control parts like spinners and the "tweaking" of quality settings like appropriate control sensitivity and video aspect ratios, etc.

Even if you have zero technical skills, I'm sure there are plenty of users here who could point you in the right direction(s) or offer up their assistance/service(s).

Of course I know where you're coming from, as I was initially attracted to the pre-fab units myself ... but when I determined that I couldn't drop a few grand on one, even with my lack of technical prowess (the only thing I can do with a soldering iron is burn myself) I managed to convert an existing cabinet into something very much comparable in terms of what it does for a FRACTION of the cost (under $200 above and beyond what I already had, a cabinet and a computer) ... and even though it doesn't have the "flash" of the pre-fab units, I'm pretty sure it plays just as well, if not better ... and I currently run about 6000 + roms and the DAPHNE laser-disc emulator on it.

As far as playing special controller games like Warlords or Star Wars Arcade with a joystick ... in MAME you can tweak the crap out of emulated analog sensitivity on a digital joystick ... and if you spend a good amount of time tweaking, you can get some good results ... of course there's no substitute for the real thing ... but I can play a decent game of Arkanoid or Paperboy with my digital sticks based on how well I've tweaked the sensitivity.

[skaar]

Have you looked into those X-Arcade consoles? Plop one of those in front of the computer, hook up to TV...

I've been eyeing one myself lately. They look pretty sweet.

[CosmicMonkey]

Those multi game cabinets are horrific and rediculously expensive.

Personally, I'd go with a nice Japanese Candy, like an Astro City or an Egret II. If you must use teh romz, then build yourself a MAME box with one of those Arcade VGA cards and you'll be good to go. If you prefer stand-up Woody cabs, then fair enough, personal preference.

If you do get something like a nice Sega Candy, it's quite easy to find replacement CPs, even unpunched ones. So you could have a nice 2 player CP with 2 sticks and 6/7 buttons each, and then another custom one with spinners and other special controls. Then you can swap panels easily and won't have some monstrosity with 17 sticks, 57 buttons (randomly placed) and 2 spinners.

[careerbellman]

thnks for the advice guys. I actually am looking to get a Japanese "candy" neo-geo. They seem hard to find, but ive only looked for a day or so on the internet. Cant wait to get one of those.
But as far a building my own MAME machine, Im clueless. I really dont have the time and more importantly know how to deal with that. Im not worried about price, Im fine spending 4 grand on something I will enjoy playing.
Cosmic Monkey, when you say they are horrific, what does that mean. Is the emulation totally off, is the monitor really bad. Are they not exactly the games or what? I do really thank you for your advice. As I research this, I will defentially get a better understanding of MAME and cabinents, and controlers, etc. But right now, I have a list of "must Have" standups I need, and the rest can be taken care of by a multicade. By the way my Must haves are the Neo-Geo "candy" MVS, Disks of Tron standup, Tapper standup, Warlords coctail, and Cloak and Dagger standup. One day, I cant wait!!

[Flack]

Even if you don't want to build one yourself you can find 48-in-1 and/or MAME cabinets for less than 1/4 of those prices. Why would you want to pay $4k for a cabinet that plays a limited amount of games when I'm sure people would line up to sell you a MAME cabinet for $1k that will play a zillion games?

Things like the Arcade Legends 2 are nice but none of those multicade (using the term generically) are going to include all the games you want. I glanced at that one and ... no Galaga, Pac or Ms. Pac? Bah. If you are still convinced you need to spend $4k I am sure there are plenty of people here who would build you a fantastic looking MAME cabinet and deliver it to San Fran for that price.

[careerbellman]

Flack, thats probably an excellent idea. Im moving to Philly in less than a year, so I think I can look into paying someone 2 grand to build me an awsome MAME arcade sometime next year. Im gonna start doing much more research on it as the time comes closer. I think I can fiind an honest, reliable person who can make one. THANKS AGAIN!

[davidrfoley]

Actually, UltraCade was the original Multi-Game / Multi-Publisher machine. Arcade Legends was merely a reskinning of that machine with no coin functions for the home market. Global VR purchased UltraCade Technologies and its products, and discontinued both UltraCade and stopped selling Arcade Legends to Chicago Gaming. Global VR reskinned UltraCade as Global Arcade Classics, reducing the number of games and the upgradability in the process, and eliminating the universal kits. Chicago Gaming hired Hanaho Games to build the board for the new Arcade Legends 2 machine.

[Captain Wrong]

Just see if there's a coin-op auction in your area any time soon. Last few I've attended have been glutted with MAME conversions.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Actually, UltraCade was the original Multi-Game / Multi-Publisher machine. Arcade Legends was merely a reskinning of that machine with no coin functions for the home market. Global VR purchased UltraCade Technologies and its products, and discontinued both UltraCade and stopped selling Arcade Legends to Chicago Gaming. Global VR reskinned UltraCade as Global Arcade Classics, reducing the number of games and the upgradability in the process, and eliminating the universal kits. Chicago Gaming hired Hanaho Games to build the board for the new Arcade Legends 2 machine.

You should do a detailed post about that video pinball simulator ... while it's obviously no substitute for the real thing, and likely way out of the price range of most DP'ers (we tend to be bargain hunters) ... from what I saw on the (your?) site, it looks pretty damned impressive (it has Medieval Madness!) and I've never seen any threads about it here.

[Flack]

Flack, thats probably an excellent idea. Im moving to Philly in less than a year, so I think I can look into paying someone 2 grand to build me an awsome MAME arcade sometime next year. Im gonna start doing much more research on it as the time comes closer. I think I can fiind an honest, reliable person who can make one. THANKS AGAIN!

Philly is a large area, and I'm sure you can find someone to build you a machine. Good luck!