Simultaneous multiplayer cocktail games

[ARCZero]

I'm thinking of building a cocktail arcade cabinet and was curious - what cocktail games are multiplayer, where both players can play at the same time? I'm not interested in the games where the monitor flips after each players turn.

The only ones I can think of is a Space Invaders variation and the old Atari football game. I'd guess there's a few other sports games too.

- ARCZero

[kingpong]

Off the top of my head, Warlords, Demolition Derby, Joust, Quarterback, Quadrapong...

[ARCZero]

In particular I'm looking for games where the players are on opposite sides and use a joystick.

I think maze games would be possible to do, such as Gauntlet. The joysticks would need to be configured for each players position.

[Captain Wrong]

Only problem with gauntlet is the player two would be looking at the screen upside down.

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any 2 player simultaneous coctail games. All the ones I can think of are one player at a time deals.

[Dayewalker]

What if you designed the cabinet so that the joysticks and buttons for each player were either side by side or on adjacent sides instead of them being across from each other?

[davidbrit2]

What if you designed the cabinet so that the joysticks and buttons for each player were either side by side or on adjacent sides instead of them being across from each other?

That's exactly what the (super rare) Joust cocktail does.

And add Hat Trick to the list.

[Mayhem]

Of which I know someone who has one in the UK and have played on it. Very cool indeed ;)

[Captain Wrong]

That's exactly what the (super rare) Joust cocktail does.


I thought Joust did. I was a wee bit inebriated last night so the brain wasn't working so well. :drinking:

Yeah, you could put both controlls on the same side tho. You'd probably have to build your own cabinet because I've thought about this too and I have yet to see a cocktail at auction that looks like you could mod it for this.

[FABombjoy]

The only ones I can think of is a Space Invaders variation

I believe you're thinking of a game called "Astro Laser" or "Space Laser". I have the cocktail version of that game, and it would be lots of fun if it worked. It's based on the same Taito 8080 hardware as latter versions of Space Invaders.

[tyranthraxus]

Pong of course!

Too bad there aren't many Head to head games for the coctail tables.
I'd love to see some new ones show up in bars.

[Dayewalker]

That's exactly what the (super rare) Joust cocktail does.


I thought Joust did. I was a wee bit inebriated last night so the brain wasn't working so well. :drinking:

Yeah, you could put both controlls on the same side tho. You'd probably have to build your own cabinet because I've thought about this too and I have yet to see a cocktail at auction that looks like you could mod it for this.

That's really more along the lines of what I originally had in mind. If you put both sets of controls on the same side, it would really be more like just a normal arcade machine that you can sit down at and relax.

[ARCZero]

Those are some good ideas. I've seen the Joust cabinet and drooled over it. I wanted to buy a Tron cocktail but didn't have the funds.

I have very limited carpentry skills and have been eyeballing a pre-made cocktail cabinet kit for around $200. The kit is set up for 3 players - one on three of the four sides. The fourth side goes up against a wall. Each control panel is only big enough to hold one joystick and 6 buttons. I could make a larger control panel for the horizontally long section, but I'd probably end up sawing off my fingers! O_O

Thus I'm limited to games where players are on opposing sides and using only joystick controls. I could add spinners at later date for games like Warlords and Off the Wall, but three of them would be kinda pricy. I'd rather throw one spinner on a stand-up unit.

The only games that'll work well with this setup seem to be the Space Invaders type game, an ice hockey game, and Gauntlet with keys re-mapped for each players perspective. Three player Gauntlet would be sweet. My wife and I are looking at adopting kids so it could be a lot of fun.

- ARCZero

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

It's not really a cocktail, more of a big bulky cockpit, but I'd be remiss in my duties if I didn't remind everyone of the 1970s Atari Fire Truck arcade game - two players steering the opposite ends of the same fire truck. That game was hysterical, almost more fun if things weren't going well!

[Captain Wrong]

If you're looking for a sitdown and play type deal, maybe you should consider a Jaleco Pony or Candy cab. Those are pretty popular in Japan, they have a big monitor, 2 player controlls, and you can sit down at them. They're bigger than a cocktail, but smaller than a full sized cab. Shipping would be big tho.