Pool Table vs. Arcade Games

[ManciGames]

Okay, let me get this out of the way real quick:

My wife and I are almost finished building our dream house, and

we have a loft area that we had originally discussed putting a pool table. But last night, to my surprise, she said she didn't like the idea of taking up the entire room with one thing and actually suggested getting a few arcade games and putting them in there along with the TV for the console games.

You don't understand how shocking that is. Once, about four years ago, I mentioned maybe getting a Shinobi upright and she didn't go for it at all. So this is just shocking...

I think what it comes down to is how much use we would get out of a pool table versus arcade games. I know some of you guys probably have both, so which do you find your guests playing the most? If you have a party, do you find more people are interested in shooting pool, or playing Frogger and Ms. Pac-Man?

I know this might sound frivolous, but either one is a big investment, and I know some of my fellow DP'ers have already been there and done that, so I'm counting on you for help so that we don't choose the wrong path.

[jajaja]

I'd say that a pooltable is more suitable for parties and stuff. Playing arcade you must consentrate on the game all the time and it isnt that easy to run a conversation while consentrating on a game. In pool you can just make the shot and you can take a small break etc.

But if I could choose between pool and arcade cabinet(s) I would go for the arcade.

[Octane06]

I think what it comes down to is how much use we would get out of a pool table versus arcade games. I know some of you guys probably have both, so which do you find your guests playing the most? If you have a party, do you find more people are interested in shooting pool, or playing Frogger and Ms. Pac-Man?


I say that if you care more about the use of your purchase by you and your wife I'd go with the arcade. If you care more about treating your guests I'd go with the pool table.

Personally, if I had this kind of chance, I'd go with the arcade games. Definitely :) .

[Jumpman Jr.]

The thing with a pool table, is its size. Your going to need a lot of space for a pool table (not just the size of the table, but surrounding area's as well). Whereas a cabinet would take up very little room.
Personally I'd go with an arcade, but the problem with that is when you bring friends over, you never know if they are actually going to enjoy playing it or not. Everybody likes pool, not everybody likes arcades.
I've had both sometime in my life. I played them both equally; not very much.

[SuperShark]

Arcade Games Hands Down!

I will admit, what jajaja said about games taking up a lot of your attention so that you cant discuss hardly anything else is usualy right, though not always, but for the most part yes. Now in pool, I know a few people that get extreamly caughtup in the game, but most people that I see playing it can still hold a nice conversation at most times with their opponite and other bistanders. But arcade games, games in general if you got the good ones, are always funner.

Now as for what Jumpman Jr. said, about how everyone likes pool, but not everyone likes games, I have had the exact opposite obeservation in my life.

In my church's student ministries consisting of an average of about 50 to 70 something high school and college students every wednesday along with about a dozen adults, not everyone likes pool. I know I dont really like it. In fact, proably only abot a dozen people in our student ministries will play pool, no more than maybe half a dozen diffrent people in one night. NOw as for me, I spend most of my time when I am not setting up sound, video, computers, lights, etc, for the upcoming service in the video game room. I am in charge of that room and all that goes on in it and what games are in it as I must bring my own. I have noticed that many people will stop in the video game room each week to at least see whats in there and going on, and everyone will stop to play for at least a few mins, including every adult that helps in our ministries, if you got the right games, ones that apeal to them. Some like the fast paces 1st person shooters like halo, some like the complicated football games like madden, but all like something on my arcade plug-n-plays or my midway or namaco compilation disks. Adults love them because they are simple and they grew up with some of them. Girls like how simple and easy they are like pac-man, and how some have a femenan (cant spell) touch like ms. pac-man. everyone will find sometihng that they like.

Now on overnight events in our church for guys only (cant speak for the girls only ones, I just know that they dont have a bigf selection of games and they dont play those or the pool table, so they sit around and talk is all that I hear about) at this one guys house, and we have these fairly often, EVeRYoNE is thinking about nothing but the games for the nght, we all bring our xboxes, games and controllers for them, and ps and ps2 games for the one ps2 already at the house, though only a couple of people wind up on it and only from breaks from the xboxes and the computer where I bring Mame (if you guys havent heard, the last 2 times that we have done these overnight things, I have taken mame on a couple of cds and we have fit 3 people, 6 hands, all night long on the 1 keyboard. awsomeness, and really fun times. everyone and i mean everyone can seem to find both some good old one player game and some multiplayer game in mame that they asolutly love) and we game on all night long, non-stop, and NOONE AT ALL goes down to this guys pool table, because most of us are stuck in system link halo or mame, and those that arent are stuck watching, eating with the previous as they cant learn how to eat and play like me and the others in the small handful of 1337s, or are playing on andother XB for a while, usualy halo still, but sometimes other things.

Everyone can fide some game that they like if you get the right cabs man! Go with the arcade! Do it!

//end long post//

SuperShark

[ManciGames]

Thanks for the hints, everyone. You guys all sound like me: I want the arcade, but I think other people would have more fun with the pool table. Jumpman hit the nail on the head with the size, and that is what is bugging us a little bit. You really do have to dedicate the entire room to just pool, if you go that route.

And one thing I hadn't even considered was the social aspect of each, and like jajaja said, pool is without a doubt the more social of the two. I don't mean to discount what you said SuperShark, but most of my friends aren't really into console games. They are casual gamers, at best, and they really wouldn't get too excited about a console cabinet. But, most of them would enjoy a game of Dig Dug or whatever. I just don't think the conversation would flow as easily as it would with pool.

So, I guess the decision should be made based on how many parties we think we will throw. And we don't do a lot of partying...

[Flack]

One cool thing about arcade games is when people walk in and see them they will say, "Oh, SHIT!" That never happens with pool tables.

I don't know what kind of maintenance is required with pool tables, but depending on the quality of your arcade games you may need to do stuff to them from time to time. For guests you'll either need to leave quarters lying around or set them to free play.

If I had a limited amount of space then I would make one of the cabinets a MAME cabinet.

[ManciGames]

One cool thing about arcade games is when people walk in and see them they will say, "Oh, SHIT!" That never happens with pool tables.


No doubt. I'm sure my friends would have the same reaction.



If I had a limited amount of space then I would make one of the cabinets a MAME cabinet.

I had talked to a guy about a custom made cocktail table that would have about 35 games on a circuit board. He was really down on the hard drive based systems, but I dunno, they sound okay to me.

What has your experience been with the MAME cabinet? Are they tough to configure?

[Flack]

My guess is, anyone who sells "games on a circuit board" would be down on MAME cabinets.

MAME cabinets are super simple to configure. There are front ends that take 99% of the work out of the configuration process, and of course once the initial setup is done all that needs to be done is to turn it on and play.

Don't forget, there are several places that sell MAME Roms legally like Star Roms (http://www.starroms.com) if you're worried about being legal.

Personally if I were doing it I'd get 2 MAME cabs, one for vertical games and one for horizontal ones and leave it at that. If I picked up any other games I'd get ones that used unique controls or had interesting artwork on the cabinets.

By the way, don't forget that cocktails take up 2 to 2 1/2 times the size of a standard cabinet when you figure in sitting/chair room.

[john_soper]

Last week I bought a 7 foot Harvard pool table that rotates over to become an air hockey table. It was just under $500 at Sears after a sale and additional 3-hour 10% off whole store deal.
Unfortunately it's on backorder till end of Feb. You can send me a PM after that if you want my opinion. You're not going to find a slate table for that price though. Pool tables can really make a room look elegant if you setup the wall decor just right.

[LAGO]

Is it possible to grab a 4 player arcade game? This would probably bring back some of that social element that the pool table had over the arcade cabs. Granted it's still not going to be as socially uplifting as the conversation over the pool table, but theres something unique about having you and three buddies trying to ninja your way through TMNT.

[goatdan]

The general problem with upright arcade games is that they are big, and unless you go the MAME route, they are pretty much "one thing" or in the case of JAMMA boards, "one type of thing." Once you get sick of playing the games that you have, you'll either want to get new boards for them if they are JAMMAs or perhaps switch them out. This is a much larger process than buying a new Xbox game or whatever, obviously, and can take a lot of time and space.

If you don't have your mind set on any particular games, therefore I would suggest going with the pool table. I love arcade machines, and own two myself currently (Kangaroo and Ms. Pac-Man). I plan on getting at least one or two more, but after that I think that my arcade game collection will only expand with pins... something that I can't do similiar on any other platform.

A lot of people think the arcade games are really cool, but will play them for a bit and then go to a console they are more familiar with in a social setting. Therefore, you might spend $5000 on six really great games and still find people migrating over to the Xbox to turn on Halo. That exact thing happened to me when I had the games over at my parents house -- poor Ms. Pac-Man would be left idle while the pinball next to it was played and the Dreamcast had something going.

Pool is like pinball -- you can't do it on a console with the same sort of results. If you like pool, I would suggest looking at it more and maybe picking up one or two consoles and sticking them in the corners of that room. If you don't really like pool, really figure out what arcades you would like and start hunting. Don't pick up stuff just because it is cheap, as you'll just end up getting rid of it until you find stuff you really want.

And of course, good luck!

[ManciGames]

Okay, the decision has been made. I really appreciate everyone's input. I figured I should at least let you know which route I took.

In the end, I ended up agreeing that we didn't want to waste the loft space on a pool table. So, we ended up making it a gaming room. Here's what it'll have:

1) Shinobi upright (finally... This is like a dream come true for me)

2) "Classic Games" 39 in one cocktail table (includes all the greats: 5 Pac-Mans, 3 Donkey Kongs, Mr. Do, Dig-Dug, 1942, etc.)

3) Arkanoid upright (for the wife)

There is also space for all current gen consoles on an HDTV, with space to bring up a few classic consoles at any given time. We also made the room right next to this one a "theater room" with an HD projector, so I'm going to put the 360 on there. 100" of HD goodness. MMMmmmm.

So, that's it for now. It's nothing compared to some of the other guy's gaming rooms, but it's my own little piece of arcade heaven. I hope we don't regret it once it's in. But it'll be hard to regret seeing my own Shinobi game in the corner. Man, that game has a lot of memories associated with it. I'm sure each of you have one just like it.

[diskoboy]

What about a pinball machine?

[kirin jensen]

I think the pool table would win in a fight. He'd probably beat the shit out of tha arcade games with a pool cue.

[scooby105]

A very good choice going with the arcade stuff I'd say. You can always go to a bar or pool hall to shoot pool. There's hardly anywhere you can go to play arcade games anymore.

[ManciGames]

A very good choice going with the arcade stuff I'd say. You can always go to a bar or pool hall to shoot pool. There's hardly anywhere you can go to play arcade games anymore.

You know, that's a great point. And one I hadn't even considered. It's especially true of the classic arcade games.

And to diskoboy (who asked about a pinball machine): My wife actually had me look into it, but the cheapest decent one I could find was like 3 grand. I would like to add one eventually though. Know any good places that have them for less?

[Flack]

1) Shinobi upright (finally... This is like a dream come true for me)

I have two of them, you should come pick one up! :)

[Pantechnicon]

One cool thing about arcade games is when people walk in and see them they will say, "Oh, SHIT!" That never happens with pool tables.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

I know you've already made your decision but I just want to reiterate that it was probably the best one.

Here's the way I look it: If you're going to do a lot of entertaining, you should have some distinctive form of entertainment that sets you apart from the garden variety neighborhood watering hole, and classic cabs are a great way to accomplish this. Lots of people basically build bars in their basement. But to have your own arcade to go along with the bar is a more unique thing.

Conversely, if you're not going to do a lot of entertaining, then you need to something that makes you happy and will entice you to stay at home and chill. And I assume this thing is, to some degree, arcade cabs (otherwise you wouldn't be here, right?)

Here's a real-world example: I built a MAME cab for my friend Larry who was, before he left the state, the director of the local Fellowship of Chrisitan Athletes (FCA). He put it in the rec room of his old house, along with a pool table, ping-pong, etc. wherein he used to host a lot of FCA social functions. Every now and then I will run into some of these FCA kids at church or on campus and discreetly strike up a conversation along the lines of "Did you know Larry?" and I'll usually get a reply like, "Yeah. He used to hold these great parties at his house. He actually had his own arcade machine. It was sooo cool. It's a shame he moved."...unbeknownsnt to them I was the one who built the thing. But the point is the cab left a better impression on these kids than any other toy in the room.

So you made a good call. Trust me, you won't be disappointed. :D 8-)

[Videogamerdaryll]

Me=Arcade Machines..(Dad=Pool Table..,,when he gets it as we are making him a game room I'll go there to play.

[Tron 2.0]

Okay, the decision has been made. I really appreciate everyone's input. I figured I should at least let you know which route I took.

In the end, I ended up agreeing that we didn't want to waste the loft space on a pool table. So, we ended up making it a gaming room. Here's what it'll have:

1) Shinobi upright (finally... This is like a dream come true for me)

2) "Classic Games" 39 in one cocktail table (includes all the greats: 5 Pac-Mans, 3 Donkey Kongs, Mr. Do, Dig-Dug, 1942, etc.)

3) Arkanoid upright (for the wife)

There is also space for all current gen consoles on an HDTV, with space to bring up a few classic consoles at any given time. We also made the room right next to this one a "theater room" with an HD projector, so I'm going to put the 360 on there. 100" of HD goodness. MMMmmmm.

So, that's it for now. It's nothing compared to some of the other guy's gaming rooms, but it's my own little piece of arcade heaven. I hope we don't regret it once it's in. But it'll be hard to regret seeing my own Shinobi game in the corner. Man, that game has a lot of memories associated with it. I'm sure each of you have one just like it.
Nice regular size pool tables do take up the space.

Then again i just have a (mini pool table) and my freinds don't mind playing 'it either. Plus it doesn't take up much space 8-)

[ManciGames]

1) Shinobi upright (finally... This is like a dream come true for me)

I have two of them, you should come pick one up! :)

How the heck did you end up with two?

I'd like to take one off your hands, but I'm sure the shipping charges would be about what I'm paying a guy here to refurbish one.

I could use some Shinobi sideart though. Got any extra? :)

[kedawa]

foosball>>>>>>>>pool

takes up less space
four can play at once
just a suggestion

[ManciGames]

foosball>>>>>>>>pool

takes up less space
four can play at once
just a suggestion

That's a good idea. Though I am more partial to dome hockey. Hmmm...

[kedawa]

Dome hockey is also very cool, but requires a bit more maintenance.

[cyberfluxor]

Personally, if you have the space, I would go with one of each.

choosing just 1)
Having just 1 arcade will bore most just watching, having muliple arcades will set everyone into their own world and lack the "group" experience. You can get a MAME with 32+ games in it, but most nongamers will piss you off by changing games every 5 seconds when they can't stand it.

With pool tables a bunch of people generally will sit back, drinking and chatting to low music while 2 or more play. Very few people get pissy but expect the length of chilling around a pool table to increase exponentially as you have more guest.

Choosing both)
This will allow the talkers to play pool and the more silent ones to play an arcade. This would mix both worlds and won't bore those that either don't care about the other. The arcade that's best to choose is a MAME with a dozen games.