I found these on Clearance for 175 via Brickseek. Wave 2 is about to come out now so the wave 1 machines are going on clearance at lots of Wal Marts. I bought 5 of them for 175 a piece. Now I have a mini arcade in my garage and it is amazing.

Here is some responses to some of your thoughts and questions:

Yes the graphics rub off. The company sells a protective cover you can put over the graphics to prevent that and all the wave 2 machines ship with the protector included.

As for the size of the machines they sell an add on riser that brings up to standing level.

The roms they are running are the original arcade Roms.

Wave 1 is not without it's issues. I bought my 1st one at retail price and I have to admit at that price I was a little iffy on it. Retail is 299 plus another 50 if you want a riser. After tax you are pushing 400 dollars. Still WAY cheaper than an actual arcade machine. But yeah these things are not built out of top grade materials. Find them marked down to 200 and below then buy them up because they are definitely worth that. The controls are solid but not quite arcade quality. There are several web sites that sell plug and play SANWA joystick and button kits for not much coin. Even places that make light up marquees and new graphics if you are into that.

My verdict is these are slightly over priced at retail but fortunately go on sale often. Totally worth the money when discounted. I thoroughly enjoy having a garage arcade and spend a LOT of time out there playing Galaga, Pac Man, Street Fighter, Joust, Centipede. IT IS FUN!