Is it still reasonable to buy a cab these days?

[VxD]

Hi there!

With most of the arcade cabinets now nearing nearly 20 years old, I was wondering if it's still a good idea to buy one. CRTs notably are hard to come by and get serviced, even in Japan.

Would it be wiser to go the supergun + framemeister + LCD way nowadays?

[R79]

A lot of it will depend on your budget and space. If you've already decided to go down the arcade original route, and step away from console port untermensch status, then you probably already have the funds plus a large house to install a fully working and clean Blast City, with a tated screen and some Cave, Raizing or Seibu originals etc.

That's just assessing the market in 2016.

Looking on eBay right now, with my own personal STG tastes in mind... one JP SEGA cab that might need some restoration, £800 delivered, then a Batrider PCB to make it come alive, around £500. Add another few hundred for any soldering and stick or button upgrades, then you just need to find space to set it all up, and a very understanding partner

Still interested?

[Xyga]

You could also just get a supergun and a standalone crt (one of those broadcast monitors if you live in the US or a simple crt tv if you live in Europe)

It's a cheaper and much more modulable solution with arguably similar if not better results if you find a real good crt.

[Strikers1945guy]

Back in the day when I started getting pcbs I went the supergun route. Had a Sigma AV7000. Hooked it up to an old CRT and all that. Loved it, but space wise it took up almost as much space as a cab, laying all the stuff out everywhere. Pcb on safe place, wires, connectors, control panel, sigma unit itself, CRT, etc. Was much financially easier option and at the time it was still easy to walk into a shop in Japan and buy them brand new.

A few years later I got my 1 and only cab (Astro City) it was located only a few hours away from me, and the guy only wanted like $400 as we are in Canada (and he was no where near toronto) so no one else on this forum or neo geo was going to make the long drive to get it. Monitor on it is beautiful.

Anyways, it takes up just as much space theoretically, but it is a huge pain in the ass to move and unless you have a man cave or dedicated games room, better hope you have a significant other who like to stare at a cab in the living room

Cabs are better if you have any younger kids. Don't have to worry about putting all your supergun shit away so it doesnt get destroyed. .

Now I'm way off topic sorry. If I was getting into arcade stuff now, unless I was able to snag an average condition cab at a lower end cost (like $700) I would go the supergun route. Supergun route is way easier these days they seem to keep getting produced smaller and smaller. Super cheap comares to a cab. A lot easier to sell if you don't want it anymore.

I see the appeal of people paying $1500 for an Egret 2 cause then you can rotate the monitor in however long it takes? 6 seconds? Few minutes? For $1500 I could buy 2 regular Astro City cabs and never rotate either or buy a cheap supergun and save the remaining $1200 for pcbs. Although these days you might not get many pcbs fr $1200.....

[chempop]

Personally I prefer to play on a candy cab over any other setup.
The initial investment might be around $700-1200, then there will be some tools you need and possible added expense of a new part here or there (which can be very hard to find depending on the machine).

As for games, well that depends a lot on your tastes. You could get a Strikers1945 and Raiden for under $100ea and be set for a while, but if you want high end cave, raizing, or toaplan games it'll definitely hurt the wallet. Some people like to put a 360 or PC running mame in their cab and call it a day.

[Strikers1945guy]

Chempop has good points. If you only care about older cave games that run well on mame put a PC in a can and call it a day. For me I only have 20 games tops I really ever want to own so collecting the real pcbs for me has been fun. Also running certain games on original hardware for me is a must if the port sucks and mame is very inaccurate (Ibara to name one).

Plus cabs are sexy and there isn't wires and shit hanging out everywhere.

[emphatic]

Also, if you have either a cat or small children, a cabinet is much safer than a supergun setup. A cabinet is also a conversation piece. Otherwise, I'm with the other guys above.

[tacoguy64]

I hope it is cuz I'm planning on buying some cabs in the future

But yeah, a lot of different factors that could come into play.
The biggest one is definitely your partner. If they are ok with it then that will be your biggest hurdle.
Next one is space. Small homes are probably gonna be an issue.
And finally theres cost. Which you will be running into anyways if you are going to be buying pcbs.

Going the HDTV route plus an xrgb mini and supergun is not a bad alternative either.
It is a bit more space friendly and you will get to play games on your bigger screen.

[kamiboy]

Sir, it has never been more reasonable to buy a cab than on this fine day. Throw away all obstacles, hesitations, half-measures and finger waggling partners. A cab is a gentleman's best friend, and the only one he'll ever need.

It is the gift to yourself that keeps on giving, and owning one provides not only endless fun, but prestige, my good sir. Rise above the working class plebeians, with their crude "super"-gun implements and join the true arcade bourgeoisie.

[nissling]

As a previous owner of a ginormous Capcom cab that was in my garage for nearly two years, all I can say is that you really have to make sure you know what you're getting into. At first it was extremely exciting and for that reason I can't say I will ever regret buying one, plus I was lucky enough to get it among with nearly 20 MVS carts for a very decent price so I certainly had something to play for a while. However as time goes by just owning it, much like anything else, becomes a part of your daily life sooner or later. Nothing lasts forever and once you've lost interest in the thing itself, it will be bound to you very much like some big furniture. A video game console you can put away any time you'd like, but an arcade cab you simply cannot.

When I finally sold it I did lose some money but getting back the space was such a relief and I can't imagine myself getting a cab once more. If you do however, and want original games, I suggest selling the ones you own once you're tired of them and get new ones afterwards. This will keep your interest up as long as you've got something to play.

Tacoguy64's suggestion on buying an XRGB-Mini and Supergun makes far more sense imo though...

[Xyga]

The problem with going 'flat' is that there aren't many really good TVs at the moment, and afaik the Full-HD sets this year aren't good-enough.
The only worthy one is the Sony 32W705C, but it's a 2015 model and I don't know if it's still in stock anywhere.

If the 32W705C is not available, the other solutions are either to stick to pc monitors (27" max for a Full-HD, there are a few 32" but they're 4K with horrible scaling)...
...or to get a large TV of the only brand that's almost guaranteed to give you good scaling; again Sony.

2015's best Sony overall for gaming was (is still I think) the 55" X810C (X8005C in Europe, correct me if I'm wrong).
Problem is that unlike the 32W705C it's got 2 frames of lag, add the Mini's 1,5 frames and that's too much for a decent gaming setup.

In this case skip the Mini and pre-order the upcoming and much faster (lagless) OSSC from Marqs.

That's how I would go 'flat' today, or I would get one of the few good 32" 4K IPS monitors around, unfortunately those have horrible built-in scaling, and potential external 4K scalers to pair-up with either an XRGB or OSSC are apparently unicorns.
Those or one of the best and much more affordable 27" Full-HD IPS or VA monitors around.

[chempop]

As someone who went from this supergun setup:


To this:


...in a manner of a few years, I can say that once the arcade bug bites, its fangs sink in deep. Of course living alone allows a certain freedom which you might not have. It's a learning curve to get cabs working and cleaned up, but that's part of the fun. I've met a lot of other enthusiasts and people who drive long distances to come out my way and spend the day playing games. I definitely feel sometimes that I have sunk way too much time, money, and energy into the hobby, but on the flip side, it has also kept me "out of trouble" and helped get my lifestyle to a slightly healthier place (instead of buying a bottle of booze every couple days, I can spend that money on a PCB at the end of the month!)

As far as logistics are concerned, yes monitors shit the bed and it can be a pain in the butt getting them working again. I had zero knowledge of electronics before getting into cabs (and I'm still rather clueless), but it something goes wrong I know that there is a community of people (mainly here, neo-geo, arcadeotaku) who are experts and able to help me out.

When I got my first cab I instantly thought, 'what did I get myself into...?' It was a slow learning process, not without a few hiccups.
But it's insanely rewarding every time I walk into the game room and fire up the cabs. I say GO FOR IT, playing your favorite shmup on a candy cab is a gaming experience that simply can not be beat!

[muckyfingers]

Something like this is a great alternative

http://www.recroommasters.com/Xtension_ ... sd-pro.htm

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Many moons ago, I went in blind on getting my feet wet delving into the world of arcade PCBs with a Matt Ross produced supergun setup (it still works like a charm to this very day) back in the summer of 2002. The standard jamma PCBs listed for sale on eBay were quite cheap ranging from anywhere from $20-$35 and up back in 2002 (it wasn't that expensive on the wallet {or purse for that matter} back in those days). Heck, even getting a Cave DoDonpachi PCB in the neighborhood of $250-$275 USD price range back in 2002-2003 was the norm/expected price to pay for the golden opportunity to play/own as it was meant to be -- those days are long gone (nowadays, expect to pay upwards of $500-$600 & up for a barebones DDP PCB as it's a highly desired classic Cave PCB these days indeed).

Being at the right place at the right time allowed me the rare opportunity to buy a much desired Taito Egret II candy cab. Sure, if I decide to sell it at later date, I would, surely, like to get my initial investment back of what I originally paid for it but as it stands, it remains in my private arcade PCB collection/stash for the time being. I realize that I will never have the opportunity to get an Egret II cab again if it is sold down the road -- that is a given in this day of age.

It's nice to have the ol' Egret II do double-duty to just playing jamma PCBs and with the right hardware, by hooking up a gaming console like the PSX, PS2, PS3, PC Engine, Xbox 360, Mame, etc., it opens up the doors to a wider range of games to enjoy on a slick low-res 15kHz arcade monitor setup galore (complete with the requisite scanlines and all). So yes, it's been a cool journey with the arcade PCB hobby -- it does help to have some disposable income/deep monetary pockets as this particular hobby isn't cheap nowadays.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[kamiboy]

...but on the flip side, it has also kept me "out of trouble" and helped get my lifestyle to a slightly healthier place (instead of buying a bottle of booze every couple days, I can spend that money on a PCB at the end of the month!)

I see no reason why you cannot just drink heavily while gaming, that is how I go about it.

[chempop]

...but on the flip side, it has also kept me "out of trouble" and helped get my lifestyle to a slightly healthier place (instead of buying a bottle of booze every couple days, I can spend that money on a PCB at the end of the month!)

I see no reason why you cannot just drink heavily while gaming, that is how I go about it.

Hahaha it never helped my reflexes. Booze and arcade hardware is a recipe for disaster.

[yxkalle]

I don't think there ever was a time when it was a reasonable thing to buy a cab. Why be reasonable though?

[AeroCityMayor]

There's no reason why you couldn't have both cabs and superguns

The LCD is probably a very, very bad idea though.

Cheers,

Ralph.

[yojo!]

I have both Supergun and cabs and I like them both equally . The cab gives me the arcade feel that I used to experience back in the days , the big + for supergun is the easiness when it comes to customize your setup;

a)if you want to play Arkanoid or any LS-30 based games you can just build your own controller and plug it in; whereas you pretty much have to dedicate a cab when you go the other way.

b)It much easier to tate a PVM or CRT than it is to rotate a monitor in a cab.

[gray117]

None of this stuff is very wise. But it can be very fun.
Usual advice - are you going to miss the time/money/effort if it all goes tits up? If no, then do it. If yes, well get something you can reasonably replace/warranty/guarantee.

[Shadolf]

I payed a lot for my cab and everything, but I never regret it. I just loooove cabs.
I play video games for a long time now and at some point I saw a candy cab at ebay and I had to get one.
Sometimes I ask myself why it took so long to get this glorious idea.
If I had more money and space I would buy a lot of cabs and probably my wife would leave me


I wish some day there will be perfect replacements for CRTs with all needed formats 4:3 etc.
Maybe some kind of flexible foil that can be cut in any shape, is free of lag and can display perfect scanlines and all.